For lunch, they made tofu pancakes.

Since cooking takes quite a bit of time, Lin Qingqing decided to make tofu pancakes to pass the time.

But even tofu pancakes are very nutritious; tofu combined with eggs provides rich protein, which is good for both adults and children.

The flour in the tofu pancakes serves as the staple food.

Today, there was a little guest, Ji Yang, so Lin Qingqing prepared four eggs, a whole block of tofu, and two hundred grams of high-gluten flour.

Since Lu Haici was still young, she didn’t feel comfortable letting him handle the fire, so she assigned him the task of mashing the tofu.

“Little Haici, use the back of the spoon to mash the tofu, okay? Press gently and don’t let the tofu spill out,” Lin Qingqing instructed as she placed the cut tofu into a bowl.

Since she was also making a soup later, she planned to keep the tofu pancakes mild in flavor, so she didn’t add any salt.

Then she handed Lu Haici a spoon and placed the bowl and spoon on a stool, letting him stand next to it and mash.

“Okay!” Lu Haici responded cheerfully.

He loved working alongside his mom.

While Lu Haici was mashing the tofu, Lin Qingqing cracked the four eggs.

She added a bit of salt while beating the eggs, then chopped the carrots she bought today.

After that, she lit the fire.

She used the earthen pot for the fire because the old-fashioned iron pan had a dent underneath, making it unsuitable for frying pancakes.

The earthen pot was flat at the bottom, which was perfect for making pancakes.

Once the fire was going and the earthen pot was preheating, Lin Qingqing started preparing the ingredients.

She mixed the beaten eggs with the high-gluten flour and chopped the ingredients for the soup, cutting the cabbage into small pieces and slicing the fried tofu into quarters.

When the earthen pot was hot enough, she poured in some oil.

Once the oil began to bubble, Lu Haici had also finished mashing the tofu.

Lin Qingqing prepared a large soup bowl and mixed the mashed tofu, eggs, high-gluten flour, and carrots together.

When it was well-mixed, she scooped a spoonful of the tofu mixture into the earthen pot and gently pressed it down with the bottom of the spoon to flatten it.

This made the tofu pancake thinner, allowing it to cook faster.

As soon as the first pancake was ready, she continued making the second and third ones…

In modern times, there are pancake-making machines, which are rectangular pans with four circles that can fry four pancakes at once, making them look nice as well.

But in this era, they had to make do with what they had.

One box of tofu, two eggs, and 50 grams of high-gluten flour could make ten tofu pancakes.

While it seemed like a lot, it wasn’t very filling.

Now, with four eggs and 200 grams of high-gluten flour, she could make around twenty tofu pancakes.

When the first one was cooked…

After a while, Lin Qingqing hurriedly used a spatula to lift the tofu pancakes out of the pan.

The golden-brown pancakes looked very appealing, especially with little red carrot bits sprinkled throughout.

The combination of white, gold, and red colors attracted Lu Haici’s attention.

Lu Haici instinctively swallowed and couldn’t take his eyes off the tofu pancakes.

The little one had never seen anything like this before; people in this era rarely put much thought into their food.

Lin Qingqing loved sharing food with others.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have invited the village kids to be little guests when she was a streamer.

So, as soon as the first tofu pancake came out, she placed it in a small bowl. “Lu Haici, come and try it, but be careful; it’s hot.”

“Okay!” Lu Haici responded excitedly.

He quickly picked up the bowl, sniffed it, and found it fragrant.

Then he used his chopsticks to pick up a small piece and, feeling reluctant, took a bite. “Mom, this is really delicious.”

The tofu pancake was crispy on the outside because of the egg and flour, but very tender inside due to the tofu.

Especially with the added carrots, it had a slightly sweet taste.

“It’s delicious! Make sure to eat more when it’s time for dinner,” Lin Qingqing casually said.

There were about twenty of them, enough for the three of them to eat.

“Mom should eat too.” Lu Haici picked up a large piece with his chopsticks and stood on tiptoes, saying, “Mom, open your mouth, ah…”

If it were any other time, Lin Qingqing would definitely dislike sharing the same pair of chopsticks with someone, but this little one was different.

He looked at her with such anticipation; he was clearly reluctant to eat even the small piece he had taken, having only nibbled at the edge, yet he had given her a third of the pancake.

Lin Qingqing opened her mouth: “Thank you, Lu Haici.”

The emotional warmth filled her with happiness; this was what it felt like to be cared for, as if it slowly pulled her childhood loneliness back.

Seeing Lu Haici’s happy expression, she felt her own childhood beginning to brighten.

Lu Haici said cheerfully, “You’re welcome. This is made by Mom; you worked hard.”

In that moment, Lin Qingqing felt that being a mother and having a son wasn’t so bad after all.

She smiled slightly, “Thank you, son.”

Lu Haici was eating the tofu pancake in small bites when he heard Lin Qingqing call him “son.”

His actions paused, and a shy blush crept onto his face, making his eyes slightly red as well.

He picked up a big piece and offered it to Lin Qingqing again: “Mom, eat.”

