The Next Morning

Lu Haici called Qi Ming and Ji Yang, and the three children dragged their feet and arrived at the third company’s cafeteria around 7:30.

“Auntie, we’re here for breakfast!” Qi Ming was the most enthusiastic and greeted Lin Qingqing first.

The breakfast at the third company’s kitchen had long been prepared, and everyone was eating.

As soon as the children arrived, they noticed it.

Lin Qingqing had already ladled out three bowls of mung bean soup and was letting them cool, so they wouldn’t be too hot when the children arrived.

By now, the temperature was just right.

In addition to the mung bean soup, she had also made several corn buns.

She had put some thought into the buns—each one had a different shape.

Some were round, some square, some star-shaped, and some rectangular.

Each was small, enough for just a couple of bites.

Even these simple patterns seemed very interesting in the children’s eyes.

“You’re here? The food is ready, come eat,” Lin Qingqing said, pointing to the seat beside her.

Three small bowls of mung bean soup were placed in front of the children, and a large plate of buns sat on the table.

“Wow…” The children’s eyes lit up when they saw the differently shaped corn buns.

“Mom, I’ve never had this kind of bun before,” Lu Haici said first.

Lin Qingqing had been at the third company’s kitchen every day, and on the day she had off, she was usually too lazy to make anything special, so she hadn’t really bothered to prepare food for Lu Haici.

The only time he had tasted something she made was before work, when she had prepared some good food.

“These are buns,” Lin Qingqing explained. “This one is round, this one is rectangular, this one is…”

“This is a star, I know,” Qi Ming proudly said, pointing to the star-shaped bun. “Our hats and backpacks have stars on them, and I’ve seen stars on the national flag too!”

It wasn’t just Qi Ming—both Lu Haici and Ji Yang recognized the star.

If it were in other, more remote areas, children at this age might not know the five-pointed star, but as children of soldiers, they definitely knew, because their fathers’ military uniforms also had stars.

“I’ve seen them too,” Ji Yang added.

“I’ve seen them too!” Lu Haici chimed in.

“You’re all so smart,” Lin Qingqing praised with a smile. “Alright, now eat your breakfast.”

The children each grabbed a bun in one hand and a spoon in the other, nibbling and drinking in between bites.

They ate with great gusto.

Children eat slowly, and sometimes breakfast takes up to half an hour.

So, by the time the comrades from the third company came for breakfast, they saw what the children were eating and couldn’t help but feel excited.

“Are we having mung bean soup today?”

“There are buns too? I didn’t see buns at the counter.”

Qi Shao gave them a glance. “Are you dreaming or something?”

He didn’t mention the mung bean soup they would have for lunch, since mentioning it would ruin the surprise.

However, when Lu Cheng came to get his meal, Qi Shao gave him both mung bean soup and corn buns.

Needless to say, everyone knew these were specially prepared for Deputy Battalion Commander Lu by Comrade Lin.

It was a pity that they weren’t modern people; if they were, they would definitely know this was a “heartfelt breakfast.”

After a month, Lu Cheng had gotten used to Lin Qingqing’s special care, but even though he was accustomed to it, every time he saw the looks from his comrades, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of secret pleasure and pride.

After breakfast, Lin Qingqing, who could have rested, still had work to do because the mung bean soup had to be stored in the freezer.

To be honest, there wasn’t enough space in the freezer for the soup since there were over a hundred people to serve, and the freezer wasn’t that big.

Luckily, they had prepared in advance.

They had decided to make mung bean soup the day before, so they had already frozen a lot of ice blocks.

The soup that couldn’t fit in the freezer was stored with ice blocks to keep it cool.

Once the mung bean soup was taken care of, the six of them finally sat down, relieved.

It was finally done.

“I wonder how the other companies’ mung bean soup turned out,” Lin Bao said.

Originally, they had planned to make the soup themselves, but it was too much of a hassle, so they had decided to take the mung beans over and let the other companies’ kitchen make it.

Lin Qingqing: “Anyway, there’s nothing to do now, you might as well go and take a look.”

Qi Shao: “He just wants to show off in another company.”

Lin Bao wasn’t feeling guilty either: “What showing off? I’m just taking a look. I’m leaving now.” As he spoke, he waved his hand.

Lin Qingqing thought Lin Bao had a good personality—cheerful and warm.

People like him could easily integrate into a group.

Since there was nothing to do at the moment, she decided to go back to the compound to check on the sweet potato chips.

If they were ready, she could fry them.

When she got home, the three children were playing in their house.

Lu Haici had even brought out some sweet potato chips to treat everyone.

“Mom, you’re back.”

“Auntie, you’re back.”

“Auntie, your sweet potato chips are really delicious, so sweet!” Qin Ming’s flattery was always the first to come.

Lin Qingqing: “They taste good, but don’t eat too many. Eating too much sweet potato isn’t good. You can only eat five pieces a day.”

Qin Ming: “I’ve only eaten two pieces, so I can still have three more. That’s great!”

Seeing that they were sweating, Lin Qingqing turned on the fan for them.

Usually, when Lu Haici was home alone, she would put the fan on top of the cupboard where he couldn’t reach it, so he wouldn’t accidentally hurt himself while adjusting it.

