Chapter 66.2

In Northern City, the first snow of the year began to fall.

It wasn’t a heavy snowfall but rather small flakes that fell sporadically, quickly disappearing upon hitting the bare, muddy ground.

Winter mornings always made one feel lethargic. Wen Nuan felt the same way as she lay on the heated bed. If Gu Qinglan hadn’t gotten up early to cook noodles and come to wake her for breakfast, she would have had no desire to get up at all while cuddling with Lele, who was sleeping next to her.

Ever since they turned on the heater, Lele had been sleeping even more soundly. Previously, she would occasionally wake up with them, but now she almost always slept until eight or nine, rolling around freely on the kang.

Seeing that Lele hadn’t woken up, Gu Qinglan lowered her voice and said to Wen Nuan, “Sister-in-law, I’ve already made the noodles. You should get up and eat.”

Wen Nuan had prepared some seasoning packets, so now Gu Qinglan was also capable of making good noodles. Thus, whenever Wen Nuan was slow to wake up in the morning, it was Gu Qinglan who took on the task of making breakfast.

Wen Nuan yawned and asked, “Didn’t we say we’d eat in the cafeteria? Why are you up so early?”

“The cafeteria only serves steamed buns and porridge, and my mouth is getting bitter from it. Anyway, with the seasoning packets you made, I just need to boil the noodles and add it in, and it tastes great,” Gu Qinglan replied. Having been spoiled by Wen Nuan’s cooking, she had become more diligent. Since Wen Nuan loved to sleep in, she would get up to make breakfast.

“That’s true; the breakfast in the cafeteria lacks variety, but it’s not bad for the north,” Wen Nuan said, smelling the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen. She immediately got out of bed and freshened up.

When Wen Nuan returned to the living room, she was surprised to see Lele standing at the door of the room, holding her little cotton jacket. The small, chubby hands were rubbing her eyes, and she let out a small yawn.

As soon as Lele spotted Wen Nuan, she waddled over while clutching her jacket and said, “Mommy, clothes!”

“Come here, Mommy will help you put it on.” Worried that the child might catch a cold, Wen Nuan quickly dressed her in the cotton jacket and asked, “Why are you up so early today? Why not sleep a little longer?”

Lele mumbled: “Pee.”

Upon hearing this, Wen Nuan immediately checked her diaper. Although the child had learned to use the toilet during the day, at night, Wen Nuan was still worried that Lele might pee on the thick cotton blanket, so she still let Lele wear diapers.

However, now that the child was older, the diaper often became soaked, so Wen Nuan’s first instinct was to see if she had wet her pants.

After checking, she realized that the diaper was dry. It seemed Lele had been in a hurry and wanted her to help remove the diaper so she could go by herself.

“Okay, Mommy will take off the diaper right away. Let’s go to the bathroom,” she said, removing the diaper and picking Lele up as she headed for the door toward the bathroom.

After Lele finished using the toilet, Wen Nuan helped her pull her pants back up and then led her back to the living room.

Gu Qinglan had already placed two bowls of noodles on the table, artfully garnished with halved boiled eggs, making them quite appealing.

Wen Nuan smiled and remarked, “They look good.”

Gu Qinglan replied cheerfully, “Being around you, sister-in-law, I’ve certainly picked up a few useful things.”

Lele then took off running toward the table, suddenly full of energy. She laughed and said, “Auntie, I want to eat the eggs!”

“Alright, Auntie will get the egg for you. You sit here and wait a moment!” Gu Qinglan said. After placing the two bowls of noodles down, she went back to the kitchen and returned, holding a boiled egg.

Wen Nuan mixed some warm water for Lele to brush her teeth and helped her wash her hands and face. Lele had been practicing brushing her teeth since summer, but she often spat it out because the toothpaste was too spicy. It had taken her a few months to get used to it, but she still spat some out just now.

Gu Qinglan placed the egg in front of Lele and said, “Let Auntie check if Lele brushed her teeth. No brushing means no egg to eat!”

