"What are you standing here for?" Zhao Qinglan asked Erwa helplessly.
In just this short time, the child has already secretly looked at her several times; he must be up to something.
"Mom, when is Dad's birthday?"
Zhao Qinglan was surprised that the question was about this.
"Why are you asking that?"
"Mom, are we still making a cake for Dad's birthday?"
It turned out it was all about food. Zhao Qinglan was amused.
Li Huai's birthday is in the first month of the lunar calendar. He didn't mention it during the Lunar New Year this year, and she forgot because of her pregnancy. By the time she remembered, his birthday had already passed, and she felt a little guilty.
When her eldest child's birthday came in June, she thought of celebrating with him and made a simple cake.
The cake was loved by the children as soon as it was made.
When Li Huai was a child and still living in the capital, his mother would order a cake from a bakery for him on his birthday. He was no stranger to cakes, but he hadn't eaten one for many years.
Although Zhao Qinglan's recipe was simple, she used all the best ingredients, so the cake tasted very good.
Since the eldest child had a birthday cake, she couldn't show favoritism.
Later, when Xiaoduo and Erwa had their birthdays, she made birthday cakes for them to celebrate.
Her birthday was in May, which has already passed. All the children's birthdays have been celebrated, so the only birthday left in the family is Li Huai's.
Actually, it's not like you can only eat cake on your birthday. In later generations, there are bakeries and pastry shops everywhere on the streets, and people have started to eat cakes and desserts as snacks.
However, in the current situation where people generally can't get enough to eat, cake is naturally a luxury.
With a quick change of thought, Zhao Qinglan said in a serious tone, "Your dad doesn't like cake, so he doesn't make cakes for his birthday."
"Huh?" Erwa looked disappointed.
After Zhao Qinglan left to get her things, Erwa lay down next to her sleeping younger brother and started complaining.
"Little brother, if only you could talk, you would definitely be able to eat cake if you wanted to."
Zhao Qinglan almost died laughing when she heard this.
Sanwa is still a baby, and who knows how many years it will be before he can talk and wants to eat cake.
Perhaps his craving for cake was too strong, because when Li Huai came home from get off work, he found that he had a little tagalong following him around.
He followed him around while he washed his hands and even stood guard outside the outhouse, making him feel quite uncomfortable.
"Erwa, what are you trying to do?"
Seeing that his father had spoken, Erwa quickly and shamelessly begged.
"Dad, could you ask Mom to make your birthday cake?"
Huh? What's going on now? His birthday is still a long way off.
When he saw his wife shaking her head to suppress a laugh, he suddenly realized something.
"But I don't want to eat birthday cake."
"Dad, I want to eat it!" Erwa finally couldn't resist anymore.
"Alright, let's stop teasing him," Zhao Qinglan said with a smile.
"Erwa, come here." She waved her hand.
Although Da Wa and Xiao Duo also thought the birthday cake was delicious, they didn't miss it as much as Er Wa did.
"Second child, from now on, if you want to eat something, just tell Mom directly. If the request is reasonable, Mom can make it. Don't beat around the bush anymore, okay?"
Since we won't be able to eat cake anyway, it doesn't matter what happens, Erwa nodded dejectedly.
The older child couldn't help but cover his face.
How could his brother be so stupid? He didn't even understand what Mom meant.
Making a cake isn't something you can just do on a whim.
The next day, after all the children went to school, Zhao Qinglan asked Erwa to look after her younger brother while she went to work making cakes.
Erwa took his assigned work very seriously.
While his younger brother was sleeping, he would read comic books beside him, glancing at his brother every now and then.
If his younger brother's hands or feet are not in the right place, he will carefully adjust them for him so that his brother won't feel uncomfortable.
In the past, Zhao Qinglan would occasionally ask Erwa to help look after her younger brother while she did some chores, but this time it took an especially long time.
Erwa was yawning as she looked at her younger brother, but she still hadn't come back.
Just as Erwa was about to call for his mother to go to the toilet, he smelled a familiar and sweet scent.
He sniffed twice, then his eyes lit up. "Cake!"
Now Erwa even forgot about going to the toilet, only thinking about eating cake.
Zhao Qinglan naturally wouldn't let them eat cake as a meal.
After the eldest child and the youngest child came home from school, the family had lunch and then each of them received a piece of food.
After dividing the ingredients, there was still half left, so she cut another half and had her eldest child take it next door.
Because she studied with Sun Yat-sen for a month, she and Sun Yat-sen, a younger man, developed a relationship that was both teacher and friend.
The three children of the Sun family felt that they were very lucky to be neighbors with Aunt Zhao's family, as they could always eat some delicious food that others could not.
The college entrance examination results have been released amidst everyone's eager anticipation.
Zhao Qinglan and Wei Hong's actual scores were not much different from their estimated scores.
Once the scores were released, they began anxiously awaiting their acceptance letters.
Whenever post office staff came to their military family quarters, they would be followed by a group of people asking them questions.
Among them, Zhao Qinglan remained the most composed.
Sun Wen was often so nervous that he couldn't sleep. Wu Mei said that sometimes the child would dream at night about going to university.
Zhao Qinglan could completely understand Sun Wen and his group's feelings.
Putting aside the present era, getting into university meant guaranteed job placement and a secure livelihood, which could almost change a person's entire life.
Even in later generations, the college entrance examination remains the only opportunity for many people to change their destiny.
If she hadn't experienced so much, she probably would have felt emotionally turbulent because of the college entrance exam.
The Zheng Xiufen couple next door knew that Wei Hong had taken the college entrance examination.
Battalion Commander Qu secretly cursed his ex-wife for being arrogant and ignorant, while Zheng Xiufen hoped that Wei Hong could use this opportunity to pass the exam and leave.
Otherwise, if Wei Hong stays here, people will always compare her to Wei Hong, which she doesn't like.
Wei Hong's hard work finally paid off.
Zhao Qinglan had just put her child to sleep and was taking a nap when she heard Wei Hong's excited voice from outside.
"Qinglan, Qinglan, I passed the exam."
As soon as Zhao Qinglan went outside, she saw Wei Hong holding the admission notice in her hand, her eyes filled with tears.
"Qinglan, I passed the exam."
"That's great!" Zhao Qinglan hugged her friend.
Despite Wei Hong's seemingly calm and composed demeanor throughout her disagreements with Qu Jianshe and their eventual divorce, she remained remarkably composed.
But Zhao Qinglan, perhaps having had a similar experience, could glimpse some of the bitterness in her heart.
Now, Wei Hong has finally found good fortune, and her hardships have finally come to an end.
Wei Hong's shouts were heard by both sides next door.
Wu Mei and Sun Wen both ran out to congratulate her. Zheng Xiufen didn't want to leave the house. She felt relieved but also a little bittersweet.
Wei Hong is really lucky. She couldn't have children and got divorced, but she has friends like Zhao Qinglan and Wu Mei, and now she's even been admitted to university.
Why is everyone else's life so smooth? Looking down at her own belly, she sighed, wondering when she would finally get what she wanted.
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