Chapter 22.2

Around noon, Sister Guihua came over, bringing some of the mushrooms and wild vegetables she had previously picked. “Xiao Nuan, my husband and I can’t eat all of this, and since you’re so good at cooking, I thought it would be a shame to let it go to waste. Can you see if you can make something that lasts a bit longer? These mushrooms are better off with you than rotting away in the root cellar.”

In addition to the wild vegetables and mushrooms, there were several carrots that Sister Guihua said she had traded for in a nearby village.

Wen Nuan looked at the extra mushrooms and vegetables, pondering that since Li Daxiang and his friends were at an age where they could eat a lot, cooking noodles might not be enough for them. She decided to make some vegetarian dumplings instead.

She could also take some over to Sister-in-law Juxiang.

Wen Nuan called out to Sister Guihua, who was preparing to head back. “Sister Guihua, why don’t we make some vegetarian dumplings together? Later, we can take some to Sister-in-law Juxiang. She has a few kids, and they might have finished the wild vegetables and mushrooms already.”

Sister Guihua thought for a moment. “Sure! I could use this chance to learn a bit. After we finish making the vegetarian dumplings, we can also make some of those round dumplings.”

Wen Nuan smiled, knowing she meant the tangyuan. “Right, we can make some tangyuan later.”

With Sister Guihua’s help, Wen Nuan felt a bit more at ease.

Even Lele, who was sitting in a small cart, would often turn his little head to look at them and smile whenever he heard them chatting. After smiling, he would pull off his knitted socks and chew on his little toes.

Wen Nuan saw this happen several times and put the socks back on him, but the little guy seemed to enjoy it. As soon as he was dressed, he would pull the socks off again and nibble on his toes. Sometimes, when Wen Nuan scolded him, he would laugh out loud, which made Sister Guihua keep saying how cute he was.

Wen Nuan shot a disapproving glance at the little rascal who had just pulled off his socks, huffing, “In this cold weather, why aren’t you wearing your socks? When your dad gets back, he’s going to say something.”

Sister Guihua, who was chopping the mushrooms, looked up at Lele and laughed. “Why worry about him? He won’t catch a cold inside the house anyway. Kids probably don’t like wearing socks. When I helped my brother take care of his children, my nephew didn’t like them either.”

Not knowing if he understood what they were saying about him, the little guy looked at them and let out a hearty laugh, then hid his big eyes behind the handle of the cart, as if playing a game of hide-and-seek with himself, entertaining himself.

Meanwhile, Wen Nuan was blanching the wild vegetables. The blanched vegetables wouldn’t be too bitter and wouldn’t seem overcooked, so she cut them into short strips afterward.

After both of them worked together to slice the wild vegetables, mushrooms, and carrots into fine shreds, Wen Nuan took out eight eggs. These were the ones Gu Qinghan had bought for her from local villagers after taking her to see the doctor, claiming they would help replenish her health.

But since it was a festive day, Wen Nuan decided not to skimp on the eggs. She cracked the eggs, scrambled them, and directly cooked them in the pan. After frying, she chopped them into small pieces to use later for the dumplings.

When Wen Nuan mixed all the chopped eggs, mushrooms, wild vegetables, and carrot shreds together, she was surprised to see it fill an entire large bowl. After adding an appropriate amount of flour and dried shrimp, she estimated that she could make thirty or forty dumplings, which would be enough for everyone to eat.

While kneading the dumpling dough, Sister Guihua suddenly said, “You know about Li Qiuyuan’s injury, right?”

“Yeah,” Wen Nuan nodded, glancing over to see if the little guy was up to any mischief. To her surprise, he let out a hearty laugh, and Wen Nuan smiled back at him.

Sister Guihua continued, “I heard she didn’t want to spend money on treatment, so she went to find Vice Captain Gu. But later, she was sent to the infirmary by Li Daxiang, who scolded her for a bit.”

After Sister Guihua rambled on, Wen Nuan understood the situation. It turned out that Li Qiuyuan had sought help from Gu Qinghan but was turned down.

Li Daxiang had been present at the time and heard Li Qiuyuan claim that her injury was serious, so he took her to the infirmary.

Wen Nuan thought that Li Daxiang was a good guy; although Li Qiuyuan’s injury wasn’t severe, he still worried enough about her to carry her to the infirmary on a stretcher with the help of his comrades.

However, Sister Guihua said that Li Qiuyuan had been scolded by the doctor in the infirmary for wasting the unit’s resources.

Wen Nuan recalled what Gu Qinghan had said that night—that she could still walk.