Lele smiled and opened her mouth wide, showing her teeth. “I brushed them; they smell good!”

“Good, this egg is for our Lele.”

“Thank you, Auntie!”

Lele held an egg and tapped it on the table for a while, then slowly began to peel the shell in her own way.

Wen Nuan sat on one side of her, and Gu Qinglan sat on the other, starting to eat noodles. Occasionally, they would help Lele peel a bit of the egg so she wouldn’t throw a tantrum over not being able to do it herself.

Fortunately, Lele managed to peel the egg successfully and smiled as she held it up to show them, saying, “Lele peeled the egg!”

Gu Qinglan exclaimed, “Wow, our Lele is really amazing!”

Wen Nuan chuckled and said, “Yes, our Lele is awesome.”

Because it was snowing, after having breakfast at home, Wen Nuan did not plan to take Lele to the cafeteria to avoid her catching a cold.

When they arrived at the kitchen, Wen Nuan saw the staff in the back chopping meat. Ever since she made some meatballs for Gu Qinghan last month, quite a few people have been asking for the cafeteria to supply them. Recently, they caught quite a bit of fish, so today, several people are preparing fish paste to make fish balls.

Seeing a large pile of fish bones left over, Wen Nuan said, “I’ll make some pepper salt fish bones and simmer some fish bone soup.”

“It seems we are in for a treat today!”

Wen Nuan knew they were just joking around and didn’t want to engage with them too much. She planned to finish her work early and go back home to accompany the child. It was snowing, and the kitchen was not as busy in winter, so Quartermaster Luo allowed her to finish her tasks and return home early.

—o—o—o—

After a day of work, just as Wen Nuan was about to clock out and head home, Xiao Mei suddenly ran over to tell her, “Aunt, Sister Qinglan got into a fight with someone at the hospital! You should hurry and see what happened.”

Upon hearing this, Wen Nuan didn’t bother to pack her things; she immediately followed Xiao Mei out of the cafeteria, asking her, “Who did Qinglan get into a fight with? At the hospital? Is it with the patients? Were they male or female?”

Xiao Mei wasn’t too sure either; she had just gone to bring her grandmother some traditional medicine and happened to see the commotion. She replied, “A man.”

As soon as Wen Nuan heard that, she quickened her pace, fearing that Qinglan might be in trouble.

On the other side, Sister Juxiang was also preparing to clock out. Seeing Wen Nuan and her child rushing out in a hurry, she asked, “What’s going on? Where are you two heading?”

Xiao Mei repeated what she had just said, and Sister Juxiang responded, “No way! Could it be that some patients are causing Qinglan trouble?”

Over the years, she had heard numerous stories of patients creating issues for doctors and nurses. Who knew if Qinglan had just happened to run into one of those situations?

Noticing that Wen Nuan had already brought her bicycle out, Sister Juxiang said, “Xiao Nuan, I’ll go with you to take a look. I’ll ride the bike; you can sit in the back.”

“Okay.”

(T/N: Xiao Mei is the little kid, then Sister Xiaomei is Yang Xiaomei)

—o—o—o—

The cafeteria was not far from the military hospital, and with the bicycle, they arrived at the hospital in no time.

However, instead of witnessing Gu Qinglan being bullied, they saw Yang Xiaomei’s ex-boyfriend, Ding Guoli, being kicked out of the emergency room by the head nurse, who spat on the floor as he left.

A crowd of onlookers surrounded the bruised Ding Guoli, pointing at him and whispering amongst themselves.

Wen Nuan didn’t have time to pay attention to that scumbag. Instead, she walked into the emergency room and immediately saw Qinglan surrounded by several other nurses who appeared to be treating her wounds.

What surprised her was that Yang Xiaomei was also sitting next to Qinglan. It seemed both of them had been injured and were crying out in pain.

Wen Nuan and Sister Juxiang hurried over, worried, and asked, “Qinglan, what happened? Are you hurt?”

