For lunch, there was tofu and bamboo shoot spinach soup, stir-fried leeks with chicken blood, braised big yellow croaker, and the beef sauce from before, steamed with diced potatoes.

There were two bowls of tofu and bamboo shoot spinach soup.

Ning Shu didn’t know if Lin Guodong would come back, so they could eat the leftovers later.

However, before lunch, Lin Guodong came back, riding a women’s bicycle, which looked quite comical given his tall stature.

Er Bao had been playing with the other children, but when he saw his dad coming back on the bike, he immediately stopped playing and ran to Lin Guodong, looking expectantly.

He thought his dad might have brought back something delicious.

Lin Guodong couldn’t understand his son’s expression.

“What’s up?” he asked.

Er Bao pouted, looked him up and down, then turned and went back to play.

Perplexed, Lin Guodong pushed his bicycle into the kitchen and saw that the table was already set with dishes.

Ning Shu was sitting by the stove, warming her hands, with San Bao beside her. “Is it very cold?”

Lin Guodong unbuttoned his coat and took out a package wrapped in newspaper from his pocket.

“Not too cold. What’s this?” Ning Shu got up curiously and went over to look.

San Bao followed his mother with a smile.

Lin Guodong placed the large package on the table and opened it to reveal a large piece of meat.

“Meng Jie recommended this from the meat factory. It’s about three pounds, and he paid for it. He said thank you for the snail meat you sent before.”

Meng Jie, being a government official, knew all sorts of people.

“Sorry about that. Let’s have braised pork for dinner tonight,” Ning Shu said, looking at the three pounds of pork, half of which was fat. “Cut the fat off and slice the lean meat into pieces for braised pork. Fry the fat to make lard.”

“Okay,” Lin Guodong picked up the meat to start cutting.

Ning Shu then shouted outside again, “Babies, it’s time for dinner. Kids, go home and have dinner, then come back to play.”

“Okay.”

“We’re going back, Auntie.”

“Auntie, we’ll come back to play in the afternoon.”

Ning Shu added, “Haicai, you stay here for dinner.” Haicai shook his head and ran off.

“Auntie, I’ll eat at home,” he said.

He often ate here and was scolded by his grandma.

His grandma said he could eat here when he helped with work, but not if he didn’t.

However, he really wanted to eat here, so he thought for a moment and asked, “Auntie, can I gather firewood for you in the afternoon?”

“Huh? Why do you want to gather firewood for me?” Ning Shu was curious.

Haicai honestly said, “Grandma said I can’t eat for free at Auntie’s house, so I want to help you with work. I… I don’t know how to do other work, but I can gather firewood.” As he said this, he blushed because he felt embarrassed.

Ning Shu found it amusing. “That’s fine. Help Auntie gather firewood in the afternoon, and Auntie will make braised pork for dinner. You can join us for dinner.”

Upon hearing about the braised pork, Haicai licked his lips and said, “Then I’ll go gather firewood in the afternoon,” before bounding off.

“Mom, can we also go gather firewood with Haicai in the afternoon?” Yibao and Erbao, who had also heard Haicai, asked.

“Sure, but be careful. You can only gather firewood at the foot of the mountain,” Ning Shu said.

In the afternoon, she planned to buy cloth to make vests for them.

Lin Guodong was skilled at cutting meat into pieces.

In no time, he had cut the fat and lean meat neatly.

Ning Shu was impressed.

In fact, if it were pork belly, she could eat it too, but she would spit out the fat when eating.

However, there was just too much fat in these three pounds of meat.

But in this era, people thought the more fat, the better.

Fat could be rendered into oil, and high-fat content was considered good for the body.

The tofu, spinach, and bamboo shoot strips for lunch were the most popular. Yibao and Erbao mixed them directly with rice, and even Lin Guodong did the same.

The delicious tofu, the sweet bamboo shoots, and the tasty spinach, all mixed together on a cold winter day, were warm and comforting when eaten, warming their bellies.

Lin Guodong didn’t care much about the food in the army; as long as it filled his stomach, he was satisfied.

Having only been back for two days, he had eaten three meals and felt that he might not eat well when he returned to the army.

So he was thinking about how to persuade Ning Shu to join the army as soon as possible.

After lunch, Haicai arrived early.

Yibao and Erbao changed into old clothes.

“Mom, we’re going to gather firewood,” Yibao told his mother.

“Wait a minute,” Ning Shu took out a plate of blueberries. “Here, share these with Haicai.”

Not having eaten them before, Erbao, curious, asked, “Mom, what’s this?” as he took a bite, “Wow, it’s really delicious.”

“These are wild berries from the mountain. You can share them with Haicai,” Ning Shu gave each of the three children a handful and reminded them, “Only gather firewood at the foot of the mountain, don’t go where there are no people, don’t go into the mountains, okay?”

