Chapter 38.2

Once Gu Qinghan left, Wen Nuan carried Lele on her back to the refrigerated storage room for ingredients. The cold storage in this era was not very large, but it was filled with various vegetables, as well as some apples and pears that could be stored for a while.

Just recording the inventory of these vegetables took up the entire morning. Fortunately, the little one was relatively well-behaved; there was only one diaper change, and she didn’t fuss too much. Later, around ten o’clock, Gu Qinghan returned.

He directly picked Lele up and said he would take her to the regiment’s office, where there was space for her to play.

Gu Qinghan carried the child away. Wen Nuan simply went to the kitchen to see if there was anything that needed assistance. She noticed some potatoes were still uncut, so she picked up a knife and sliced the remaining ten or so potatoes into thin strips.

Lao Zhong watched Wen Nuan’s deft knife skills. He initially wanted to say something, but under the gaze of the Quartermaster, he merely curled his lips and scoffed, “What? I just wanted to see how well she cuts, it’s not like I’m going to eat her.”

Wen Nuan paid no attention to him. After finishing with the potatoes, she helped wash some greens.

While the cooking team was stir-frying dishes, she moved around behind them. Since the flight kitchen practiced frying lard every day, if she noticed they were adding too much, Wen Nuan would give them a reminder. She also checked what seasonings they were using. The seasonings here were quite comprehensive, suitable for frying, stewing, braising, and deep-frying.

She kept busy until noon when the flight crew arrived in groups to eat at the flight kitchen. The Quartermaster immediately sought out the few people who had eaten Wen Nuan’s breakfast that morning, asking, “Comrades, did anyone throw up this morning?”

The flight crew laughed. “What do you mean by throwing up? If one didn’t know better, they’d think we were all collectively pregnant.”

“Damn it, I vomited worse this morning than my wife did during her pregnancy, alright? I just got off the roller and threw up all over the place. Deputy Captain Gu didn’t even let me fly.”

“I didn’t throw up today; I flew a normal round at nine and even went back on the roller afterward.”

“I didn’t throw up either; I felt just right. After flying a round, I’m starving. I could eat a whole cow right now!”

Upon hearing this, the Quartermaster asked the two who claimed they didn’t throw up, “Comrades, what did you have for breakfast this morning?”

As expected, the ones who didn’t throw up had eaten one of the breakfasts prepared by Wen Nuan.

Lao Zhong couldn’t hide his embarrassment but pretended to be deaf.

There weren’t many people on the flight team since everyone had training in the afternoon. They came to the cafeteria early, and after eating, they would return for a nap.

Wen Nuan prepared her specialty dish, braised pork, as her first meal to showcase her cooking skills upon joining.

She had just prevented the kitchen from cooking the fatty pork for the flight crew, as such greasy food was not suitable for them before their afternoon flights. Instead, Wen Nuan transformed the braised pork into braised ribs.

The mouthwatering aroma of the braised pork filled the entire kitchen. Having worked hard all morning, everyone was already hungry and nearly eager to grab the pot and dig in.

However, Wen Nuan handed the amber-colored braised pork to Lao Zhong, saying, “Want to give it a try?”

Lao Zhong didn’t want to acknowledge her, but the caramelized fragrance wafted into his nostrils, and in the end, he couldn’t resist. He accepted the chopsticks handed to him by the Quartermaster and picked up a piece.

Seeing that Lao Zhong had taken some, the Quartermaster quickly grabbed two pieces for himself, mixing them into his rice and enjoying the meal.

The sauce for the braised pork was made by Wen Nuan herself. The marbled meat pieces were soaked in a tempting amber color, the lean parts tender and fluffy, while the fatty parts glistened. With one bite, every inch of the meat was infused with flavor; the taste of the sauce was impeccable.

Lao Zhong regretted not taking more; damn, it was so delicious!

Wen Nuan smiled and asked, “How is it? I hope it won’t embarrass our cooking team.”

The Quartermaster slammed his hand on the table, still munching on a piece of steaming pork, his words muffled, “You’re right. You’re clearly the pride of our cooking team…”

The Quartermaster nudged the silent Lao Zhong with his shoulder. “Lao Zhong, don’t you think so?”

Lao Zhong chewed on the meat, nodding vaguely, “It’s alright.”

The Quartermaster teased him, “If it’s delicious, just say it’s delicious. What’s this ‘alright’ business? Our cooking team is the backbone of the flight crew, all working hard for the benefit of our comrades. Lao Zhong, you should save some energy to cook your own dishes. From now on, you can just trust Wen Nuan with the weekly menu.”

Lao Zhong huffed, “I’m just a cook; whoever wants to think of the menu can do it. It’s better than having me lose my hair over it.”

After saying that, he took the opportunity to grab another piece of braised pork with his chopsticks, not knowing what seasonings Wen Nuan used that made it taste even better than his own cooking.

The Quartermaster shot Wen Nuan a look. “Wen Nuan, you’ll be in charge of the menu next week. Remember to give it to me by Saturday.”

Wen Nuan smiled, “Sure, no problem.”

