The three kids had been so caught up in their play that they lost track of time.

If Zhang Hongping hadn’t come, they might have kept playing even longer.

Lu Haici quickly put on his small backpack: “I’m going to eat!” He always carried his handkerchief in his backpack, so he had to take it with him every day.

Qin Ming: “Grandma, I want to take some sweet potato chips. Aunt gave them to me, they’re so delicious!”

He didn’t forget to grab the bowl of sweet potato chips from the table before leaving.

Ji Yang almost forgot, but after hearing Qin Ming, he remembered.

He also picked up the sweet potato chips and took them back home.

Sweet potato chips?

Zhang Hongping looked at the golden, crispy sweet potato chips, took one, and tasted it: “They’re quite good, sweet and crispy.”

These are much better than dried sweet potatoes.

Lin Qingqing really knows her food.

“Yes, they’re delicious, Aunt is the best.” Qin Ming tightly held the bowl, guarding it from his grandma, who might try to eat more.

“Look at you being so stingy.” Zhang Hongping wasn’t fooled by his little trick. “This thing should be easy to make. It’s just sweet potatoes and sugar, nothing else. I’ll ask your aunt to teach me how to make them.”

“Really?” Qin Ming looked at his grandma with anticipation.

“Of course. Although it’s a little embarrassing, I can’t let your Aunt Lin teach me for free.”

The grandmother and grandson chatted as they walked home.

Lu Haici, with his small backpack, was running toward the third battalion’s mess hall when he bumped into his dad, Lu Cheng, who was just getting off work.

“Lu Haici…” Lu Cheng called out loudly, “Why are you running? Didn’t your mom tell you to walk slowly, not run?”

Hearing his dad’s voice, Lu Haici stopped and anxiously said, “I’m afraid that if I’m late, all the food will be gone.”

Lu Cheng: “…”

Ha ha, some people who were walking by overheard and couldn’t help but tease: “Lu Haici, you’re running so slowly, by the time you get there, all the food will be gone.”

“Yeah, Lu Haici, you should let your dad run, he runs faster.”

Lu Haici thought their words made sense, so he looked at Lu Cheng eagerly: “Dad, you run, I’ll follow slowly behind.”

“Run what? Do you think your mom would let you go hungry?” Lu Cheng thought his son wasn’t too bright.

Lu Haici was stunned. “That’s true, mom won’t let me go hungry.”

Lu Cheng shook his head: “Why are you going so late today?”

“I was reading with Qin Ming and Ji Yang at home,” Lu Haici explained. “Mom made sweet potato chips, using the sweet potatoes Grandma sent. They’re so delicious!” He took the sweet potato chips from his pocket and handed them to Lu Cheng, “Dad, do you want some?”

Lu Cheng glanced at the golden sweet potato chips, grabbed the entire handful from his son’s small hand without hesitation.

Actually, there were only three pieces, because Lu Haici’s hands were small.

This time, Lu Haici was very generous and didn’t feel wronged, as he had already had enough in the morning, and there were still plenty at home.

Lu Cheng took a bite, and the crisp sound of the chips echoed.

“Dad, is it good?” Lu Haici asked, looking up.

“Mm.” Lu Cheng, with a smug smile, said proudly, “Of course it’s delicious, your mom made it.”

Lu Haici nodded, feeling pleased. “Dad, I heard Qin Ming say that Chen Zhou’s dad is going to find him a stepmother.”

“What?” Lu Cheng thought he had misheard.

He was more surprised that these five-year-old kids were so gossiping.

“Dad, if Chen Zhou gets a stepmother, Ji Yang said we’ll be friends with him again, because we’ll all have stepmothers.” Lu Haici continued.

Lu Cheng: “…”

What kind of logic is that?

“Alright, let’s talk about this after we eat. Stop talking for now.”

Lu Haici felt his dad didn’t understand him, so he shook his head: “Okay.”

By the time they reached the third battalion’s mess hall, many of the soldiers had already started eating.

“Come quick, come quick, we’re having green bean soup for lunch, cold green bean soup, it’s so refreshing!”

“Wow, what’s going on today? They’re serving us cold green bean soup!”

“With Lin Qingqing here, life is good…”

“Squad Leader Qi is something else, didn’t even remind us about the green bean soup at lunch. What if we were late and it was all gone?”

Lu Haici heard them and smiled: “Dad, we had green bean soup this morning.”

Lu Cheng didn’t know what was so funny about it.

That afternoon, all the soldiers in the Independent Regiment were extremely happy, because everyone got to drink cold green bean soup.

So, the topic spread quickly, and before long, it was the talk of the whole regiment.

“Did you hear? The Independent Regiment had cold green bean soup for lunch today.”

“Really? The Independent Regiment gets such good treatment?”

