She pointed toward the room and said, “Keep your voice down. Your uncle-in-law is back and is still sleeping.”

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan smiled and were about to shout but were stopped by Wen Jiajia’s words.

Wen Chun ran over and asked, “Aunt, did my uncle come back last night? Is he injured?”

The precocious Wen Chun knew that his classmates’ fathers were often injured. So, what about his uncle-in-law? He would surely be injured, too.

Wen Jiajia felt warm in her heart and touched Wen Chun’s soft hair. “Don’t worry, your uncle-in-law is fine. He didn’t come back until after two o’clock this morning. He went to bed late, so he is sleeping soundly now.”

Wen Chun is a considerate person, and if things aren’t explained clearly to her, she will worry.

Sure enough, after Wen Jiajia explained it in detail, she felt relieved.

As for Wen Xuan, this carefree child had already stood on tiptoe to take a vegetable pancake from the table.

She really liked vegetable cakes.

Wen Jiajia shouted with a stern face, “Wen Xuan.”

Wen Xuan retracted her hand and looked at her aunt eagerly.

It is more terrifying for parents to call you by your full name than to just scold you.

Wen Jiajia asked, “What do you need to do before dinner?”

Wen Xuan replied, “Brush your teeth and wash your face.”

Wen Jiajia asked, “Did you do that?”

Wen Xuan shook her head, obediently took her little cup, and went to the yard to wash up.

The preserved eggs in the casserole were almost cooked, so Wen Jiajia went to the cupboard to get some sweet potato flour.

If the sweet potato flour clumps together, she crushed it with a spoon and poured it into the minced meat. Then she slowly added the minced meat to the casserole, stirring with a spoon as she poured.

“Gurgle gurgle—”

With the addition of sweet potato flour, the porridge became thicker.

The addition of meat made the porridge instantly more delicious, with the aroma of meat filling the air and even a thin layer of meat oil floating on the surface.

“Is the porridge ready, Auntie?”

Wen Xuan, who was more focused on eating than on being reprimanded, hurried in after washing up.

Wen Jiajia kept stirring with the spoon in her hand. “It’s almost done. Go and set the table.”

This was probably Wen Xuan’s favorite job.

Wen Jiajia smiled and hummed a song as she went to set out the bowls and chopsticks.

The minced meat was fully cooked, which meant that the preserved egg and lean meat porridge was ready. She sprinkled in the chopped green onions and stirred. Using a rag to pad her hands, Wen Jiajia brought the casserole to the table.

There was a wooden mat on the table, just big enough to hold the casserole.

She also fried some vegetables and took some pickled radishes from the jar, so breakfast was ready.

She quietly checked the bedroom. Wei Dai was still asleep and sleeping soundly, so she quietly closed the door without making any noise.

“Eat first. My uncle-in-law is still sleeping,” Wen Jiajia told the two girls. “There are only three vegetable cakes per person. If you can’t finish them, save them for after school.”

Wen Xuan quickly responded, “Eat them. I can finish them.”

What my aunt said was really strange. How could anyone not finish such delicious food?

However, she soon discovered that there was something even more delicious for breakfast: preserved egg and lean meat porridge.

To be honest, when Wen Xuan took the first bite of the porridge, she was astounded.

She didn’t understand why the meat and egg porridge was so delicious!

“Because there are preserved eggs,” Wen Jiajia said. It seemed Wen Xuan also loved preserved eggs very much.

Not everyone likes preserved eggs. Some people hate them.

At least Wen Chun thought the preserved egg was just average, and the porridge was also just average.

Wen Xuan was like a little pig. If Wen Jiajia hadn’t worked hard to teach her, she would have been slurping her food right now.

With such a small stomach, Wen Xuan actually ate two bowls of porridge and a vegetable cake.

After finishing the porridge, Wen Xuan couldn’t eat the remaining two vegetable cakes. She looked at Wen Jiajia and laughed, “Auntie, you were right. I can’t finish them.”

“…” Wen Jiajia felt a bit worried about Wen Xuan’s silliness.

The two sisters didn’t stay at home for long after breakfast and soon went to school with Xie Yi from next door.

As soon as they left, Wen Jiajia’s ears finally relaxed.

After cleaning the kitchen, Wen Jiajia tiptoed to her room to get her textbooks, paper, and pen to review.

The weather outside was pleasant; the sun had finally come out, and the morning breeze was cool and smelled of grass, which was comforting.

Wen Jiajia was bored at home, so she went to the yard to read. Since the sun hadn’t reached the yard yet, she didn’t have to worry about straining her eyes.

She stretched lazily, placed a glass of water and a piece of butterfly cake on the table, turned the pages of her book, picked up her pen, and began to review.

When Wei Dai opened his eyes, there was light in the room.

Wen Jiajia used thick cloth for the bedroom curtains, but the thickness was relative and incomparable to the blackout curtains used decades later.

So, on clear days, light penetrates the curtains and enters the room.

Fortunately, the bed was far away from the window and not glaring.

Wei Dai hadn’t had a full night’s sleep for a long time. He picked up the watch on the bedside table, looked at it, and put it back on his wrist.

It was nearly ten o’clock.

“Awake?” Wen Jiajia turned around when she heard the door open. “Eat quickly, or you’ll be late for lunch.”

She pointed to the kitchen and said, “Today I cooked preserved egg and lean meat porridge. The porridge is in the casserole on the stove, and the vegetable cakes are in the pot.”

