Chapter 38.1

Two days later, it was March 1st.

Wen Nuan woke up early in the morning. After waking, she ate two steamed buns.

Gu Qinghan had just returned from a training exercise. Seeing that Wen Nuan was awake, he walked over and asked, “Did you sleep well last night?”

“Not too bad.” Wen Nuan replied, facing the small mirror in the living room as she tied her hair. She thought that since she was going to the military Cafeteria to work, she couldn’t leave her hair down; she had to put it up.

Gu Qinghan’s tall figure stood behind her. Noticing that Wen Nuan was combing her hair, he reached out and took the wooden comb from her hands, then slowly began to comb her hair from the top of her head down.

Wen Nuan had washed her hair the previous afternoon. Her hair was long and straight, and since she had already combed it once before Gu Qinghan returned home when Gu Qinghan combed her hair, it almost went through effortlessly.

Gu Qinghan combed her hair leisurely, watching her shiny black locks, and said with a smile, “Alright, you can tie it up now.”

Once, while Wen Nuan was cooking, her hair had loosened. She had planned to ask Gu Qinghan for help tying it up, but to her surprise, he tugged painfully at her scalp and couldn’t manage to tie it properly.

Thus, Gu Qinghan sometimes enjoyed combing her hair, and then he would watch her tie it up.

She glanced sideways at her hair, which nearly reached her waist, then skillfully twisted her long hair up and began to braid it into a five-finger braid. As she worked, she told Gu Qinghan, “I need to keep my hair up while working in the kitchen. I’ll find a time to cut it shorter; it’s too long and hard to manage.”

With summer approaching and the weather becoming hotter, working in the Cafeteria would involve cooking and frying, which would probably make it even hotter. She worried that washing her hair would become difficult.”

So she decided to keep her hair shorter; it would likely be more convenient for work.

However, when she finished tying up her braid, Gu Qinghan commented, “Long hair looks better.”

Wen Nuan turned to glance at him, then secured the ends of her hair with a black hairpin at the back of her head and replied, “It’s just a bit troublesome. It’s too hard to manage.”

The Northern Military District was dry, and even in winter, it was hard to notice oiliness even after four or five days without washing her hair. But in summer, it would likely be different; once she started sweating, it would probably get oily.

Gu Qinghan didn’t say anything more. Instead, he went back to the bedroom to change the diaper of the little one, who was still soundly asleep. After changing the diaper, the child didn’t wake up and continued to sleep soundly with her little arms raised.

Wen Nuan walked over and said, “I’ll just carry her over.”

Gu Qinghan glanced at Wen Nuan, who was looking for the baby carrier, and thought for a moment before asking, “Why don’t we find someone to help take care of Lele? Otherwise, it won’t be convenient for you to bring her to work.”

If the child were three or four years old, it would be fine to send her to daycare to play with other kids. But Lele was still not even a year old, making it quite difficult to take care of her.

Even if it were possible to manage, Wen Nuan would be extremely tired.

Wen Nuan had already walked to the bedside with the baby carrier and gestured for Gu Qinghan to place the still-sleeping little one on her back. “I’ll take her to the kitchen and have a look. I’ve already spoken to Sister Guihua. If I can’t manage here, I’ll ask her to help.”

Lele was nearly able to walk, and Sister Guihua also liked her. When she learned that Wen Nuan was going to work in the kitchen, she offered to help take care of Lele.

Wen Nuan definitely trusted Sister Guihua. It was just that Sister Guihua’s mother-in-law seemed a bit reluctant about it, but she didn’t say anything.

If Sister Guihua were to help take care of Lele, Wen Nuan knew she would have to pay her and provide some food; otherwise, it wouldn’t feel right.

However, when Secretary Song came to find her last time, she mentioned that her job in the kitchen was as a nutritionist for the flight crew, which was different from the other workers.

She suggested she bring Lele along to familiarize herself with the environment, and if it didn’t work out, she could look for someone to help take care of Lele.

Seeing that Wen Nuan had made arrangements, Gu Qinghan gently placed the still-sleeping child onto her back and adjusted the baby carrier for her.

“I’ll take you to the Flight Crew Cafeteria first.” Gu Qinghan said as he walked out to the yard and unlocked the bicycle.

The people living in the family compound saw Gu Qinghan riding the bicycle early in the morning, with Wen Nuan and the child heading toward the Cafeteria.

They curiously poked their heads out to watch, enviously gazing at the young couple.

The husband was a pilot, and his wife worked in the kitchen. It was indeed something to be envious of.

The Cafeteria was located to the north of the family compound, close to the military training grounds and the aircraft runway. It was quite large, and as they rode over, Gu Qinghan explained the layout and classification of the Cafeteria to her.

