The taste of mashed potatoes mixed with chopped boiled egg was quite special, especially with the creamy flavor of the yolk.

Even in modern times, many kids who are used to fancy foods love this flavor, so how much more would a little one who hasn’t had many unique foods in this era enjoy it?

As soon as Lu Haici took his first bite, his eyes lit up. “Mom, this is delicious.”

He took small bites with his spoon, and whenever he tasted a piece of cucumber, he’d make a little crunching sound.

Lin Qingqing smiled. “If you like it, I’ll make it for you again tomorrow.”

It was easy to prepare, and even if she had it two days in a row, she wouldn’t get tired of it.

If she could find some meat or carrots when they went out later, the mashed potatoes would be even better tomorrow.

“I like it,” Lu Haici said enthusiastically.

Lin Qingqing smiled softly.

After lunch, the two of them worked together to clean up.

Lin Qingqing washed the dishes while Lu Haici wiped the table.

Despite being just a child, he managed to clean the table pretty well.

Once they were done, Lin Qingqing said, “It’s time for you to go to kindergarten.”

“Okay.” Lu Haici agreed, though a bit reluctantly.

While he’d promised his mom he’d go, in his heart, he preferred spending time with her over going to kindergarten.

But he was determined to keep his word since he considered himself a little man.

He went to his room and put on his small backpack.

His bag was a canvas crossbody bag, resembling a modern messenger bag, in army green fabric.

His great-aunt had made it for him when he started kindergarten, as the typical store-bought bags were a bit too big for him.

The little bag was just like a messenger bag, with a red five-pointed star on the front.

Inside, he carried a notebook and an old metal pencil case with colorful pictures of three pandas playing in a bamboo forest.

All ready to go, Lu Haici looked at Lin Qingqing with a slightly sad expression. “Mom, I’m off to kindergarten,” he said, though his eyes lingered on her, showing his reluctance.

Lin Qingqing held out her hand to him. “Come on, I’ll take you there.”

It had been half a month since he last went, so she wanted to speak with his teacher.

And since Lu Haici had shared how some kids in his great-uncle’s village teased him for not having parents, she understood the pain he must have felt.

If even relatives’ kids could tease him, what about the ones at kindergarten?

Whether or not he faced that there, Lin Qingqing felt a desire to protect his heart.

At least while she was still with Lu Cheng, she wanted to take good care of this little boy.

“Take…take me to school?” Lu Haici was stunned. His small mouth opened, and he stammered as he spoke.

“Yes, I’m taking our little Haici to school.”

Lin Qingqing took his hand.

“Okay.” Lu Haici replied emphatically, but his voice was hoarse.

Feeling his tears welling up, he quickly wiped them away with his other hand, then smiled broadly, showing his white teeth, looking like a little goof.

But after a moment, the tears came again, and he wiped them away once more.

Lin Qingqing looked down at him, watching him cry and smile at the same time, and she felt a pang in her heart.

When she was little, she had envied other children who had their parents to hold and protect them.

As she grew older, she envied her younger sister, who could act spoiled around their parents.

And now… the things that happened to her could never be undone, but she could still fill in the gap for another child.

Lin Qingqing thought this was a beautiful thing.

As they left the yard, they heard Ji Yang’s voice next door: “Lu Haici, are you going to school today?”

Lin Qingqing looked over and saw Xu Huijuan holding Ji Yang’s hand as they stepped out as well.

Lu Haici said proudly, “Yes, my mom is taking me to school today.” His tone was filled with pride.

Ji Yang was already used to his mom taking him to school, so he didn’t quite understand his friend’s joy.

But he said, “Lu Haici, you have a mom now, too.”

He was happy for his friend.

There was a time when both of them had been without a mom, and they envied others together, quietly nursing their wounds.

Then, Ji Yang had a mom, but he was too young to realize that his friend, behind him, watched him with envy and tried to mend his own wounds.

But he knew one thing—his friend had always wanted a mom, and now that he had one, he was truly happy for him.

Holding his mom’s hand, Lu Haici couldn’t help but swing it as he walked.

His little chest was puffed out proudly, like a strutting little rooster. “My mom made mashed potatoes for me today, and they were delicious.”

His voice was full of pride, as if he wanted everyone to know that he was now a child who had his mom’s love.

“What’s mashed potatoes?” Ji Yang asked curiously. “Is it potatoes mixed with mud? Can you eat mud?”

Lu Haici gave him a look of disbelief. “Of course not! Even three-year-olds know you can’t eat mud.”

Ji Yang replied, “Then what kind of mud is mashed potatoes?”

Lu Haici paused, unsure of how to answer, but said, “Mashed potatoes are mashed potatoes you can eat! They have potatoes, eggs, and cucumber, and they’re different from mud you can’t eat.”

Listening to them…

Lin Qingqing shook her head at the childish conversation and greeted Xu Huijuan, “Good morning, Ji Yang’s mom.”

“Good morning,” Xu Huijuan said, having been quietly observing Lin Qingqing since earlier.

