She bought the noodles from Master He. If she got off work late and didn’t have time to cook rice, she could just cook the noodles.

It was almost seven o’clock when she got home. The light was coming through the kitchen window, and Wen Jiajia saw Wei Dai.

“You’re actually home today,” Wen Jiajia said, leaning against the door. “I thought you wouldn’t be back until midnight again!”

Wei Dai brought the dishes to the table and said, “You’ll be away on a business trip for a few days. I have to come back to see you.”

Wen Jiajia smiled and said, “Is there anything you need me to bring? It’s not easy to go there; I don’t want to waste the trip.”

Holidays were so rare that it was almost heartbreaking. It was impossible to find a long vacation for leisure, so business trips were the only option.

Wei Dai thought for a moment and said, “No. The wood planers in big cities can’t be better than those at home, right?”

Wen Jiajia was speechless. “You’re only thinking about your wood planer.”

She added, “You also ask me to make cabinets and boxes for you every day.”

Aren’t all cabinets and boxes made with wood planers?

Wen Jiajia sighed and went to wash her hands.

In the future, it won’t be so easy to cut down trees. In a few decades, you’ll need to report when you cut down a tree. If you cut down an old tree, you might even end up in jail!

But even now, cutting down trees isn’t as easy as before. In the original owner’s memory, her adoptive father often went to the mountains outside the county to cut trees when she was a child. When she grew older, he no longer allowed anyone to cut down trees.

The original owner’s adoptive father complained about this for a long time, almost every winter. Without trees, the cost of charcoal would be much higher.

Everything at home costs money. Whenever this happened, the original owner would work extra hard and eat very little to avoid incurring her adoptive parents’ anger.

As she thought about this, Wen Jiajia felt unhappy again.

Wei Dai was always sensitive to changes in her mood and asked, “What’s wrong? Okay, can you bring me a wood planer?”

Wen Jiajia glared at him and said, “You wish! If I say I have nothing to bring, then I have nothing to bring.”

After a pause, she added with a hint of irritation, “I don’t know how that family is doing. It would be best if they weren’t doing well.”

“When we have a holiday next year, we’ll go home to visit our relatives, and we’ll find out then,” Wei Dai said, picking up a piece of fish belly meat with his chopsticks. “Don’t be angry. Didn’t you say that getting angry at others will shorten your lifespan?”

Wen Jiajia choked, mashed the fish meat in her bowl, mixed it with rice, and poured two spoonfuls of fish soup over it. The rice immediately became more flavorful, and she buried her head in it, angrily eating two large bowls.

After dinner, the couple counted their money in the room.

Wen Jiajia thought for a moment and finally took out a hundred yuan. “Just take this much. If I carry more, I’ll be scared all the way.”

These days, there are many thieves, and without surveillance cameras everywhere, it’s hard to recover stolen items. Wen Jiajia didn’t feel safe carrying too much money.

Wei Dai asked, “Where’s the ticket?”

Wen Jiajia replied, “Take everything except the food coupons and meat coupons.”

Wei Dai joked, “Aren’t you afraid the ticket will be stolen?”

Wen Jiajia said, “The ticket is small, and I’m not bringing much money. I’m just making room for the ticket.”

She took out the clothes she planned to wear the next day, showing Wei Dai the pocket she had sewn inside. It had three buttons and was so neatly stitched that it couldn’t be seen from the outside.

Wei Dai examined the clothes closely. “Amazing!”

Wen Jiajia leaned over and kissed him. This man was very emotionally generous and always knew how to make her happy at critical moments.

As they were about to be apart for a few days, they were both very passionate that night.

The next day, Wen Jiajia woke up before dawn. Wei Dai was already up. When she opened the door, Wei Dai was about to go to the cafeteria to buy breakfast.

“Buy extra so I can have it for lunch,” Wen Jiajia said, rubbing her eyes.

She yawned, feeling almost in tears from sleepiness.

The two girls were still sound asleep. Wen Jiajia placed the iron box on the top shelf of the cupboard where Wen Chun and Wen Xuan could reach it. It contained butterfly cakes and biscuits enough for the two sisters to last a few days.

She quickly washed up, packed her toothbrush, toothbrush cup, and toothpaste into the suitcase, and had already put the towel away. She had cut a piece of new cloth to use as a towel.

Then she boiled some water, let it cool for a while, and poured it into the kettle when it was about 60 to 70 degrees.

Finally, she used the remaining charcoal fire to boil the milk. When the milk was ready, Wei Dai came back with breakfast.

Breakfast was packed in a lunch box and an oil-paper bag. The lunch box contained food for the morning, and the oil-paper bag held food for the journey.

Opening the lunch box revealed a feast.

Wen Jiajia was puzzled. “What time does the cafeteria open? There are both steamed buns and fried dumplings. Don’t cooks have to start working at three or four in the morning?”

“Also, the earlier you get up, the more food you get. Today’s breakfast is so lavish that it’s a bit intimidating.”

Wei Dai said, “You wish. I brought some meat and flour yesterday and asked Lao Li to help make this.”

Wen Jiajia smiled and said, “Wei Dai, you’re so thoughtful.”

Wei Dai was helpless. “Eat up. The convoy is about to leave. It has to depart by 6:30 at the latest.”

“Oh, okay. It’s only five o’clock now, so we still have time.” Wen Jiajia took a big bite of a bun.

The buns were filled with dried bamboo shoots and meat.

