“What’s this wind blowing, giving me a headache? It’s like no wind from any direction, it’s eerie. Turns out it’s a demonic wind from the old alley,” Aunt Yang spoke up, cursing without using foul language.

In the past, there were many working women in the old alley. Aunt Yang’s words implied that Ning Qin was one of those women.

Ning Qin grew up in the city after all.

Even though she had been in the countryside for a few years, she always looked down on the coarse and vulgar words of rural people and naturally wouldn’t learn them.

Hearing Aunt Yang speak of her like that again, she felt furious.

Just as she was about to speak, she heard her stepdaughter Zhang Qian say, “It stinks, Mommy, I smell something stinky, even worse than the poop in the outhouse.”

Ning Qin’s gloomy mood disappeared instantly, and she cheerfully said to her stepdaughter, “Someone probably didn’t watch where they were walking and stepped on something dirty.”

“Is it poop?” Zhang Qian asked with a smirk.

“It might be,” Ning Qin replied.

“You little brat, you’d better be careful, or your stepmother won’t want you when she has her own child,” Aunt Yang was furious and didn’t hold back in her words.

“You’re talking nonsense! My mom won’t not want me,” Zhang Qian’s eyes reddened as soon as she heard that.

She liked her new mom very much; she was nice to her and was also her teacher. All the kids envied her.

Ning Qin’s face also darkened. “Aunt Yang, I respect you as an elder, so I haven’t argued with you before. But you need to be more polite in your speech. How can you say such things to a child?”

“I say what I want. What’s it to you?” Aunt Yang was impolite. “My mouth is on my body. I’ll say whatever I want. Even the police don’t care how I talk. Who do you think you are?”

“You…” Ning Qin was so angry she couldn’t catch her breath and fainted directly.

“Mom… Mom… Dad, come quickly, Mom fainted,” Zhang Qian shouted loudly.

Zhang Xian was helping out next door. When he heard his daughter’s voice, he ran over immediately.

Maybe Zhang Qian’s shouting was too loud, so Lin Guodong and Li Zao also went out to see.

At the same time, other families on the street also came out.

For a moment, everyone was looking at Aunt Yang.

Aunt Yang didn’t expect things to escalate like this.

This demonic wind must be fake fainting. So, Aunt Yang’s eyes rolled back, “You little brat, you’ve made me so angry, really angry…” Then she collapsed to the ground as well.

Everyone: “…”

Ning Shu was in her room, unaware of what was happening outside.

If she knew, she wouldn’t be unfamiliar with the situation.

This was a world from a book.

She was the early deceased antagonist’s biological mother, and her two children were ultimate antagonists.

Zhang Qian was the female lead, Ning Qin was the stepmother enlightened by the female lead’s brilliance, and Aunt Yang was a troublemaker the female lead encountered in the family courtyard during her childhood.

Although the plot rules had disappeared now, the characters related to the female lead in this world had already been established.

The disappearance of plot rules wouldn’t cause earth-shattering changes.

Aunt Yang, this cannon fodder, was aimed at Ning Qin and Zhang Qian.

Ning Shu was sleeping soundly inside, oblivious to Ning Qin and Aunt Yang being taken to the medical center together, and even more oblivious to the successive waves of commotion outside.

In the courtyard, Lin Guodong and Li Zao finally finished repairing the tables and chairs. It was getting late.

Lin Guodong said, “You go rest first. You’ve worked hard today.”

Li Zao replied, “Not at all, not at all. Captain, I’m going back too.”

“Okay.” Lin Guodong escorted him to the courtyard gate, then picked up a bucket to fetch water. After fetching water, he wiped the tables and chairs clean.

After cleaning the tables and chairs, he washed the clothes his family of five had changed into today.

After washing the clothes, Lin Guodong realized that there were no clotheslines in the house.

Luckily, this didn’t stump him. He used the remaining wood to make four clotheslines and eight Y-shaped wooden stakes.

Then he hammered the Y-shaped stakes into the ground to secure them and placed the clotheslines on top.

Even though there were no clothes racks, they could still hang clothes to dry.

He made four clotheslines because the wood wasn’t thick, and if it was too long, it might break.

After completing all this, Lin Guodong took a cold shower to wash off the dust. He didn’t dare to get into bed dirty.

When he returned to the room after showering, he saw Ning Shu and the three kids sleeping soundly.

Lin Guodong’s expression softened.

He noticed that the kids’ blanket had been kicked off a bit, so he went over to tuck it back in.

Then, he saw a list next to Ning Shu’s pillow. He glanced through it quickly and then put it in his pocket before quietly getting into bed.

Ning Shu shifted slightly and asked sleepily, “Is everything done?”

“Yeah, did I wake you up?” Lin Guodong habitually reached out to touch her feet and found them warm.

He realized he had gone to bed too late.

“Mmm…” Ning Shu mumbled weakly in response before drifting back to sleep.

The Next Day

Ning Shu woke up to the sound of the whistle. As soon as the loud whistle sounded, she snapped awake, looking around dazedly before remembering that she was in the family courtyard of the army.

“Mom…”

“Mom, are you awake?”

The two kids also woke up, but they were still groggy.

“No, go back to sleep,” Ning Shu yawned and went back to sleep herself.

“Mmm.”

The two kids murmured in agreement and fell back asleep.

Before Ning Shu closed her eyes, she thought there was something she forgot, but whatever it was, it couldn’t be more important than sleep.

When Ning Shu woke up again, it was already light outside.

