Lu Haici proudly replied, “My mom said we’re hosting dinner at our house tonight and that I can invite my friends over to eat.”

“Wow, your family is hosting again! What’s Auntie going to cook?” Ji Yang had already been won over by Lin Qingqing’s cooking.

Even though he’d only eaten her food twice, he was thoroughly captivated, especially since she made unique dishes.

Lu Haici puffed up his little chest and said, “I… I don’t know, my mom said I’m the little host, and if we’re having guests, I should invite my good friends. Ji Yang, you’re my best friend, so come to my house for dinner tonight, okay?”

Ji Yang was more than ready.

He’d go even without Lu Haici’s invitation, so he replied enthusiastically, “We’re double best friends! Of course, I’ll come.”

Satisfied, Lu Haici then turned to Qin Ming. “Qin Ming, we’re friends too now. Would you like to come to my house for dinner tonight?”

Qin Ming loved a good time, and in an era when food was precious and dining at someone else’s house was a rare honor, receiving an invitation from a friend was a big deal.

Without any hesitation, he said, “Yes, I’ll definitely come.”

Next, Lu Haici went to invite four more friends.

While Lu Haici was busy inviting his friends, Lin Qingqing and Lu Cheng were also going around with invitations.

Lin Qingqing visited the people who had taken her to the hospital, while Lu Cheng went to invite some of his close comrades from the unit.

At the Qin Family’s Home

Yu Xiuyao, upon hearing Lin Qingqing’s purpose, thought Lu Cheng’s wife was incredibly polite. “It was no big deal; you really don’t need to invite us.”

Lin Qingqing smiled and replied, “For you, it was just a small favor, but for me, it was life-saving. How could I not? Besides, I’ve been here as a military spouse for over half a month now and haven’t had a chance to meet everyone, so please don’t be too formal with me. I’d love to get to know everyone and learn how to be a good military spouse. Plus, Lu Cheng is inviting a few friends over as well, so it’s the perfect chance.”

Yu Xiuyao laughed, “You’ve certainly got a way with words!” It was true that, traditionally, soldiers bringing newly married wives to the base often hosted a meal to introduce them, almost like a wedding celebration.

So, seeing the sense in it, she agreed, “Alright, let me help you gather a few people.”

“Thank you, Sister-in-law,” Lin Qingqing said gratefully.

Back when Yu Xiuyao had taken Lin Qingqing to the hospital, she had called on three other military wives to help.

Lin Qingqing was so weak at the time that even the strongest of them would have struggled to carry her alone, so they had taken her to the gate and called on a male comrade to drive her to the hospital.

Thus, everyone who had helped that day deserved an invitation.

Since the custom was to invite families, not just individuals, it was soon apparent that the Lu family’s single dining table wouldn’t be enough.

When Lin Qingqing returned home, she asked Lu Cheng to borrow two more tables and chairs from the mess hall.

With three tables, they could accommodate over thirty people, which seemed sufficient.

While Lu Cheng went to borrow the tables and chairs, Lin Qingqing got started on meal preparations.

Lin Qingqing was just about to start preparing the dishes when she saw Yu Xiuyao entering with a basket full of vegetables.

Since Yu Xiuyao’s whole family was coming for dinner, and they had a close relationship with Lu Cheng, she didn’t hold back on bringing some extra produce.

Lu Cheng had been under Yu Xiuyao’s husband, Qin Dashan, when he first joined the army.

Though Lu Cheng was later transferred to an independent regiment, the two families stayed close.

Additionally, during Lu Cheng’s missions, their son Lu Haici often stayed with the Qin family, which deepened their bond even further.

Seeing the full basket of vegetables, Lin Qingqing was both surprised and grateful. “Sister-in-law, you didn’t have to bring anything; we already prepared a lot for tonight.”

Yu Xiuyao smiled. “These are from our garden, so no need to stand on ceremony. Tell me what needs washing, and I’ll get started.”

Lin Qingqing had planned a feast, with ten dishes per table: steamed egg with minced meat, braised eggplant, cucumber salad, stir-fried tomato and egg, chives with pumpkin, garlic greens, potato and seaweed soup, stir-fried loofah, sour potato slivers, and fish soup with pickled vegetables.

For the main course, she prepared cabbage and cornmeal dumplings and rice with sweet potatoes.

There was a separate table for the kids, which would have pumpkin pancakes and mashed sweet potatoes.

She was mindful of the budget.

Cooking all rice for three tables would be too costly, so she chose cornmeal dumplings, which were easier to make and affordable.

The sweet potato rice also added a nice touch, with sweet potatoes on top of rice so that the sweetness infused the grains as it cooked.

