Wen Ci’s eyes widened in surprise, “So fast?”
She had clearly heard Sister Zhu Jing say, “Xiao Pihou is very slow with his homework. You’ll need to supervise him more.” She had assumed that elementary school students in the 1980s had a lot of homework.
But he finished it in just half an hour!
Xiao Pihou nodded, “Yeah, I usually like to play with my younger siblings while doing homework, but today I didn’t play at all, so I finished it quickly.”
Wen Ci looked at Xiao Pihou. He was a smart child, but his self-discipline was weak, and he couldn’t resist the temptation to play.
“You all sit here nicely and do your homework, okay?”
Wen Ci took Xiao Pihou’s hand and led him to the study inside the house. Her eyes landed on the most prominent book on the shelf: How the Steel Was Tempered.
She reached out and took the book down, instructing him, “This book is lent to you by Auntie. You mustn’t damage it, and you have to return it to Auntie after you finish reading it.”
Xiao Pihou looked at the cover of the book in his hands, extremely interested in it. He nodded vigorously, “I’ll definitely take good care of it.”
As lunchtime approached.
The four men had already taken their seats at the table. A bottle of baijiu (Chinese liquor) was placed on their table, accompanied by some snacks, and they had already started drinking. “Thankfully, the King of Hell isn’t here. Otherwise, we wouldn’t dare drink in front of him.”
Drinking was prohibited in the military camp, and even during leave, they felt nervous, especially when faced with the King of Hell’s stern expression, which sent chills down their spines.
“Who wouldn’t be? When my wife told me we were eating at the King of Hell’s house, I was so scared. I’d rather eat in the canteen than come here.”
Wen Ci helped bring some dishes to the table.
Zhu Jing shot the men a disapproving look and complained, “You guys are so carefree, already drinking. Couldn’t you at least help bring the dishes to the table?”
In front of Wen Ci, the men kept their mouths shut.
Although they didn’t know Wen Ci’s temperament, they figured that any woman the King of Hell married must be very compatible with him. She was not to be provoked!
Just as the men were about to stand up, Xiang Qin and the others brought out the remaining dishes from the kitchen. Each dish was divided into two bowls, one for each side of the table.
Zhu Jing smiled brightly, “No need for extra words. Just make sure you eat your fill!”
Wen Ci stood up with a bottle of soda in hand, “Today, I’d like to wish Sister Jing a happy birthday!”
Originally, she had planned to buy a gift for Sister Zhu Jing.
But the bus breakdown had disrupted Wen Ci’s plans.
Zhu Jing clinked her soda bottle with Wen Ci’s, “Thank you for your blessings, Wen Ci. I hope our lives will become more and more prosperous in the future.”
Then, everyone raised their glasses and clinked them together.
Zhu Jing pointed to the lean meat soup in the middle of the table, “Originally, chicken soup would have been the most nutritious, but we didn’t have any extra chicken. So I used codonopsis (dang shen) to cook the lean meat soup. It’s just as nourishing.”
Wen Ci: “…”
She rubbed her forehead, not wanting to disappoint Sister Jing’s kind intentions. She ladled a bowl of soup for herself. The codonopsis and lean meat soup turned out to be unexpectedly delicious, with no strong medicinal taste.
Wen Ci’s eyes sparkled a little as she gave Zhu Jing a thumbs-up, “This soup is really good. Sister Jing, your cooking skills are amazing.”
“If you like it, have some more.”
Xiao Shitou tugged at Wen Ci’s sleeve, looked up, and asked in a childish voice, “Pretty sister, can I ride the bike?”
From the moment they entered the yard, they had noticed the 28-inch bicycle. The children were especially excited, but under their parents’ strict warnings.
They didn’t dare get too close.
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