Commander Gao also agreed: "Comrade Yu is indeed a rare talent."
Zhu Dan had just finished talking to Yu Yao when she heard Commander Gao and Chief of Staff Wang's conversation. She couldn't help but say, "You're too late. I heard that Comrade Yu was just promoted to foreman of the new production line. You want to compete with Wang Mingyang for her? I doubt it."
"Besides, Yu Yao was doing just fine. It's not fair of you to bring her here to start a side business where she has nothing."
“That makes sense.” Division Commander Zheng nodded. “Let’s discuss this matter further and talk about it after the New Year.”
Commander Gao and Chief of Staff Wang didn't say anything, just nodded, "Let's go, let's try this buffet too."
After all the dishes were placed on the long table, there was basically nothing else to do. The quartermaster arranged for two soldiers to come and help replenish the dishes, and everyone else was free to move around.
Su Meihua, Sun Yu, and Yin Susu waved to Yu Yao: "Yu Yao, let's go to the back of the cafeteria to get aluminum lunch boxes."
Yu Yao thought for a moment, "You guys go ahead, I'll go find the quartermaster and talk to him about delivering meals to the patrol soldiers."
Upon hearing this, Su Meihua and the others stopped in their tracks: "Yu Yao, it's definitely not enough for you to go alone. Let's go and help together."
Sun Yu also said, "Yes, we'll go help too."
Yin Susu and Ge Jinhua both nodded: "During the Spring Festival, everyone can have a happy New Year's Eve thanks to the hard work of these comrades. We can't let these most lovable people patrol on an empty stomach."
Other military spouses nearby, upon hearing this, also expressed their willingness to help.
Looking at the sincere eyes of everyone, Yu Yao nodded happily: "Let's go together."
"Let's go together!" everyone agreed.
Yu Yao and her group of seven or eight people found the quartermaster behind the auditorium, who was instructing the young soldiers on matters.
Chen Xu was somewhat surprised to see them: "Comrade Yu, why didn't you go to the buffet with them?"
Yu Yao said, "It's like this, our New Year's Eve dinner team wants to deliver food to the patrol team members, so that they can't patrol on an empty stomach."
Chen Xu smiled and said, "That's perfect, we were just about to bring them food, let's all go together."
There were a dozen or so people pushing four or five small carts with several wooden buckets on them, each containing food specially reserved for the patrolling soldiers.
Each bucket exuded a rich aroma. Everyone present had been busy all day, and their stomachs were growling with hunger. They couldn't help but swallow hard when they smelled the aroma.
But everyone tacitly tolerated it, and no one complained.
When they arrived at the handover point for the patrol team, Song Yiming and his men were about to board the ship and head out to sea when the quartermaster and his men hurriedly sped up.
"Company Commander Song, wait!"
Hearing the voice, Song Yiming turned around, smiled, and said, "Sister-in-law, what brings you here?"
Yu Yao said breathlessly, "Today is New Year's Eve, we'll bring you the New Year's Eve dinner."
"Sister-in-law, you're too kind. We brought potatoes and cabbage. We can just cook them up and eat them when we get on the boat."
"No way, Company Commander Song. You went out on patrol so that we could have a proper New Year's Eve. How can we just watch you eat cabbage and potatoes? We brought our New Year's Eve dinner with us; it's on the cart."
Ge Jinhua pointed to the cart.
Song Yiming and the young soldier behind him then noticed the covered wooden barrel on the cart, and the quartermaster opened the barrel containing roast goose.
A rich aroma of meat wafted over, and all the patrolling soldiers swallowed hard, then looked at Song Yiming and called out "Company Commander" with longing eyes.
The roast geese were neatly arranged, their reddish-brown skin glistening with oil, looking very crispy.
This smells amazing!
The quartermaster smiled and lifted the lid of the chicken stew with mushrooms.
The fragrance in the air became even stronger.
The golden-yellow Wenchang chicken was cut into pieces, surrounded by a pile of fresh mushrooms of various colors, including golden, red, white, and brown, unique to the islands. The yellow broth, with its savory aroma, kept wafting into everyone's noses.
Soldiers who had just disembarked near the port couldn't help but look over. Upon seeing the food in the wooden buckets, they realized it was tonight's New Year's Eve dinner. Without even changing their clothes, they dashed towards the auditorium.
Song Yiming simply couldn't bring himself to refuse.
He knew better than anyone else that these dishes were all personally instructed by Sister-in-law Yu Yao to be prepared, and that no dish prepared by Sister-in-law Yu Yao was ever bad.
This is his third year on the island, and he has signed up for patrol every New Year's Eve.
In the past three years, he has gone from a clueless recruit to the leader of his patrol team.
Every New Year's Eve, while thousands of homes on the island are brightly lit and bustling with activity, he and his comrades drift on the dark sea.
Only the ship's lights and the stars in the sky kept me company.
Sometimes, due to limited resources, they couldn't even get hot potatoes and cabbage to eat, and could only gnaw on hard, dry steamed buns.
None of the soldiers on patrol complained; as they ate their cold, hard steamed buns, their hearts were warmed.
Because they know that their sacrifice can ensure that more people can have a lively New Year.
But today, seeing the New Year's Eve dinner brought by my sisters-in-law despite their hunger, even the toughest man couldn't help but shed tears.
"Thank you, ladies and quartermaster. I accept this on behalf of the patrol team. Thank you everyone."
After speaking, Song Yiming saluted the crowd.
The young soldiers behind him saw this and also saluted in unison, saying, "Thank you, everyone!"
Yu Yao and the others exchanged glances and returned the greeting: "No need to thank us, comrades, you've worked hard."
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