Once the fan started, a refreshing breeze blew, and the three hot children sighed in relief.

Seeing they were happily eating and looking at comic books, Lin Qingqing didn’t bother them.

She went to check the sand.

She turned it with her hand, and the sand was already dry.

Since there was nothing else to do, she decided to fry the sweet potato chips.

Frying sweet potato chips with sand is actually quite simple, but it requires patience and strength in your wrist.

Lin Qingqing’s wrist strength wasn’t enough, but it was okay to take it slow.

First, heat up the pan, then pour in the sand.

After the sand is heated, add the sweet potato chips.

Don’t add too many at once. Once the chips are added, you can start frying.

At first, you don’t need to stir it constantly, because the sweet potato chips don’t cook quickly, so you can take your time.

Once they turn golden brown, you need to stir them more.

When they’re fully fried, the sweet potato chips become crispy, just like potato chips.

If you add some sesame seeds, they’ll taste even better.

Lin Qingqing thought that when she had time, she could make sweet potato chips herself, so she wouldn’t have to wait for the Lin family to send them over, since the shipping costs were expensive.

“Auntie, what are you making?” Qin Ming came out to use the bathroom and saw Lin Qingqing busy in the kitchen.

His clever eyes immediately moved toward her.

In Qin Ming’s mind, Lu Haici’s mom = delicious food, so how could he not come over?

By then, some sweet potato chips had already been fried, so Lin Qingqing waved to him: “Come here, these are sweet potato chips. I’ll put them in a bowl, and you can take them inside to share with everyone.”

“Okay!” As soon as he heard there was food, Qin Ming was all in.

Lin Qingqing put the sweet potato chips in a plate.

These were picked from the sand and were clean.

She didn’t put too many, just half a plate, because they had already had breakfast, and if they ate too much now, they wouldn’t be able to eat later.

Qin Ming took the plate of sweet potato chips into the room, and soon, happy voices could be heard coming from inside.

Lin Qingqing couldn’t help but shake her head.

After she finished frying the remaining sweet potato chips, she put them in two separate bowls, intending to give them to Ji Yang and Qin Ming when they returned home.

The rest, she stored in an empty milk powder can and a tin can, because if the sweet potato chips weren’t sealed, they would become soggy, just like potato chips.

“Ji Yang, Qin Ming, I’ve put two bowls of sweet potato chips on the table. When you come home later, remember to take them with you.” It was almost time for her to head to the cafeteria.

“Got it, thank you, Auntie.”

“Auntie, you’re really the best, you’re the best person I’ve ever met!”

Lin Qingqing really wanted to ask little Qin Ming, “How many people have you met?” But before she left, she put the fan away again.

Even though she trusted Lu Haici wouldn’t mess with it, she couldn’t take any chances.

What if something went wrong?

After Lin Qingqing left, Qin Ming made a special trip to the dining table to check.

He saw two big bowls of sweet potato chips on the table.

He said, “Lu Haici, your mom is really great.”

Lu Haici, who was blindly praising his mom, said: “My mom is the best.”

“I wish your mom was my mom.” Qin Ming sighed.

Actually, his own mom treated him well too, but since they didn’t live together, he wasn’t very close to Qin Yuelan.

“That won’t work.” Lu Haici immediately became defensive. “My mom can only be my mom, just for me. When I have little brothers or sisters, she’ll only be their mom, not yours.”

“You can tell your dad to marry a stepmother.” Ji Yang suggested to Qin Ming.

Qin Ming blinked, unsure if he understood.

“Yeah, you can tell your dad to marry a stepmother.” Lu Haici thought that was a good idea.

“Ah, do you guys know? Chen Zhou is going to have a stepmother.” Qin Ming suddenly remembered something about Chen Zhou.

“Wow?”

“Really?”

Ji Yang and Lu Haici were both stunned.

“Why would Chen Zhou have a stepmother? Doesn’t he have his own mom?” Lu Haici asked, still confused.

Qin Ming shook his head: “I don’t know. I saw Chen Zhou crying yesterday… or maybe the day before… Oh, I don’t remember what day it was, but I saw him crying. He said his dad wanted to find him a stepmother, but he didn’t want one.”

“Stepmothers are the best.” In Ji Yang’s mind, a stepmother was just like a biological mother, so he couldn’t understand why children with biological mothers might reject a stepmother.

“Yeah, stepmothers are the best.” Lu Haici, like Ji Yang, considered a stepmother the same as a biological mom.

Though they understood that a biological mom was the one who gave birth to them, they had no memories of their biological mothers, so they treated their stepmothers as their real moms.

“Sigh…” Qin Ming sighed like an adult. “When Chen Zhou gets a stepmother, we can play with him again.”

Ji Yang didn’t want to agree at first, but thinking that everyone else had stepmothers, he decided to go along: “Okay.”

The three children went back to reading their comics.

They kept playing until Zhang Hongping came to call them.

“Xiao Ming… is Xiao Ming here?” As lunchtime approached and her grandson hadn’t returned yet, Zhang Hongping had no choice but to come to the Lu family to look for him.

“Grandma…” Qin Ming ran out from the room.

Zhang Hongping: “It’s time for lunch. Lu Haici and Ji Yang, you should head to the cafeteria too. If you don’t go now, the food will all be taken by others.”