Lu Cheng rarely came to the Third Company’s kitchen to eat.

Before Lin Qingqing arrived, he usually ate in the large cafeteria.

It wasn’t that he was picky, but the food in the large cafeteria was indeed better, and he wanted to get something tasty for Lu Haici.

“My wife is working here, so I’ll be coming here often from now on. Maybe even every day,” Lu Cheng replied.

“Sister-in-law is working here?” soldiers nearby exclaimed in surprise.

Lu Cheng boldly referred to Lin Qingqing as his wife.

In his eyes, since she pursued him and he responded, they were a couple.

Moreover, they had obtained their marriage certificate, so they were indeed husband and wife.

Therefore, Lin Qingqing was his wife.

He used to feel embarrassed about admitting it, especially when the chief of staff teased him, but now that they understood each other’s feelings, he no longer felt awkward.

“Yeah, she was interviewed by Qi Shao,” Lu Cheng added, not wanting others to misunderstand the nature of Lin Qingqing’s work.

“Why haven’t we seen Sister-in-law?” someone asked, looking toward the interior.

Upon hearing Lu Cheng’s words, several soldiers peered inside, some nearly climbing into the window.

“What are you doing? Are you going to eat or not? Get in line properly!” Qi Shao shouted, waving a spoon.

“Squad leader, we want to see Sister-in-law! Where is she?” they replied.

“Yeah, yeah! We heard from Deputy Regiment Commander Lu that Sister-in-law is working here; we’re curious!”

“Comrade Lin is busy, so you all need to queue properly. If it’s past the time, I won’t give you food,” the instructor said.

“Got it, got it. Team Leader Qi is still the same as ever,” came the reply.

After a long wait, it was finally Lu Cheng’s turn.

He leaned in slightly and looked inside, but there was no sign of her.

Team Leader Qi said, “Comrade Lin is at the back, organizing the lunch menu.”

Lu Cheng raised an eyebrow, didn’t say anything, and took his sweet potato soup and steamed bun and left.

Lin Qingqing was indeed busy in front of the warehouse.

They had procured a lot of vegetables today, as the cafeteria usually restocked every three to four days.

So, she needed to organize all the vegetables and plan the menu for the daily meals.

According to the previous practices of the cooking team, a stew made with a mix of ingredients would suffice for meals.

With all those big men, what couldn’t they eat?

They had iron stomachs.

Lin Qingqing recorded each vegetable and then organized the menu based on their names.

Working alongside her was a woman hired as a vegetable washer for the cooking team, who was also the wife of a company commander.

This military wife, Liu Honghua, was twenty-four years old and had come from the countryside.

She had been used to doing rough work back home, and when her husband got promoted, she became eligible to accompany him and came along.

Upon arriving, she found that the cooking team was hiring, and she got selected after the interview.

Liu Honghua knew Lin Qingqing because Team Leader Qi had introduced her after the interview.

This morning, Lin Qingqing went to procure food with Team Leader Qi, so Liu didn’t see her until just now when Lin Qingqing returned.

She could hardly believe that this was the wife of Deputy Regiment Commander Lu.

Although Liu Honghua hadn’t met Deputy Regiment Commander Lu, she had heard about him from her husband, so she knew he was twenty-eight years old.

Thus, Liu Honghua thought that if Deputy Regiment Commander Lu was twenty-eight, his wife should be about the same age.

But Lin Qingqing didn’t look like she was in her thirties at all; she looked barely twenty. Moreover, her skin was as fair as a steamed bun, showing that she was very well taken care of.

So, Liu Honghua thought to herself that Deputy Regiment Commander Lu was a very pampering husband.

In this era, there weren’t many dishes, so Lin Qingqing quickly arranged the menu. “Sister Liu, here’s what we have today: pig intestines, onions, and tomatoes. Let’s go to the stove and bring some plant ash to clean the pig intestines.”

The pig intestines were ordered early yesterday morning after Team Leader Qi tasted the pickled pig intestines Lin Qingqing made the day before, which was why they were able to procure them that morning.

Liu Honghua: “Hey.”

While Lin Qingqing and Liu Honghua were washing the pig intestines, Lu Cheng arrived.

Seeing her busy, he didn’t interrupt but watched for a while before heading out.

On his way out, he ran into Qi Shao and the others.

“Deputy Regiment Commander Lu, aren’t you going in to sit for a bit?” Qi Shao asked.

Lu Cheng replied, “I don’t want to disturb you all.” As he walked out, he saw his son coming over. “I’ll take you to kindergarten.”

Lu Haici exclaimed, “I want to say goodbye to Mom!”

