Lu Cheng was hurrying home for breakfast, but halfway there, he remembered his comrades’ words and changed direction to the big cafeteria.

Today, the big cafeteria was serving brown sugar steamed buns, which are nutritious, and he wondered if she liked them.

For soldiers, the military cafeteria is free, of course, but there is a daily limit on portions.

If you don’t get enough to eat, you need to pay extra.

Generally, everyone has enough to eat; otherwise, comrades would be exhausted from daily training and unable to cope if they weren’t well-fed.

However, since the military cafeteria is free for soldiers, some soldiers with family members accompanying them eat in the family quarters.

How is the cafeteria portion calculated? It is subsidized.

Every month, the food allowances are calculated and subsidized for the soldiers, but there is no subsidy for vegetables.

Additionally, they can go to the cafeteria every day to collect their rations and take them home to eat.

Lu Cheng was on leave last month, and he hadn’t applied for his food allowance yet.

With only a day or two left until the end of this month, he had to think about whether he should start picking up his rations from the cafeteria each month to take home to eat.

This was something he needed to consider, especially since Lin Qingqing would start working at the Third Company’s cooking class tomorrow.

Would he be eating at the Third Company’s cooking class?

Upon arriving at the big cafeteria, Lu Cheng found that it served officers of battalion level and above, as well as their family members.

Officers below battalion level ate in their respective company cafeterias.

Therefore, normally, the portions in the big cafeteria were sufficient.

When Lu Cheng entered, there were already people inside.

He looked at the rations and said, “Give me three brown sugar steamed buns and lend me a bowl.”

“It’s Deputy Commander Lu! We haven’t seen you in a long time,” said an old soldier at the brown sugar steamed bun station.

He quickly grabbed a bowl and filled it with three brown sugar steamed buns.

Lu Cheng nodded. “I was busy before.”

The old soldier understood that Lu Cheng hadn’t been around for half a month, so he must have been on a mission.

Lu Cheng walked back to the family quarters, and just before entering, he saw Lu Haici squatting at the entrance, peering out.

Lu Haici didn’t have to go to school today because it was Sunday, and children also had rest days.

He wanted to eat the fried sauce noodles his mom made, which she called “zhajiangmian,” but his dad hadn’t returned yet.

Growing anxious waiting at home, Lu Haici decided to wait at the entrance of the family quarters.

He was getting a bit tired of waiting and squatted down, but even while squatting, his eyes were bright and fixated on the road outside.

When he saw his dad return, Lu Haici immediately stood up and exclaimed, “Dad, why did you take so long to come back?” His voice was full of complaint.

The soldiers guarding the compound heard this and curiously looked toward Vice Regiment Leader Lu.

Vice Regiment Leader Lu walked over to his son: “Why are you squatting here?”

Lu Haici said pitifully, “I’m waiting for you. Mom made really delicious zhajiangmian. She said that it’s tough for Dad to earn money, so we should wait for Dad to eat together. But I’m so hungry, and the fragrant noodles make my stomach even hungrier. So, I came here to wait for Dad. I’m so hungry that tears are about to come out, so I had to move far away to not smell the delicious aroma.”

Lu Cheng thought, So it’s my fault?

Hearing his son say he was hungry, he handed him a brown sugar bun: “Here, eat this. It’ll fill you up.”

Unexpectedly, his son didn’t appreciate his kindness at all.

Lu Haici glanced at the brown sugar bun.

Normally, he would definitely eat it, but now he said, “No, I want to wait until I’m really hungry so I can eat a lot of zhajiangmian. Dad, do you want me to fill up on the brown sugar bun so you can eat my zhajiangmian?”

Lu Cheng was taken aback. … Why does it feel like my son is a little ‘spy,’ always coming up with some conspiracy theory?

“You’re really smart.” Lu Cheng mocked.

However, how could a five-year-old understand sarcasm?

Upon realizing that his dad had exposed him, Lu Haici’s eyes widened.

He took a glance at his dad and then ran back home.

He wanted to report him to Mom before his dad got home.

Lu Cheng walked, and no matter how long his legs were or how big his strides were, he couldn’t run faster than a five-year-old child. So…

Lu Cheng also started running.

In just a few strides, he caught up to Lu Haici.

Not only did he catch up, but he also didn’t lose him, dragging him along, with a distance of three or four meters between them.

As Lu Haici ran, he was panting heavily.

He didn’t realize that no matter how hard he ran with his little legs, he wouldn’t be able to keep up with his dad’s longer legs.

The little guy was very stubborn and was afraid that his dad would run fast and eat all his zhajiangmian.

Lu Cheng occasionally looked back at his son.

Seeing his flushed little face and the sweat on his forehead, a smile flickered in his eyes.

Gradually, Lu Cheng slowed down again and ran alongside Lu Haici: “You’re running so slowly; is your body too weak?”

Lu Haici huffed and puffed, not wanting to respond. Isn’t it normal for adults to run faster than kids? If an adult ran slower than a child, then he would have to look down on the adult.