It seemed like the issue wasn’t serious. If it had required someone to carry her on a stretcher, it indeed would have been a bit wasteful of resources.

After their chat, they had basically finished making the vegetarian dumplings. After dusting the dumplings with some flour, they placed them directly into the steamer to cook.

By the time the food was taken out of the pot, the sky had almost darkened.

The two of them looked at the golden-colored Tuanzi in the pot, and suddenly felt a bit hungry.

“How about we try one first?” Sister Guihua was really tempted; she had only used vegetarian ingredients to make Tuanzi before, without eggs or dried shrimp, and the smell was delicious now.

Wen Nuan and Sister Guihua took one out to taste. They broke one in half, each taking a piece.

Sister Guihua loved vinegar, so she specially dipped it in vinegar to eat. The freshly made Tuanzi was soft and delicious, and the flavor of the dried shrimp was particularly fragrant, making their mouths water.

Wen Nuan pinched a bit to eat and then gave the remaining half to the little one who had been sitting on the small cart playing. The little one was not picky and basically enjoyed everything Wen Nuan gave her.

Before long, the little one had already devoured half of the Tuanzi. After finishing, she kept making a fuss at the eight immortals’ table, babbling away, her little mouth going “ba ba ba” up and down as if she wanted more to eat.

Sister Guihua then grabbed a clean bowl and chopsticks and picked up another Tuanzi, saying, “Come on, our Lele wants to eat, right? Auntie will give you another one; I’ll feed you.”

The little one liked Sister Guihua and, hearing that there was more food, quickly opened her little mouth, looking as if anyone with food could carry her away.

Wen Nuan saw that someone was coaxing the child and took the opportunity to make some savory potato rice while also taking out the pork she had bought yesterday, preparing to make some braised pork.

—o—o—o—

At Deng Juxiang’s home.

As Zhao Yongfu just returned home, he smelled a delicious aroma and curiously walked over to the dining table. Looking at the several Tuanzi on the table, he asked, “What is this? It smells quite good.”

Deng Juxiang brought out the last dish from the kitchen and smiled, “These are the vegetarian Tuanzi made by Comrade Wen Nuan and Comrade Guihua. Wen Nuan said today is the Winter Solstice, so she specially brought some over. Your sons and daughters have already eaten quite a few; these two are left for you.”

Zhao Yongfu looked at the Tuanzi, which looked particularly appetizing and was about to reach for one when Deng Juxiang’s chopsticks came down. “Old Zhao, I beg you, can you pay a little attention to hygiene? You come home without washing your hands and go straight for the food; it’s disgusting!”

Zhao Yongfu clicked his tongue. “You weren’t this nagging before. Why are you suddenly concerned about whether others wash their hands?”

He was already hungry, and now that he saw food right in front of him but couldn’t eat it, his stomach felt even emptier.

Taking advantage of Deng Juxiang turning around to get bowls and chopsticks, Zhao Yongfu quickly pinched a vegetarian Tuanzi and popped it straight into his mouth.

It was delicious!

No wonder the folks in the compound said that Vice Captain Gu’s wife cooked well. Zhao Yongfu tasted it and found it really nice.

It was much better than his wife’s cooking…

Deng Juxiang came out with the bowls and chopsticks, and seeing that he had secretly eaten again, she huffed, “You’re my man; I can’t ignore you, can I? Comrade Xiao Nuan said that we need to wash our hands often. You also need to wash your feet before going to bed, you know?”

Zhao Yongfu laughed, “Wife, you keep calling her Comrade Xiao Nuan. Can’t you learn a bit of her gentleness?”

Deng Juxiang glared at him and said with a forced smile, “If you would learn to care for me like Vice Captain Gu cares for his wife, I would surely be that gentle too.”

Zhao Yongfu clicked his tongue, accepting that he would not push the matter further.

—o—o—o—

On the other side, Sister Guihua knew that Gu Qinghan was bringing some comrades back for dinner, so she took some vegetarian Tuanzi and prepared to head home.

Originally, Wen Nuan wanted to keep her here for dinner, but the table might not have enough space, so it was better for her to go home. After all, they lived so close, and there would be plenty of opportunities to eat together in the future.

However, before leaving, Wen Nuan insisted on packing some braised pork for her. Looking at the shiny, glistening braised pork, she couldn’t resist and thanked her several times before heading back next door.

As soon as Sister Guihua left, Gu Qinghan returned with a few subordinates, all of whom had worked together shoveling snow that day, so he had called them over.