“Not anymore; you eat it yourself. There will be plenty later,” Lin Qingqing declined.

Once she finished frying the remaining tofu pancakes, Lu Haici had already finished his tofu pancake.

However, he was very well-behaved and didn’t fuss about wanting more; instead, he quietly stood beside Lin Qingqing, watching her.

Of course, Lin Qingqing didn’t give him any more because it was almost time for lunch, and good food should be shared with friends so that everyone can enjoy it together.

“Lu Haici… Lu Haici…” Ji Yang’s voice echoed from the yard.

Before Lu Haici could run out, Xu Huijuan’s voice came from next door: “Ji Yang, why aren’t you going home after school? Why are you over here?”

Since the two families lived next to each other, and Xu Huijuan had heard Ji Yang’s voice, Lin Qingqing could also hear her.

Upon hearing Xu Huijuan’s words, Lin Qingqing couldn’t help but smile.

Although she had only known Ji Yang for a very short time—just since dinner last night—she could tell he was a very lively little kid.

In modern terms, he was quite the character.

Hearing Xu Huijuan’s words, Lin Qingqing said to Lu Haici, “Haici, go tell Ji Yang’s mom that since Ji Yang helped you today, and you accidentally caused him to get hurt, you want to invite him to lunch.”

“Okay.” Lu Haici nodded and jogged outside.

In the yard, upon hearing Xu Huijuan’s words, Ji Yang’s little cannonball-like figure came to a halt.

He shouted, “Mom, today Lu Haici’s mom said she’s going to treat me to lunch, so I’m not going home to eat.”

His voice was full of pride; he felt very proud to be invited out for a meal, and his little chest puffed out.

Xu Huijuan quickly said, “You need to come home for dinner! Mom will make you something delicious tomorrow.”

Ji Yang replied, “I’m eating at Lu Haici’s house today. I’ll come back for dinner.” Since his mom would also be making good food tomorrow, he was a clever little guy.

Xu Huijuan grew anxious; she really didn’t want to get too close to the Lu family or Lin Qingqing.

Lin Qingqing had offended the wife of Commander Qin today, and this matter was far from over.

Moreover, Commander Qin was about to get promoted; offending his wife at this time was truly unwise. “Ji Yang, you need to listen to your mom. If you do, I’ll make you something delicious right now,” she said.

Ji Yang pouted, looking a bit unwilling.

At that moment, Lu Haici ran out: “Aunt Ji, thank you for helping me today, Ji Yang! I’m sorry for causing you to get hurt. My mom said we want to invite Ji Yang to lunch to thank him. My mom made really, really delicious tofu pancakes— the best kind!”

Thinking of the taste of the tofu pancakes, Lu Haici couldn’t help but swallow.

Now, Ji Yang, upon hearing this, didn’t care about Xu Huijuan anymore and hurriedly ran towards the kitchen: “I’m going to eat at Lu Haici’s house today!”

Lu Haici’s family was having dinner.

Ji Yang hadn’t been this lively before; it was only after receiving Xu Huijuan’s genuine affection over the past six months that he became so cheerful.

Now, in front of Xu Huijuan, he had grown quite bold.

This is how children are—when they know who treats them well, they tend to push their luck.

Xu Huijuan felt helpless.

She was reluctant to be strict with Ji Yang due to her fondness for him, but she couldn’t really let Ji Yang eat at the Lu family’s house.

Having been reborn, she just wanted to be a military wife without attracting gossip.

So, Xu Huijuan took over some vegetables.

Lin Qingqing had already made tofu pancakes and was preparing cabbage and fried tofu soup.

Since the fried tofu itself contained oil, and the clay pot had leftover oil from frying the pancakes, she used less oil when making the soup.

While waiting for the oil to heat up, she chopped a few green onions from the market and sautéed them in the skillet for a few seconds.

If this were modern times, she would add bean paste to bring out its aroma, but since there was no bean paste, she simply added chopped cabbage and then the fried tofu in small pieces, followed by the cooking sauce.

The sauce was simple: just half a bowl of water, two tablespoons of soy sauce, and half a tablespoon of white sugar, mixed together, and that was it.

After adding the sauce, she poured in an appropriate amount of water, making sure it didn’t exceed the level of the cabbage.

“It smells so good…”

Ji Yang stood at the kitchen door, not daring to enter as he wasn’t familiar with Lin Qingqing. “Auntie, what are you making?” he asked.

Lu Haici replied, “My mom is making tofu pancakes.”

Lin Qingqing smiled and said, “You two go to the living room and sit tight. Once you can count to one hundred, you can eat!”

Upon hearing this, Ji Yang’s little face fell. “Auntie, we can’t count.”

Lu Haici chimed in, “Mom, I can count to ten!”

Lin Qingqing led them outside, saying, “No problem, I’ll teach you how to count.”

As they entered the living room, Xu Huijuan arrived with a basket. “Comrade Lin, I’m sorry the kids are being naughty and want to eat here. This is just some homegrown vegetables, worth very little, but I brought them to add to your meal.”