She made three containers, letting the family taste it.

The remaining pieces were originally meant to be delivered to the Lin family and given to Old Grandma Lin as well, to tease her and stir up some relations with her children and grandchildren.

But since Lu Shaotang and Chen Yanming were here, the egg cake was given to them first.

With Lu Shaotang and Chen Yanming here, making the egg cake was indeed easier.

She had Lu Shaotang help whip the eggs.

Chen Yanming, a tough man who wasn’t afraid of blood, broken legs, or arms, was nearly brought to tears by the two kids’ gestures.

He almost cried.

He had never received such warm hospitality in his life.

Tiantian squatted down and looked up at him, grinning, “Isn’t the egg cake my mother made delicious?”

Chen Yanming nodded, “Delicious.”

Panpan added, “Chen Uncle liked it so much he almost cried.”

He then ran to give some to Lu Shaotang.

Lu Shaotang came in, put down his things, and told Lin Shu that Chen Yanming was injured and would need to rest at home for a while.

While the two kids were entertaining Chen Yanming outside, he stole a kiss from his wife.

When Panpan ran in, Lu Shaotang casually let her go and, seeing her blushing face, smiled. He picked her up and carried her outside, “Why do you look like a little monkey?”

Panpan shoved the egg cake into his mouth and scolded, “Dad, how can you say that? I was helping Mom with the vegetable garden trellis. This should have been your job, but you’re never home!”

The kids used to think it was good enough for their dad to come home occasionally, but now, after spending more time together, they were greedy, wishing he would come home every day like other fathers.

Lu Shaotang immediately apologized, “It’s my fault. I’ll go help with the trellis right away.”

Lin Shu quickly said, “Just got back, don’t tire yourself out. Sit and rest for a bit. I’ll make dinner for you.”

Chen Yanming had already become infatuated with Tiantian. Who wouldn’t want such a well-behaved, beautiful, and clever little daughter?

He envied Old Lu so much!

At this moment, he was already trying to ingratiate himself, “Little girl, how about I be your godfather?”

Tiantian tilted her head and thought for a moment, “But I don’t have a godmother.”

Chen Yanming: “A godmother isn’t necessary. You only need a godfather. I’ll buy you little dresses, flowers, and candy. Just tell your godfather what you want.”

Tiantian: “But my mom makes those for me.”

She ran to the room, fetched the little dresses Lin Shi had made for her over the past few days, and proudly showed them off. Although they were made from defective printed fabric, Lin Shi had turned them into unique styles that looked intentional.

She proudly exclaimed, “Look, they’re even better than the ones you buy!”

Chen Yanming nodded vigorously, affirming, “Indeed, they’re better than anything I’ve seen at the department store!”

Tiantian was satisfied. For her, showing off her mother’s handiwork was even more gratifying than having someone buy her a flower dress.

Lin Shi smiled at Chen Yanming, “Does it hurt where you’re injured? Do you need to lie down and rest?”

Chen Yanming: “Thank you for your concern, sister-in-law. It’s nothing serious. I just need to keep moving.”

Lu Shaotang gave him a glance. Wasn’t this the same person who had cried out in agony before, saying he couldn’t handle being rough and needed to be careful?

Lin Shi put on her apron and went to prepare the dough, making noodles for them. She asked Panpan to fetch a small basket of green vegetables and to cut a small basket of chives.

The house had small baskets and winnowing pans, which Lu Er-ge had specially made for the kids so they could help Lin Shi with the vegetables.

Panpan wouldn’t let Lu Shaotang help; she had him sit at the table with Chen Yanming to rest while she went to cut the chives.

The small sickle used for cutting chives was specially made, and Panpan was very skilled with it.

Seeing Lin Shi preparing the dough, Lu Shaotang washed his hands and helped knead it.

Lin Shi: “You should rest.”

Lu Shaotang: “I’m strong, kneading dough is easy. Just help me by pouring water.”

So, Chen Yanming was forced to watch as Old Lu and his wife fed him dog food.

The little wife was quite shy and intentionally stood a bit away from Lu Shaotang.

But Old Lu, being so affectionate, kept inching closer to his wife, asking her to pour water or roll up his sleeves.

Tsk, how shameless!

Lin Shi: “When rolling out the dough, make it a bit firmer. That way, the noodles will be more chewy.”

She had also cracked two eggs into the flour earlier and added a pinch of salt.

The dough was much firmer with the added methods.

Lu Shaotang, with his strength and nimble movements, handled kneading and rolling out the dough with seamless efficiency.