The Air Force was divided into three categories: flight crew, ground crew, and logistics, so the Cafeteria also had three levels of meals. The Flight Crew Cafeteria provided the best food, followed by the ground crew kitchen, and finally the logistics kitchen.

The Flight Crew Cafeteria, also known as the combat readiness kitchen, served meals for pilots and other airborne mechanics who flew into battle. Although the Flight Crew Cafeteria provided the best food, it was important to remember that flight crew members were often at the front lines in combat situations, making it a high-risk profession.

Wen Nuan recalled what General Xu had said; many people in the family compound envied the flight crew for their meals, yet they didn’t consider that flight crew members were among the most dangerous types of soldiers.

Thinking back to Gu Qinghan’s experience with the plane crash, Wen Nuan felt there was nothing to envy.

Those people had no idea about the dangers of being a pilot; they only saw the surface.

Even so, the entire 34th Division had only about 30 combat pilots. The amount of money and time required to train a single pilot was enormous and lengthy, which made the flight crew a valuable asset to the military. They were not only equipped with the best medical teams but also received the best meals.

Hearing Gu Qinghan talk about this made Wen Nuan a bit worried about whether she could handle the job. After all, these thirty-something flight crew members were the most precious assets of the Air Force Base and the nation’s “treasures.” Any slight mistake could lead to a major incident.

However, Gu Qinghan reassured her: “You can do it; I have confidence in you.”

Wen Nuan smiled and placed her hands on his waist. “I won’t let you down.”

Gu Qinghan held the front of the bicycle with one hand and placed his other hand over Wen Nuan’s hands around his waist. “From now on, I’ll be able to eat your cooking for every meal.”

Wen Nuan suddenly laughed, saying, “You better not get tired of it in the future.”

Gu Qinghan tilted his head: “I won’t.”

—o—o—o—

The Cafeteria wasn’t too far from where they were; it would take about ten minutes to walk there. Since Gu Qinghan had to fly his first mission at 9 AM, he took the opportunity to bring Wen Nuan into the kitchen office to meet the logistics officer.

Upon arriving at the Flight Crew Cafeteria, Wen Nuan discovered that they kept a large number of chickens and geese there, as well as a few pigs.

The logistics officer, named Luo Qingjun, was in his early forties, a Northerner, tall and robust.

When Luo Qingjun saw that Gu Qinghan had brought his wife to report for work, he raised an eyebrow and humorously remarked, “Oh, a couple coming to work together, huh?”

Wen Nuan had just heard Gu Qinghan mention that he had known Luo Qingjun during his training in Shenyang. Luo was known for being very generous and humorous, making him a pleasant person to get along with.

Wen Nuan nodded at Luo Qingjun, saying, “Captain Luo.”

Luo Qingjun sized her up. He had been puzzled when Gu Qinghan suddenly announced he was getting married, wondering how someone who had never mentioned a partner would suddenly decide to tie the knot.

Now, seeing Wen Nuan, Luo Qingjun thought that Gu Qinghan must have been attracted to her beauty.

However, she looked a bit delicate, which made him wonder why Gu Qinghan had to personally bring her here. Did he fear that someone might bully his wife?

Luo Qingjun also greeted Wen Nuan, saying, “So you’re Comrade Wen Nuan? General Xu has already briefed me about you. Your main responsibility will be to manage the dietary planning for the flight crew, developing weekly menus in advance. You’ll also need to assist the cooks in the kitchen, ensuring they adopt scientific cooking methods and reasonable preparation techniques. Of course, you should strive for meals that are visually appealing, aromatic, flavorful, and well-presented.”

Luo Qingjun added, “We have fewer than 40 flight crew members in total; I’m sure Old Gu has mentioned that to you. This job isn’t exactly difficult, but it’s also not easy. Additionally, you’ll need to conduct nutritional analyses based on the monthly health check results of the flight crew. You must ensure they get what they need and avoid overindulging. You’ll need to consult the medical staff about this. And if you know some foreign languages, you could refer to international dietary guidelines for flight crews.”

Before Wen Nuan could respond, Gu Qinghan chimed in, “I can help with the translation.”

Luo Qingjun chuckled, “I won’t meddle in that, but having a pilot husband as a consultant means his opinions will be quite insightful. If you have any questions about the health reports of the flight crew, feel free to ask Old Gu.”

After a pause, Gu Qinghan asked again, “You won’t have to do kitchen chores during your free time, right?”

Luo Qingjun looked over and raised an eyebrow, “Well, that’s not necessarily true.”

“Feeling sorry for her? When you come to the kitchen, you definitely have to do some kitchen work. There aren’t enough hands, so I often have to help out.” Luo Qingjun said.

Wen Nuan was worried that Gu Qinghan would say something inappropriate again, so she tugged at his sleeve and quickly said to Luo Qingjun, “Thank you, Officer Luo. I will work hard.”

