Chapter 20

Yu Xiangnian looked at Cheng Jingmo’s silly expression and began to tease him, “Cheng Jingmo, are you only eating cucumber soup and rice because you think my cooking isn’t good enough?”

Cheng Jingmo: “…”

He wouldn’t dare to look down on her cooking!

Yu Xiangnian started to lecture him, “We are a family. We should share our joys and sorrows together. We should eat together at the table, and when we encounter problems, we should find solutions together. By doing this, Xiao Jie sees it, too. He doesn’t dare to eat. Do you think this is appropriate?”

“Furthermore, you are the backbone of our family. Both Xiao Jie and I rely on you. If your health deteriorates, what will we do?”

Cheng Jingmo dryly replied, “I’m very healthy.”

Yu Xiangnian thought about his perfect muscles and swallowed her saliva, “I know you’re strong, but you need to avoid being arrogant. Keep it up.”

“Today, the three of us must finish all three dishes, or else I won’t be happy! I won’t be happy, and the consequences will be severe! Do you want to try?”

These were clearly threatening words, but Cheng Jingmo found them strangely comforting.

He picked out two shrimp for Xiao Jie, saying, “Eat more; you’re still growing.”

Yu Xiangnian nodded in satisfaction.

Cheng Jingmo remained modest, eating very little of the fish and shrimp, while Xiao Jie ate to his heart’s content. In the end, the three of them finished all the dishes.

Cheng Jingmo washed the dishes in the kitchen while Yu Xiangnian leisurely ate bananas in the living room.

She had been here for so many days and hadn’t eaten any fruit yet!

Naturally ripened bananas from the tree were better than those ripened with chemicals—sweet and sticky.

At night, Yu Xiangnian took a bath but selfishly didn’t wash her own clothes.

Handwashing clothes was really too painful!

Returning to the bedroom, she was drying her hair with a towel when she suddenly heard a military trumpet sound.

There shouldn’t be a military trumpet at this time, and this time it sounded different from the previous ones.

Yu Xiangnian was about to step out of the bedroom to ask what was happening when she saw Cheng Jingmo run to the bedroom door in military uniform, holding a military cap. “There’s something in the unit. I’m leaving.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know.” Cheng Jingmo said as he turned and ran out the door.

Yu Xiangnian curiously walked outside and saw a large group of soldiers in military green hurriedly running out of the family compound.

Some family members were discussing:

“What happened?”

“How would we know?”

“It’s already bedtime. Why were they called out?”

“You just want to sleep with your man!”

There was laughter among the women.

Yu Xiangnian closed the door and went to sleep. She didn’t wake up until the third military trumpet call the next morning.

Normally, Cheng Jingmo would have returned by this time after making breakfast, but today there was no sign of him.

She knocked on Xiao Jie’s bedroom door and called him to get up.

When Xiao Jie opened the door, Yu Xiangnian glanced inside and saw that Cheng Jingmo wasn’t there.

It seemed he hadn’t come back last night.

It was too late to make breakfast, so Yu Xiangnian and Xiao Jie had a few pastries with boiled water, which barely counted as breakfast.

Yu Xiangnian went to work and didn’t see anyone in military uniform on the way.

It seemed like everyone who had left last night hadn’t come back.

When she arrived at the logistics department, Bai Mei had already started working. Her face was pale, indicating she had a tough time.

Before long, Ding Yunfei came to find her. “Nian Nian, do you know what happened last night?”

“What happened?”

“There were wolves in the bamboo forest behind the mountain!” Ding Yunfei exclaimed dramatically. “Last night, they nearly killed several family members. Fortunately, villagers nearby rushed over and saved them!”

“Bamboo forest!”

Yu Xiangnian thought about Cheng Jingmo going to cut bamboo yesterday. She didn’t know if he went to that bamboo forest.

“Why did those family members go there so late?” she asked.

“Who knows!” Ding Yunfei said. “Last night, our 9th Army went to the mountains to catch a pack of wolves.”

“Then why are you here?”

“We’re responsible for logistics support. As long as logistics are done well,” Ding Yunfei said with a hint of pride, “we don’t have to face those dangerous things directly, which is something to be proud of.”

Yu Xiangnian internally scorned him but patiently asked, “Were the wolves caught?”

“Ding Yunfei! Are you free to slack off here? Everyone is so busy!” The logistics department head, Yin Yuankai, passed by the office door and couldn’t help but scold Ding Yunfei for chatting.

“Oh! Chief, I’ll go busy myself.” Ding Yunfei said and left.

With so many people going to catch the wolf pack, Yu Xiangnian wasn’t worried that Cheng Jingmo would have an accident.

She took out the things she had brought for Bai Mei and swung her hand on her way to Bai Mei’s office.

“Bai Mei, I heard you had diarrhea. Are you feeling better now?” Her tone was full of concern.

Bai Mei bit her lip, suppressing her anger, and forced a smile like usual, “Much better.”

“That’s good. I was planning to visit you yesterday. Brother Ding said it was just a minor illness, nothing serious.”

She placed the soap and snowflake ointment she had brought on Bai Mei’s desk, “These are the things you asked me to bring for you, totaling two coins and six cents.”

Bai Mei was shocked, “…”

Yu Xiangnian was asking her for money! She hadn’t even thought about paying!

Pretending not to notice Bai Mei’s surprise, Yu Xiangnian even took out a few big White Rabbit candies from her pocket and placed them on the table, “I promised you, here are the candies I bought for you. They’re fragrant and sweet. Have them.”

Bai Mei quickly thought of an excuse and said, “Nian Nian, I didn’t bring that much money today. Can I give it to you tomorrow?”

Yu Xiangnian had already anticipated that she would use this excuse, “No need to wait until tomorrow! You forgot today is payday. We’ll go together later to collect our pay, and you can pay me back then.”

I want to see you collect your pay with my own eyes and then give me the money!

Bai Mei failed one plan and tried another, “Nian Nian, it’s like this. I’m a bit tight on cash lately. Can you give me a few days?”

Bai Mei’s experience told her that in a few days, Yu Xiangnian would forget about asking her for money.

Ha! Pretending to be poor, who doesn’t know that trick!

“Sigh!” Yu Xiangnian pretended to look even more pitiful, “Bai Mei, in the past, I understood your difficulties, but not this time. I’m even tighter on cash than you. Look at me, it’s been days, and I haven’t been to a restaurant or bought any clothes.”

In the past, when Yu Xiangnian went out to eat or shop, she would take Bai Mei and Ding Yunfei along and would buy them things when she was in a good mood.

These past two days, Bai Mei had been wondering why Yu Xiangnian hadn’t gone out to eat.

It turned out she was out of money!

“Nian Nian, Deputy Commander Cheng will be paying today, so you’ll have money again.”

Yu Xiangnian really admired her thick-skinned attitude, even thinking about Cheng Jingmo’s money!

“Don’t mention him! The day before yesterday, when I went home to eat, my dad warned me that no one should give me money anymore and that I should be self-sufficient.” Yu Xiangnian couldn’t be bothered to say more, “Bai Mei, with all this talk, are you trying to avoid paying me back?”