Gu Qinghan had already taken Lele to have lunch, so he brought the child to the kitchen to check on Wen Nuan’s work and see if she was too busy.

To his surprise, he found her sitting at the dining table in the cooking team’s kitchen, surrounded by everyone who was praising her cooking.

Although he internally wished that Wen Nuan wouldn’t have to work, especially since Lele was still so young and needed someone to help care for her. He also knew that Wen Nuan had to wake up early and work late, which must be exhausting.

His salary wasn’t enough to support both of them, but seeing Wen Nuan happy seemed to satisfy him.

Moreover, he found that he was spending more time with her every day.

—o—o—o—

At noon, Wen Nuan followed Gu Qinghan to her office to rest for a while. Lele had fallen asleep on the sofa in his office quite early.

Wen Nuan had originally planned to make a trip to their Air Force training base to collect their physical examination reports, but Gu Qinghan had already brought them to her.

That was good; it saved her a trip.

Gu Qinghan wrapped his arms around Wen Nuan’s waist and lay sideways on a longer sofa, asking her, “Are you tired?”

Wen Nuan leaned against his chest and smiled, “I’m fine, but I still need you to watch over Lele, the little guy.”

Then Wen Nuan added, “But I don’t need to tomorrow; the Quartermaster asked me to come to the kitchen later. He even prepared a workspace for me, and it’s quite spacious. When I’m not in the back kitchen, I can play with Lele there.”

Gu Qinghan responded with an “Mm,” then sniffed at her shoulder before asking, “What are you going to do this afternoon?”

Wen Nuan sighed and closed her eyes, answering, “I’m going to the hospital to check on your results.”

Each pilot’s physical examination report contained some small suggestions, but she still needed to ask for some vitamins. She had heard that the flight crew would also be flying at night in the summer, which had very high visual requirements. Dietary remedies probably wouldn’t be enough; they needed some vitamins too.

Wen Nuan smiled and adjusted her position, saying, “I’ll also check to see if that girl Qinglan is slacking off.”

Gu Qinghan pulled her tighter into his embrace, wrapping her in his coat. “Rest for a while; I’ll call you later.”

—o—o—o—

In the afternoon, Wen Nuan rode her bicycle to the hospital.

She had just bumped into Gu Qinglan when she said, “Sister-in-law, what brings you here? I’m a bit busy today. Are you looking for me?”

“Lele, have you been good? Be a good girl for your Mommy. Auntie will buy you some candy tonight.”

Lele perked up at the mention of candy, kicking her legs and giggling with excitement at the prospect.

Wen Nuan understood that Gu Qinglan was busy, so she didn’t chat for long. She asked, “No, I just came to ask the doctor a few questions.”

Gu Qinglan frowned slightly, looking at Wen Nuan. “That’s unfortunate, sister-in-law. There have been a lot of people with fevers and colds these past few days, especially children. They’re all waiting to see the doctor.”

Wen Nuan had just come from the hospital on the flight team’s side. Besides two orthopedic doctors, the other doctors were either attending a conference in the capital or were at other hospitals providing support. It seemed many people had caught colds due to the changing seasons from winter to spring.

Not wanting to disturb Gu Qinglan further, Wen Nuan said, “Then you take care of your work. I’ll see you later, sister-in-law.”

Gu Qinglan smiled, “Okay, I’ll come to your house tonight. No need to cook for me; I’ll eat in the cafeteria first.”

After saying that, she hurried away, clearly in a rush.

Wen Nuan couldn’t find an available doctor, so she decided to head back to the flight kitchen cafeteria.

She initially thought about doing some kitchen work, but the Quartermaster had specifically mentioned during lunch that Wen Nuan’s role was as a nutritionist, and she was not required to handle kitchen tasks.

Now that she was seen carrying a chubby little toddler, there was even less reason for her to lend a hand. It was better for her to simply provide guidance from the side.

By 5:30 PM, the Quartermaster told Wen Nuan that she could go home early and that she didn’t need to accompany them for the night shift.

Wen Nuan felt a bit embarrassed at first, but everyone had said that the female staff at the ground service kitchen typically got off work a bit earlier. So she took Lele and prepared to leave.

For several consecutive days, her tasks mainly involved writing menus and occasionally helping out in the kitchen, though not too often.

Slowly, the staff from the adjacent ground service kitchen and the logistics kitchen learned that Wen Nuan wasn’t really doing much work at all in the cooking team. She would just stroll around the cafeteria each day and leave early to go home.

Everyone was curious about what exactly Wen Nuan was doing, wondering how she could be so leisurely while working in the cafeteria.

With such an easy job, why did it fall to her?

While everyone was intrigued, some also felt a bit annoyed. After all, who couldn’t just stroll around the cafeteria?

That day, as Wen Nuan pushed her bicycle out after work, she saw Li Qiuyan coming out from the flight kitchen’s chicken coop, holding an enamel basin that looked like she had just been feeding the chickens.

Wen Nuan had intended to greet her, but after  Li Qiuyan glanced at her she turned her head and left right away.