Chen Yanming thought to himself, “He’s clearly showing off for his wife.”

Just then, Zhao Meifeng and Lu Jinling arrived, each carrying a basket of vegetables and a few eggs.

Lu Jinling’s eyes were fixed on Chen Yanming.

Earlier, when Lu Shaotang brought Chen Yanming over, Lu Shaocai had seen them from the yard wall!

Since Lu Shaocai couldn’t get a job as an accountant, he set up a ladder against the wall to sneak peeks outside.

He overheard Chen Yanming mention something about not having a significant other.

Zhao Meifeng immediately got Lu Jinling, who had been lying around at home in a bad mood, up and out.

Lin Shu greeted them and briefly introduced everyone.

Lu Shaotang, naturally reserved, was even more indifferent towards Zhao Meifeng’s family.

Chen Yanming, having an extraordinary level of understanding with Lu Shaotang, didn’t need to exchange glances. He could sense from the subtle atmosphere that the newcomers were not well-received by the Lu family.

Indeed, the whole family seemed to be unwelcoming. There was no need to curry favor.

Zhao Meifeng smiled warmly, “Shaotang, since you’ve brought your comrade home, the house might be a bit cramped. How about letting your comrade stay with your sister-in-law? The place is more spacious there, with one room per person.”

Lin Shu replied, “No need to trouble my sister-in-law. There’s enough space here.”

When the mother-in-law comes to her room, Lu Shaotang and Chen Yanming can sleep in the father-in-law’s room, right?

Lu Jinling’s eyes were practically glued to Chen Yanming.

This man had a strong, masculine presence. Although he wasn’t as handsome as the third uncle, he seemed warm and good with children.

It was said that men who are good with children are good men.

Since he was a comrade of the third uncle, his salary must be decent.

Lu Jinling was pleased and gave Zhao Meifeng a look.

Zhao Meifeng then invited Lu Shaotang and Chen Yanming to come over for a drink, “Your elder brother has been keeping a good bottle of wine these days, saying he’ll wait for you to come back and share it.”

Lu Shaotang declined politely, “Sister-in-law, I don’t like drinking.”

Seeing that they seemed to be indifferent to her and her daughter, Zhao Meifeng could only make some awkward small talk before leaving with Lu Jinling.

Once outside the gate, Lu Jinling complained, “Why is my third uncle like this? It’s said that you can’t have two Lu characters written the same way. My dad and he share the same grandfather, so they’re family. My grandfather thinks of him, but he doesn’t care about us.”

Her recent matchmaking attempts had not gone well.

She was either rejected by the ones she liked or didn’t care for the ones who liked her.

She wanted someone from the city or a soldier, someone who could earn a salary, eat public rations, be tall, handsome, and preferably without troublesome in-laws.

She complained, “I don’t have high demands. Why are all the men so blind?”

Lin Shi knew that Lu Shaotang and Chen Yanming had big appetites, so she made a large bowl of noodles and had the kids join them for dinner, so they wouldn’t need to eat again in the evening.

She prepared a dish of scrambled eggs with chives and a small bowl of blanched vegetables, simply dressed with a few drops of sesame oil and salt.

Tiantian and Panpan were very considerate, “My godfather’s arm is hurt, so I’ll feed him!”

The two kids took turns feeding Chen Yanming noodles with chopsticks. They were eager, thinking Chen Yanming would eat a lot, so they picked up large portions. However, as soon as the chopsticks left the bowl, most of the noodles fell off, and in the end, only a couple of strands made it into his mouth.

They even muttered, “Don’t worry, Uncle Chen, the noodles are hot. I’ll blow on them.”

This was almost enough to starve someone.

Lin Shi said, “Let Uncle Chen feed himself.”

He still had one good hand.

The kids were overly enthusiastic, and they had a natural affection for Chen Yanming, probably because he was their father’s best comrade.

They were good kids, trying to help take care of the injured.

Lu Shaotang finished a big bowl of noodles, while Chen Yanming had only managed a few bites.

Lin Shi: “…”

She immediately brought over a head of garlic, “Come on, you two help peel the garlic.”

The kids were promptly distracted and came over to help peel garlic.

Chen Yanming quickly ate the noodles with large bites. Ah, so delicious. How could noodles taste this good?

Sister-in-law’s cooking skills are amazing!

Oh, wait, it’s Lu Shaotang who kneaded the dough. It turns out Lu Shaotang’s cooking skills are quite good. I’ll let him cook in the future!

Look at this family. It seems having a wife is really nice.