Sun Yulan was surprised that Ningshu had brought her apples.

She looked at the six apples Ningshu took out.

Although they weren’t very large, each one was a vibrant red, looking very sweet.

Suddenly, Sun Yulan felt quite honored, especially when she noticed the approving glance from the nearby salesperson.

Nowadays, receiving gifts from relatives and friends was already something to boast about, and when the gift happened to be apples, it added even more prestige.

Sun Yulan wasn’t one to beat around the bush.

She had a straightforward personality.

If friends gave her small gifts, she accepted them readily, and if friends needed help at the department store, she was always happy to assist.

“Thank you, Sister Ning. I won’t stand on ceremony then. These apples look so sweet, and it’s been a long time since I’ve had any,” Sun Yulan said as she placed the apples into her bag.

“For your son’s birthday, Sister Ning, what kind of gift did you get him?”

Sun Yulan was curious.

She thought Ning Shu was quite thoughtful.

Birthday gifts like these weren’t something every household would prepare.

Ning Shu noticed Sun Yulan calling her “sister,” which indicated a closer relationship.

Previously, she had addressed Ning Shu as “comrade.”

“I’ve prepared a tin frog and a leather ball for the kids. I was also thinking of buying a tricycle toy, but it requires five industrial coupons. I don’t have enough, so I’ll gather some more from the barracks and come back to buy it tomorrow.”

“How many industrial coupons do you have now? Let me ask around for you. Maybe some colleagues can lend you some, and you can return them later,” Sun Yulan offered.

“No need, no need. Whether I buy it today or tomorrow doesn’t matter. I’ll come back tomorrow; it’s convenient anyway,” Ningshu declined.

She was just here to see Sun Yulan, not specifically for industrial coupons.

“How old is your son? You look very young, Sister Ning. You probably got married not long ago, right?” Sun Yulan guessed, estimating no more than two years of marriage.

Ning Shu indeed looked young.

If she hadn’t mentioned her child’s birthday, Sun Yulan would have thought the child was only one year old and that Ning Shu might not even be married yet.

“My child is five years old,” Ningshu replied.

“What?” Sun Yulan widened her eyes. “I couldn’t tell at all. Sister Ning, you look really young.”

Ning Shu smiled.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Ning Shu returned to the barracks.

When she got back, the kids hadn’t come back from school yet.

Ning Shu hid the tin frog and the leather ball to avoid the three treasures discovering them.

Then she went to Sun Li’s house. “Is Sister Sun here?”

“Yes, yes…” Sun Li was preparing lunch. She was a homemaker with only two children, an older son and a younger daughter.

Her husband was a company commander, with a decent income that easily supported their family of four.

Originally from the city, Sun Li had followed her husband’s military career after marriage.

She had been a homemaker for the past few years.

Sun Li was surprised to see Ningshu and asked with a smile, “Ning, is there something you need?”

It was unexpected for Sun Li that Ningshu was seeking her out for the first time.

Ningshu wasn’t hesitant either and directly asked, “Sister Sun, do you have any spare industrial coupons at home? I can trade you meat coupons for them, or you can lend me some, and I’ll return them when I get the industrial coupons on my end.”

Sun Li thought for a moment and said, “You can trade meat coupons with me. I don’t need industrial coupons right now.”

Getting some meat with the meat coupons would be beneficial for her family’s health.

“Okay,” Ningshu agreed.

She could buy meat using an app, although it wasn’t always available.

However, with the kids at home having eggs every day, they weren’t missing out on the occasional meat purchase using meat coupons.

Ning Shu went home to retrieve the meat coupons.

She had saved up meat coupons for three months—last year, during Lin Guodong’s home leave, he brought back subsidies for them after returning to the barracks, and there was also this month’s subsidy.

She hadn’t used up the meat coupons for the past three months.

Bringing the meat coupons over, Ning Shu initially thought having two coupons from Sun Li would be sufficient, but she was surprised to find out that Sun Li had quite a few industrial coupons saved up.

She had enough for Ning Shu to exchange for four of them.

However, since industrial coupons were valuable, Ning Shu handed over all her meat coupons, which she had accumulated over the past three months, in exchange.

Sun Li was pleasantly surprised by the amount of meat coupons Ning Shu had.

Curiously, she asked, “Ning, you really have quite a lot of meat coupons.”

Ningshu explained, “It’s the subsidy from Guodong’s home leave. I just received it this month and haven’t had the chance to use it yet.”

Understanding Ning Shu’s situation, Sun Li nodded in comprehension.

After exchanging the industrial coupons, Ning Shu returned home to prepare lunch.

She wasn’t sure how many children Yi Bao and Er Bao had invited, but this was Ning Shu’s first time celebrating their birthdays, and she attached great importance to it.

Although she couldn’t make up for the first five years, she wanted to ensure they had a joyful birthday celebration.

“Mom, we’re back!”

“Mom…”

Bark, bark, bark…

The voices of the three treasures accompanied by Da Mao and Tie Dan’s barking echoed at the courtyard gate.

Following that, Da Mak and Tie Dan rushed in first.

Even before the three children had finished washing their hands, Da Mao and Tie Dan had lined up with enamel bowls in their mouths.

