Chapter 14

He Wanjiao took the schoolbag back into the house, Xu Ning hung the clothes on the rope, and the two went out together.

The machinery factory is not far from their home, and it only takes more than ten minutes to walk there. He Beian usually walks to work.

He Wanjiao told Xu Ning the way as they walked. There were many alleys in their area, and if they got lost, they didn’t know where they would end up.

No wonder the script is called Fireworks in the Alleys, there are so many alleys.

It was too difficult to remember everything, so she could only look for features that were easier to remember, hoping that she wouldn’t get lost when she went out alone.

He Wanjiao has a good personality and is pretty, and all the neighbors love to see her.

She was very busy along the way. In addition to telling Xu Ning the way, she also had to greet all the uncles, aunts and sisters she met.

When others asked who Xu Ning was, the little girl straightened her back and proudly introduced her as her sister-in-law.

One stone can cause a thousand ripples. Who would have thought that He Beian actually has a wife!

Xu Ning was like an animal being visited in a zoo. They all walked a distance away, and some people even chased after them from behind, just to see He Beian’s wife.

She was wearing new clothes and her hairstyle had changed from one big braid to two braids hanging on her shoulders. She didn’t look Western, but she didn’t look like a country girl either.

Whatever He Wanjiao shouted, Xu Ning shouted along with a smile. Although they had no idea who was who, no one could make a mistake.

The journey took ten minutes, but they was delayed for five more minutes in the alley. It took them fifteen minutes to reach the machinery factory.

The machinery factory has a front door and a back door. The back door is closer to the canteen. He Wanjiao took Xu Ning into the factory through the back door.

It was dinner time at this time, and there were many people coming in and out of the back door, some leaving after dinner, and some taking lunch boxes to go.

When Xu Ning saw the lunch boxes in those people’s hands, he remembered that in this era people used their own lunch boxes to eat.

She didn’t take it. No, she didn’t have it…

Xu Ning spread out her hands, empty-handed, and said, “Jiaojiao, I didn’t take the lunch box.”

He Wanjiao stopped walking. If her sister-in-law hadn’t mentioned it, she wouldn’t have remembered it. In the blink of an eye, she thought of a solution, “Sister-in-law, you can use my brother’s lunch box~. Bring another lunch box next time we come.”

After saying this, he thought this was a good idea. He took a deep breath as he smelled the aroma of food coming from the cafeteria. “Let’s go, sister-in-law. I’m so hungry~”

There is no way she could go back to get it, because there is no lunch box for her at home. Xu Ning was not as optimistic as He Wanjiao. She felt that He Beian would definitely not want her to use his lunch box.

Judging from the fact that he was afraid that she would touch his bed, he must be a bit of a germaphobe.

But in such a big cafeteria, there must be bowls and chopsticks, right? Thinking of this, Xu Ning and He Wanjiao walked into the cafeteria together.

The machinery factory employs thousands of people and the cafeteria is particularly large. There are three doors leading into the cafeteria alone. The dining tables and chairs are neatly arranged throughout the hall. There are more than a dozen viewing windows, and there are short queues in front of each one.

He Wanjiao did not take Xu Ning to queue, but took her around the crowd and entered through the side door of the kitchen.

Most of the kitchen staff were getting meals at the window, and the rest were busy taking away the sold-out vegetables.

Twenty or so people in white work clothes were moving around in the kitchen in a chaotic but orderly manner. Xu Ning looked around but couldn’t tell who was He Beian. There were several tall men among them.

He Wanjiao immediately recognized He Beian, who was directing people to carry the remaining porridge to the window, and shouted to his back: “Brother! My sister-in-law and I are here to eat.”

After instructing people to carry the porridge bucket away, He Beian turned around and looked at He Wanjiao who was causing trouble.

The two men who were carrying the porridge bucket away walked slower and slower, glancing to the side all the time. Did they hear it right? The sister-in-law that Jiaojiao is talking about?

After all, they were coming to someone else’s territory, and they wanted to eat and drink his food and drinks in the future. Xu Ning stood beside He Wanjiao and put on a sweet, friendly smile.

As long as the distance is enough, she won’t be afraid.

I wonder if He Beian felt her sincerity? Do you have the urge to take charge of her meals from now on?

Seeing Xu Ning, He Beian frowned quickly. He didn’t want to make the news of his marriage known to everyone for the time being. Everyone in the kitchen could have heard Jiaojiao’s voice just now, and he was afraid that the people in the queue also knew about it.

If Xu Ning were to eat here, there would definitely be people who would come up to her and make fun of her.

