Chapter 35

Back in the dormitory.

Having smelled the delicious aroma for so long, Jiang Che was famished after walking back and forth. He eagerly took the dishes, bowls, and chopsticks to serve rice.

He took the first bite.

The seasoning was just right, the heat was perfect. Even though it wasn’t freshly cooked and had been sitting for a while, the taste was definitely among the top three he had ever had!

Jiang Che silently ate his rice, intentionally slowing down his pace.

He didn’t finish his meal until Ji Wanqing had eaten her fill and put down her chopsticks. Then, he quickly devoured the rest of his food, and then, very thoughtfully, washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen.

“Comrade Jiang Che, can you come back for lunch in the future?” Ji Wanqing lived with the Ji family and only cooked her own meals. The dishes were washed by Ji Xiaoruo and Su Xiu.

People who love to cook usually don’t like to wash dishes, so she had to delegate this task.

Jiang Che thought for a moment and shook his head. “The training camp is too far from the family compound. It takes half an hour to go back and forth. Before, I didn’t even go back to the dormitory.”

Tsk.

Ji Wanqing felt a pang of regret. She had a dishwasher in her space, but it took an hour to wash each time. If someone came into the kitchen, it would be easy to arouse suspicion.

Should she buy two identical sets of dishes? She could put the dirty ones in the dishwasher and then switch them out with the clean ones, wouldn’t that be seamless?

Perhaps noticing the struggle on Ji Wanqing’s face, Jiang Che took the initiative to say, “We can buy more pots, pans, bowls, and dishes. We can soak the dirty dishes in the sink at noon, and we can wash them together after dinner at night.”

(???) That would work.

She could occasionally use the dishwasher in her space to deceive people.

Ji Wanqing said coyly, “Wouldn’t that be too much trouble for you?”

He comforted her in a gentle voice, “It’s okay. Cooking is much more troublesome than washing dishes. Besides, I have to wash dishes anyway, it’s just a minute more with a few more dishes.”

In the afternoon, Jiang Che helped tidy up the room briefly and left.

Although he was on leave, he still had several training reports to finish, and he had to go to the camp occasionally. It was just that he had more freedom with his time and schedule.

Ji Wanqing went for a walk around the family compound.

Adjacent to the family compound were the military district hospital, military district elementary school, military district middle school, military factory, grocery store, state-run store, state-run market, cultural center, etc…

The number of soldiers here, plus their families and surrounding support staff, was estimated to be around 40,000 to 50,000, almost the size of a small town!

Moreover, this place had a strong background, there were absolutely no random red armbands running around. It was truly a paradise.

Her choice to come here to follow her husband to the army was absolutely correct!

Her stomach felt a slight ache, and Ji Wanqing realized that her period was coming soon. Considering that she would be living under the same roof with another person, she went to the grocery store to buy sanitary pads.

She would stick thin sanitary napkins on the sanitary pads from now on, clean and hygienic, and not easily arouse suspicion.

At night.

Ji Wanqing made a super-deluxe version of braised beef noodles.

The meat was stewed in the afternoon, and the noodles were freshly made.

She stewed five pounds of meat at once. This time, she only used two pounds for toppings. The rest was stored in her space to keep fresh. Later, she could take it out and it would still be hot and delicious.

Jiang Che came back from the camp, and several familiar comrades came over, each giving him a punch. “When are you going to move out with your wife? Your wife’s cooking is absolutely amazing! We can’t eat it, and we’re going to die of envy! It’s not fair!”

“Cough.” Jiang Che was slightly smug. “We’ll move out after the report is approved.”

The closer he got to his dormitory, the stronger the aroma became.

A group of scoundrels even brought their bowls and chopsticks, but Jiang Che ruthlessly chased them away.

He knew that the more elaborate the food, the tastier it would be.

He had only eaten his wife’s cooking once! How could these irrelevant people get a taste?

“You’re back? Go wash your hands. I’ll put the noodles in the pot soon.”

Looking at the busy figure in the kitchen, Jiang Che finally felt a sense of reality about getting married.

Coming home from work wasn’t a cold, empty room, but a warm, welcoming one with gentle words.

He was starting to understand what it felt like to be home.

The water was always boiling on the stove, and the fresh noodles quickly floated to the surface.

Ji Wanqing specially prepared a large bowl for Jiang Che. It contained salt, sugar, MSG, soy sauce, minced garlic, sesame oil, pepper oil, pepper powder, and chopped celery for a simple base flavor.

She put the cooked eight taels of noodles into the bowl, scooped a spoonful of the red, thick beef broth from the stew pot, added a handful of blanched green vegetables and three fried eggs around the edge of the bowl, then added three large spoonfuls of tender, stewed beef, and finally sprinkled a handful of scallions and sesame seeds. It was done.

The configuration of Ji Wanqing’s bowl was the same, except she only had one tael of noodles, one fried egg, and seven or eight pieces of beef.

This amount of meat would cost at least 30 to 40 yuan in the future.

Jiang Che carried his bowl of noodles to the table. He looked at the delicious beef noodles and swallowed hard several times. He didn’t pick up his chopsticks until Ji Wanqing brought a glass of water and sat down at the table.

“You’ve worked hard. Let’s just eat something simple at night, don’t make it so complicated.”

Ji Wanqing thought for a moment. It wasn’t too complicated.

She was strong, so kneading and pulling noodles was very easy. And she had recipes memorized like they were etched into her brain. If she wanted to cook something, her AI-like brain would automatically arrange all the steps, what to do at what time, so she could finish the most things in the shortest amount of time, without any delay.

However, since Jiang Che was worried about her, she wouldn’t be ungrateful. “Okay, I saw fresh beef at the state-run market today and wanted to eat beef noodles.”

She only bought one pound, and each person could only buy one pound. The remaining four pounds were from a slaughterhouse she had passed by during the early days of the apocalypse.

Jiang Che mixed the noodles and eagerly put them in his mouth. It tasted even better than he had smelled! The rich, fragrant flavor instantly filled his mouth. He didn’t even have time to say anything in praise, he buried his head in his food.

The speed at which he was eating made Ji Wanqing frown repeatedly.

“Eat slower, it’s bad for your stomach.”

Jiang Che obediently slowed down. “Okay, I’m used to it in the military camp.”

Ji Wanqing took a bite of the soft-boiled egg and wrapped the yolk around the noodles. “Then let’s eat slower at home. Chewing slowly helps with digestion.”

Jiang Che felt a little embarrassed. His wife was a cultured person, and she ate and spoke slowly and gracefully.

But he had been a rough person since he was a child. Ever since his grandfather’s generation, eating at home was like a battle, no one could slow down. It was even more exaggerated in the military camp.

Jiang Che tried his best to slow down and happily finished his dinner.

Ji Wanqing shook her head and poured him a glass of honey lemon water. She added some spiritual spring water to it, which could help with soothing and repair.

“Delicious!” Jiang Che thought his wife must have magic in her hands. Such a simple glass of water could taste so good!

After washing the dishes, Jiang Che took a small wooden box from the right drawer and handed it to Ji Wanqing. “This is the family’s savings and money vouchers. Keep it safe.”

Thinking about how he had eaten for free tonight with his wife’s money, he felt uncomfortable.

Ji Wanqing didn’t take it. “You can give it to me after we get married.”

Jiang Che stuffed the box into her hand. “Cough, the approval process has reached the regiment’s political department. I’ll urge them to speed it up. It should be approved the day after tomorrow.”

Since that was the case, Ji Wanqing accepted it. “Okay, I’ll keep it here for now.”