Lin Qingqing brought rice and clams to the cooking class of the third platoon.

She chose a small stove, put the rice and chopped clam meat together into a pot, and began to cook porridge.

The cafeteria had the advantage of having enough stoves, so even if she used one, the remaining stoves were sufficient for others to prepare breakfast.

Today, the breakfast at the third platoon’s cafeteria was sweet potato porridge.

Lin Qingqing didn’t have to arrange the breakfast menu, as there were only a few types of grains available, and there wasn’t much variety to plan.

It wasn’t yet eight o’clock; around seven-thirty, the cafeteria welcomed its first customer… Lu Haici, the little boy. Lu Haici didn’t bring a lunchbox today because everyone in their family was eating in the cafeteria, so their lunchboxes were all left there.

Lu Haici quickly made his way to the back of the cafeteria and saw his mother washing things. “Mom…” Lu Haici called out.

Lin Qingqing and Qi Shao were washing cabbage for lunch. Upon hearing Lu Haici’s voice, Lin Qingqing turned around and noticed that the little boy was dressed neatly, with his clothes on correctly, front and back, and inside out not mixed up, which was quite impressive. “Are you hungry? I’ll get you some porridge; let it cool down a bit.”

“I’m not hungry.” Lu Haici shook his head. “I want to eat with Mom.”

Lin Qingqing gently replied, “You eat first. You still have to go to kindergarten after this. If you wait for me to eat together, you’ll be late for kindergarten, okay?”

“Comrade Lin, you go eat,” Qi Shao said. “Let’s take a break and go eat. The comrades from the platoon will be arriving soon, and we won’t have time to eat later.”

Hearing Qi Shao say this, Lin Qingqing didn’t refuse.

While others ate the cafeteria’s sweet potato porridge, Lin Qingqing served Lu Haici a bowl of the clam seafood porridge she had made.

Although she only put a little clam meat in it, after soaking and chopping it up, it looked like a lot.

She served herself a bowl as well and didn’t sit with Qi Shao and the others but instead joined Lu Haici to eat.

The little boy ate slowly, blowing on each spoonful of porridge because the freshly cooked clam porridge was still a bit hot.

“Mom, why was I on the small bed when I woke up today?” Lu Haici asked, looking puzzled.

He was surprised to find himself on the small bed when he woke up.

Lin Qingqing replied, “Why do you think?”

“Hmm…” Lu Haici pondered for a moment, then suddenly seemed to realize something.

His face turned a little red as he asked, “Mom, did I wet the bed?”

Pfft…

Lin Qingqing nearly spat out the porridge in her mouth, surprised at his line of thought. “Why would you think that?”

Lu Haici shyly glanced at Lin Qingqing, then lowered his head again.

“I… I wet the bed when I was little too. When I did, my aunt would carry me to bed, so… so when I woke up, I was in a different bed.” His voice grew softer and more embarrassed.

Just thinking about the fact that he was already grown up and still wet the bed made his little face turn even redder.

Lin Qingqing hadn’t expected that the little guy had this kind of reasoning.

But Lu Cheng had said that he went to the small bed because he was hot.

At the time, she hadn’t thought much of it in her groggy state, but now that she thought about it, how could a five-year-old just run to the small bed on their own?

Even Lin Qingqing, no matter how dense she was, knew that it was Lu Cheng who had carried him there.

However, she didn’t care about their father-son power struggle; she actually found it quite amusing.

After finishing breakfast, Lu Haici went to kindergarten by himself.

Lin Qingqing and Liu Honghua went to the back of the canteen to continue washing the cabbage, which was the vegetable for lunch.

“Deputy Captain Lu, here’s your breakfast.” When Qi Shao saw Lu Cheng in line, he handed him the lunch box that Lin Qingqing had prepared earlier, saying, “This is breakfast prepared by Comrade Lin for you.”

Lu Cheng took the lunch box and asked, “What about her?”

Qi Shao replied, “She’s in the back preparing lunch.”

Upon hearing Qi Shao mention the lunch, the soldiers nearby immediately asked, “Squad Leader Qi, what are we having for lunch?”

“Yeah, can you give us a hint?”

Qi Shao smiled slightly, “We’re having cabbage.”

“Cut it out…”

Qi Shao’s smile faded, “I’m serious, we’re really having cabbage.”

The soldiers fell silent.

They were actually looking forward to lunch, but upon hearing it was cabbage, their anticipation vanished.

After yesterday’s two meals, they had built up too many expectations for lunch.

Lu Cheng shook his head, holding his lunch box as he found a spot to sit.

He opened the lunch box, and the fragrant aroma of porridge wafted out—seafood porridge smelled delicious, so much so that those around him could smell it.

“Deputy Captain Lu, your rice porridge smells really good.”

“Yeah, Deputy Captain Lu, we didn’t see porridge at the window today.”

Lu Cheng replied, “It’s not from the canteen; it was specially made by your sister-in-law.”

He spoke the word “sister-in-law” as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and he felt quite proud of it.

“No wonder it smells so good; your sister-in-law really treats you well.”

“Exactly, when I get married, I want to find someone like my sister-in-law who can cook.”

