Lu Cheng took the soup down, and Lin Qingqing began to serve the food.

She first placed rice onto the plates, then topped it with a layer of eggplant with minced meat.

By the time the three plates were ready, Lu Cheng, who had been waiting at the door, said, “Let me help.”

“Mom, I’ll help you!” Lu Haici chimed in from behind Lu Cheng.

He pushed against his dad, thinking he was too mean for blocking the kitchen door, preventing him from entering and letting his mom see him.

When he grew up, he definitely wanted to be taller than his dad and block him outside instead.

Hmph!

Once the three plates of rice were on the table, Lin Qingqing took a sip of the soup to warm her stomach.

Meanwhile, the father and son had already dived into their bowls of eggplant with minced meat, devouring their food.

Especially the younger one, who was still mumbling, “So delicious! Mom, this rice is really good!”

“Yeah,” Lu Cheng rarely agreed.

It was a happy feeling when someone liked the food you made.

Seeing them enjoy their meal brought joy to Lin Qingqing: “If you like it, eat more. I’ll make you pumpkin pancakes later.”

“Ah…” Suddenly, Lu Haici remembered something.

He jumped down from his stool, opened his little backpack, and took out a lunchbox containing two small cakes.

He picked one up and handed it to Lin Qingqing, saying, “Mom, this is the small cake Qin Ming gave me. You can have it.”

Lin Qingqing didn’t refuse her little one’s offer and took the small cake, placing it aside: “Let’s eat our meal first, okay? Snacks should come after dinner.”

“Mm.” Lu Haici was very obedient about this.

He carefully took out the other small cake and placed it aside, then continued eating.

Lu Cheng: “…”

Wasn’t that small cake meant for him?

Curious, Lin Qingqing asked, “Haici, did you trade for two small cakes with Qin Ming yesterday using your tofu pancakes?”

“Just one,” Lu Haici said, holding up one finger with his non-spoon hand. “This morning, Qin Ming wanted my wheat roll, so we traded for another small cake.”

“Oh, I see.”

Lu Cheng couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t you going to give me that small cake?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Haici widened his eyes in disbelief, clearly thinking this was an unbelievable question. “But Dad didn’t like to eat those before.”

He used to share his treats with his dad, but his dad would always refuse.

Lu Cheng said earnestly, “I want to eat it now.”

He truly didn’t like these kinds of treats, but seeing his little boy exclude him made him want to tease him a bit.

Lu Haici frowned at this.

After a moment, he put down his spoon and picked up his small cake.

Just when Lin Qingqing and Lu Cheng thought he was going to—

When Lu Haici gave the small cake to Lu Cheng, he broke it in half and handed one piece to his dad.

Lin Qingqing glanced at Lu Cheng and silently smiled.

This little kid was quite amusing.

Even though he had broken the cake, he still showed filial piety by giving the larger half to his dad.

Lu Cheng accepted the small cake and set it aside, continuing with his meal.

Lu Haici stared at his dad, but eventually lowered his head and resumed eating.

After the meal came the highlight of the day: it was time for little Lu Haici to wash the dishes.

Of course, Lu Haici forgot about this responsibility.

After finishing his meal, he obediently picked up his backpack, preparing to head to kindergarten.

Lu Cheng stopped him: “You’re washing the dishes at noon; you didn’t forget again, did you? You already forgot this morning.”

Instantly, Lu Hai Ci froze, completely taken aback by his dad’s stern reminder.

He gritted his teeth and insisted, “I didn’t forget.”

His little pride wouldn’t allow him to admit that he had forgotten.

But Lu Cheng clearly wasn’t going to let him off the hook: “Then why are you carrying your backpack?”

“I…” Lu Haici’s eyes reddened as he looked at his mom, fearing that she would think he was being lazy and wouldn’t like him anymore.

Seeing that his mom was also watching him, he quickly said, “I’m taking my backpack to put it in the room.”

With that, he dashed into his room, and when he came out, he indeed no longer had the backpack on.

Lin Qingqing shook her head, not wanting to interfere in their father-son antics.

However, she went into the room and emerged with the children’s comic book “The Seagull.”

“Haici, this is a book I bought for you. You can read it after you wash the dishes.” She believed that once a child made a promise, they should keep it.

Even if the dishes weren’t perfectly clean, the practice of integrity should start from a young age.

“A book?” Lu Haici’s eyes lit up.

The redness from being pressured by his dad faded away, and he exclaimed, “I promise I’ll wash the dishes!”