When Wen Nuan saw them coming back, she quickly opened the door and called for them to come in. “It’s cold outside; hurry in! I’ve made ginger tea, and it’s already on the table for you.”

Li Daxiang and a few young soldier comrades stood up straight upon seeing Wen Nuan, and in unison, they greeted her, “Sister-in-law, hello!”

Wen Nuan smiled at them. “Hello! Come in and take a seat.”

Li Daxiang, along with a few others, brought a few bottles of Beibingyang soda and said, “Sister-in-law, we came back late and couldn’t buy much, so we just got a few bottles of soda. I hope you don’t mind.”

Actually, Gu Qinghan had instructed them early on not to drink alcohol, so they could only buy soda.

However, thinking it over, Li Daxiang regretted it immensely during the journey back, wishing he could run back to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy something else instead of soda in such cold weather.

Wen Nuan accepted the soda bottles they handed over and said, “Thank you! I’ve been wanting to drink this soda; you all bought it just in time, saving me another trip to the cooperative.”

Li Daxiang immediately felt a bit embarrassed, scratching his head. After exchanging a few polite words, he introduced his comrades to Wen Nuan, saying, “Sister-in-law, this is Erhu, this is Maodou, and that’s Dahui. They all share a dormitory with me.”

Li Daxiang usually spoke loudly, but upon entering, he saw a cute little Tuanzi sitting in a small cart, her big eyes shining as she looked at them. His voice immediately dropped, fearing he might scare such an adorable little Tuanzi.

However, Lele seemed unbothered, perhaps because she saw Li Daxiang wearing a military coat, something she often saw Gu Qinghan wearing as well. Instead of being frightened, she smiled at them.

Meanwhile, Gu Qinghan had already taken off his military coat and, after washing his hands, walked over to pick up Lele. “Were you good today?”

The little one heard Gu Qinghan’s familiar voice and quickly opened her arms to hug him. Then she nuzzled her little head against his neck and said, “Ya,” as if to say, “Daddy, I was very good today.”

It was the first time for Li Daxiang and the others to see Gu Qinghan like this. No one would have imagined that the usually stern and unyielding Vice Captain Gu, who could make them run ten kilometers with a heavy load at a moment’s notice, would look like this while holding a child!

Although Gu Qinghan rarely lost his temper, sometimes just one glance from him could send chills down one’s spine. No one in the regiment dared to act out in front of him.

So now, seeing the tenderness Gu Qinghan displayed while holding the child, Li Daxiang and Erhu thought they must be dreaming!

Wen Nuan noticed that they were all frozen in shock, realizing they were likely astonished that Gu Qinghan would hug a child upon coming home. She decided to remind them, “There’s ginger tea on the table. You just got back; have some tea to warm yourselves up.”

Then she picked up Gu Qinghan’s enamel cup and directly handed it to him, saying, “You should drink some too; otherwise, you might catch a cold.”

After drinking the tea, everyone finally warmed up a bit. Wen Nuan then called them to eat. The savory rice was already fragrant enough, but Li Daxiang didn’t expect that Wen Nuan had also made braised pork for them. He was so touched that he couldn’t find the words, but he also didn’t dare to take any.

It wasn’t until Gu Qinghan, who had been feeding the child, looked up and said to them, “Just treat it like home. Your sister-in-law said today is a festival, so let’s all eat together.”

Then he picked up a piece of braised pork glistening with red oil and served it to Li Daxiang. “Eat up.”

Wen Nuan, fearing they might not like it, took the chopsticks she had prepared earlier and also served Li Daxiang and Erhu a vegetarian Tuanzi. “Everyone, don’t be polite. You are Qinghan’s subordinates; he sees you all as his brothers.”

Li Daxiang looked at the braised pork in his bowl and immediately thought of his father, who was a thousand miles away. The night before he enlisted, his father had also served him a piece of braised pork, saying the same simple two words: “Eat up.”

Fatherly love was always silent yet heavy. Li Daxiang knew his father was reluctant to let him go, but he never expressed it. Last year, his father had passed away from a sudden illness, and he hadn’t even had the chance to see him one last time.

Li Daxiang took a few bites of rice, forcing back his tears.

After finishing the meal, he took it upon himself to wash the dishes. Wen Nuan worried he might hesitate, directly brought in a pot of hot water for him to mix, suggesting he wash the dishes with warm water.

After thinking for a moment, Wen Nuan asked Li Daxiang, “Comrade Li, how do you usually train?”

Because Gu Qinghan had a strange injury on his arm, Wen Nuan was a bit curious. However, after asking several times, Gu Qinghan had only said it was a scratch he had gotten accidentally.