Gu Qinglan hadn’t expected Wen Nuan to come over. Forgetting about her injury, she jumped up from the chair and exclaimed, “Sister-in-law, what are you doing here?”

Wen Nuan quickly scanned Gu Qinglan from head to toe and said, “Xiao Mei said you got beaten up. Did someone come to cause trouble?”

Medical disputes were common, and she was anxious that Qinglan might have encountered one, so she rushed over without hesitation.

However, Qinglan laughed and replied, “It’s nothing like that. I was just about to get off work when Yang Xiaomei happened to come looking for me. Who knew that before we could return to the family compound, we would run into Ding Guoli?”

“Sister-in-law, guess who Ding Guoli is trying to get close to now?” Gu Qinglan teased, then chuckled, “It’s that woman who spoke ill of you all in the kitchen before.”

“Sister Sister Xiaomei saw that scumbag and that woman flirting, and she couldn’t hold back. She just went right up and hit him. I was initially going to break it up, but to my surprise, that guy actually hit Sister Xiaomei back. I couldn’t hold back either and ended up joining Sister Xiaomei in beating him up. Later, our colleagues at the nurse station helped us out as well.”

Yang Xiaomei followed Gu Qinglan and smiled: “Xiao Nuan, it’s my fault. Qinglan wasn’t bullied, but she did get a bit hurt.”

Gu Qinglan took the opportunity to mention how Ding Guoli had been overly attentive to her before, revealing that he wasn’t just fawning over one woman but several!

That was why she had been so angry.

A nurse in the crowd chimed in, “A man like that should be taken out and shot! By only beating him, we are already showing mercy!”

“Exactly! He’s so fickle; it’s absolutely shameless!”

“Anyone who gets involved with trash like that is just asking for trouble. Luckily, you both didn’t fall for it!”

Listening to their conversation, Wen Nuan felt relieved. She then said, “Let me see your injuries.”

The two of them obediently extended their injured arms. Both had varying degrees of bruising but nothing serious; it looked more like they had bumped into something.

Wen Nuan smiled and said, “Well done!”

That kind of scumbag deserved a good beating!

Wen Nuan hadn’t expected these two girls to be so fierce.

She added, “But you still need to pay attention to safety next time. I’ll make some fish bone soup for you to help you recover. Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight?”

After all, men had more physical strength. When Qinglan mentioned that Ding Guoli had hit back, it was likely that Sister Xiaomei had also been struck. Fortunately, there were many people in the hospital; otherwise, with just Qinglan and Sister Xiaomei, they might not have been able to take on a big man like Ding Guoli.

Gu Qinglan and Yang Xiaomei had vented their frustrations, and now they felt great. They nodded repeatedly, saying, “Mm-hmm, got it!”

—o—o—o—

On the other side, He Manqing, who had secretly witnessed Ding Guoli being thrown out, felt like she could die from humiliation.

She had been incredibly unlucky recently! For half a month, she tried to contact General Lu without success. That young Zhang kept saying that he hadn’t returned to Beijing yet.

She was planning to go back to the Art Troupe for training in a couple of days, but yesterday, while leaving her home, she slipped on the icy road and twisted her ankle.

On her way to the hospital, she happened to run into her former suitor, Ding Guoli. Thinking he could help her, she had asked him for assistance. He had hesitated a bit but eventually agreed to help.

However, not long after seeing the doctor, Ding Guoli was suddenly slapped by the female kitchen staff member, who had also scolded him for being so fickle.

Everyone regarded her as Ding Guoli’s girlfriend and scolded her like an immoral woman.

He Manqing certainly did not want to be associated with Ding Guoli as his girlfriend; she had just seen him as someone useful at the moment.

But now, seeing that this man was also overly attentive to others, she found it disgusting!

What infuriated her even more was that it was the people from the kitchen team again.

Ever since she had gone to the kitchen team to apologize and Wen Nuan had rejected her, He Manqing had held a grudge against that woman. How could Leader Liao have suspended her training for a month if it hadn’t been for her?

