Chapter 79

Lu Weiguo returned before dinner.

As soon as he came back, he caught the sweet aroma wafting through the courtyard, reminiscent of glutinous rice cake.

Seeing him return, Shi Tingyu asked, “Was the program good?”

Lu Weiguo nodded, “The program was the same as before, but the atmosphere was good.”

Shi Tingyu glanced at him and smiled, “Were the performers from the Cultural Troupe good-looking?”

Lu Weiguo looked at her strangely and replied honestly, “I don’t know.”

Now it was Shi Tingyu’s turn to be puzzled, “You didn’t look?”

“I did, but on stage, with a big red face, I couldn’t see clearly.”

Shi Tingyu stepped forward, raising an eyebrow at him, “You were quite observant to notice even the big red face.”

Seeing her slightly awkward expression, Lu Weiguo’s eyes twinkled with a smile. He reached out, wrapped his arms around her waist, and lifted her up, “I could only see the big red face, but even if I could see clearly, they wouldn’t be as beautiful as you.”

Shi Tingyu was amused by his words and kissed him on the lips, “Alright, put me down.”

Lu Weiguo happily set her down, waited for her to stand firm, then leaned down to kiss her on the lips again before finally letting her go.

Shi Tingyu asked Lu Weiguo to dish out the rice while she went to the room. When Lu Weiguo brought the food into the hall, Shi Tingyu emerged from the room with a cake in hand.

The overall color of the cake was a faint olive green, with slightly darker petals piped underneath.

On top of the cake, the words “812” were written in cream.

Next to the words, there was a three-dimensional rifle.

The rifle was the deepest green color inside, almost like dark green ink.

Just achieving this green color took Shi Tingyu experimenting with many vegetable juices before getting it right.

Lu Weiguo felt his eyes weren’t enough. He put the food down and approached her, wanting to help carry it, but worried his clumsy hands might ruin something so beautiful.

“This is…” he began.

Shi Tingyu said, “This is the cream cake I made. I had limited ingredients, so this is what I could manage. Happy Army Day.”

Lu Weiguo didn’t know how to react for a moment. He simply replied awkwardly, “Thank you.”

Shi Tingyu looked into his eyes and noticed they were slightly red.

Without probing further, she placed the cake on the table, “Let’s eat. After dinner, we can have the cake together.”

Lu Weiguo hummed in agreement, sitting down beside her like a big puppy.

After dinner, Shi Tingyu took a knife and cut the cake into small pieces. The words “812” were neatly preserved on the piece she gave to Lu Weiguo.

“This piece is for you.”

Lu Weiguo took the cake and stared at it in awe.

He thought to himself, “This cake looks really good. Her baking is like her—sweet and beautiful.”

The whole cake was a bit much, so Shi Tingyu cut three more pieces and put them on a plate to send to the neighbors. On such a hot day, if it couldn’t be finished, it would go to waste, and she knew Damao would love it.

As it turned out, not only did Damao love it, but even Captain Zhang and Mrs. Zhang liked it very much.

“What is this? It looks so beautiful,” Mrs. Zhang exclaimed, feeling her eyes couldn’t take it all in.

Few people at this time had seen a cream cake like this.

Lu Weiguo smiled with a hint of pride rarely seen, “My wife made this for me, celebrating the holiday.”

In that moment, Captain Zhang felt a twinge of envy.

But seeing his own wife and son, he thought, “They’re pretty good too.”

After setting down the cake, Lu Weiguo left.

Once the delivery was done, Damao finally moved.

He picked up a pair of chopsticks, grabbed a piece, and put it in his mouth.

The sweetness of the cream was just right, silky smooth on the palate. The soft and sweet cake base was refreshing and appetizing, balancing out the cream’s smoothness, creating a rich and irresistible taste.

“Delicious!” Damao exclaimed with a mouthful of cream, his big eyes wide open.

Captain Zhang also picked up a piece and tasted it, finding the texture surprisingly stunning.

Seeing her husband quiet with enjoyment, Mrs. Zhang also tried a piece.

The sweet and fragrant taste nearly made her swallow her tongue.

After swallowing the cake in her mouth, Mrs. Zhang sincerely exclaimed, “Xiao Lu’s wife is really talented. Xiao Lu is lucky.”

Damao said, “We’re also lucky.”

Mrs. Zhang was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter, realizing indeed they were fortunate to have Xiao Lu and his wife as neighbors.

Shi Tingyu had thought the cake might be left over, but to her surprise, it was eaten up completely in the end.

After finishing dinner and tidying up, the two of them washed up and went to bed.

Tonight, under the charming night, their emotions were intense, naturally igniting a passionate fire.

The next morning, Shi Tingyu slept until the sun was high in the sky.

What was rare today was Lu Weiguo resting.

In the afternoon, the two could go to the camp to watch the cultural performance.

This time, family members could watch together.

There wasn’t much to do in the morning, and with Lu Weiguo looking after Lijian, Shi Tingyu wasn’t worried.

They lingered in bed for over half an hour before Shi Tingyu finally got up.

After washing up, they started eating lunch.

Lu Weiguo cooked the lunch. Though his culinary skills weren’t as good as Shi Tingyu’s, using ingredients grown in the area made the food taste quite decent.

Eating his own cooking, Lu Weiguo was quite surprised.

“Wife, do you think my cooking skills are getting better?” he asked.

Shi Tingyu didn’t expose him and nodded affirmatively, “Yes, you’re making progress.”

Lu Weiguo sighed, “Looks like I need to practice cooking more often.”

The afternoon performance started at two o’clock, and as it approached, people could be seen streaming towards the camp from the family compound.

Most of the performances nowadays were model operas, and since this performance was also for family members, it wasn’t as solemn as yesterday’s.

Some soldiers also performed on stage.

Regardless of how good or bad it was, the applause never ceased.

Lu Wenchan didn’t qualify to participate in this performance, so she could only do odd jobs backstage, listening to the lively laughter outside with a bit of disappointment.

But thinking that as long as she practiced hard, she would definitely be able to perform on stage in the future, her mood improved.

After the performance ended, everyone left.

Lu Weiguo resumed his task of weeding and watering the yard.

The holiday ended the next day, and Lu Weiguo went back to work.

Shi Tingyu continued with her physical training.

The training was effective; Shi Tingyu clearly felt more energetic and no longer in a lazy state all day.

Even her voice sounded more lively than before.

Two weeks later, on August 15th, the voice of the guard stationed at the entrance of the family compound came through the broadcast.

The residents of the family compound were familiar with this voice—it was the young soldier stationed at the gate.

“If your name is called, please come to the gate to collect your package. Your package has arrived. I repeat, if your name is called, please come to the gate to collect your package. Your package has arrived.”

Following that, the soldier read out a dozen names, including Shi Tingyu’s.

The family compound was always the place with the most letters and packages.

Unlike state-owned factories, which mostly hired locals, military camps had people from all over the country, inevitably making families miss each other, resulting in frequent letters and packages arriving from home.

The mail carrier came almost every few days.