Yesterday, she had thought Lin Qingqing was putting on an act, but now that she saw her in person, she revised her earlier opinion.

Lin Qingqing seemed very different from the person she had known in her past life.

They had been friends for several years until Lin Qingqing divorced Lu Cheng, so Xu Huijuan was familiar with her personality.

This version of Lin Qingqing was not like the one she remembered at all.

Mashed potatoes… and last night’s dinner.

The Lin Qingqing from her past life wouldn’t lift a finger to cook.

Suddenly, a thought struck Xu Huijuan: Could it be that Lin Qingqing had also been reborn, just like her?

The idea seemed entirely possible. If she could be reborn, why couldn’t someone else?

So, the reason Lin Qingqing could cook now must be that after her divorce from Lu Cheng, life hadn’t gone well for her, which prompted her to learn.

The fact that she was being nice to Lu Haici now might be because, after regretting her life post-divorce, she didn’t want to go down that path again and was treating Lu Haici better.

If that were the case, Xu Huijuan would need to be cautious around Lin Qingqing to prevent her from discovering that she, too, had been reborn.

Additionally, she had originally planned to alert Lu Cheng about Lin Qingqing’s bullying of Lu Haici when he returned, thinking it would help save Lu Haici from distress.

But if Lin Qingqing had indeed changed and stopped bullying him for the sake of her marriage with Lu Cheng, then it wouldn’t be right for her to say anything.

For now, she decided to observe the situation further.

However, there was one thing she needed to be careful about: not exposing herself in front of Lin Qingqing.

To avoid detection, she needed to maintain some distance from her.

But considering they lived so close to each other, how could she keep her distance?

Once Old Ji returned, she would have to persuade him to move somewhere else.

But convincing him would require a solid reason, and she needed to think carefully about that.

Lin Qingqing had no idea about Xu Huijuan’s speculation.

Due to Xu Huijuan’s silence, their conversation ended after the initial greeting, and they didn’t continue talking.

The kindergarten was located right in the family compound, so it didn’t take long to get there.

“Mom, I’m going in!” Lu Haici said excitedly, saying goodbye to Lin Qingqing before running in with Ji Yang.

He couldn’t wait to tell his classmates that he now had a mom and that she had brought him to school today.

Watching the children run so quickly, Lin Qingqing felt a pang of worry that they might trip. “Don’t run too fast; be careful not to fall!”

She remembered how much she had loved to run as a child, often falling, especially scraping her knees.

A faint scar remained from that injury as he grew older.

“Got it!” Lu Haici, who had been running fast, slowed down after hearing her words.

Lin Qingqing didn’t leave immediately.

Instead, she turned around to speak with the kindergarten teacher, explaining that she had been sick for the past half month, and that’s why Lu Haici had missed school to take care of her.

The teacher, a warm-looking woman in her late twenties, seemed understanding and easy to talk to.

Since Lin Qingqing still had shopping plans with Yu Xiuyao, she didn’t chat long with the teacher.

However, she decided that when she had more time, she’d talk with the teacher to learn more about how Lu Haici was doing in kindergarten.

After leaving the kindergarten, Lin Qingqing went to Yu Xiuyao’s place, where Yu was just getting ready to head out with her bike.

Leaving the residential compound, they first went to a carpenter’s shop that Yu Xiuyao was familiar with.

Lin Qingqing took out her sketches and ordered three five-drawer chests for five yuan each, a shoe cabinet for two yuan, and a wardrobe for ten yuan—all inclusive of materials.

After that, Yu Xiuyao showed Lin Qingqing around the county town.

They visited the supply and marketing cooperative, a department store, and the farmer’s market, which took up the entire morning.

On the way back, Lin Qingqing bought ten jin of rice, two jin of refined flour, ten jin of potatoes, ten jin of sweet potatoes, as well as milk candies and biscuits.

Before leaving on his mission, Lu Cheng had given the original Lin Qingqing plenty of ration coupons, so even after buying all these items, she still had a good amount of grain, sugar, and snack coupons left.

The advantage of military coupons was that they didn’t expire, unlike regular coupons outside, which were only valid for the current month.

What delighted Lin Qingqing the most was that the county market had plenty of vegetables.

Not only were there spices like star anise, but even carrots were available.

During this time, spices and supplementary ingredients were seldom purchased, and carrots were not a common buy.

However, since they arrived late, there was no meat, fish, or eggs left.

She did manage to find tofu, as well as cabbage, oil tofu, and seaweed.

Lin Qingqing didn’t buy too much, preferring to get fresh ingredients each time.

When they got back to the residential compound, it was already 10:30.

Lin Qingqing was just about to start preparing lunch when she heard Xu Huijuan’s voice from next door, “Comrade Lin…”

Lin Qingqing came out of the kitchen, “Hello, Ji Yang’s mom.”

Xu Huijuan frowned and said, “Comrade Lin, Lu Haici got into a fight with another kid in kindergarten this morning. The teacher came by to call a parent, but you weren’t home.”