For added flavor, she even considered adding a touch of sugar water to the rice, a luxury not often refused in this time period.

Lin Qingqing laid out the vegetables for washing and said, “Sister-in-law, if you can help with washing, I’ll start kneading the dough.”

Yu Xiuyao was quick and efficient.

By the time Lin Qingqing finished kneading, a good amount of vegetables had already been washed.

At that moment, Lu Cheng returned, hauling in a cart full of tables and chairs. “Where should these go?” he asked.

Lin Qingqing directed, “One table in the empty room for the kids, one in the main hall for the men, and one in the courtyard for the women.”

After three trips, all the tables and chairs were in place.

Then Lin Qingqing and Yu Xiuyao started cutting up the vegetables in the main hall.

Since each dish needed to be enough for three tables, they had to borrow quite a few bowls from the mess hall as well.

By the time all the ingredients were prepped, it was around 4 p.m., just in time to start cooking.

With such a large quantity of food, they needed to get going soon.

Luckily, the iron pots they had were large enough to accommodate three servings per dish.

In addition, because the wok is large, no matter how hard you use the spatula, it won’t spill over.

If this were a modern pot, it definitely couldn’t hold the quantity of three bowls of food.

Among the ten dishes, Lin Qingqing started with cold dishes and dishes that wouldn’t lose flavor even if they cooled down.

She also started making the soup at the same time.

First, Lin Qingqing prepared the cucumber salad and began simmering potato and seaweed soup in a clay pot.

The key to the cucumber salad was the “soul sauce.”

She chopped the cucumber into pieces, crushed it slightly with a knife, and added the soul sauce—that’s all it took.

As long as the sauce was well-made, it was quick and easy.

She made her sauce with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar.

It was a pity there was no cilantro; Lin Qingqing loved cilantro and thought it would add an extra layer of fragrance.

Yu Xiuyao wanted to help cook, but the kitchen was too small and only had one stove.

With two people, it would have been cramped, so she simply assisted Lin Qingqing.

Yu Xiuyao was initially skeptical about Lin Qingqing’s cooking skills—after all, she was only nineteen.

To someone like Yu Xiuyao, in her thirties, she seemed like just a young girl.

But after watching Lin Qingqing skillfully wash and chop the vegetables, Yu Xiuyao realized this girl actually knew her way around the kitchen.

“You can prepare cucumbers like this?” Yu Xiuyao was surprised as she watched Lin Qingqing pour the sauce over the crushed cucumbers.

She was particularly shocked that Lin Qingqing used precious sugar for the cucumber dish. “What kind of way is this to eat cucumbers?”

Lin Qingqing picked up a piece of cucumber coated with sauce with her chopsticks and offered it to Yu Xiuyao. “Sister-in-law, try it. I’m not sure if you’ll like the taste.”

Yu Xiuyao’s eyes lit up after tasting it. “It’s a unique flavor—sour, salty, and sweet. It’s good, but it feels like a waste of sugar.”

Lin Qingqing smiled gently.

She understood Yu Xiuyao’s perspective, though Yu Xiuyao didn’t understand hers.

For modern people, eating is not just about filling your stomach; it’s also about enjoying flavors.

But for people of this time, limited resources meant they focused more on staying full.

Only families with excellent living conditions could pay attention to taste.

After Yu Xiuyao took the cucumber salad out, Lin Qingqing began to stir-fry shredded potatoes with vinegar, a dish that could be eaten either hot or cold.

The dish was straightforward—after blanching the shredded potatoes, she heated oil in the wok, added salt and rice vinegar, and stir-fried it briefly without overcooking.

It was ready in no time.

Next came stir-fried pumpkin with chives and garlic spinach, both dishes that wouldn’t lose flavor after cooling.

After finishing these two, Lin Qingqing made stir-fried eggs with loofah.

By then, the potato and seaweed soup was also ready, its delicious umami taste brought out by the seaweed.

Kelp is also a type of food that’s quite nutritious.

Just as Yu Xiuyao carried the potato and kelp soup to the door, a few military wives who had accompanied Lin Qingqing to the hospital arrived, each carrying a basket. One of them said, “We’re a bit late. We thought we could help.”

Yu Xiuyao replied, “You all just sit back and enjoy. Today, all these dishes were made by Lu Cheng’s wife. I’m just here to help serve them.”

These three were on good terms with Yu Xiuyao, of course.

When Lin Qingqing fainted with a fever, Yu Xiuyao naturally reached out to friends she was close to.

“Really? Then we’ll have to savor every bite!”