The dried bamboo shoots tasted like fresh spring shoots, were from this year’s harvest, and had no worm holes. They had the fragrance of dried bamboo shoots without the moldy smell of old ones.

There were also leeks and diced pork in the buns.

Lao Li had made cooked-stuffed buns today, which meant the stuffing was fried before being wrapped in the buns. This method gave the buns a distinct taste compared to those made with raw stuffing.

Raw stuffing tends to clump together when steamed, but cooked stuffing remains scattered, making the buns more flavorful and less greasy.

The buns were so delicious that Wen Jiajia ate two before moving on to the fried dumplings.

The fried dumplings were stuffed with leeks and eggs, and some with leeks and pork.

Wen Jiajia liked both but wondered if eating leeks in the car was a good idea.

She quickly decided to keep the buns and said, “I’ll just take the buns, and you can keep the dumplings.”

It was six o’clock, and dawn was breaking.

The family quarters were becoming lively, with doors opening one after another.

Wen Jiajia arrived at the troop’s departure point with her luggage and waved to Wei Dai. “Go back. See you in a few days!”

Wei Dai said reluctantly, “Be careful on the road! Stay alert! Follow your leader closely and don’t fall behind.”

Oh, how could she not know this?

Wen Jiajia nodded patiently. “Okay.”

The soldiers traveling with Wei Dai laughed and said, “You’re so reluctant to part. It’s only a few days; why are you so emotional?”

Wei Dai retorted, “You wouldn’t understand. A man like you who doesn’t have a wife can’t grasp how I feel right now.”

“Hey! That’s too much. You’re hitting a sore spot.”

As he said this, the man jumped into the car and shouted to the driver, “Xiao Bei, drive quickly, and let the exhaust gas go to Wei Dai.”

With a rumble, the car started.

Wen Jiajia covered her mouth and laughed, then waved at Wei Dai. “Goodbye!”

“Have a safe trip,” Wei Dai shouted back.

_

The motor vehicle was fast, and they arrived at the train station a little before seven o’clock.

It seemed they were a bit early, so Wen Jiajia could only sit next to the ticket office and wait.

Decades later, high-speed rail stations will have various brand stores and a wide variety of food.

At this time, the station had limited options.

There was a food stall on the platform selling sesame cakes.

A sesame seed bun cost five cents, which was a bit expensive compared to the market price, but it didn’t require food coupons, and twenty pieces only cost one dollar.

Enough for two meals for the whole family!

If there were no restrictions on buying sesame cakes before boarding the train, many people would likely have to wait at this food stall every day. Regardless of the era, there are always people with money to spend.

The sun was rising, and golden sunlight broke through the clouds, shining on Wen Jiajia.

Wen Jiajia squinted, feeling a bit sleepy.

The area around the train station was bustling with activity, with people coming and going on the streets. Many state-owned restaurants and guest houses were located here.

It was breakfast time, and steam from the steamers filled the streets as lids were opened.

Liang Mu arrived before Director Gao and asked Wen Jiajia, “Comrade Wen, have you eaten?”

Wen Jiajia, so sleepy she was dozing off, didn’t immediately notice him.

His sudden question startled Wen Jiajia so much that she nearly fell to the ground.

“I ate, I ate,” she said, covering her mouth as she yawned, tears in her eyes.

Liang Mu continued, “Oh, I haven’t eaten yet. I’m planning to buy some sesame cakes later. They’re very good at the train station—chewy and not loose. I also brought pickles to eat with them…”

Wen Jiajia wanted to cover her ears.

Fortunately, Director Gao arrived just in time to save her from Liang Mu’s description.

“Let’s get into the station quickly. I changed my ticket to 45 cents,” he said, glancing at his watch. “It’s almost 40 minutes past.”

Wen Jiajia was shocked. She thought Director Gao seemed a bit unreliable.

Someone agreed to meet at the station at 8 o’clock but changed the ticket to 7:45 without informing the other party.

It was fortunate that Wen Jiajia and Liang Mu arrived first, or there would have been a significant problem.

The three of them hurried into the station. Liang Mu’s sesame cakes were sold out. The food stall was surrounded by people, and he didn’t have time to wait in line.

Fortunately, the railway station in Linhe City was small at that time, and it took less than two minutes to get from the ticket office to the platform.

They boarded the train and found their seats.

As soon as they sat down, the train whistle sounded, and the door closed with a beep.

Liang Mu stared longingly at the pancake stand, drool forming at the corners of his mouth, and his stomach growled loudly.

Director Gao asked, “You didn’t eat?”

Liang Mu nodded awkwardly.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Liang Mu felt almost grief-stricken. If he had said something earlier, it would have ruined his plan to come early just to buy sesame cakes.

Director Gao took out a steamed bun from his bag and handed it to him. “Here, eat this.”

Liang Mu’s indignant expression melted away. “Thank you, Director!”

Wen Jiajia hesitated but eventually opened her backpack and took out a bun from the oil-paper bag. “I also brought some dry food.”

She didn’t really want to give it to him, as she loved the bamboo shoots and pork buns and wasn’t very familiar with Liang Mu. However, since the director had offered, she felt she should reciprocate. If she didn’t give it to him, she’d rather not eat the buns herself during the trip.

Liang Mu thanked her repeatedly. “Comrade Wen, you are so kind.”

“You’re welcome,” Wen Jiajia replied, feeling goosebumps on her arm.