Of course, after Lu Haici washed the dishes, Lin Qingqing soaked them in hot water again to remove any grease.

Once the dishes were done, Lu Hai Ci placed “The Seagull” in his little backpack. “Mom, I’m off to kindergarten.”

He was eager to show off his new book at school.

“I’ll take you,” Lin Qingqing said.

---

Lin Qingqing followed him outside.
Lu Haici jogged over to the Ji family house, shouting, “Ji Yang, I’m going to kindergarten!”

“I’m coming!” Ji Yang rushed out like a whirlwind.

Watching the two little boys rush around, Lin Qingqing felt a bit nervous, worried they might trip and fall at any moment.

When Ji Yang saw Lin Qingqing, he suddenly asked:

“Auntie, can a monkey really be born from a rock?”

“Ah?” Lin Qingqing hadn’t responded yet when Ji Yang asked again, “Auntie, can we go pick some rocks that might give birth to monkeys? We want to raise a monkey.”

Lin Qingqing quickly realized that Ji Yang was talking about Sun Wukong, and she said, “Rocks don’t give birth to monkeys, you know.”

Hearing this, Ji Yang pointed at Lu Haici and said, “Lu Haici, you’re lying! Auntie said rocks can’t have babies, but you said Sun… Sun Wukong came out of a rock!”

“I didn’t lie!” Lu Haici retorted angrily.

He looked at his mom with a grievance, “Mom, isn’t Sun Wukong born from a rock?”

How was Lin Qingqing supposed to respond to that?

Sun Wukong did come from a rock, but that was a story!

However, if she said yes, the little ones would want to go pick up rocks to give birth to monkeys.

But if she said no, it would seem like she was lying to them.

In that moment, Lin Qingqing found herself in a difficult position.

The bedtime story was supposed to entertain the little ones, but now it had caused trouble, leaving her feeling quite helpless.

“Mom?” Seeing his mother’s silence, Lu Haici blinked his eyes.

Suddenly, Lin Qingqing had an idea.

The little ones might not understand the concept of Sun Wukong jumping out of a rock now, but when they grew up, they would definitely understand.

So Lin Qingqing said, “Sun Wukong did come out of a rock, but rocks can’t give birth to monkeys. As for why Sun Wukong came out of the rock, that’s a secret that you’ll learn when you turn ten.”

All the children knew that secrets should not be shared.

However, Ji Yang raised his finger to count, “I’m only five now, so I have to wait five more years to turn ten. I wish I could turn ten tomorrow.”

Lin Qingqing couldn’t help but laugh at his childlike words: “Then you need to grow up quickly!”

“Mm, I will grow up quickly! I’ll eat a lot every day,” Ji Yang declared, looking determined to out-eat his dad.

“Mom, I’ll grow up quickly too, by eating more every day.” Seeing that his mother’s attention was on Ji Yang, Lu Haici quickly spoke up and even grabbed his mom’s hand. “Mom, you should go rest now. You must be tired today. Ji Yang and I can go to kindergarten by ourselves.”

Lin Qingqing replied, “Okay then, but you two be careful on the way.”

Lu Haici and Ji Yang said in unison, “Got it!”

The two little ones walked side by side to school, staying very close together.

Lin Qingqing watched their figures as they walked away, not returning home right away.

Instead, she quietly followed behind them.

After they arrived at the kindergarten and saw the kids go inside, Lin Qingqing returned home.

When she got back, Lu Cheng had already finished plowing the ground and was planting seeds.

As Lin Qingqing joined him in the task, she curiously asked, “Didn’t you grow up at your aunt’s house in the county? How do you know how to farm?”

She was surprised.

Lin Qingqing knew how to farm because her grandmother taught her.

Many families in the countryside grew their own vegetables, and her family was no exception.

Lu Cheng replied, “Before the founding of New China, my aunt and uncle lived in the countryside. That was before I turned 14, so I helped out on their farm.”

Lin Qingqing said, “No wonder you know how to farm.”

The two worked together and soon finished planting the small yard.

After they were done, Lu Cheng said, “Come inside for a moment. I’ll give you the passbook.”

“Okay.” Lin Qingqing followed him into the room.

Lu Cheng first took out the passbook for the 1,500 yuan that Lin Qingqing had deposited earlier that morning and handed it to her.

Then he used a key to open the drawer of his desk, pulling out two more passbooks and a tin box. “Here.”

“What’s this?” Lin Qingqing asked.