“I haven’t had green bean soup in years.”

“Maybe we should mention it to our mess hall too, see if they can prepare some green bean soup for us.”

“Exactly! We’re all part of the same army. Why should the Independent Regiment get it, and we can’t?”

So, that evening at dinner, several mess halls in other units received complaints, with people saying that the Independent Regiment had green bean soup at lunch and they also wanted some.

The mess hall leaders from those units didn’t care and replied, “As long as there’s enough food to fill our bellies, what else do you want? If you want green bean soup, too bad.”

The next day, a new food story spread in the Independent Regiment.

At breakfast, the comrades got to drink hot soy milk.

If unsweetened green bean soup wasn’t that great, unsweetened soy milk was definitely better.

Of course, Lu Cheng and Lu Haici had sweetened soy milk.

Some people in the Independent Regiment, after drinking the unsweetened soy milk, couldn’t help but boast about it.

Some even took their enamel cups filled with soy milk and walked around to other units.

By lunchtime, mess halls from other units were being bombarded again.

“Why can the Independent Regiment have green bean soup and soy milk, but we can’t?”

“Yeah, can’t you learn from the Independent Regiment?”

“Is buying green beans and soybeans free? Do you think just spending money on beans will fill us up?” The mess hall staff from other units responded.

“Why can the Independent Regiment’s mess hall do it, and we can’t?”

“Does the Independent Regiment have more funding than we do?”

“Exactly, why are there differences in treatment between us and the Independent Regiment?”

The mess halls in other units were getting fed up with the complaints, so they decided to come to the Independent Regiment to discuss it.

Lin Qingqing, Qi Shao, and the others were chatting when they saw six unfamiliar comrades walk into the mess hall.

“Qi Shao, what’s going on with your Independent Regiment? First you had green bean soup, now soy milk? You guys have dessert, is it because your budget is too high?”

“Yeah, you can’t be doing this. When you guys do things like this, our comrades get upset. How are we supposed to manage?”

“Qi Shao, what kind of person are you? Is this really fair?”

“Qi Shao…”

At first, Qi Shao didn’t understand, but soon he caught on.

He became unhappy: “What are you talking about? The fact that our Independent Regiment has green bean soup and soy milk, what does that have to do with your unit? Is this something you need to come here and complain about?”

“You think we want to be here? It’s the soldiers below who are causing a ruckus. They also want green bean soup and soy milk. But you know, our budget is limited, and all the extra money we have goes to buying food, so there’s no spare funds for this kind of thing,” one of the visitors responded.

“Right, if your Independent Regiment has spare money, it’s better to spend it on food. Stop wasting it on these things, and the soldiers won’t cause a scene.”

“Equal treatment. What can they say?”

“We’re lucky to have enough to eat. Green bean soup and soy milk? Forget it.”

“Why do we have to cut back?” Lin Bao interrupted. “We have extra money for these things. Even if we didn’t, each unit’s budget is the same. How we allocate that money is up to us.”

“Go on, go talk to your squad leader. Stay quiet while we discuss things,” one of the visitors said dismissively.

Lin Bao wasn’t happy: “I’m also part of the mess hall, and this concerns us all, so I have a right to speak.”

Qi Shao: “What Lin Bao says is reasonable. We all have the same budget. How we allocate it is up to us. I’ve never asked how you allocate yours.”

“I’m telling you, Qi Shao, do us a favor and stop with these extras. With a hundred or so people here at the mess hall, it’s really frustrating,” one of the visitors continued.

Qi Shao waved his hand: “There’s nothing to discuss. You all figure it out yourself.”

“Qi Shao, why won’t you listen?”

Qi Shao: “Alright, we have things to do. You’ve got nothing else, so leave. Don’t make me chase you out with a broom.”

The group of visitors, seeing that Qi Shao wasn’t listening, left angrily.

After they were gone, Qi Shao said, “Let them be envious. If they can’t figure it out, they just want to take our benefits. Dream on.”

“Exactly.” Lin Bao agreed. “We don’t steal or rob, so why can’t we have green bean soup?”

Lin Qingqing, who had been listening to the whole conversation, said, “Every unit’s mess hall has a limited budget. Even if we have a bit of extra money, everyone wants to use it to buy more food to fill our stomachs. If we save money on food, the extra funds can be used for other things.”

“That’s not possible,” Qi Shao said. “Food can’t be saved. If we don’t fill our bellies, we won’t have the energy to train. That’s the priority.”

Lin Qingqing naturally understood this logic: “But look, we have abandoned land and mountains around the camp. Why not make use of them?”

The area was on the outskirts, with plenty of unused land. “If these abandoned lands were developed, they could grow a lot of food. With that extra food, the funds saved could be used for other things.”

Qi Shao: “But no one’s developing it. Who has the time?”