At this time, Lin Guodong finished washing the dishes and said, “Later, we can gather firewood at the foot of the mountain on the other side of the river. Today, we made wooden fences by the river, so there will be lots of small branches to cut. I’ll be working there too, keeping an eye on the kids.”

The riverbank today was indeed not dangerous, with all the men in the village there. The children couldn’t get close to the river. Even if a child fell into the river, they would be immediately pulled out.

The Qinglin Bay Brigade had half a river, and there were two fishing seasons each year, in summer and winter.

Actually, winter was very cold and not suitable for fishing, but they kept it for winter so they could have fish to eat during the Chinese New Year, adding another dish to the table.

The other season, in summer, was after the first wave of fish were caught in winter. The remaining fish would start spawning in March and grow big enough to eat by summer.

Because of this half river, most men in the village knew how to swim.

Some men even liked to come to the river to bathe and swim in the summer.

“Okay.” With Lin Guodong watching, Ning Shu was reassured. “I’ll go to the town’s supply and marketing cooperative in the afternoon to buy some fabric for making them cotton vests. Do you need anything?”

Lin Guodong shook his head at first, then said, “Need to buy underwear.”

With him mentioning it, Ning Shu remembered the torn underwear he wore yesterday. “Got it. How many pairs do you need?”

“If the fabric coupons are enough, buy more pairs. If not, just buy what you can,” Lin Guodong said. It had been years since he bought underwear.

“Okay, I understand.”

The two children went to gather firewood, Lin Guodong went to work, and Ning Shu naturally took the three children to the cooperative.

She bought fine cotton fabric and thick blue twill fabric.

She actually had quite a few fabric coupons, all unused from the past year, so she bought quite a bit of fabric this time. Back in mid-September when she first woke up, she thought she had crossed over and the original owner had gone to the city with a year’s worth of fabric coupons to buy pretty clothes.

After buying the fabric, Ning Shu didn’t buy anything else and returned home with the three children.

When they got home, she coaxed Sanbao to take a nap. Ning Shu decided to make Lin Guodong a few pairs of underwear first, so she could wash them while the weather was still good.

They might even be dry by the evening.

However, she didn’t know Lin Guodong’s underwear size.

Suddenly, she thought that his underwear size should be in the clothes he had hung out to dry.

She went to the clothesline in the backyard and found it there.

However… this pair of underwear also had several holes, but… the holes had already been patched up, though the stitches were crooked and twisted.

Chuckling to herself, Ning Shu laughed out loud.

It seemed like Lin Guodong had patched them up himself.

Thinking about it, he seemed quite pitiful.

Ning Shu took down the underwear, which she had washed last night and was now dry.

Back in the room, she made five pairs for him based on the size of this pair.

Unlike the white cotton underwear she made for Yibao and Erbao, she used dark gray cotton fabric for Lin Guodong’s underwear.

After making the underwear, she started making cotton vests for the three children. Since Sanbao was the youngest, she started with him.

However, making vests was not as fast as making underwear.

Each piece of cotton had to be sewn in place, or else all the cotton would clump together.

She had only finished half a vest when it was time for dinner.

“Sanbao, wake up. Sanbao…” Ning Shu woke Sanbao up.

Sanbao opened his eyes sleepily and then yawned, “Mom…” His voice was soft and tender.

“Sanbao, wake up. You can’t sleep anymore.” Ning Shu dressed him and then carried him to the kitchen.

She took half a banana, mashed it into a paste, and let him eat it himself while she started cooking dinner.

When Lin Guodong returned from work, he brought back Yibao and Erbao with Haicai.

He carried the pile of firewood the three kids had gathered on his back.

Surprisingly, the three kids had gathered a big bundle in the afternoon.

As they approached their home, they smelled a burnt smell.

Even people passing by their door could smell it.

Someone said, “That’s the smell of lard residue. It smells really good.”

“Guodong, is your family having meat again today?”

“What’s so special about Guodong’s family having meat? It would be strange if they didn’t have meat for a day.”

Lin Guodong said, “I earn money outside just so my family can have meat, don’t I?”

“That’s true. Nowadays, who doesn’t earn money for a bite of meat?”

“Mom… Mom, what’s lard residue?” Erbao listened and ran into the kitchen to ask.

Ning Shu pointed to one of the plates on the table. “That’s lard residue. Don’t use your hands, use chopsticks.”

“I see.” Erbao ran to get chopsticks.

When he came back with chopsticks, he heard his brother say, “Erbao, you haven’t washed your hands yet.”

So, Erbao put down the chopsticks and went to wash his hands.

Lard residue was really delicious, and very crispy.

However, because it was dinner time, Ning Shu didn’t prepare much and just let the children have a few bites.

The highlight of dinner was, of course, the braised pork.

However, even with over a pound of lean meat made into braised pork, there were not many pieces, so when making the braised pork, Ning Shu also cut some potatoes into chunks.