Lu Cheng said, “This one is the inheritance my mother left when she passed away. It’s all deposited in the bank. This one is my salary savings from these past years. The tin box contains some loose change, tickets, and various documents. Take a look. If you don’t understand anything, you can ask me.”

Since they had decided to get along well, Lu Cheng naturally wouldn’t hide anything from her.

Upon hearing that these were the assets left by Lu Cheng’s mother as well as his salary savings, Lin Qingqing didn’t dare to touch them.

However, she found a good reason: “Let’s keep it with you. I’m afraid I’ll spend it carelessly. Once the money is in my hands, I won’t be able to control my spending.”

She pushed the items back to him and only took the 1,500 yuan passbook.

Lu Cheng didn’t take it back. “You can keep it. No matter how you spend it, we can afford it in this family.” His tone was quite firm.

Although Lu Cheng wasn’t a traditional male chauvinist, he had been influenced by his mother’s teachings that a man should have responsibilities and duties.

Therefore, he was somewhat stubborn about certain matters, like the responsibility of a man to provide for his family.

Additionally,

The loose change and some ration tickets might come in handy for daily life, so she took a look.

Then… there was more loose change than she had expected.

As for the tickets, there were shoe tickets, soap tickets, industrial tickets, and even sewing machine tickets.

In this era where buying things required tickets, Lin Qingqing really appreciated having these.

What she liked the most was that there was also a bicycle ticket.

She thought to herself that if she had a bicycle, it would be so much easier to go to the county town for shopping.

So she locked the things back in the drawer and happily went to find Lu Cheng.

“Lu Cheng…”

Lu Cheng was in the yard working with cement and bricks.

Hearing her voice, he turned back, silently asking what was up.

“Lu Cheng, I found a bicycle ticket in the iron box. Can I buy a bicycle?” Lin Qingqing asked.

If she bought a bicycle, she might need to borrow money from Lu Cheng.

But after her salary came in…

She would save money, and when the right time came for them to part ways, she would pay him back.

“You found a bicycle ticket? I completely forgot about that,” Lu Cheng replied.

The large tickets were rewards for completing tasks, and since he had no use for them, he just tossed them into the iron box without remembering what he had. “Then I’ll go check out bicycles at the department store tomorrow.”

“I’ll go too.” Of course, she wanted to see her own bicycle.

“Alright,” Lu Cheng said, thinking for a moment. “Are there any other large tickets? Like a watch ticket?”

Lin Qingqing replied, “No watch ticket, but there is a sewing machine ticket.”

Lu Cheng perked up at this. “Are you going to buy a sewing machine too? We didn’t prepare a bride price when we got married, so I’ve been gradually making it up.”

He said this very seriously.

Lin Qingqing considered it.

Having a sewing machine would indeed be convenient.

Although she didn’t know how to use one yet, she wanted to learn.

After all, the clothes from this era weren’t her style, and if she wanted to make clothes she liked in the future, she definitely needed a sewing machine.

She couldn’t just borrow someone else’s sewing machine, could she?

Moreover, she had just bought fabric to make pajamas and loungewear, hadn’t she?

So when Lu Cheng brought it up, Lin Qingqing readily agreed, “Alright, let’s go buy one tomorrow.”

Lu Cheng nodded and washed his hands. “Let’s go; it’s about time to head to the team’s cafeteria.”

“Okay.”

The cafeteria for the team was located between the military camp and the family quarters; this area was full of cafeterias in rows.

Lin Qingqing was very curious since it was her first time here. “So many cafeterias!”

Lu Cheng explained, “We have two divisions of troops here. Each division has two brigades, and each brigade has two regiments. Each division has over five thousand men, so two divisions would have over ten thousand. Additionally, each company has its own cafeteria. A regiment has nine companies, a brigade has eighteen companies, and a division has thirty-six companies. So there are a total of seventy-two company cafeterias.”

With so many company cafeterias, Lin Qingqing felt a bit dizzy.

Then she suddenly remembered something: “I had a quarrel with Mrs. Qin before. Will that affect your work?”

“It won’t,” Lu Cheng replied. “Brigadier General Qin knows how to separate work from personal matters. Besides, I’m in an independent regiment and report directly to the military. I’m not under the jurisdiction of the division or brigade.”

Lin Qingqing didn’t quite understand all this, but hearing Lu Cheng say so reassured her.

She couldn’t help but smile, “I’m glad it won’t affect you.”

Lu Cheng pressed his lips together and, looking at her smile, felt quite happy as well.