Seeing that Wei Dai hadn’t woken up yet, she put the casserole on the stove to warm it. There was only charcoal left in the stove, so she wasn’t afraid of drying out or burning the porridge.

Wei Dai wasn’t in a hurry to eat. He hadn’t been home for a few days, and there had been quite a few changes.

He noticed a low pumpkin vine in the corner of the yard, probably planted by Wen Jiajia recently.

He also saw cowpea seedlings planted in a row along the corner of the wall, with a few bamboo poles inserted.

Wei Dai smiled and came over. “Why did you decide to plant pumpkins and beans?”

Wen Jiajia looked at him sideways and said, “It’s Grain Rain. I know how to plant melons and beans. And not just cowpeas; there are also green beans.”

It is said that snow stops at Qingming and frost stops at Guyu. The period before and after Guyu is a good time for sowing, transplanting seedlings, and covering melons and beans.

They can be eaten soon after being planted.

She prefers green beans to cowpeas, but her favorite is snow peas. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find snow pea seeds.

Wen Jiajia pointed with interest to the two sides of the house and said, “I planted some watermelon seedlings on these two sides, but I don’t know if the watermelons will be sweet.”

Wei Dai thought Wen Jiajia was really capable of making things interesting.

Of course, the word “interesting” was meant as a compliment. Despite having to take care of two children, do housework, and review for exams, she still managed to plant so many melons and beans.

After washing up, he took his breakfast to the yard and ate it.

The preserved egg and lean meat porridge obviously suited his taste very well, and he ate it faster than Wen Xuan.

Wen Jiajia asked, “Are you busy tomorrow?”

Wei Dai shook his head. “I can rest for two days.”

“Then let’s go to the city together,” Wen Jiajia said. “We need to check when the pharmaceutical factory will be recruiting.”

She knew it was May but wasn’t sure of the exact day.

Wei Dai agreed, thought for a moment, and said, “We should buy the bicycle at the same time.”

Wen Jiajia was surprised and looked at him intently. “Really? You got the bicycle ticket?”

Wei Dai replied, “Yes, I’ll get it later.”

Wen Jiajia was delighted. “If I pass the exam, I can ride a bicycle to work.”

The bus was often late, and it took her half an hour to calm down after getting off, which was really uncomfortable.

Because of the bicycle issue, Wen Jiajia’s review efficiency today was unprecedented.

After Wei Dai finished his meal, he washed the dishes and went to see his leader.

The troops were probably going to build another building, he thought as he looked at the reclaimed land.

“Wei Dai is back,” someone greeted him.

“Yes, I arrived home early this morning,” he replied with a smile.

Wei Dai was popular in the army, but today he felt particularly popular. He was completely confused and bewildered.

When he arrived at the leader’s office, before he could even speak, the leader burst into laughter and patted him on the shoulder. “You completed the mission well this time. The commander praised you highly, but I have a new mission for you.”

Wei Dai said, “…”

No way, he had just come back, and it hadn’t even been 12 hours.

Generally, it took at least half a month after completing a mission before a new one could be assigned.

“Don’t worry, this task is simple. We just need to teach your wife how to climb trees.” The leader laughed again, and the window glass seemed to vibrate.

Wei Dai was even more confused. “What happened to my wife?”

The leader explained what had happened some time ago and joked, “Your wife is now a celebrity in the family compound. There are people who don’t know you, but there are definitely people who know your wife.”

This was very true.

It was in human nature to watch the fun, and the fastest-spreading news was always gossip.

Nowadays, Wei Dai’s popularity in the family compound was indeed not as high as Wen Jiajia’s, who was blocked by Ka Shu.

Wei Dai was speechless.

He was worried at first but then couldn’t help laughing. He really didn’t understand why such a thing had happened.

No wonder there were so many melons and beans in the yard. It was because Wen Jiajia had stayed at home out of boredom and had taken up gardening.

Yes, Wei Dai had guessed that his wife must be hiding at home, avoiding going out, fearing that others would laugh at her.

Wei Dai returned home after collecting his subsidy benefits.

At home, the sun was shining brightly in the courtyard, and Wen Jiajia felt dazzled, so she moved her desk under the eaves.

With the tip of her pen against her lower lip, Wen Jiajia glanced outside the door from time to time and had no intention of reviewing for the moment.

She was thinking about something. If Wei Dai went out, he might learn about her tree-climbing issue.

Not long after, Wei Dai appeared at the door. Wen Jiajia giggled, but her skin moved without her making any effort.

But Wei Dai looked calm, and Wen Jiajia couldn’t tell whether he knew or not.

Wen Jiajia asked first, “Did you get the bicycle ticket?”

Wei Dai nodded and took out a few bills from his pocket. “This is the subsidy for this time.”

Wen Jiajia counted the items and found one bicycle ticket, a meat ticket with a quota of half a catty, and a national grain ticket with a quota of half a catty.

She put the tickets in the drawer of her bedroom. When she went back to the yard, Wei Dai had a smile in his eyes.

Wen Jiajia tensed her face and said, “Why are you laughing for no reason?”

Wei Dai said, “I just got a new mission.”

Wen Jiajia immediately became anxious. “No way, you’re leaving again? Why so soon this time?” She didn’t ask what the mission was, but she knew the confidentiality regulations.

“The mission is… to teach you how to climb a tree.”

The expression on Wen Jiajia’s face fell, and she rolled her eyes to the sky.

What a mess, huh!

She was actually good at climbing trees!