“Alright, I’ll wait for you here,” Lu Cheng said.

Lu Haici dashed inside, and before long, he came back out, saying, “Dad, you don’t need to take me. I know where the kindergarten is; I won’t get lost.”

He then ran off again.

Lu Cheng was speechless.

It was rare for him to have the chance to take him to kindergarten, yet Lu Haici didn’t seem to care.

When Lu Haici had just come to the army, Lu Cheng had taken him several times.

Later, the little rascal became good friends with Ji Yang, and they often went to kindergarten together, so Lu Cheng stopped escorting him.

However, he remembered Lin Qingqing’s words about taking their son to kindergarten more often when he had the chance.

So, Lu Cheng chased after him.

When Lu Haici felt his dad catch up, he turned to look at him, puzzled.

Lu Cheng said, “I’ll take you to kindergarten.”

Lu Haici sighed, “Alright.”

Why did Dad, being an adult, still want to take him to kindergarten?

---

In the Third Company’s Kitchen

With Lin Qingqing, Liu Honghua, and four other comrades, there were six of them washing over a hundred pounds of pig intestines, which took quite a while.

Lin Qingqing even suspected that Qi Shao had ordered all the pig intestines in the county.

After all, pigs in this era were relatively small, and a pig typically only had twelve to thirteen pounds of intestines.

They must have killed several pigs to collect this many.

After washing the pig intestines, everyone divided the work.

Fifty pounds were set aside for braised pork intestines at noon, and the other fifty pounds were for making marinated dishes in the afternoon.

With six people working together, they managed to finish cutting the fifty pounds of intestines in just half an hour.

Next came the onions and tomatoes.

“Squad leader, we also need to prepare ten eggs,” Lin Qingqing said. “Let’s beat them into egg liquid.”

Although eggs were scarce and one per person was quite extravagant, having a few for the soup was indeed enough.

“Got it,” Qi Shao replied.

Once all the ingredients were ready, everyone began to divide the tasks.

Lin Qingqing directed the men to make the braised pork intestines while she and Liu Honghua worked on the tomato egg drop soup.

The slightly sour tomato egg drop soup was a refreshing dish that complemented the rich flavor of the braised pork intestines.

The greasy smell of intestines lingered in the air.

At the same time, the soldiers had been busy all morning, and they were definitely thirsty.

So at noon, a bowl of soup not only quenched their thirst but also replenished their salt intake.

Delicious aromas wafted from the canteen of the Third Company.

Although there were other canteens nearby, the delightful smell from this one was not wafting over to them.

Kindergarten

As soon as Lu Haici arrived at kindergarten, he was called over by Ji Yang.

“Lu Haici, where have you been? Why didn’t you come to kindergarten with me today?” Ji Yang had called out several times at Lu Haici’s house but didn’t get a response.

Xu Huijuan said Lu Haici might have already come to kindergarten.

This made Ji Yang a bit unhappy.

They always came to kindergarten together, so how could Lu Haici not wait for him?

Lu Haici replied, “I went to eat breakfast at my mom’s workplace today, so I didn’t come with you.”

“Wow, your mom is amazing! She actually went to work.” Having a job was something enviable, and even the little ones knew that.

“Yeah,” Lu Haici said proudly. “My mom works in the canteen. I’m going to eat at the canteen from now on.”

Ji Yang’s eyes lit up. “Then I’ll also eat at the canteen!”

He understood that going to the canteen to eat was something fun.

“Okay!” Lu Haici was happy to eat with his friends.

“What are you two talking about?” Qin Ming, curious about their whispers, asked.

Ji Yang replied, “Lu Haici’s mom went to work in the canteen. He’s going to eat there from now on, so I’m going to have lunch with him at the canteen.”

He wanted to taste the food made by Lu Haici’s mom.

Ji Yang’s words stirred Qin Ming’s appetite.

He also remembered that Lu Haici’s mom was a great cook, so he joined them. “Then I’ll go too.”

Lu Haici said, “Alright then!”

So, as soon as school was over at noon, Ji Yang said to Lu Haici, “I’m going home to get a bowl; you wait for me at the door.”

Qin Ming, however, said, “You don’t have to wait for us. You go ahead and line up. What if the delicious dishes your mom makes are all taken by the time we get there?”

Lu Haici and Ji Yang both thought that made sense.

So Lu Haici said, “Then I’ll line up for you too. I’m going now!” With that, he dashed off.

Qin Ming, afraid Lu Haici wouldn’t hear, shouted, “You need to run fast! If you end up at the back of the line, just lie down and cry until someone lets you through!”

Lu Haici shouted back, “I know!”