When Xiao Li pushed open the door, Qin Yue’e was holding the children in her arms, trying to comfort them.
Just moments ago, Xiao Yue’s words—“Daddy doesn’t like us”—had made both children burst into tears. They were crying so hard they could barely catch their breath.
Back home, they had often heard their grandmother scold them for being children their father didn’t care about. And now, after seeing the frightening expression on Huo Guangji’s face earlier, they were even more terrified.
The children were too young to understand what it meant if their father didn’t love them.
They only knew that it might mean they would continue going hungry.
“Mommy, I don’t want to be hungry anymore! My tummy hurts so much when I’m hungry, and I don’t have any strength!”
The little girl’s face was covered in tears.
But Qin Yue’e had neither food coupons nor money on hand. She opened her mouth, wanting to tell her children that their father did care about them.
Yet when she remembered Huo Guangji’s expression just moments ago, she simply couldn’t bring herself to say it.
The children’s cries felt like a millstone grinding against Qin Yue’e’s heart, making her disgust toward Huo Guangji even stronger.
She had thought that he had come to see the children he had never even met before.
Who could have known that after entering the room, he wouldn’t even spare the children a glance and would instead immediately start questioning her?
“Bah! What a scumbag!”
Qin Yue’e spat angrily and quickly pulled both children into her arms.
“Xiao Yue, Xiao Feng, don’t cry. Mommy promises you that from now on, I will never let you go hungry again!”
Just as she finished speaking, the door opened.
Xiao Li walked in with a big smile on his face.
But the moment he saw Qin Yue’e holding two crying children, he froze.
“Sister-in-law! What happened?”
“Nothing… nothing!”
Qin Yue’e quickly wiped the tears from her face and picked up the two sobbing children.
“They’ve only just arrived, so they’re probably still having trouble adjusting…”
“Daddy doesn’t want us! Mommy and I are going to go hungry again!”
Before Qin Yue’e could finish speaking, little Zhuyue complained tearfully from her arms.
Xiao Li finally understood.
With the captain’s terrifyingly stern expression, the children must have misunderstood the situation.
“How could that be, sweetheart? Look! Your daddy bought this food for you! See these eggs? Didn’t you say you wanted some?”
He hurriedly took the lunchbox out of the bundle and showed it to Zhuyue.
Zhuyue immediately stopped crying.
Her eyes widened as she stared at the eggs inside the lunchbox and swallowed hard.
But instead of reaching for them, she turned around and looked at Qin Yue’e, waiting for her mother’s permission.
Qin Yue’e found it a little strange.
Hadn’t Huo Guangji just acted as though she had come to mooch off him?
So why had he gone out and bought food for them the moment he left?
She calmly examined the lunchbox.
It was an ordinary aluminum lunchbox. Three characters had been lightly scratched onto the lid with a knife:
Liu Shutong.
Qin Yue’e immediately understood.
She secretly curled her lips.
I knew that scumbag couldn’t possibly be this considerate.
Still, she could also tell that the company commander was deliberately trying to bring the two of them together.
She had to give him some face.
After all, she was on his turf.
Without saying anything, she accepted the lunchbox and smiled.
“Thank you, Comrade Xiao Li. And please thank Company Commander Liu for me as well. We’re really fortunate that he was willing to take us in.”
She thanked everyone involved—
Except Huo Guangji.
Xiao Li didn’t dare ask any more questions.
He quickly handed over the other bundle.
“This is the clothing and fabric that our logistics department and Section Chief Wei prepared for the children. Sister-in-law, take a look. Anything that fits, keep it. If there’s anything you don’t want, you can even throw it away!”
“Thank you for your trouble, Xiao Li.”
Qin Yue’e accepted the bundle.
After taking a quick look, she could tell that everything was in good condition, even if it had been slightly used.
Given their current circumstances, there was no way she would throw any of it away.
After Xiao Li left, she divided the eggs and food between the two children and began sorting through the pile of supplies.
The pieces of fabric were fairly large.
One floral-print piece was big enough to make a complete outfit for both her and Xiao Yue.
There was also a blue piece about three chi long, enough to make a set of clothes for Xiao Feng.
Fortunately, it was summer and they didn’t need padded winter clothing.
Otherwise, with practically nothing to her name, she would have been even more of a burden to everyone.
Qin Yue’e thought about Huo Guangji’s attitude today.
It was obvious she couldn’t expect him to treat her and the children well in the future.
But since she was already here, she would make the best of it.
There was no way Qin Yue’e was going to sit around waiting for a man to support her.
Returning to the village was obviously impossible.
But she had two hands and two feet. As long as the unit could provide her with a roof over her head for now, she could eventually find a way to make a living.
She decided to keep only the pieces of fabric.
As for the remaining clothes, she planned to alter them and return them to the soldiers after demonstrating her sewing skills. Perhaps she could even find some mending work.
There were far more men than women in the unit.
If she could take care of the soldiers’ clothing and sewing needs, it shouldn’t be too difficult to earn enough to put food on the table.
By the time the two children finished eating, Qin Yue’e had already finished the basic shape of two small outfits.
“Xiao Yue, Xiao Feng, come take a look! Mommy made you new clothes. Come try them on!”
Qin Yue’e happily called the children over.
Little Zhuyue stumbled as she put on her new little dress.
The moment she had it on, she proudly gave Qin Yue’e a thumbs-up.
“Mommy made it so pretty! It’s even prettier than the clothes Second Aunt makes!”
The wife of Huo’s second brother had come from a family of tailors.
Whenever she made quilts or new clothes for weddings and dowries for people in the village, she acted as though she were some legendary master tailor.
As far as little Zhuyue was concerned, she was basically the ultimate standard for tailoring.
Qin Yue’e burst out laughing.
She reached over and gently pinched the little girl’s nose.
“You little flatterer! You sure know how to make people happy!”
“I’m not flattering you!”
Zhuyue opened her eyes wide and spoke with complete seriousness.
“Mommy really did make it well! This dress looks just like the ones I’ve seen in picture books! It’s so pretty! Qingfeng, don’t you think so?”
“Ah-ba, ah-ba—”
The little boy had no idea how to appreciate a pretty dress.
He only knew that his new clothes weren’t itchy, so he happily giggled along with his sister.
“As long as they fit, that’s all that matters. Come on, I’ll take you two to have a bath. You can put them on properly afterward!”
Qin Yue’e smiled and led the two children toward the side room.
The unit had set aside an empty room for the three of them to use as a bathing room.
It worked out perfectly, since Qin Yue’e had no idea how she was supposed to use the unit’s communal bathhouse.
She brought in hot water and thoroughly washed herself and the children.
By the time they finished, they had washed away two entire basins of muddy water.
Only then did Qin Yue’e finally put down the loofah and stop scrubbing her back, which had been rubbed bright red.
She had never been this dirty in her entire life.
Now that she had finally washed away all the grime and smell, she could finally face people without feeling embarrassed.
Once the children were clean and dressed in their new clothes, their features became even more striking.
They were still painfully thin, but now their natural cuteness was finally visible.
The children had new clothes, but Qin Yue’e didn’t.
So she picked out a military uniform and put it on herself.
She had no idea whose uniform it had belonged to. The hem and trousers were a little too large, so she simply used a belt to cinch the waist.
From a distance, she actually looked quite slender and graceful.
Qin Yue’e looked over the three of them once more and smiled with satisfaction.
“Come on! Xiao Yue, Xiao Feng, let’s go to the company commander’s house. We’re going to find ourselves some work!”