Chapter 181 Old is good, old is fragrant
The sun had just passed its zenith.
The enticing aroma of mutton wafted from the drying ground in front of the cooperative.
The large iron pot was bubbling with chunks of mutton, some fat and some lean, with oil bubbling on the surface of the soup, mixed with the pungent aroma of scallions and ginger slices, which could seep into every household through the cracks in the door.
"It's finally ready!"
Grandma Gao's son stirred the pot with a long-handled iron ladle, and large chunks of mutton tumbled in the broth, making the aroma even stronger and filling people's noses.
The aunties, smelling the aroma, held up their large porcelain bowls, their mouths watering, and they chased each other to line up and wait.
The sea breeze carried the aroma of mutton, causing the oil lamp on the stove to flicker.
Aunt Liu carried a large, rough porcelain bowl and served meat to each child one by one. The aroma of the meat clung to her blue apron, making the triplets next to her swallow hard.
"Give Aunt Zhang two more pieces with the skin on!" she said in a loud voice. As she scooped up the mutton with her iron spoon, the oil dripped into the bowl, and the aroma made everyone in the drying yard smile.
The triplets squatted in the corner, holding bowls. As soon as they took a bite of mutton, the fat dripped down their lips. They smacked their lips and inhaled deeply, savoring the fresh and savory aroma mixed with the meaty fragrance, which warmed them from the tip of their tongues to their stomachs.
They had been eating vegetarian food every day in that paradise-like place for a whole year, and they were craving meat so badly that they finished off the mutton and soup in their bowls in just a few bites.
The shirtless young men picked up pieces of lean meat with their chopsticks, chewed slowly, and grinned from ear to ear: "Did this sheep graze on the back mountain? The meat is definitely different!"
Someone snatched a piece of chewy meat, crunching it loudly. The aroma of the meat mingled with his laughter, wafting through the air, hitting the newspaper-covered wall, and then falling down with the heat of the room.
Ling Huanwu sat by the stove, using the firelight to do accounts with an abacus. She sniffed the air and her gaze fell on the few shirtless young men who were laughing non-stop, their muscles jiggling.
As Zhou Jiuzhen brought over the mutton, he saw Ling Huanwu staring at the young men. He pursed his lips and his eyes darkened.
"What are you looking at? Hurry up and eat something. I picked out a few tender pieces with the skin on for you."
As Zhou Jiuzhen spoke, he sat down next to Ling Huanwu, sitting upright. His cold eyes swept over the few laughing young men opposite them, and in front of them, he picked up a piece of mutton and brought it to Ling Huanwu's mouth.
Despite the freezing weather, the young men, shirtless and laughing, flexing their chests, felt the temperature around them plummet several degrees. Even the steaming hot mutton soup couldn't dispel the chill that crept up their bare chests.
The young people looked up, confused, only to meet Zhou Jiuzhen's hawk-like eyes. Startled, they quickly grabbed their mutton soup and fled.
Zhou Jiuzhen fed Ling Huanwu piece by piece of mutton, and Ling Huanwu ate quickly, while her hands never stopped moving as she calculated on the abacus.
"These young people nowadays are really something. They don't even wear clothes when it's 7 or 8 degrees Celsius, just to show off how strong they are..."
He glared at the departing young men, gritting his teeth, but when he turned his head and saw the guard, Xiao Wang, his words abruptly stopped.
The guard, Xiao Wang, who had come to freeload a meal thanks to him, put the mutton soup he was holding on the wall, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and began to unbutton his military uniform, revealing his muscular upper body.
"Wow, this mutton soup is really good! I'm sweating all over after drinking it..."
Zhou Jiuzhen's eyes were bloodshot. He turned his head and saw Ling Huanwu's fingers, which were moving the abacus, pause. She looked at the guard Xiao Wang with a meaningful gaze. He was so angry that he silently gripped the rim of the large porcelain bowl containing mutton soup.
"Xiao Wang, you've been working out really well!"