She turned her head and saw the three kids lying in a row, their eyes open, indicating they had just woken up. “Are you all awake?” Ning Shu spoke up.

Yibao turned his head. “Mom, I’ve already woken up. I went to pee and didn’t see Dad.”

Ning Shu sat up in bed and saw the paper still by the pillow.

She took another look and realized it wasn’t the one she had written last night; it was a note left by Lin Guodong.

My dear wife,

I’ve gone to the city to buy things. I took 200 yuan from your purse. There’s an iron pot on the stove borrowed from the kitchen, you can use it first. There’s also firewood in the kitchen borrowed from Commissar Zhang’s house. We’ll return it after buying our own firewood.

The water bucket in the kitchen is also from Commissar Zhang’s house, and the water inside is clean. The hot water in the iron pot was boiled this morning and can be used for drinking.

There are also a few bowls and five pairs of chopsticks in the kitchen, borrowed from the kitchen.

Ning Shu smiled gently and shook her head. She felt warm inside. “You all, get up quickly. I’ll make breakfast.”

“Okay.”

Yi Bao and Er Bao quickly dressed themselves, but San Bao didn’t know how to dress yet.

He lay in bed, his bright black eyes wandering around, waiting for his brothers to get dressed before he would be dressed.

Ning Shu dressed faster than the children. She went to the kitchen, where a clean table with bowls and chopsticks awaited her. Glancing over the table, she looked at the stove, where the traces of previous cooking were evident.

Ning Shu lifted the lid… inside was a pot full of hot water.

But there was a problem – if she didn’t take out the hot water, she couldn’t make breakfast.

Thinking for a moment, Ning Shu went to another room where there was a powdered milk canister filled with salted duck eggs. She took out the salted duck eggs and washed the milk canister several times with the wood ash she had boiled today.

Once she was sure it was clean, she poured the lukewarm boiled water into it.

The remaining water was used for brushing teeth and washing faces.

Feeling very hungry, and knowing that cooking other things would take time, Ning Shu decided to make cornmeal gnocchi. Luckily, they had brought food from home; otherwise, they would have had to go to the cafeteria for breakfast.

It wasn’t that the cafeteria food wasn’t tasty, but walking all the way there and queuing up was quite a hassle.

Cornmeal gnocchi didn’t require kneading, so it was quick to make. The ingredients included dried spinach and cured meat.

While Ning Shu was making cornmeal gnocchi, she heard Lu Hong’s voice outside: “Is Guodong’s wife here?”

Ning Shu responded from the kitchen, “I’m here…” and walked out of the kitchen.

“Sister-in-law, why did you come? I should have gone to visit you instead.”

Lu Hong arrived carrying a basket filled with vegetables. “I brought you some vegetables. Since you’ve just arrived, I’m sure you don’t have any. When you’re free, I’ll take you to get acquainted with the vegetable garden.”

“Thank you so much, Sister-in-law. I won’t stand on ceremony then,” Ning Shu said gratefully. She did need vegetables, even though she wasn’t sure if Guodong would have bought any.

But they were essential for making breakfast, especially with the cornmeal gnocchi she was preparing.

She emptied the basket of vegetables onto the kitchen floor and then took the basket back to the room. From it, she retrieved four salted duck eggs. “Sister-in-law, these are homemade salted duck eggs. They taste just like good. Please try them.”

“I won’t hesitate then,” Lu Hong replied with her characteristic straightforwardness. When she had first met Ning Shu yesterday, she had found Ning Shu to be just as straightforward.

Bringing vegetables today confirmed her impression. “You get busy. I’ll head back now.”

“Alright, I won’t keep you. I’ll find you later,” Ning Shu said.

“Sure, come find me when you have time,” Lu Hong replied before leaving.

As the head of the Women’s Federation in the family compound, she was always busy.

With so many people from different backgrounds and temperaments living in the compound, conflicts were common. Lu Hong often felt like twelve hours in a day weren’t enough for her.

After Lu Hong left, Ning Shu returned to the kitchen to wash the vegetables. As she did so, she heard another commotion at the door. “Is the wife of Lin the Battalion Commander here?”

“Yes, I’m here,” Ning Shu called as she stepped out of the kitchen.

This time, it was a woman Ning Shu didn’t recognize, carrying another basket of vegetables. “Comrade, hello. May I ask if you are?”

“I live across from your house. My husband is Battalion Commander Yang, in the same regiment as your husband, Battalion Commander Lin. I’m probably older than you, so I’ll call you sister. Is that okay?” Sun Li smiled.

Although Ning Shu didn’t know the woman’s character, she believed in being welcoming to guests. “Of course, that’s fine. I’m 22 this year, so I’ll call you sister.”

Sun Li was taken aback. Generally, Lin the Battalion Commander was younger than her husband, Old Yang.

She should be addressed as “sister-in-law.” Hearing Ning Shu call her “sister” was unusual, but it wasn’t a bad thing.

“I’m 32 this year, so I really can be your big sister. By the way, my name is Sun Li. What do you go by? Also, here’s a basket of vegetables for your family. If you finish them, feel free to come pick more from our vegetable garden. The vegetable plots are allocated in order. The ten families here share the same plot.”

“Thank you, Sister. I’m called Ning Shu,” she replied, accepting the vegetables.

She poured them onto the kitchen floor, fetched a bowl from the kitchen, and then went to the room where they had put their luggage.

When she came out, the bowl contained a piece of fermented fish in rice wine lees. “Sister, do you eat this kind of fermented fish in rice wine lees over there? I made it myself.” Salted duck eggs wouldn’t be enough!