Thinking back to when he came home last night and saw her in tears, and her red eyes this morning, He Beian was really afraid that she would cry because of someone’s harsh words.

Even if they were a couple in name only, she was still his wife after all.

“What are you going to eat? I’ll make it for you and you can eat in the kitchen.”

Under his sweet, friendly and kind smile, He Beian didn’t say that he would treat everyone from now on, but he actually frowned!

Xu Ning was sure that she was not mistaken. He Beian was indeed frowning at her. Did he think she shouldn’t have come?

“No, let’s go out and line up. Brother, give your lunch box to sister-in-law. We forgot to bring it when we came.” He Wanjiao had no idea what was in her brother’s mind. Usually when she came to eat, she would go into the kitchen to get her lunch box and go outside to line up for food.

She thought her brother’s sudden abnormal behavior was his preference for his wife, but He Wanjiao felt that was wrong and he should not be treated specially.

Xu Ning didn’t want to eat in the kitchen either. The atmosphere here gave her the illusion of being in a university cafeteria. It would be nice to find a corner to sit down and eat after getting her meal.

Instead of persuading them, He Beian went to the room behind the kitchen and took out two lunch boxes and meal tickets, and handed them to them across the long cutting table.

He Wanjiao took her lunch box and meal ticket swiftly.

He Beian handed his lunch box to Xu Ning. He felt that he should remind her, but he didn’t know how to say it. He only uttered one word: “You…”

As expected, he was unwilling to lend her the lunch box. Xu Ning understood and promised, “I will definitely wash it clean and return it to you later. I will wash it at least three times.”

To increase credibility, she raised three fingers to show her determination.

He Beian gave her the lunch box. Forget it. It was not nice for a grown man like him to talk about other people behind their backs. He would just keep an eye on them and go over to them in time if anything happened.

Taking the lunch box and the meal ticket on the lunch box, Xu Ning quickly followed He Wanjiao out.

Since he gave her the meal ticket, she would temporarily ignore his frown.

After all, they are just a couple on paper, so it’s understandable, it’s understandable.

He Wanjiao was determined to lose weight and focused on cooking vegetarian dishes. Xu Ning was almost as thin as a stick, so she had to eat more to gain weight.

One vegetarian dish with a bowl of white porridge, and one meat dish with a steamed bun and a bowl of porridge.

After the meal was ready, the two of them found an empty table and sat down to eat.

The aroma of meat in Xu Ning’s lunch box went straight into He Wanjiao’s nose, making her swallow her saliva while eating the shredded radish.

Xu Ning did not comment on her sister-in-law’s statement about losing weight. She did not want to say things like ‘You are not fat, you are still young’. Since she wanted to lose weight, it proved that she was not satisfied with herself now. Why should we stop her from becoming the way she likes?

So under He Wanjiao’s eager gaze, Xu Ning took bites of meat and steamed buns and ate them with great relish.

The braised pork and sweet and sour spare ribs should not be made by the same person. The braised pork is fatty but not greasy and melts in your mouth. But the sweet and sour spareribs were a bit disappointing, the sugar was too sweet and covered the sour taste, it was not unpalatable but not very delicious either.

The two were eating when two female comrades came over. There was an empty seat next to them, but they didn’t go there. Instead, they asked Xu Ning and the others, “Comrades, is there anyone sitting next to you? We want to sit here.”

“No one is here, please sit down.” Xu Ning didn’t think much about it. This was a very common thing in college. She didn’t notice that He Wanjiao’s face fell.

I took the last bite of steamed bun and the last piece of braised pork, and felt a little unsatisfied.

Xu Ning looked at the few remaining ribs in the lunch box. They were all small ribs and could not be wasted.

The two female comrades sat down next to them, one on each side, and chatted while eating.

Being so close, it was hard for Xu Ning and He Wanjiao not to listen.

There is endless gossip about the factory director’s wife quarreling with the factory director, and the accountant Ms. Sun and her husband having a disagreement.

I put the last piece of ribs into my mouth. It was a bit hard and not easy to chew.

“When I was just in line, I heard someone say that He Bei’an got married! Who would dare marry him? He even hits women—wouldn’t his wife be scared of getting beaten up every day?” The woman sitting next to Xu Ning whispered gossip to the woman across from her, “I’m sure he didn’t tell her that he’s deaf. I think he tricked her into marrying him.”

Xu Ning, who was chewing pork ribs, turned to look at the female comrade and said, “I didn’t say this on purpose for her to hear. Does anyone believe it?”

In such a big cafeteria, he insisted on sitting next to her instead of going anywhere else. He laid such long preparations at the beginning, just for these words, right?