He never mentioned what had caused it.

Li Daxiang went on to explain the training activities Gu Qinghan usually did, then immediately asked, “Sister-in-law, do you have any other questions?”

Wen Nuan let out an “ah,” smiled, and replied, “It’s nothing. I was just worried about your Vice Captain Gu’s injury on his arm. I was afraid it might affect his training, so I asked.”

Li Daxiang’s mind quickly turned, and he stopped washing the dishes. He then said, “Oh, I remember! Previously, after Vice Captain Gu took you to see Doctor Li, he started going to the back mountain every noon, he would always say that he was looking for wild ginseng. I saw him several times with mud all over his pants and clothes and I even asked him if he wanted to go to the infirmary…”

Wen Nuan froze at his words. ‘Why hadn’t he mentioned it before?’

‘He had even gone to the mountain to look for wild ginseng?’

‘And he had done it during his lunch break?’

For some reason, Wen Nuan felt something in her heart as she listened.

She felt distressed for that man who said nothing but had arranged everything for her.

—o—o—o—

After the gathering, Li Daxiang and the others returned to their dormitory while the lights were still on.

Wen Nuan took the initiative to pour a basin of hot water for Gu Qinghan and found him a towel. “It’s too cold tonight; let’s skip the shower. Just wipe your face and wash your feet, then come back to bed. I’ll put some medicine on your injury.”

After speaking, she smiled gently at him.

Usually, it was Gu Qinghan who filled the water for her to soak her feet, and Wen Nuan felt she should show some care for Gu Qinghan as well.

Otherwise, her conscience would truly feel guilty.

Gu Qinghan was puzzled by Wen Nuan’s smile; he didn’t understand what she meant.

However, he wanted to wash up quickly before the lights went out so that he could go back and warm her feet.

As soon as he entered the room, Wen Nuan patted the bed and said, “Come here; I’ll apply medicine to your wound.”

“What’s wrong?” Gu Qinghan was a bit confused about Wen Nuan’s intentions. Ever since Li Daxiang finished washing the dishes, she had been acting a little strangely.

Could it be that Li Daxiang had said something to her?

Gu Qinghan thought about many possibilities but didn’t find anything particularly unusual.

He slowly wiped his hands and walked to the bedside. Wen Nuan smiled and urged, “Hurry up; I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Come here! Am I going to eat you? I’m just helping you put on some medicine.”

This time, Wen Nuan directly pulled him down and even rolled up his sleeves. The bruise on his side had already turned purple, indicating it was healing.

Gu Qinghan felt the coolness of her fingertips as they touched his skin, causing him to stiffen and frown. “It’s almost healed; honestly, you don’t need to apply it.”

Wen Nuan used all her strength to hold him down. “Don’t move! I’ve already said I’d help you with this. What is there to be embarrassed about??”

This time, as she looked at Gu Qinghan’s slightly bulging muscle lines, Wen Nuan felt less shy than during their first encounter. In fact, she found his muscle definition quite perfect—not overly bulky, yet not too thin. When her hand pressed against his skin, it felt firm and taut.

Gu Qinghan remained still, allowing Wen Nuan to apply for the medicine. However, he sensed that her touch this time was lighter than before, so light that it made him uncomfortable all over.

After a considerable effort, she finally finished applying the medicine. Suddenly, Wen Nuan asked, “Why didn’t you say you got this injury from looking for wild ginseng for me in the mountains?”

Gu Qinghan paused for a moment, adjusted his clothes, and then glanced at her. “It’s not a big deal.”

Besides, he hadn’t even found any.

Fortunately, Wen Nuan had found some on her own.

Seeing him lie down on the bed, Wen Nuan also crawled under the covers, looking at him face to face. Then, at the moment the lights went out, she quickly pecked a kiss on his handsome face.

The darkness suddenly enveloped them, and Gu Qinghan’s eyes hadn’t fully adjusted yet. By the time he realized what had happened, Wen Nuan had already turned over, pretending to be asleep while holding the child.

He curved his lips in a smile and leaned closer to her ear to give her a soft kiss.

—o—o—o—

After the winter solstice, snowy weather became more frequent, and Wen Nuan didn’t dare to take the child out for a walk. Sometimes, she would venture outside only when the snow had stopped, but ultimately, the cold would drive her back home. She finally understood why people in the north talked about “cats wintering” in winter; the weather was simply too cold.

In January, Wen Nuan received a telegram from her hometown sent to Gu Qinghan: “Qingsong is getting married; send money.”

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Cute Lele~

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