Wen Ci walked into the kitchen and saw Huo Jingyuan preparing to add water to knead the dough. She glanced around the kitchen, took an apron from the right side of the door, and said softly, “Wear this. It’ll keep your clothes from getting dirty.”

Kneading dough tends to get flour everywhere, which can easily soil one’s clothes.

Huo Jingyuan’s hands were already covered in flour. He looked up at Wen Ci, raised his arms, and with a slight curve of his lips, said in a deep voice, “Help me.”

Wen Ci walked behind Huo Jingyuan. The apron was an old-fashioned half-style one. She tied the long belt around the man’s waist and, after a moment of thought, tied it into a bow.

At that moment, Wen Ci’s stomach let out an untimely growl.

She had just jumped into the Shichahai earlier that morning and was now starving.

Wen Ci suggested, “How about I help prepare the side dishes for the noodles?”

“Can you go to the canteen?” Huo Jingyuan asked.

Wen Ci blinked, understanding the implication in his words. She also wanted to see what the military canteen’s cooking was like in the 1980s.

“Then I’ll go get the dishes.”

Wen Ci had only recently been brought back to the Jiang family and wasn’t very familiar with the compound. She could only rely on the direction other family members were heading with their lunchboxes to figure out where to go.

“Where did this pretty girl come from?”

“Must be someone’s relative, right?”

“She’s so good-looking!”

Although Wen Ci had grown up in the countryside, her looks were inherited from her Jiang family parents—naturally fair skin, thick eyebrows, and big eyes, making her very attractive.

Wen Ci politely asked, “Which way is the canteen?”

“Mrs. Huo, are you going to the canteen to get some dishes?” The aunties who had been chatting with Huo Jingyuan earlier approached. Seeing the empty bowl in Wen Ci’s hand, they asked.

“Jingyuan said he’s making a special dish from the northwest for me. I’m going to get some side dishes to go with the noodles.”

“Xiu’er, do you know this girl?” Liu Fang, the most talkative woman in the compound, asked with a puzzled look after hearing the other women refer to Wen Ci as “Mrs. Huo.” “Which Huo family?”

“The old chief’s Huo family!”

Everyone’s eyes widened. It was common knowledge in the compound that the old chief’s Huo family had a marriage arrangement with the Jiang family, but the Jiang family’s daughter had never been seen in the compound.

Seeing her in person, they couldn’t help but praise, “As the old saying goes, daughters take after their fathers. She looks just like Mr. Jiang, as if carved from the same mold.”

Wen Ci smiled gently and made an excuse, “Aunties, I need to go to the canteen to get the dishes, or the good stuff will be gone.”

The canteen in the compound cooked roughly the same amount of food every day. If you went late, only leftovers would remain.

Following the aunties’ directions, Wen Ci arrived at the military compound canteen. A long line had formed at the window. It was rare to see a young woman coming to get food in the military compound.

Wen Ci attracted quite a few glances.

In her hand, she held an enamel bowl painted with delicate, bright red patterns, clearly a reward given to cadres by the military unit.

Wen Ci’s eyes scanned the words on the small blackboard by the window.

Today’s special: Sweet and sour pork ribs and tomato with eggs.

“What are you doing here?”

Suddenly, a voice came from behind Wen Ci. Before she could turn around, she heard a low, gritted threat, “Who said you could come to the canteen?”

Wen Ci rolled her eyes.

She didn’t need to look back to know who was standing behind her.

Her biological brother, Jiang Chen.

Wen Ci replied, “Why can’t I come to the canteen?”

“You promised!”

Wen Ci remembered. When she was first brought back to the military compound, she was told not to go out freely, especially to crowded places like the canteen.

“Mind your own business,” Wen Ci said flatly.