“Alright, then I’ll take you to the kitchen to meet the colleagues in the kitchen,” After saying that, Luo Qingjun stood up from his seat and led Wen Nuan.

As soon as they stepped out of the logistics officer’s office, Lele woke up from her nap—she curiously observed the unfamiliar surroundings.

Seeing the little one awake, Gu Qinghan was concerned she might not adapt well to the strange environment. He said to Wen Nuan, “Lele’s awake. You go with Officer Luo to the kitchen, and I’ll take Lele to have breakfast.”

Wen Nuan knew Gu Qinghan hadn’t had breakfast yet. He had specifically come back to eat in the Flight Crew Cafeteria, and since she needed to be busy, she unbuckled Lele’s baby carrier. “Then I’ll go with Officer Luo for a bit. After you feed her breakfast, bring her back here.”

Gu Qinghan picked up Lele and glanced at Wen Nuan. “Okay, you take your time. I’ll feed Lele breakfast and come back.”

Luo Qingjun glanced at the little one, who had just woken up. After getting down from Wen Nuan’s back, Lele yawned and then wrapped her arms around Gu Qinghan’s neck, resting her little head on his shoulder. Her big, dark eyes were a bit drowsy, and looked somewhat listless.

However, such a beautifully chubby baby was rare to see, especially after a long winter when many children had chapped faces with darkened skin. In contrast, Lele’s face remained fair and tender, showing no signs of being affected by the weather at all.

In the family compound, there were quite a few women who brought their children to work, and the army expressed understanding towards those family members with kids.

Before Wen Nuan came to the kitchen team, General Xu had also mentioned Wen Nuan’s situation to him. He knew that Wen Nuan and Gu Qinghan did not have any elders to help them, and the child was so small. The kitchen team intended to arrange a position for her so that she could take care of her child more conveniently.

Gu Qinghan gently patted the back of the little baby in his arms, softly whispering sweet words into the little one’s ear, smiling as he told the child he would take her to eat something delicious.

This was the first time Luo Qingjun had seen such a gentle and patient side of Gu Qinghan; he thought he might be mistaken!

Previously, Liang Guangan had told him that Gu Qinghan was a “wife slave,” always running home. Now, it seemed that this guy was not only a “wife slave” but also a “daughter slave!”

Gu Qinghan took the child to the cafeteria while the Quartermaster led Wen Nuan into the back kitchen.

Before entering the kitchen, another comrade checked them at the door.

The Quartermaster explained that the back kitchen was a critically important place. A few years ago, an enemy agent had infiltrated the Air Force base and attempted to enter the kitchen to poison the food, but he had fortunately discovered it in time.

One should know that if such an incident occurred in the military kitchen, it would undoubtedly be a catastrophic accident for the army, potentially leading to the exposure of highly classified files.

Therefore, anyone who was allowed into the kitchen had to go through several layers of screening; they needed to be quick and clean in their movements and possess a vigilant heart full of patriotism and love for the people.

The military cafeteria was very clean, and everything was arranged neatly. Even though everyone was busy, all items were orderly and in place.

As Wen Nuan walked in, she recognized one or two familiar faces from when she was involved in the avalanche rescue operation.

However, there were also some hot-tempered individuals. At that moment, a burly man was loudly scolding someone while holding a spatula. “I told you already, this potato needs to be cut into strips, not into fries! Even a dog can learn this, but you can’t!”

The young soldier cutting the potatoes didn’t dare to respond, while the Quartermaster chuckled and said, “Lao Zhong, I could hear your voice from far away; tone it down a bit.”

When Lao Zhong saw the Quartermaster approach, he rolled his eyes and replied, “Tone down? The cooks can’t even cut a potato properly. If this gets out, they’ll laugh us out of here!”

Then he noticed Wen Nuan standing behind the Quartermaster. Remembering that General Xu had personally arranged for a woman to come and give them pointers, he asked, “Is this the new nutritionist?”

“What’s the point of having a nutritionist? Do we really need one to cook? We have fish and meat every day; isn’t that good enough for nutrition? I don’t believe it!” Lao Zhong looked at Wen Nuan with a hint of displeasure.

Wen Nuan smiled and didn’t take offense. Instead, she casually walked over to the breakfast display table and scanned the prepared breakfast for the day.

Lao Zhong had a loud voice, and his rank was higher than that of the young soldiers in the kitchen. Whenever he spoke, everyone shrank back in fear. Sometimes, even the Quartermaster didn’t want to listen to him and would turn away.

This was also the first time Lao Zhong had encountered someone who wasn’t afraid of him. He felt a bit annoyed and thought to intimidate the young girl. “Listen, since there aren’t enough people on the ground crew, you might as well go help that sister-in-law over there wash vegetables and cut meat. You’ll have plenty to talk about, and we in the Flight Crew don’t need those messy nutritional meals.”