“Let’s do this. Starting tomorrow, you’ll wake up half an hour earlier and train with me for twenty minutes. How does that sound?” Lu Cheng asked.

Lu Haici bit his lip…

Lu Haici gritted his teeth, just about to respond with a “no,” when he heard his dad say, “If you train with me, you might be able to run faster than me in less than a month.”

Lu Haici perked up, his ears twitching. “How long is a month?”

Lu Cheng replied, “A month is thirty days.”

Lu Haici, unable to calculate how long thirty days was, asked, “Is thirty days long?”

Lu Cheng said, “…You’ll find out when you go back to school after summer vacation, in September.”

Upon hearing that it was after the summer vacation, Lu Haici felt it wasn’t too long, so he nodded, “Okay.”

He was determined to run faster than his dad and then tell him at the door, “Adults who can’t even outrun kids are shameless.”

As the father and son ran to the entrance of their home, they saw Lin Qingqing standing at the gate of the yard.

“Mom…” Lu Haici shouted, using all his strength to sprint ahead of Lu Cheng and leaped into Lin Qingqing’s arms.

Lin Qingqing hadn’t expected her little one to suddenly jump at her, and she staggered back a few steps, almost falling down.

Lu Cheng frowned slightly as he glanced at Lu Haici.

Seeing the child’s bright smile, the words he was about to say were swallowed back down.

However, when he heard Lu Haici’s next words, he regretted it.

“Mom, Dad is so mean! He’s an adult and still bullies kids!” Lu Haici tugged at his mom’s clothes and made a face at his dad.

Lu Cheng squinted at him.

Lin Qingqing asked, “Oh really? How did your dad bully you?”

Lu Cheng interjected, “Don’t listen to him ramble. Here, this is the brown sugar steamed buns from the big cafeteria.”

He handed the steamed buns to Lin Qingqing, and as soon as she took them, he lifted Lu Haici onto his shoulder and strode inside.

“Ah…” Lu Haici yelled, “Put me down! Put me down! You big bad adult who bullies kids, put me down…”

Although he was shouting, the little guy wasn’t scared at all; his voice was even a bit excited.

Next door, Ji Yang heard Lu Haici’s shouting and ran out of the house, calling, “Lu Haici! Lu Haici…”

But when he came out, he didn’t see Lu Haici.

Lin Qingqing placed the brown sugar steamed buns on the dining table and brought out the prepared noodles, which had been mixed ahead of time to avoid being too hot when Lu Cheng arrived.

“I’ll do it,” Lu Cheng said.

Since he had seen her burn her hand last time, he was very proactive about serving the food during mealtime, worried she might get burned again.

“I’ll help too,” Lu Haici chimed in, following his dad, once again blocked by his father.

Lin Qingqing…

“Then let him move it himself. Anyway, it won’t be hot, and it won’t burn the little one,” Lin Qingqing reassured herself.

“Okay, okay…” Lu Haici said excitedly.

The zhajiangmian smelled really good, mainly because the stir-fried doubanjiang was so fragrant.

As soon as it reached the dining table, the father and son of the Lu family couldn’t wait to dig in.

“Wow… this is the best thing I’ve ever eaten!” Lu Haici exclaimed, slurping up a noodle. “Mom, you’re amazing.”

Compared to the more reserved adult, it was clear that the little one was much sweeter with his words. “Is that so? I made it delicious because it’s for you.”

Lu Haici’s eyes lit up, filled with pride.

Lu Cheng listened to their interaction and glanced at his son.

He was more reserved, unlike his son, who had no shame in expressing his feelings.

However, he said, “Eating a brown sugar bun is something the cafeteria only makes a few times a month.”

He pushed the bowl containing the brown sugar buns that Lin Qingqing had set aside toward her.

Lin Qingqing looked up at him, only to see Lu Cheng immediately lowering his head to eat again.

Only he knew that his heart was racing a bit faster at that moment, pounding in his chest.

Even during extreme training, his heart never raced this fast.

No matter how difficult or dangerous the tasks he faced were, he remained calm. But now, he couldn’t maintain his composure.

Although Lin Qingqing didn’t know Lu Cheng was feeling nervous, she had a very good impression of him, so she smiled and said, “Thank you.”

“Mommy, eat.” Just as she finished saying thank you, Lu Haici handed a brown sugar bun to Lin Qingqing.

Lu Cheng muttered to himself, “… This little rascal.”

Lin Qingqing accepted the brown sugar bun: “Thank you, Haici. But I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?” Lu Haici wondered, Is Mommy going to praise me?

Even Lu Cheng thought the same.

However, Lin Qingqing said, “Haici, when eating, you can’t hand a bun to someone with your hands. That’s not hygienic.” She explained.

Although they had washed their hands before the meal, many people liked to eat buns with their hands, both in this era and in the future.

It was fine to eat with your hands, but handing someone else a bun with your hands was not hygienic. “But Mommy is still very happy that Haici is so considerate.”

Worried that Lu Haici might feel sensitive or upset, Lin Qingqing added, taking a bite, “It’s really delicious! As expected of the bun Haici chose; it’s so sweet.”