Once the three brothers finished washing their hands, they lined up behind Da Mao and Tie Dan. Yi Bao spoke up, “Mom, we’ve invited a total of 8 friends. Is that okay?”

“Of course, it’s fine,” Ningshu replied. “On your birthday, when you come back for lunch, bring them along.”

“We know.”

“Mom, we also used our merit points to exchange something for Dad,” it was Er Bao’s turn to speak up. “Mom, guess what we exchanged for Dad?”

Ning Shu pondered for a moment.

They hadn’t been studying for long, so they wouldn’t have earned many merit points.

Whatever they exchanged for Dad probably wasn’t expensive in this era.

Ning Shu guessed it might be something like fruit candies. “I can’t guess, it’s too mysterious. Can you tell me?”

Er Bao grinned mischievously. “Mom, we can’t tell you. We’ll give it to him when Dad comes back.”

Ning Shu was indeed curious, but she also liked the sense of mystery the children maintained.

Lin Guodong returned quickly.

Not long after they had set the table with food, he came back.

Seeing Yi Bao and Er Bao already seated, he washed his hands and headed to the dining room.

“How many friends did Yi Bao and Er Bao invite for their birthday?”

“Eight friends,” Yi Bao spoke up.

“Among them is He Jiaxing. He had said before that Mom is lazy, but then the teacher said Mom isn’t lazy, so he apologized. He said he wanted to come, so I invited him.”

Though Yi Bao wasn’t mad at He Jiaxing anymore, he still felt a bit uneasy about what had happened before.

Hearing this, Ning Shu smiled and said, “It’s your birthday, you’re the hosts. You can decide who you want to invite or not. However, even though that child said something about me, if he genuinely apologized and didn’t cause harm to me, you can forgive him.”

Yi Bao, puzzled, asked, “Mom, what does causing harm mean?”

Ning Shu explained, “For example, if his words made me very sad, that would be causing harm. Some harm is emotional, and some harm is physical. Regardless of the type of harm, it’s important to ask the person who was harmed. If the harmed person says it’s okay and forgives, then forgiveness is possible.”

Yi Bao, seeming to grasp the concept, asked, “So Mom, when He Jiaxing said you’re lazy, were you upset? Will you forgive He Jiaxing?”

Ning Shu saw how quickly he applied the lesson and thought Yi Bao was very clever. “I wasn’t upset, and I forgive He Jiaxing. So you can feel free to invite him over as a guest.”

Hearing that Mom wasn’t upset, Yi Bao felt relieved.

Any lingering discomfort he had about He Jiaxing disappeared.

After dinner, Yi Bao and Er Bao wiped the table clean and even volunteered to do the dishes, showing their determination to earn money.

However, they still needed Dad’s help to carry the dishes to the well for washing.

While they went to wash the dishes, Ning Shu, who stayed behind to look after San Bao, secretly asked him, “San Bao, do you know what your brothers exchanged for with their merit points?”

San Bao, pondering over the question, furrowed his little brow in thought.

Just when Ning Shu thought he was going to reveal it, he simply said, “Flowers.”

Ning Shu chuckled, “Yes, flowers, red flowers. Do you remember?”

San Bao nodded, “Brothers, flowers.”

Ningshu asked, “So what did brothers exchange for with the red flowers?”

San Bao shook his head, “Don’t… know.”

Ning Shu lightly tapped his little bottom, “If you don’t know, why ask so carefully?”

Her playful tap tickled San Bao, making him giggle, “Don’t… know…” he said again, then giggled as he ran off.

After running for a bit, he turned back to look at Ning Shu.

Ningshu knew exactly what he meant.

He wanted her to chase after him, but she wasn’t going to do that.

Seeing Ningshu not moving, San Bao ran back and hugged her leg, calling out softly, “Mom…”

Ning Shu rubbed his little head, “Always so good at being cute and clingy.”

When it came to being cute and clingy, San Bao was the best at his age.

San Bao rubbed his little head against Ning Shu’s palm and then buried his face into her legs.

Ningshu took a few steps back, holding his little hand, “Let’s go outside for a walk.”

Ning Shu and San Bao walked out of the yard, pacing back and forth at the entrance.

However, after a short while, they spotted someone familiar.

Ning Shu was surprised, was it Zhang Xian who had returned? But when she looked behind him, there was no one.

Zhang Xian also noticed Ningshu, feeling a bit awkward.

During his few days back in his hometown, he had discreetly inquired about the situation at the Ning family.

These matters were impossible to conceal, and with just a little inquiry, he learned the truth.

Indeed, Ningshu hadn’t been living well at her maternal home.

Her older siblings would bully her, the younger ones would join in, her father wasn’t affectionate, and her mother didn’t care much.

Especially the incident where Ning Shu signed up all four siblings to go to the countryside together, although it had been five or six years ago, it was still talked about in that area.

As a result, many biased families became more discreet, and parents guarded their household registers more closely.

Zhang Xian paused for a moment, then spoke up, “Comrade Ning, have you had lunch?”

In the end, he abandoned the idea of apologizing.

Apologizing would be meaningless now; what had happened couldn’t be erased.

So, he decided to establish his identity as Lin Guodong’s comrade-in-arms.