Ji Yang said, “I asked my mom, and she said all the money in our family is mine. No one can ask for it, and if they do, it’s like taking advantage of the wind in autumn. I told my mom that I want to earn money like Lu Haici and support her when she gets older, and then my mom cried. Sigh…” Ji Yang sighed and continued, “Really, my mom cried for a long time, like a little kid, even more than I do. My dad says that women tend to cry more, so men should treat women well; that way, women won’t cry!”

Ji Yang’s words contained big news, but the little ones didn’t understand.

As soon as Qin Ming heard Ji Yang, he chimed in, “My mom wouldn’t cry! My dad listens to my mom.”

Lu Haici thought about how his dad tried to pick him up yesterday but was stopped by his mom, and he agreed with Qin Ming: “My dad listens to my mom too. My mom is the most important in our family.”

Next is his dad; he’s the third.

But he knows that as long as he follows his mom, he doesn’t have to be afraid of his dad.

Qin Ming laughed heartily: “In my family, I’m the most important, my mom is the second, and my dad is the third.”

Ji Yang looked at Qin Ming with envy: “You’re really impressive.”

Chen Zhou listened to them talk and added, “In my family, my dad is the most important, I’m the second, my sister is the third, and my mom is the fourth.”

Chen Zhou has a nine-year-old sister who is in elementary school. “My mom doesn’t want my sister to go to school, but my dad wants her to. When my dad glares at my mom, she doesn’t dare to say anything.

But I know that behind his back, my mom always tells my sister not to go to school, saying that it’s a waste of money for a girl to go to school and that it’s better to show respect to my grandma.

But my dad says school is good; if a girl goes to school, she can also earn money later as an artistic soldier. What do you think? Who’s right, my dad or my mom?”

The little kids in kindergarten are troubled by whose words to follow when their dad and mom say different things.

Lu Haici said, “Whatever my mom says is right; I definitely listen to her.” He answered almost without hesitation.

Another one who answered without hesitation was Qin Ming: “I definitely listen to my grandma; everyone in our family has to listen to her, but she loves me the most.” Even the little kids know who is in charge at home.

Ji Yang said, “My dad listens to my mom, and I… I listen to Lu Haici.”

Lu Haici: “…”

Chen Zhou: “…”

Qin Ming: “…”

Lu Haici: “Why do you want to listen to me?” He isn’t—

“Ji Yang’s parents,” Chen Zhou said.

Ji Yang replied, “Because we’re good friends.”

What Ji Yang really wanted to express was that by listening to Lu Haici, he could eat the delicious food made by Lu Haici’s mom.

Lu Haici asked, “So, are you guys going to the cafeteria for lunch?”

Qin Ming said, “I’m going. My grandparents are going too. They’re so annoying! They ate the food I brought home yesterday, and now they want to go again today. But I won’t go with them; I’ll go with you guys instead.”

“I’m going too,” Chen Zhou added. “I brought my dad’s cafeteria ration card. I asked my dad, and he said I could go eat with you. He said real men should eat together.”

Ji Yang turned to Lu Haici and asked, “What’s your mom making for lunch today?”

“Yeah, I want to know too,” Qin Ming said, licking his lips.

Chen Zhou looked at Lu Haici expectantly.

Lu Haici answered honestly, “I don’t know either. My mom didn’t tell me. But I had seafood porridge for breakfast, and it was really delicious.”

“What’s seafood porridge?” Qin Ming asked. “I’ve had plain rice porridge and sweet potato porridge, but I’ve never had seafood porridge.”

Lu Haici explained, “It’s like rice porridge but with meat mixed in, white meat.”

“That’s just meat porridge, right?” Qin Ming queried.

Lu Haici responded, “But my mom said it’s seafood porridge.”

“Then it must be seafood porridge; what your mom says is definitely right,” Qin Ming asserted.

Ji Yang nodded in agreement. “Yeah, what Lu Haici’s mom says is definitely right.”

In the minds of the little ones, a mom who cooks delicious food is always correct.

After chatting for a bit, it was time for lunch.

The four little ones grabbed their lunch boxes and cafeteria ration cards and hurried toward the mess hall of the Third Company.

Unlike the day before, they didn’t run, because Lin Qingqing had advised them that the cafeteria wouldn’t be crowded at that time, so they should take their time walking.

Walking side by side, the four little ones made quite a scene.

Along the way, they encountered others.

Ji Yang, Lu Haici, and Qin Ming were quite well-known in the family compound.

Qin Ming was infamous for being a troublemaker, as he was the grandson of Chief Qin.

Ji Yang was famous because of Xu Huijuan, who was once known as the most virtuous stepmother in the compound.

Lu Haici was famous due to the legendary battle between Lin Qingqing and Yang Mailian, which had spread widely.

Despite the rumors circulating, no one dared to approach Lin Qingqing to say anything about it.

Even Yang Mailian, who had been defeated, didn’t dare confront her, and Zhang Hongping also kept her distance.

With Lu Cheng being the deputy regiment commander, no one wanted to pry into their affairs.