The more she thought about it, the more she despised the kitchen staff. She wished they could experience the same hardships of being suspended!

The more she thought about it, the more unwilling she felt. Why should she, a granddaughter of a commander, endure such unfair treatment?

So, she used her connections to investigate the cafeteria and discovered that Wen Nuan was almost always enjoying lavish meals and even taking fish bones home!

He Manqing decided to write an anonymous complaint letter to Quartermaster Luo. Even if she couldn’t get Wen Nuan fired, she wanted her to be suspended for at least half a month, so she could experience the suffering she had gone through..

—o—o—o—

Sure enough, the next day, Quartermaster Luo called Wen Nuan in for questioning. Ever since the incident with Li Qiuyan, the kitchen team has been strictly monitoring the theft of supplies.

Quartermaster Luo said, “Someone wrote an anonymous complaint, saying that your family eats fish and meat every day, implying that you must be taking things from the cafeteria.”

Wen Nuan was left speechless, half-laughing and half-crying. “Quartermaster, I can explain everything.”

Wen Nuan detailed her situation to Quartermaster Luo: “The meat we eat at home is all bought from the supply and marketing cooperative. Because Gu Qinghan has a subsidy for on-duty meals, he has more meat coupons than others, and recently, Gu Qinglan has also been eating at my house and gave me her meat coupons.”

In the winter, fish in the north did not require coupons; anyone with money could simply buy them.

Due to the severe cold in northern winters, it was easy to freeze to death without some meat. Although pork was hard to come by, fish could be bought directly, and it was her own money.

Wen Nuan continued, “Moreover, the so-called fish and meat mentioned in the letter include some dried seafood that Sister Guihua gave me, like shrimp, squid, and abalone…”

“…”

The more Quartermaster Luo listened, the more he felt he was suffering.

Of course, Quartermaster Luo knew about Wen Nuan’s situation, but now that someone had written a complaint, he had to follow the procedure and investigate.

He, of course, trusted that Wen Nuan would never take a single thing from the Kitchen Team.

Besides, his assistant conducted an inventory every week, and nothing hadn’t been missing from the kitchen lately!

Quartermaster Luo said, “Alright, I understand. You can go back to work now.”

Wen Nuan smiled and replied, “Alright.”

Although Wen Nuan was curious about who had been so idle as to report her, she soon put the matter out of her mind. Around noon, she received a telegram from Gu Qinghan, saying he would return within the next few days.

When Wen Nuan got off work, she sent Qinglan to the village to buy a free-range chicken, planning to make a chicken hot pot for Gu Qinghan when he returned home.

Every time Gu Qinghan returned from a test flight, he would be a bit thinner, so she needed to ensure he got some nourishment.

After Wen Nuan arrived home, she had just finished chopping a large cabbage when she heard the sound of a car outside the courtyard.

Upon hearing the sound of the car, Lele began to fuss and wanted to go outside. “Mommy, car, car!”

Wen Nuan also heard the car. Although it wasn’t snowing outside, the wind was strong. She said, “It must be your dad who’s back. Let’s go and have a look.”

As soon as she opened the door, the wind outside blew so hard that she couldn’t keep her eyes open. However, a man in a military uniform had already stepped out of the car.

Without looking closely, Wen Nuan called out, “Qinghan, you’re back?”

Hearing this, General Lu’s face immediately hardened.

The Air Force’s most outstanding pilot, for the first time, was given a fierce look of disapproval by General Lu.

General Lu strode over, stopping in front of Wen Nuan and Lele. His sharp, eagle-like eyes gazed at her with excitement.

Wen Nuan finally saw clearly that it was General Lu and realized she had mistaken him for someone else. She quickly corrected herself, calling, “General Lu.”

General Lu’s mouth curved slightly as he said, “What, General Lu?”

“I’m your grandpa. From now on, call me Grandpa.”