As Ling Huanwu turned the last abacus, recording the data, she couldn't help but tease the guard who was a few years younger than her.
Lin Xiaoqin sat not far away, chewing on the fragrant mutton, but her eyes were taking in Xiao Wang's great figure, which was full of pupils. She nodded repeatedly in agreement with Ling Huanwu's praise, "Indeed, he must have worked very hard to get that figure!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Qiao Hui, who had been eating happily, dropped his chopsticks and stared at the grinning Xiao Wang with hostility, as if he wanted to devour him alive.
But Xiao Wang was completely oblivious to the death stares from the two men. He didn't even bother to eat his mutton. Under the astonished gazes of the aunties and girls, he kept changing poses to show off his biceps and flaunt his good physique.
Amidst the laughter and applause of the aunties.
Ling Huanwu was also caught up in the atmosphere and was amused by the funny guard Xiao Wang, laughing heartily and clapping so hard her hands almost broke.
She was completely unaware that Zhou Jiuzhen's face beside her looked as sour as if it were a leftover meat bun.
It was late at night.
The moonlight outside the window was so faint that it was just a thin veil.
Zhou Jiuzhen's aura carried the lingering smell of gunpowder from the daytime. As it pressed down heavily, Ling Huanwu felt a coolness against the wooden headboard behind her back, while her front was surprisingly hot.
Just now, she was thinking of going to Aunt Liu's house to ask her in detail how they had been living in the space for the past year.
But Zhou Jiuzhen kept a straight face and pouted, refusing to let her go.
His appearance was simply a combination of the taciturn 23-year-old Zhou Jiuzhen and the coquettish 18-year-old Zhou Jiuzhen.
Ling Huanwu had no choice but to close the cooperative's door and have a heart-to-heart talk with him to figure out how she had opened the space and how Aunt Liu and the others had managed to come out on their own.
Before she could finish speaking, he pulled her straight to the point.
Zhou Jiuzhen didn't speak, his chin resting against her neck, his breath sweeping over her skin with undeniable force.
The wind lifted a corner of the curtain, and the moonlight that shone through fell precisely on his taut jawline.
Ling Huanwu reached out to touch him, but he grabbed her wrist and pressed it above her head.
His kiss was urgent and deep, carrying a restrained possessiveness.
The bedding gradually became haphazard, and Ling Huanwu's breathing also became disordered.
The sound of the sea breeze outside the window had stopped at some point, leaving only the sound of breathing inside the tent, like water overflowing a dam in spring, gently washing over every part of the body.
Ling Huanwu was dizzy and confused, not understanding why this person was acting so differently today, but the way he bit her earlobe made her unable to think clearly.
The moonlight slid in a little more, illuminating the turbulent undercurrent in his eyes, where there was a stubbornness she couldn't understand, yet it made her feel both uneasy and inexplicably at peace.
In the latter half of the night, Ling Huanwu was so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open. She could only lean softly against him and listen to his steady heartbeat.
He suddenly leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Is it better to be young or old?"
Ling Huanwu replied to him unconsciously, still half asleep, "Young is good..."
To her surprise, just that one sentence caused her another problem, and she had to change her tune in the end, saying, "Old is good, old is fragrant!"
Only then was the man satisfied and let her go.
The next morning.
Ling Huanwu went to the dock to deliver goods with panda eyes.
Wang Guihua and Lin Xiaoqin were both startled when they saw her.
"Did you stay up all night again to inventory the goods or patrol all night? Your body can't take this kind of work. You should hire a few security guards to live in the cooperative from now on."
Lin Xiaoqin put her arm around her waist with heartache, and the pressure on her waist made her weak waist almost unable to support her small body.
Wang Guihua, equally distressed, immediately reached out to take her pulse, saying, "Let me take a look. If you have insomnia, I'll prescribe some medicine for you."
But this one touch had a serious effect. After taking her pulse, the mother-in-law's face fell, scaring Ling Huanwu and Lin Xiaoqin so much that their faces turned pale.
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