Chapter 32 : I really underestimated you!

By the time they got home, it was already close to one o’clock!  

The children hadn’t eaten yet, so Song Shiwei asked Zhou Cheng to take care of the younger siblings while she prepared the yellow beard vegetable she had brought back.  

This vegetable was delicious when eaten cold and even better when used as a filling for dumplings and buns.  

Since the children hadn’t had dumplings in a long time, she decided to make some. She kneaded the dough, set it aside to rest, and quickly washed and chopped the yellow beard vegetable.  

Today, they had gathered plenty of wild duck eggs, so she cracked four or five of them, frying them into finely chopped egg crumbles to mix with the greens.  

She seasoned the mixture with salt, five-spice powder, sesame oil, and a little soy sauce for color.  

The fragrance filled the kitchen immediately.  

She worked efficiently, kneading the dough and rolling it out into thin sheets.  

When making dumplings, she simply pinched each one closed with practiced ease.  

In just over ten minutes, she had finished wrapping two full plates of dumplings.  

Worried that the children might be hungry, she quickly started boiling water while continuing to wrap the dumplings, waiting for the water to reach a rolling boil.  

Meanwhile, Zhou Cheng and the others had been standing at the doorway, eagerly watching her.  

They hadn’t expected her to use wild vegetables to make dumplings  

But the most surprising thing was how good they smelled!  

When the first batch was ready, Song Shiwei told the children to start eating while she went back to cook the rest.  

But this time, Zhou Cheng and the others didn’t eat. They were all waiting for her.  

When she finally brought out the last two plates, she saw the four children staring at them eagerly.  

Especially Zhou Wei and Zhou Xinxin, who were practically drooling!  

But no one had picked up their chopsticks.  

She was a little surprised.  

“Why aren’t you eating?”  

Zhou Wei pursed his lips and said, “Brother said he wants to wait for you to eat together!”  

Song Shiwei hadn’t expected that. She looked up at Zhou Cheng, who was sitting nearby.  

Clearly, he hadn’t expected his little brother to say it out loud either.  

His face turned red, and he quickly looked away in a panic.  

“That’s not what I meant! Aren’t you hungry? Eat! Hurry up and eat!”  

To cover his embarrassment, he quickly grabbed his chopsticks and put a dumpling into Zhou Wei’s bowl.  

The other children couldn’t help but giggle.  

Song Shiwei also found it funny.  

This child was all tough talk, but he had such a soft heart!  

“Alright, alright, eat up! It won’t taste as good if it gets cold!”  

Just then, Zhou Tingyue came back and the first thing he saw was this heartwarming scene.  

His heart softened.  

He hadn’t expected the children to get along so well with this girl.  

And he hadn’t expected her to protect them so fiercely.  

The thought of what could have happened if he had arrived just a little later, if Sun Weibing’s fist had landed on her thin body   

Just imagining it made his blood boil with rage!  

No wonder he couldn’t stop gritting his teeth whenever he thought about Sun Weibing!  

Zhou Xinxin was the first to notice him.  

“Dad! You’re back!”  

Song Shiwei looked up, meeting his gaze.  

She quickly smiled and greeted him, “Have you eaten yet? If not, go wash your hands! I made plenty of dumplings today!”  

Without a word, Zhou Tingyue obediently went to wash his hands.  

When he returned, he saw the three large enamel plates piled high with dumplings, filling the entire table.  

Each dumpling had a thin skin and was stuffed full, looking absolutely delicious.  

He picked one up and took a bite  

The flavor was incredible!  

And it was a vegetarian filling!  

That was even rarer than eating meat around here.  

Green leafy vegetables were hard to come by in this place.  

Most people tried to grow some themselves, but they never turned out very well.  

The small vegetable patch in front of their house had been planted by Zhou Xiaoyan…  

But after what happened this afternoon, he doubted she would dare to eat from it again!

Perhaps noticing the curiosity in his eyes, Zhou Wei grinned and explained, “Dad, mom made these dumplings with yellow beard vegetables! Aren’t they delicious? I never thought that something no one eats could taste this good! If I had known earlier, I would’ve dug up more!”  

Zhou Xinxin, her little mouth stuffed full of food, nodded eagerly. “Yummy! Smells so good! Xinxin will dig more yellow beard vegetables in the future so mom can cook them! Mom’s cooking is the best!”  

Ever since Song Shiwei had protected them like a fierce mother shielding her cubs, Zhou Wei and Zhou Xinxin had truly accepted her.  

They could feel that she was genuinely kind to them, cooking delicious meals and protecting them without hesitation, just like a real mother would!  

Even Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin had been surprised by her actions.  

Because of this, Zhou Cheng, who had been so certain that she was pregnant, suddenly wasn’t so sure anymore.  

Zhou Lin, excited, began telling the story of how Song Shiwei had found the wild duck eggs.  

Zhou Tingyue couldn’t help but laugh along. “Did I really underestimate you?”  

Song Shiwei lifted her chin proudly. “That’s right! There’s still a lot you don’t know about me!”  

“Hahaha…”  

The family happily finished their lunch before Zhou Tingyue went back to training.  

Meanwhile, Song Shiwei finally learned what had happened to Sun Weidong.  

As it turned out, Zhou Tingyue had really dragged him to the division headquarters to demand justice.  

After all, Sun Weidong’s family was clearly in the wrong. An adult beating a child and a man hitting a woman? Completely unacceptable!  

Not only had Sun Weidong received a harsh scolding, but his promotion was now uncertain!  

While Song Shiwei’s family enjoyed their lunch, Zhou Xiaoyan was crying at home.  

“I never thought it would come to this! Who could have guessed that Zhou Tingyue would be so unreasonable and drag you to the division headquarters?”  

Sun Weidong rolled his eyes in frustration. “Then why didn’t you tell me that you hit someone’s child first? No one forced your hand! You did that on your own!”  

Zhou Xiaoyan was already furious, and now she felt even more wronged.  

“Why did we even switch houses? We were living just fine in that big house, why did we have to move into this tiny one? You’re so spineless! Why didn’t you just refuse the house exchange in the first place? Now look at all the trouble it’s caused! And after all the effort I put into that vegetable garden, why should they get to eat from it for free?”  

Sun Weidong sighed, exasperated.  

“You’re making a huge fuss over something so small! What’s the big deal if they ate a few of your cucumbers and tomatoes? And the house exchange wasn’t even Zhou Tingyue’s idea, the higher-ups considered his situation and ordered the division commander to arrange it! Besides, the house we were living in wasn’t even ours! It was given to us as a wedding gift by Captain Li’s family.”  

“You know how poor this area is. There aren’t that many empty houses. And do you think Zhou Tingyue’s family has it easy? He has so many children to take care of!”  

Hearing him continue to defend Zhou Tingyue while criticizing her, Zhou Xiaoyan grew even angrier.  

“Oh, so you just side with outsiders now, huh? Their kids are kids, but our son isn’t? What about Xiaodouzi? He’ll grow up in a few years are you planning to make him share a bed with us?”  

Sun Weidong pointed at the wall. “This room is big enough. We can just make a separate bed for him over there and put up a curtain.”  

Zhou Xiaoyan’s rage boiled over. Sun Weidong was such a coward, why had she ever fallen for him in the first place?  

She didn’t say anything, though. Instead, she directed all her hatred toward Song Shiwei and the others.  

Just wait.  

One day, she would get her revenge!