Chapter 117 Warmth
Upon entering the house, I found that although the house was not large, it was tidy and organized.
There was an old wooden table by the window, and a photo of Ren Huifang's son in military uniform was hanging on the wall.
Ren Huifang pulled Lu Mingyue to sit on the sofa, stuffed fruit candies into the children's hands, and kept saying, "If I had known you were coming, I would have heated the room up a bit more beforehand."
Zhang Miaomiao had just parked her bicycle at the gate of the yard, and before the bell had even gone off, she grabbed her canvas bag and rushed into the house.
Upon seeing Lu Mingyue, he warmly took her hand and said, "Sister Mingyue, we've been waiting for you! I received your letter a few days ago saying you were coming back, and I've been talking about it to Mom every day."
The two huddled together by the kang (a heated brick bed) and talked. Zhang Miaomiao pulled out a ball of yarn from her canvas bag: "This is a little scarf I knitted for Yaoyao. I was thinking she could use it for the New Year. Do you like the color?"
Lu Mingyue took the pink scarf, touching the soft yarn, her heart warmed: "It's perfect, Yao Yao will definitely like it."
They chatted about everyday things that hadn't been mentioned in the letter, from the fish and shrimp on the island to the new shops in the city. Once they started talking, they couldn't stop, not even noticing that the sun outside the window was starting to set.
As they got into the conversation, Zhang Miaomiao sighed softly, "It's just that your vacation is short; you can only come back for a few days during the Spring Festival."
Lu Mingyue patted her hand and said with a smile, "It's good that we can get together for a few days. Let's take advantage of this time to explore the city and cook a nice meal for the children."
Hearing this, Yao Yao quickly tugged at Zhang Miaomiao's sleeve: "Aunt Miaomiao, can you play shuttlecock with me?"
Zhang Miaomiao immediately nodded, putting her worries behind her: "Come on, Auntie will play with you right now!"
When the sound of a bicycle bell came from the courtyard gate, Zhang Miaomiao was playing shuttlecock with Leilei and Yaoyao in the yard.
Looking up, I saw Zhang Songwu carrying two insulated buckets and a package.
"Brother!" Zhang Miaomiao greeted him with a smile.
Zhang Songwu placed the thermos on the table, wiped his sweat, and said, "Knowing that Mingyue and the others were coming, I specially got a few extra dishes from the cafeteria so that everyone could have a taste."
He held up the package in his hand, "I picked this up when I passed by the gatekeeper just now."
As Zhang Songwu was leaving get off work and heading home, the guard at the gate of the military compound handed him a package.
"Comrade Zhang, this was sent a couple of days ago. The recipient is your home address, but no one has come to pick it up yet."
He paused for a moment, took the heavy package, and wondered to himself that his family hadn't sent anything.
Ren Huifang looked up when she heard the noise, and quickly waved her hand, saying, "I don't know."
Lu Mingyue said with a smile, "It was probably sent from the island before we came. I calculated the time and it should arrive soon. It should be this package."
Zhang Songwu looked at the package in his hand; it really was sent from the island.
The package was tightly bound with thick hemp rope, and it felt heavy in my hand. Inside were dried seafood and wild game for relatives in Beijing.
Ren Huifang followed beside her, looking at the bulging package, and couldn't help but grumble: "You child, you're wasting money again! Sending so many things will cost a lot in postage, and it will take a lot of time to pack them."
Although she said it was "wasteful spending," her tone was full of heartache as she reached out to help Lu Mingyue straighten the corner of the package.
She added, "We have everything we need at home. Why don't you take it with you to Beijing? That way you won't have to buy anything from your mother-in-law."
She was thinking of saving every penny she could, and now that she was married and raising two children, it wasn't easy.
Lu Mingyue explained with a smile, "Godmother, these are rare items from the island. They're hard to buy at home. We're letting our relatives try them. My mother-in-law has some too, so you don't need to worry."
Ren Huifang couldn't help but sigh, gently patting the package: "You, you're always thinking about others, you never know how to rest."
The heartache in her words was impossible to hide.
“Mom, don’t worry,” Zhang Miaomiao came closer, still holding the handkerchief Lu Mingyue had embroidered for her, and comforted her with a smile.
"Sister Mingyue is thinking of us, that's why she specially sent these. If she didn't consider us family, she wouldn't go to such lengths."
These words startled Ren Huifang, who then nodded and a smile slowly spread across her face: "You're right, Mom is overthinking it."
Lu Mingyue: "Good godmother, let's not talk about this anymore. I'm getting hungry just smelling the food."
Zhang Songwu ordered a lot of food, and with the addition of several dishes that Ren Huifang cooked again, the table was full.
He lifted the lid of the thermos, and the aroma instantly filled the room: glistening braised ribbonfish, golden fried meatballs, and a large portion of stir-fried vegetables.
"The cafeteria chef's cooking is even more authentic than what we make at home!"
Ren Huifang smiled and picked up her chopsticks, first placing a meatball on each of Leilei and Yaoyao's plates. "Try it quickly, these are meatballs made in the cafeteria, they taste pretty good, see if you two like them."
The children ate happily, bowls in hand. Yao Yao, with a meatball stuffed in her mouth, mumbled, "I like it! It's better than the ones on the train!"
Zhang Songwu sat to the side and looked at Huo Zheng, saying, "I made arrangements with the cafeteria this afternoon to get another serving of braised duck tonight. Let's join in the fun and have some drinks."
Lu Mingyue quickly waved her hand: "Don't bother, my godmother and I will just make something simple, and we can eat it together."
“That won’t do.” Zhang Chengliang disagreed. It wasn’t easy for them to come back from the island, so they had to be well taken care of with food and drinks. He told Lu Mingyue to rest assured.
Lu Mingyue and her family spent a wonderful few days in Nanshi. Every day, they would wake up naturally, have breakfast, and then take the children for a stroll around the city.
As for her heartless, scumbag father, Lu Mingyue never even considered visiting him.
Seeing him during the festive atmosphere of the New Year would only make her feel uncomfortable, and she didn't want to go looking for that awkwardness.
However, fate is a strange thing; the more you don't want to encounter something, the more likely you are to.
With the Lunar New Year approaching, Lu Mingyue couldn't be with her godmother, so she thought of taking her to the newly opened department store in the city to buy some things to show her filial piety.
She was able to leave home thanks to her godmother's help. In Lu Mingyue's heart, her godmother was no different from her own mother, and it was only right to be filial to her.
With the Lunar New Year approaching, there wasn't much going on in the military. It was mostly the women buying clothes, so Huo Zheng couldn't go along.
Zhang Songwu then dragged him to the military camp to have a competition, ostensibly for the purpose of learning.
"Does Leilei want to come with us to the military camp?" Zhang Songwu asked his nephew.
Leilei stared at him with wide, admiring eyes. "If I go, can I visit my uncle's office?"
Zhang Songwu smiled smugly and said, "Of course."
Leilei had visited his father's office when he was on the island and wanted to know what was different about his uncle's office.
Looking at the lively little guy, Zhang Chengliang smiled and said, "You can come to the office with Grandpa. I have lots of fun things there, like tanks and guns."
Leilei opened his mouth wide in surprise and raised his hands, saying that he wanted to go.
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