Later, Qin Ming went to the Lu family for dinner.

Zhang Hongping had also come over before, so to others, it seemed like they had reconciled.

At this moment, someone saw the four little kids walking side by side, each carrying a lunchbox, and curiously asked, “Qin Ming, aren’t you going back home to eat in the cafeteria after school?”

Who would let little kids go serve themselves food? What if they couldn’t hold it properly?

The person asking was a military wife known to Zhang Hongping.

Qin Ming replied, “We’re going to eat in the cafeteria.”

The military wife was taken aback: “How can you go to the cafeteria? I saw your grandma at home this morning!”

Qin Ming explained, “Because Lu Haici’s mom works in the cafeteria, and she makes delicious food. Auntie, I won’t talk to you anymore; I’m going to eat.”

Saying that, he started to run with his little friends, but after a few steps, they slowed down to a walk.

When they reached the cafeteria entrance, the little kids started calling out loudly again.

“Mom, I’m here!” Lu Haici hopped around, the happiest of them all.

“Auntie, I’m here too!” Qin Ming followed closely, just as happy as Lu Haici.

This kid wasn’t shy at all, and because they had shared a few meals together, he felt particularly close to Lin Qingqing; his fondness for her likely surpassed even that for his own mom.

“Auntie, hello.” Ji Yang’s personality was also lively, but compared to Qin Ming, he was much more restrained.

Ji Yang’s attitude towards Lin Qingqing was that of a friend meeting a parent.

He was a bit shy.

The most well-mannered was Chen Zhou: “Hello, Auntie.”

It was his first time seeing Lin Qingqing, so he was somewhat at a loss.

This was completely different from when he had pushed Lu Haici down before.

In other words, he was bold among his friends but timid outside.

Lin Qingqing hadn’t expected another little kid today, but seeing Lu Haici making more friends made her naturally happy. “You’re all here, Lu Haici, Qin Ming, Ji Yang, please line up. What’s this new friend’s name?”

Chen Zhou shyly said, “My name is Chen Zhou.” Is this Lu Haici’s mom?

She’s so pretty and gentle.

Lu Haici’s mom is different from his own; she smiles like the sun and is fair-skinned, prettier than all the moms he has ever seen.

“Hello, little friend Chen Zhou. Thank you for being friends with our Lu Haici. Today, you’ll stand at the end of the line and watch how Lu Haici and the others serve themselves food. Can you learn from them?” Lin Qingqing asked gently.

Chen Zhou: “Okay.”

Today, Lu Haici’s meal was still seafood congee made with rice, leftover from breakfast.

It was impossible for Lin Qingqing to cook just one batch of congee in the morning.

Lu Haici’s small bowl was filled with porridge, and Lin gently used a larger bowl to serve him some vegetables.

The dish was stir-fried cabbage with braised pig intestines.

After being cooked, the braised flavor was delicious, especially when the sauce mixed with the cabbage, making the cabbage even tastier.

Once Lu Haici was served, he took the bowl back to his original spot to eat.

Next, it was Qin Ming and Ji Yang’s turn, as there was quite a lot of seafood rice porridge.

Lin Qingqing gently prepared a bowl for both Qin Ming and Ji Yang.

Although rice was expensive, a small bowl of rice could produce a lot of porridge, so a small bowl of porridge didn’t actually contain much rice.

Finally, there was Chen Zhou, who also served himself a meal, marking off a day on the cafeteria’s grain ledger.

He packed the remaining vegetables into a lunch box to take home later.

When the little ones were eating, Lin gently also served herself some food and went to eat with Qi Shao and the others.

She liked the stir-fried cabbage with braised pig intestines too.

By the time Lin Qingqing gently finished her meal, it was almost noon, but the soldiers from the third company hadn’t arrived yet; instead, another guest showed up.

“Grandma…” Qin Ming, who was sitting at the door, noticed Zhang Hongping.

Zhang Hongping had come to get food and also to see her grandson.

Seeing Qin Ming and his three little friends enjoying their meal, she was curious about what delicious food they were eating.

Upon closer inspection, she found it was stir-fried pig intestines with cabbage.

It looked like an ordinary dish but had a beautiful color.

After having eaten a couple of dishes, Zhang Hongping didn’t think the cabbage would taste bad; she knew her grandson was quite picky.

“Take your time eating; Grandma is going to get some more food. Your grandpa will be home soon,” she said.

She intended to take the food back to the family courtyard to eat since it was too crowded here.

She also noticed there was rice porridge.

She was somewhat surprised that the third company’s kitchen was serving rice porridge as well.

“Hello, Auntie,” Lin Qingqing gently greeted Zhang Hongping as she approached the window. “There’s still half a lunch box of Qin Ming’s food here.”

She handed over the lunch box.

Zhang Hongping knew from yesterday that this was the food her grandson couldn’t finish, which Lin Qingqing gently had separated for him. “Thank you for this, Lu Cheng’s wife. This child has caused you some trouble these past few days.”