Lin Qingqing called from inside, “Sisters, please make yourselves comfortable outside and help yourself to some cookies and milk candy.”

There was a table outside with snacks—cookies, White Rabbit milk candy, and fruit candies bought in the morning.

Since there were so many guests, only White Rabbit candies wouldn’t have been enough, so the fruit candies had to be mixed in.

“You go on with your cooking. We’ll keep ourselves entertained,” one of the military wives said.

However, all three of them brought their baskets to the kitchen; after all, now that they had arrived, they wanted to let their hosts know they’d brought gifts.

Lin Qingqing said, “You all are just too thoughtful.”

“These are just home-grown vegetables. Feel free to come pick some anytime if you like.”

“That’s right! We might not have much, but vegetables we do have.”

Lin Qingqing smiled. “Our vegetables were just planted today, so we’re in need. You brought these at the perfect time.”

The three women laughed.

Since Lin Qingqing was busy cooking inside and all the vegetables were already washed and cut, they didn’t have much to help with.

So, they took a seat outside.

One of the women noticed a movement in the nearby shed and, curious, went over to look.

Inside, she saw Lu Cheng busily digging. “Deputy Lu, are you digging a cellar?”

Upon hearing this, the other two wives also went over to see.

Lu Cheng had been digging a pit for two hours and was now deep within it, with the excavated soil piled up on one side, nearly covering him.

“Digging a cellar is a great idea. Our family wants to dig one too—it’ll be great for storage,” said one of the wives.

“It’s not a cellar; I’m digging a squat toilet,” Lu Cheng replied.

“What?”

Standing by the door, the three military wives looked stunned.

“Isn’t there already a toilet in the residential area? Why dig a new one?”

Lu Cheng replied, “To make things more convenient.”

He certainly wouldn’t say it was because Lin Qingqing wanted it—he didn’t want to invite unnecessary gossip about her.

He wouldn’t say it.

In the kitchen, Lin Qingqing was almost done with her cooking.

The braised eggplant and scrambled eggs with tomatoes were ready, and the pumpkin pancakes were freshly out of the pan.

The only dishes left were the steamed egg with minced meat, sour fish soup, and cabbage corn dumplings.

Rice was cooking in the iron pot, with a steamer on top holding the steamed egg with minced meat.

The pickled fish soup was simmering in the clay pot, essentially just fish soup with salted vegetables.

The cabbage dumplings would be prepared last.

“These pumpkin pancakes taste great,” said Yu Xiuyao after trying one.

She had watched Lin Qingqing make them, noticing how generously she added sugar and oil without hesitation—something Yu Xiuyao would have been reluctant to do herself.

Lin Qingqing replied, “I made plenty of pumpkin pancakes, so I’ll set some aside for you to take home, Sister-in-law.”

She still had some leftover dough, which she planned to use to make pumpkin buns for breakfast the next morning.

“Oh, there’s no need, let everyone else enjoy them. I’ve learned how to make them now, so I’ll try it myself at home.” Of course, Yu Xiuyao was just being polite; her children were grown and didn’t need treats like these anymore.

---

At the Kindergarten

As soon as the children were dismissed, they each headed home.

Lu Haici and Ji Yang, who lived nearby, walked together.

Qin Ming quickly slung his backpack over his shoulders and ran over to Lu Haici. “Lu Haici, I’ll go tell my grandma and then head over to your house for dinner.”

Lu Haici nodded, “Okay, but hurry up.”

Qin Ming replied, “Got it!” and dashed toward home like the wind.

At the Qin household, Zhang Hongping had just finished cooking.

She had prepared her grandson’s favorite stir-fried pork.

“Grandma…” Qin Ming burst into the house, slightly out of breath, “Grandma, Lu Haici invited me over to his house for dinner.”

Zhang Hongping was surprised. “Why did Lu Haici invite you to dinner at his house?”

In fact, she hadn’t yet let go of her grudge over the past conflicts between Qin Ming and Lu Haici, still thinking about ways to even the score.

But before she could come up with a plan, her dear grandson and Lu Haici had already made up, leaving her with no choice but to let it go.

Not only that, but yesterday, after school, her grandson had gone to the Yang family and demanded that Yang Mailian stop speaking ill of Lu Haici’s mother.

This had shocked Zhang Hongping even more.

After questioning him, she found out that Lu Haici had apologized to him and even shared his snacks, which was how they became friends.

The fact that Zhang Hongping had previously tried to incite Yang Mailian showed that she was quite shrewd.

Now that Lu Haici and her grandson were friends, she had to swallow her pride—she couldn’t very well plot against the family of her grandson’s friend, could she?