Just as she was lost in thought, she arrived at the shipyard's residential compound. People from the compound were either buying groceries on their way home or playing with their children nearby. They greeted her when they saw her.
"Yu Yao and Commander Lu are here. Are they here to see your parents?"
Yu Yao smiled and nodded, greeting the people.
Upon arriving at the Wu family's house, Cui Zhizhou was killing a chicken in the courtyard.
He clearly hadn't done this kind of work much before; he stood there holding the chicken for a long time, unsure where to begin. The chicken kept flapping its wings in his hands.
Wu Huaiqing stood aside. He wasn't very good at killing chickens, and he was also a little afraid of live, sharp-beaked animals, but he still braced himself and said, "Uncle, why don't you let me do it?"
“Your hands are shaking even more than mine, let me do it.” Cui Zhizhou mercilessly exposed Wu Huaiqing’s mistake, took a deep breath, and was about to grab the still flapping hen when he suddenly heard the sound of a bicycle bell.
"Dad, brother, we're back."
Yu Yao released her grip on Lu Ze's hand and jumped off the bicycle.
Lu Ze secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Even riding a bicycle in the dead of winter, the commander, who was always number one in physical fitness, was sweating.
When Cui Zhizhou saw Yu Yao arrive, he shoved the knife and chicken in his hand into Wu Huaiqing's hand and went to greet Yu Yao.
Wu Huaiqing was caught off guard when a chicken was stuffed into his hand. He almost threw the chicken away, but then he remembered that his sister was still there and he couldn't let his brother lose his share. So, he endured the tingling sensation on his scalp and grabbed the chicken.
"My sister's here." His voice trembled slightly as he greeted Yu Yao stiffly.
Cui Zhizhou looked at Yu Yao with a worried expression: "I heard from the shipyard that you encountered wild wolves on the mountain. Were you hurt?"
Yu Yao shook her head, "No, luckily Lu Ze and the others arrived in time, and my sisters-in-law and I had a false alarm."
As for the perilous situation of being besieged along the way, Yu Yao didn't mention it much. Anyway, the matter was already over, and talking about it would only make them worry unnecessarily.
Cui finally breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. I didn't dare tell your mother about this, afraid she would worry. It's good that you're alright. Come inside quickly, your mother has dried some fresh sweet potatoes for you."
Yu Yao's eyes lit up when she heard there was food, but she suddenly noticed Wu Huaiqing's strange behavior: "Brother, what's wrong with your hands? Why are they shaking so badly?"
Wu Huaiqing looked at his hand, which resembled that of someone with Parkinson's disease, and said calmly, "It's nothing, I just accidentally got a cramp while killing a chicken. It's definitely not because I was scared."
“Yu Yao, don’t listen to his nonsense. He’s just afraid of sharp-beaked animals and doesn’t dare to kill chickens.” Cui Zhizhou exposed her without any mercy.
"Uncle..." Wu Huaiqing was a little embarrassed. Didn't he have any pride in front of his sister?
Yu Yao suddenly realized and couldn't help but laugh: "Brother, it's nothing to be afraid of sharp-beaked animals, no need to be brave."
Lu Ze stepped forward and took the hen from Wu Huaiqing's hand. "I'll kill the chicken."
Seeing Lu Ze take the chicken away, Wu Huaiqing wiped the sweat from his forehead, patted Lu Ze on the shoulder, and said, "Well, I'll leave it to my brother-in-law."
Lu Ze looked up and glanced at him in surprise.
This was the first time his brother-in-law had called him "brother-in-law," which meant he acknowledged him.
Wu Huaiqing coughed twice, "I'll go get a bowl to collect the chicken blood."
Yu Yao and Cui Zhizhou entered the living room. Wu Wanying was busy making dinner in the kitchen and couldn't get away. Hearing the voice, she knew it was her and said to Cui Zhizhou, "Zhizhou, the dried sweet potatoes I made for Zhizhi are in the cabinet next to the coffee table. Take them to Zhizhi and Lu Ze."
"I know." Cui Zhizhou opened the cabinet and took out a lot of food from it one after another. "This bag is dried sweet potato that your mother dried. The other two boxes contain preserved plums and hawthorn strips."
"Dad, I'll eat later. I picked a lot of wild vegetables on the mountain today. I'll take them to the kitchen first."
Yu Yao carried a basket of things to the kitchen. "Mom, these are the wild vegetables I picked up on the mountain today. I also brought you some crab sauce, dried shrimp, and dried oysters that I'm making."
Wu Wanying smiled when she saw the wild vegetables: "It's been a long time since I've eaten such fresh wild vegetables, and there are quite a few varieties. Mom will make you two of her signature cold dishes in a bit."
Yu Yao saw a lot of ingredients laid out on the cutting board, including fish, meat, and various seafood, and asked in surprise, "What day is it today? Why have you prepared so many ingredients?"
Wu Wanying smiled and said, "Of course it's to celebrate for you. You silly girl, you didn't even tell me that you passed the final of the canned food R&D competition. If your brother hadn't mentioned it, I would still be in the dark."
"Mom, the finals aren't over yet; this is just the first stage," Yu Yao explained.
“I thought it was over. Look at my memory, I forgot to ask your brother one more question.” Wu Wanying changed the subject. “But it’s okay. Passing the first round of the finals is still a great achievement and worth celebrating. My daughter is such a good cook, she’ll definitely be fine in the finals. We’ll celebrate again when you win the championship.”
Hearing this, Yu Yao felt a lump in her throat.
She's actually someone who really enjoys sharing her joy and values rituals. In the past, whenever something good happened, she'd cook a delicious meal to celebrate.
Wu Wanying and Cui Zhizhou have always been very frugal. Unless it's an important day or they have guests, they usually eat very simple meals. But now they are willing to change their habits for her.
Behind all these changes is the importance and care shown to her.
"Alright, you go out and eat some sweet potato chips first. Leave the kitchen to Mom." Wu Wanying busied herself chopping vegetables and preparing ingredients.
As Yu Yao watched Wu Wanying's busy figure, she suddenly felt a lump in her throat and wanted to hug her.
She decided to do the same.
Wu Wanying was taken aback when Yu Yao suddenly hugged her. After a moment, she gently patted Yu Yao's hand and asked, "What's wrong? Did you have a fight with Lu Ze or did you run into problems at work?"
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