Ning Shu rode a bicycle into the city with Aunt Yang.

Luckily, the road from the military base to the city was flat, so even though it was a bit uneven, there were no uphill or downhill stretches.

Otherwise, with Aunt Yang’s weight, Ning Shu would have been exhausted from the ride.

Once they arrived in the city, they inquired about the teachers at the accounting training school and the arithmetic interest class at the youth palace.

Since Ning Shu had previously signed up her three children for classes at the youth palace, the staff there recognized her.

When she asked about the arithmetic teacher, they happily provided the teacher’s address and also mentioned that she could come back on the weekend when the interest class was in session to meet the teacher.

Ning Shu wanted to wait, but Zhao Huan’s situation was urgent.

However, when they went to ask about the teacher at the accounting training school, they were refused.

The staff there didn’t know Ning Shu and Aunt Yang and were unwilling to share any information.

Ning Shu and Aunt Yang understood this.

So, Ning Shu and Aunt Yang decided to go directly to the arithmetic teacher’s location.

The teacher, who was a school teacher and also taught part-time at the interest class, was very welcoming to any motivated person.

Since Aunt Yang was paying for the lessons, Ning Shu, Aunt Yang, and the teacher had a very pleasant conversation.

They agreed that Zhao Huan would start classes the next day, with lessons taking place at the teacher’s home for one hour each day at noon.

Learning to use the abacus would only require a few days of this one-hour daily class.

With Zhao Huan’s abacus lessons finally sorted out, Aunt Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

Throughout the afternoon, Aunt Yang had followed Ning Shu around, gaining a lot of new experiences.

Even though Aunt Yang had lived in the family quarters for many years, she still felt a bit nervous speaking with city people when she was outside the familiar environment.

Her calmness in the family quarters was due to being familiar with the people and environment there.

In unfamiliar settings, her inherent rural insecurity would resurface, especially when Ning Shu was talking to others with such attentiveness.

Aunt Yang, in many ways, was quick to learn and eager to absorb new things.

Back at the family quarters, when the three children returned home from school and saw the door closed, they were puzzled and called out.

“Mom…”

“Mom, are you there?”

“Mom…”

The three children called out, but they didn’t hear their mother’s voice.

They noticed that both the room and the kitchen doors were closed, indicating their mother was not home.

“Big brother, Mom isn’t here,” Er Bao said, sniffing the air. “There’s no smell of dinner. Is it possible Mom went to the medical station to visit Xu Duomei’s mother and hasn’t returned yet?”

Yi Bao thought for a moment and agreed. “Let’s go to the medical station and check.”

So, the three siblings left the house and went to the medical station.

They asked the nurse for Xu Duomei’s mother’s room and, upon arriving, peeked inside to find their mother was not there.

“Lin Haizhi, Lin Hairui, Lin Haiyang, are you here to see me?” Xu Duomei asked, noticing them.

She felt a pang of anxiety.

Were they here to ask for repayment?

She had no money on her right now; her father hadn’t returned yet, and the money for her mother’s treatment, which was only two yuan, had been paid by the Women’s Director.

Her grandmother said there was no money at home and refused to pay.

Feeling ashamed, Xu Duomei said to Yi Bao, “Lin Haizhi, I’m sorry, I don’t have any money right now. Can you wait until my father comes back? He will pay you then.”

Xu Duomei’s mother widened her eyes in surprise.

Was her daughter using money borrowed from such a small child for her treatment?

Even though she knew her daughter had borrowed money from a classmate, seeing such a young child involved made her feel deeply disturbed.

It struck her hard that even these young kids had money, while she didn’t even have two cents.

It felt like a cruel joke.

Yi Bao explained, “I’m not here to ask for money. The IOU says to wait until your father returns, and I won’t rush you before he comes back. I’m here looking for my mother. She said she was coming to see your mother around noon, but we didn’t find her at home, so we came to check.”

Xu Duomei felt relieved after hearing this. She added, “Your mother and Aunt Yang came together, but they left after a short while.”

“Oh?” Yi Bao said, realizing their mother had already left. “Thank you. We’ll head back now.”

He then turned to Xu Duomei’s mother, Zhang Xiaoyue, and said, “Goodbye, Auntie.”

After leaving the hospital room, Er Bao said, “Big brother, since Mom has left, where could she have gone?”

Yi Bao replied, “I don’t know. Maybe she had something to do.”

The three siblings sighed as they walked away.

Er Bao said, “Let’s go home first.”

At that time, the locks had two keys: one in Ning Shu’s hand and the other with Yi Bao.

Even if their mother wasn’t there, they could still get into the house.

When the three children returned home, Yi Bao took out the key and unlocked the dining room door. “You guys go do your homework first,” he said, then went to open the kitchen door.