After cooking, there were two full plates.

Braised pork with potatoes was a perfect match for rice.

Especially when the potatoes were stewed soft and sticky, it felt like they melted in the mouth.

After dinner, Yibao, Erbao, and Haicai had little round bellies.

When Lin Haicai returned home with a little belly, he was surrounded by his siblings.

“Haicai, did you have braised pork for dinner?” Lin Haiwen asked, pulling his brother.

Lin Haicai puffed out his little belly. “Big brother, feel my belly.”

Lin Haiwen touched it and felt it was hard. “Your belly is all round from eating.”

He then touched his own belly, which was not even half the size of his brother’s.

Lin Haiquan said, “Haicai, if you have braised pork again tomorrow, can you bring a piece back for me to taste?”

Lin Haicai shook his head. “I can’t. If I take one, Yibao and Erbao won’t have any to eat.” He thought for a moment, took out an oil paper package from his pocket, and opened it.

The smell of lard residue immediately spread out. “This is from Auntie. She gave me one for me and for my brothers and sister in old house “

In the kitchen of the old house, the adults were still eating, and they couldn’t help but smile at the noise outside.

Grandma Lin exclaimed loudly, “No backbone, stealing your brother’s snacks.”

Lin Haiwen smiled and said, “I’ll definitely give them back to Haicai in the future.”

He didn’t feel embarrassed at all about taking snacks from his own younger brother.

“Really?” Although Lin Haicai was simple-minded but he wasn’t stupid.

He didn’t believe his big brother would give his snacks back to him.

Lin Haiwen just covered his brother’s head with his hand and then pulled him back to their room.

He noticed there was still a lot of lard residue in his oil paper package.

Lin Haiwu followed in with a smile.

“Let go of me… Let go of me… These are the snacks Auntie gave me as a reward for gathering firewood for her… Mom! ” Lin Haicai protested, but to no avail.

Lin Qingmei watched her playful brother and shook her head, but still reminded, “Haiwen, Haiwu, those are for Haicai from Auntie. You can’t eat them all.”

…

Lin Guodong hesitated at the door of the room last night, but today he didn’t hesitate at all.

He took a shower, washed clothes for his family of five, and naturally walked into the room.

However… as soon as he entered the room, he was stunned.

Today, the sleeping positions of the four were different.

Yibao was still the innermost, followed by Sanbao, then Ning Shu, and Erbao was on the outside.

Seeing his dad, Erbao grinned stupidly.

Lin Guodong’s face almost turned black. “Why are you sleeping on the outside??” He didn’t want to sleep with the stinky kid. The stinky kid couldn’t compare to a wife who was both fragrant and soft to cuddle.

Ning Shu suppressed a smile and didn’t say anything, she just watched quietly.

Erbao said, “Because I’m not going to sleep today, so I want to sleep on the outside.”

“Why do you want to sleep on the outside if you’re not going to sleep?” Lin Guodong didn’t understand his logic.

“If I’m not going to sleep, I definitely have to sleep on the outside,” Erbao said, looking at him as if he were an idiot.

Lin Guodong said, “Then you sleep on the outside, and I’ll sleep inside you?” If that’s the case, it would be fine too.

Erbao was shocked. Could it be like that? “You… you’re an adult, how can you sleep inside a child? What if you kick me off?”

Lin Guodong: “…” This kid’s brain was different from usual.

Without wasting words, he picked him up and put him at the foot of the bed. “You sleep here.”

Erbao’s eyes lit up, then he said, “Okay, I’ll sleep here.”

Lin Guodong snorted, not believing he couldn’t handle a kid.

He turned to Ning Shu and said, “The underwear fits me perfectly.”

As he spoke, he started taking off his pants. To be honest, although his pants had been in the sun in the afternoon, they were not dry yet.

In order to wear these pants, he had just lit a fire and roasted them behind the stove for a while.

Ning Shu watched as the well-fitting shorts hugged his long legs, feeling a bit sexy, almost making her nosebleed.

She had made boxers, which suited him very well.

Especially with his long, slim legs, he looked like a boxer model. “It looks very good. I made five pairs for you, enough for you to wear. You can throw away those old ones.”

“Yeah,” Lin Guodong thought of his crooked stitches being laughed at by his comrades for quite a while, feeling that this time he could save some face when he returned to the army.

As he was about to lie down, someone grabbed his feet. “… Erbao, what are you doing?”

Erbao hid under the covers and didn’t make a sound, pretending he didn’t exist.

Lin Guodong: “… He’s a bit silly.”

Ning Shu said, “Maybe it’s like twins, one positive and one negative.”

Although Erbao was in the covers, he could hear his dad calling him silly, so he got angry.

He grabbed his dad’s feet with both hands. He didn’t believe his dad wasn’t afraid of tickles. He was very ticklish!