Wen Nuan picked up a pair of chopsticks from the side and casually poked at the potato and egg pancake, the fried fish cakes, and the walnuts on her plate. Beside her, there was a large pot of soybean milk, but unfortunately, the soybeans hadn’t been fully ground, and most of them were still whole.

Wen Nuan asked, “Oh really? Do you know what the basic training for pilots is every day?”

She looked at Lao Zhong without fear. “It includes the spiral ladder, fixed wheels, and movable wheels; these training exercises are practiced almost daily. But having them eat potatoes, fried fish cakes, and soybean milk for breakfast—these are all gas-inducing and greasy foods. You can ask around how many pilots finish their training without throwing up afterward.”

Upon hearing Wen Nuan’s words, Lao Zhong was so angry that his beard nearly stood on end. Especially after hearing her last comment, he was about to explode. “Whoever goes up there and spins around a few times ends up throwing up, regardless! What does that have to do with what I’m cooking?”

What Wen Nuan mentioned about those breakfasts had been written by Lao Zhong the previous week, so how could he let her casually question it?

However, Wen Nuan ignored him and went to the storage room to get milk, eggs, and some unsteamed flower buns.

She placed the flower buns in the steamer, then lit a fire to fry a few soft-boiled eggs while heating the milk and pouring it into a cup.

Wen Nuan prepared a few simple breakfast portions and took them over to the serving window. “I’ll have a few comrades help test them, and we’ll know the results by noon.”

Just then, Gu Qinghan was in line at the cafeteria. He had already heard the argument coming from the back kitchen and had initially planned to say a few words in support of Wen Nuan. However, he instead sent a few comrades from the flight team to grab the breakfasts made by Wen Nuan and asked them to help keep track of the results.

The Quartermaster had the young soldier who had just been scolded by Lao Zhong note down which comrades took Wen Nuan’s breakfasts. When they came in for lunch, they would ask them about it.

The little one, Lele, saw Wen Nuan from the queue window and waved at her with a big smile. Wen Nuan also smiled back and waved at her.

Lele was likely hungry too; upon seeing Gu Qinghan carrying a plate of food, she didn’t pay much attention to Wen Nuan and instead waved goodbye to her.

Lao Zhong scoffed, “This kind of breakfast doesn’t even have any meat. What kind of nutrition is that?”

Wen Nuan was not angry.

She understood that they were limited by their circumstances, having come through tough times. They believed that having fish and meat at every meal was what constituted good nutrition.

They probably thought that since the Flight Crew had such high standards for their meals, they should have big fish and meat for every meal.

She simply smiled faintly and said, “We’ll know by noon.”

Lao Zhong snorted, “Then we’ll just wait and see.”

The Quartermaster tried to ease the tension: “Lao Zhong if Wen Nuan’s breakfasts get recognized, you can’t keep complaining!”

Lao Zhong wanted to say something else, but upon seeing Wen Nuan’s gentle smile, he replied, “Of course. A real man knows when to bend and when to stand firm.”

After having breakfast, Gu Qinghan had to return to the training ground, so he had no choice but to hand the child back to Wen Nuan.

He initially thought Wen Nuan wouldn’t be able to manage, but she said, “It’s fine. The Quartermaster said I should go to the storage room today to check what ingredients we have and keep a record. Then I’ll review the recent dishes. This afternoon, I need to go to your side to ask Captain Liang for your medical reports. I have to write next week’s menu and submit it to him by Saturday.”

So, there was basically no need for her to do any work in the cafeteria.

Gu Qinghan nodded. Taking advantage of the moment when no one was around, he pecked her on the cheek and comforted her, “Lao Zhong’s personality is just like that; he’s not a bad person. If he gives you a hard time, let me know, and I’ll deal with him.”

Wen Nuan couldn’t help but laugh. She held his hand and replied with a smile, “No need for that; we’ll have results by noon. Just make sure your flight team reports honestly.”

Wen Nuan knew that Gu Qinghan could surely handle Lao Zhong, but taking personal revenge wasn’t the best course of action. It was better to rely on strength to speak for itself.

She felt that this approach would only deepen the conflict, and Wen Nuan didn’t want to complicate her work unnecessarily.

For now, she found this job manageable. If she could keep it, that would be ideal; she would earn an extra thirty-five yuan a month, which would allow her to buy a few more toys for Lele.

Gu Qinghan nodded and gently patted Lele’s little head, saying, “Be good to your mom; Dad will come to play with you at noon.”

After Gu Qinghan’s flight at nine, he would have some free time, and he planned to come back and check on them.

When Lele felt that her Daddy was patting her head, she shook her head and turned away, wrapping her arms around Wen Nuan’s neck—she didn’t like her hair being messed up.

Knowing that Gu Qinghan would be busy again, the little one peeked out and waved goodbye to him and said “Bye” in a childish tone.

—o—o—o—