“Bro, there’s a note on the table. Come look,” Er Bao called out when he saw the note on the dining table.

Yi Bao hurried to the dining room and took the note from Er Bao.

The note was written in pinyin, and when the three children huddled together to read it, they realized it was from their mother.

The note said that she and Grandma Yang from next door had gone to the city for something, and if they came back late, they should ask their father to get food from the canteen.

Er Bao said, “Bro, Dad isn’t back yet. Let’s go to the canteen to get the food.”

Yi Bao thought for a moment and said, “Okay.”

He went to the cupboard, took out a metal box, and inside were his father’s meal vouchers, various coupons, and some pocket money.

The meal vouchers could be used for his father’s share, and he also took some money, meat coupons, and grain coupons.

The canteen had set amounts for each person, and any extra needed coupons.

“Bro, do you have everything?” Er Bao asked, as Yi Bao brought over the food box.

“Yes, let’s go.” Yi Bao then told San Bao, ” Er Bao and I are going to the canteen to get food. Stay at home and wait for Mom and Dad. If Mom comes back, tell her we went to the canteen and she doesn’t need to cook dinner.”

San Bao replied, “I got it, big brother.”

After instructing San Bao.

Yi Bao and Er Bao went to the canteen with the food box.

By this time, there were already people queuing at the canteen.

Yi Bao and Er Bao had arrived a bit late because they had spent some time going back and forth from the clinic.

San Bao stayed home alone, doing homework and waiting for their parents and brothers to return.

When Lin Guodong came home, he found the house quiet, with only San Bao in the dining room doing homework.

There was no sign of anyone else, not even Yi Bao or Er Bao, let alone his wife. Lin Guodong called out, “San Bao, where are your mother and your brothers?”

San Bao, absorbed in his homework, didn’t hear his father’s arrival at first.

When he finally heard the question, he looked up from his book and said, “Dad, Mom and Grandma Yang went to the city. They haven’t come back yet. Big Brother and Er Bao went to the canteen to get food.”

Lin Guodong thought, Ning Shu and Grandma Yang went to the city?

His first thought was that perhaps Xu’s wife had to be taken to the city hospital for serious reasons.

But he didn’t ask. “Stay home, I’ll go check on your brothers. By the way, did your brothers take money, coupons, and my meal vouchers?”

Sanbao: “They bought for everyone. Dad, you go ahead, I’ll keep an eye on the house.”

“Okay.” Lin Guodong nodded and went out.

When Lin Guodong arrived at the cafeteria, there were even more people in line than before.

The soldiers had finished their shifts, so there was a bit of a crowd.

But among the crowd, he quickly spotted the two kids— their height made them stand out among the soldiers.

As it was almost the kids’ turn, Lin Guodong stepped forward.

“Company Commander…”

“Why is the Company Commander here?”

When the soldiers in line saw Lin Guodong, they greeted him.

Everyone in the line was from his battalion, so they were all very familiar with him.

“I came to see how the kids are doing,” Lin Guodong said.

Hearing this, Erbao and Sanbao turned to look and immediately called out, “Dad…”

“Dad, why are you here?”

“I just wanted to see you,” Lin Guodong replied.

Erbao urged, “Dad, go see what dishes they have today.” He and his brother couldn’t see the dishes from their height.

Lin Guodong went to the counter, looked for a moment, and then came back to tell Erbao, “They have cabbage, cucumber, and potatoes.”

“Is there any meat?” Erbao asked.

“No,” Lin Guodong replied.

He knew the kids liked meat, especially Erbao and Yibao, who had a stronger craving for it compared to Sanbao.

In fact, the family had meat when Sanbao had memories, but Erbao and Yibao had been craving meat for many years, so they were quite keen on it. “If you want meat, you can check out the city on the weekend when we go to your interest class.”

Having meat once a week in the cafeteria was already quite good, but state-run restaurants typically had meat every day.

“Okay,” Erbao said.

Even though he liked meat, he was a well-behaved child and accepted it without fuss.

When it was the kids’ turn to get their food, they were too short to see what was available.

Lin Guodong decided to pick up Yibao: “Can you see now? What do you want to get?”

Yibao knew that their mother liked vegetarian dishes, so he chose all the vegetable dishes and then got some rice.

Erbao wasn’t jealous of his brother being carried.

Since joining the army, they lived surrounded by their parents’ love.

After getting their food, the three of them headed back to the family quarters.

“Mom… Mom…” As they entered the family quarters, they met Ning Shu riding back on a bicycle, with Aunt Yang sitting behind her.

Erbao ran up to the bike and asked, “Mom, where did you and Grandma Yang go to the city?”