“Keep dreaming! If there were such a woman, you wouldn’t stand a chance. I’d be the one to marry her.”

“You brat…”

After breakfast, once the soldiers had dispersed, the canteen was once again…

The cafeteria had returned to quietness. Today’s menu featured marinated pig intestines and cabbage.

The marinated items had been prepared yesterday afternoon, and the cabbage had been prepped in the morning, so there was plenty of free time during the morning.

In fact, yesterday had also been quite leisurely; it had only taken time to wash the pig intestines.

The afternoon was spent preparing cucumber salad and cold mixed eggplant, which were also done at a relaxed pace.

Qi Shao found it strange.

When they used to cook, it was like going to battle.

Ever since Lin Qingqing arranged the menu, they had become idle.

With nothing to do, Lin Qingqing listened as Qi Shao talked about some tasks.

Just as he spoke halfway through, they heard a voice from outside: “Qingqing… Qingqing…”

Upon hearing this, Lin Qingqing recognized it was Yu Xiuyao’s voice. “Sister-in-law, I’m inside!” she responded while walking toward the entrance.

When she stepped outside, she saw Yu Xiuyao’s face brimming with joy.

With a mysterious smile, Yu Xiuyao said, “Guess how much goods I brought today?”

Lin Qingqing understood what she meant. “Under normal circumstances, with two pigs, the intestines and the pig’s head would weigh about sixty to seventy kilograms, roughly the same as yesterday. But seeing how happy you are, it must be doubled, right?”

Yu Xiuyao gave her a thumbs-up. “Not just doubled; it’s tripled! Almost two hundred kilograms!”

“What?” Lin Qingqing exclaimed in surprise. “So much? Did Director Ma rob the pig intestines and heads from other supply and marketing cooperatives?”

Yu Xiuyao laughed heartily.

Then she said, “But Qingqing, now there’s a problem. I don’t think I can wash all this two hundred kilograms by myself. What do you think we should do?”

The solution was simple.

Lin Qingqing hadn’t expected the business to come so quickly; she thought Director Ma would at least wait a few days. “Sister-in-law, you should call a few trusted people to help. Offer them one cent profit per kilogram, and if they also deliver goods, they can receive a comparable profit.”

However, the problem was that those people wouldn’t be delivering the goods, so half a cent would be deducted. “But sister-in-law, you’ll need to supervise them. You can be the group leader, and I’ll give you five yuan a month for that. How does that sound?”

“No, no, what do you need money for? I’ll manage the people. I’ll call a few who have a good relationship with me, the ones who always take you to the hospital; they’re all hardworking and easy to manage. As for the money, let’s not worry about that. Those with bicycles can deliver the goods; those without can’t do anything. So, those with bicycles will do the same work as I do, and the profit will be the same. Those without bicycles will have half a cent deducted from their profit.” Yu Xiuyao was also considering Lin Qingqing’s interests.

Lin Qingqing replied, “Alright, let’s do it your way, sister-in-law. As for the five yuan management fee each month, you can just give it to me directly later.”

“Also, I bought some condiments you wanted. Since there’s no one at your house, I left them at mine. But Qingqing, if it’s dozens of pounds, our two families have enough stove space, but if it’s two hundred pounds, I’m afraid neither of our stoves will be enough. If we stew from morning to night, the neighbors will be smelling it and won’t be able to eat,” said Yu Xiuyue.

Lin Qingqing thought for a moment, “Then can the other sisters involved in the cleaning help make the marinated food? I’ll prepare the seasonings.”

Yu Xiuyue replied, “If you trust them, then they would definitely be willing. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t involve them. But who would refuse such work? Even if it’s only a penny profit per pound, with sixty pounds a day, that’s thirty cents. Over a month, that’s eighteen yuan! This is a way to earn good money that can’t be found elsewhere.” However, she added, “But there’s one thing: washing pig intestines can’t be known by others.”

“That’s no problem.” Lin Qingqing wasn’t worried about that.

Not to mention that some people already knew how to wash them, even if they did, it didn’t mean they could make them.

So she didn’t mind.

In the future, this wouldn’t even be a secret.

Yu Xiuyue said, “Alright, I understand now. I’m going to find someone to help right away.”

Lin Qingqing nodded, feeling a bit impatient for noon to arrive.

….

At the kindergarten:

The little kids had great memories.

Early in the morning, after arriving at the kindergarten, they started discussing what had happened yesterday regarding “autumn wind” (a term referring to asking for money or gifts from parents or relatives).

“Lu Haici, I asked my grandmother about it yesterday. She said if my mom gives my grandmother money, then my grandmother is just ‘catching the autumn wind.’ But my mom also gives my grandmother some filial respect during the New Year,” said Qin Ming. It was something along those lines; he couldn’t remember the specifics.

In any case, he concluded that his grandmother asked his mother for money, so his grandmother was just a “catcher of autumn wind.”

Hearing Qin Ming say this, Lu Haici apologetically replied, “I forgot to ask my mom. But I can ask her during lunch.”

Chen Zhou chimed in, “I asked my dad too. He said my grandmother is indeed catching the autumn wind.”

Qin Ming exclaimed, “Then during lunch, let’s all ask your mom together. Ji Yang, did you ask your mom yet?”