Chapter 45 : Sister Fangfang is from the Gu family

Early in the morning, the people in the regiment’s staff quarters woke up to the aroma of meat.  

The scent was so strong that it filled the entire house.  

The little children, who were still sound asleep, were awakened by the delicious smell.  

As soon as they sniffed the air, they immediately realized something. They quickly put on their clothes, grabbed their bowls, and ran outside. No amount of calling could stop them.  

Their parents were left completely baffled.  

—

“Niuniu, where are you going so early in the morning with your bowl?”  

“Mom, I’m going to Aunt’s house to drink beef bone soup.”  

Feeling a little guilty, Niuniu ran off quickly.  

As she dashed into the yard, she instinctively glanced at the firewood pile at the base of the east wall.  

“Niuniu, don’t go! What’s so great about beef bone soup? Come back right now!”  

Seeing her mother chasing after her, Niuniu ignored her and bolted out of the yard.  

“Hey? Niuniu? Niuniu!”  

Li Shulan was furious watching her daughter run off.  

Her husband was the battalion commander of the third battalion in the regiment and had previously competed with Zhuang Mingcheng for the position of deputy regiment commander.  

Although neither of them was selected in the end, their relationship had become strained. Because of this, she had deliberately been avoiding Lu Fangfang.  

She had originally planned not to go to Lu Fangfang’s house this morning, but now her daughter had gone there anyway.  

If you drink someone’s soup, you owe them a favor.  

And when Lu Fangfang and Zhuang Mingcheng got married, wouldn’t they have to return the favor with gifts?  

Just thinking about it gave Li Shulan a headache, but it was too late to stop her daughter now.  

Since her daughter was already there, she figured she might as well go too. If she had to return the favor later, she might as well enjoy the soup now.  

“Old Song, I’m heading out for a bit. I’ll be back soon.”  

After informing her husband, Li Shulan grabbed an enamel basin and left.  

As she walked past her yard, she felt like something was missing. She looked around a few times but couldn’t figure out what it was.  

—

At this time, Lu Fangfang’s house was already bustling with activity.  

Surprisingly, the sisters-in-law hadn’t arrived yet, but a group of little kids had come first.  

Each child was holding a bowl and a spoon, stretching their necks to peek into the large iron pot. They looked both adorable and amusing.  

“The soup isn’t ready yet. Just wait a little while,” Lu Fangfang said, smiling.  

She asked Yang Yufen to move the table outside, then arranged for the kids to sit around it.  

Daya, Tiedan, Niuniu, and Yang Yufen’s two children altogether, ten kids sat at the table, filling it almost completely.  

“Do you eat cilantro?”  

“Yes, I do!”  

“I do too!”  

The children excitedly chimed in one after another.  

“Aunt, I… I don’t want any,” Niuniu said, raising her hand a little shyly.  

“Alright, I won’t put any in yours,” Lu Fangfang assured her as she gathered up the bowls.  

Before long, the soup in the pot came to a rolling boil. Lu Fangfang stirred it with a spoon before ladling the beef bone soup into the children’s bowls.  

She remembered the firewood the kids had brought her before, so she made sure to scoop extra beef into their bowls.  

Wang Shufen and Yang Yufen also helped.  

They carried the steaming bowls of beef bone soup to the table.  

There was an enamel bowl filled with chopped cilantro on the side. They pinched some and sprinkled it into the soup before setting the bowls in front of the children.  

“This bowl is for Niuniu, don’t add cilantro,” Lu Fangfang reminded Yang Yufen.  

Then, she turned to the children and said, “The soup is fresh from the pot, so it’s still very hot. Blow on it and wait for it to cool down before eating. Be careful not to burn yourselves.”  

She was particularly concerned about Yang Yufen’s daughter, who had even dared to put her hands into the pot yesterday.  

After watching for a while, Lu Fangfang finally felt relieved when she saw that the little girl wasn’t being as reckless as before.

“Ahem, Sister Fangfang…”  

Yang Yufen swallowed her saliva and held out her bowl.  

“Hmm?”  

Lu Fangfang glanced back at the little kids. Each of them already had a bowl of beef bone soup in front of them.  

“My… mine,” Yang Yufen said hesitantly.  

“The sisters-in-law haven’t arrived yet, but you’re already eating first?”  

Lu Fangfang looked at her with mock disgust but still took the bowl. After all, Yang Yufen had been busy helping all morning.  

She scooped a bowl of soup and handed it to Yang Yufen.  

“Sister Shufen, pass me that small bowl. I’ll make a bowl for you too, so you can take it back for Political Commissar to eat.”  

Wang Shufen didn’t hesitate and came over with a small basin.  

There was no need to be polite, she had been craving a taste of the beef offal ever since she smelled it.  

After Lu Fangfang scooped up a portion, Wang Shufen carried the small basin back.  

“Aunt, the soup you made is so delicious!”  

“It’s really good, even better than what my mom cooks.”  

Hearing this, the little kids eagerly nodded.  

“My mom’s cooking is terrible.”  

“Yeah, my mom’s too.”  

“Hush!”  

Lu Fangfang broke into a cold sweat and quickly urged the kids to focus on eating their meat.  

The whole point of this meal was to build a good relationship with her sisters-in-law, not to create resentment!  

One of the little rascals still wasn’t satisfied.  

“Look, look! There are little pieces of meat in my bowl!”  

“I have some too! Huh? What’s this?”  

Daya was holding something with her chopsticks that looked like a rag.  

“This is tripe. It’s good stuff! Eat it quickly,” Lu Fangfang explained.  

Just as she finished speaking, a commotion sounded outside.  

Turning her head, she saw a few of her sisters-in-law arriving together. One of them was the long-faced Li Shulan.  

“Comrade Lu, my son is here to visit you, right?”  

Lu Fangfang nodded and warmly welcomed them in.  

As the sisters-in-law walked into the yard, they saw the little kids sitting at the table like adults, happily drinking beef bone soup. They couldn’t help but smile at the sight.  

Li Shulan walked up to Niuniu and glared at her daughter. “You greedy little thing, didn’t you just have beef last night?”  

Niuniu kept her head down and ate in big mouthfuls, completely ignoring her mother.  

Li Shulan became even more annoyed, but she couldn’t scold her daughter in front of so many people.  

Carrying her enamel basin, she marched straight over to Lu Fangfang.  

“Huh? Why does it smell so good?”  

She sniffed the air, looking surprised as she stared at the steaming iron pot.  

How could a pot of mere beef bones and offal produce such a rich aroma? How was it made?  

Watching Lu Fangfang stir the pot with a spoon, Li Shulan unconsciously swallowed and then promptly held out her small enamel basin.  

Lu Fangfang smirked.  

But wasn’t this the same person who swore yesterday that beef bone soup wasn’t tasty at all?  

“Sister Shulan, I thought you weren’t coming,” Lu Fangfang teased.  

“I…”  

Li Shulan felt embarrassed and turned to glare at her daughter again.  

“Sister Shulan, I’m treating everyone to beef bone soup. It’s not like I’m wasting money,” Lu Fangfang added, still feeling a bit upset over yesterday’s events.  

She was just about to take Li Shulan’s bowl when Yang Yufen suddenly interjected.  

“Sister Fangfang isn’t wasteful at all! You should’ve seen it, Sister Fangfang boiled a whole pot of beef bones into butter and filled a huge jar with it!”  

“Wasteful? Bah! Sister Fangfang is from the Gu family!”