He Jiaojiao had apparently just finished washing up. She wore only a floral blouse, her long hair loose around her shoulders, making her look especially youthful and pretty.
But Huo Guangji showed no extra emotion on his face.
If anything, he looked rather cold.
“Comrade He Jiaojiao, I still have matters to attend to. I’ll be leaving first.”
“W-Wait, Brother Huo!”
Just as Huo Guangji turned to leave, He Jiaojiao hurriedly called out to stop him.
From inside her clothes, she carefully pulled out a small pendant and shyly handed it toward him.
“I made this myself. It’s not worth much, but it’s supposed to bring good luck and keep people safe. You… take it.”
The small red pendant had been woven into the shape of a little bird.
Huo Guangji frowned.
Without even thinking, he directly refused.
“Comrade He, this isn’t appropriate. You should keep it yourself. I’ll be going now.”
After saying that, he turned and strode away immediately.
Only a stunned He Jiaojiao remained behind.
Biting her lip, she couldn’t understand why Huo Guangji had rejected her.
Back when he first enlisted in the company, hadn’t he主动 stood up to testify on her behalf?
Why was he acting now as if he barely knew her?
She had even specially requested a transfer to this remote backwater place just to see him again.
But how could he…
Tears welled in He Jiaojiao’s eyes as humiliation burned across her face.
A roommate from inside the dorm suddenly stepped out and asked in surprise,
“Jiaojiao? Why are you standing outside so late? Why aren’t you inside resting?”
“Ah—n-nothing! I’m going back right now!”
He Jiaojiao quickly wiped away the tears on her face and hurried back into the dormitory.
Early the next morning.
The mess hall had become increasingly crowded lately, and there would be a performance today as well.
So Qin Yu’e got up especially early and brought the two children with her to the kitchen.
Because of the work involved in hosting the art troupe, Wei Wenjie had been so busy these past few days that her feet barely touched the ground. Qin Yu’e felt too embarrassed to continue troubling her with babysitting.
So she simply brought the children directly into the kitchen.
Fortunately, both children were extremely obedient.
Qin Yu’e found a large basket, placed two ducklings inside, and sat the children face-to-face inside the basket so they could play with the ducklings together.
Neither child made a sound.
Nearby, Auntie Liu, who was frying youtiao, glanced over and smiled warmly.
“Little Qin, just look at these children! They’re such good kids! They know us adults are busy, so they don’t make trouble at all. Where can you find children this sensible? When my boy was little, the second you looked away he’d be causing disasters everywhere! Unlike your two—you see how well-behaved they are!”
Clearly fond of the children, Auntie Liu directly took a freshly fried youtiao from the oil pot, broke it in half, cooled it down a little, and handed half to each child.
“Thank you, Auntie Liu~”
Zhuyue’s mouth was sweeter than honey. One sentence alone made Auntie Liu beam with delight.
“Oh my precious little darling! Hurry and eat! It’s freshly fried—crispy, fragrant, and best while it’s still hot!”
Qin Yu’e kneaded dough for coarse flour pancakes nearby and couldn’t help laughing as she turned around.
“Mischievous? Ever since they entered the kitchen, those two little mouths haven’t stopped eating. Everyone’s taking turns feeding them. I doubt they’ve even had a chance to open their mouths and speak!”
But the moment she finished speaking, little Zhuyue—still squatting in the basket munching on youtiao—immediately protested.
“I do! I do have a mouth, Mom! Ahhh—”
She pointed at her own mouth with one tiny finger while half a youtiao still dangled from her lips, the tail end hanging outside her plump little mouth.
The adults around them instantly burst into laughter.
“Hahaha—this little girl! I wonder who she takes after. Captain Huo’s so quiet you couldn’t pry a fart out of him with eight poles. How did he end up with such an adorable daughter?”
At the mention of Huo Guangji, the smile on Qin Yu’e’s face faded slightly.
How could Huo Guangji possibly have spare attention for his children now?
His thoughts were probably entirely focused on He Jiaojiao already.
“A daughter doesn’t necessarily take after her father. Maybe she takes after me! When I was younger, I was very talkative too!”
Qin Yu’e deliberately joked lightly.
She still didn’t want matters between herself and Huo Guangji becoming public knowledge, so everyone in the company currently believed the two of them had reconciled.
“Oh, come on, Little Qin!” Auntie Liu laughed. “Why are you talking about yourself like you’re old? You’re still so young! If you wore the same clothes as those girls from the art troupe, you’d definitely look prettier than them!”
Qin Yu’e didn’t continue the topic.
No matter how beautiful she looked, she still couldn’t compete with someone’s “white moonlight.”
Besides, Qin Yu’e had never cared much for dressing up. The most important thing was clothing practical enough for work.
In an era where even food and drink were worries, if a woman with two children dressed herself too strikingly, she would only invite trouble.
Shaking away her wandering thoughts, Qin Yu’e tossed the coarse flour cakes one by one into the pot, covered it with a lid, and before long delicious aromas drifted into the air.
Today’s meal was especially good.
Even more lavish than yesterday’s welcome banquet.
It was practically like New Year’s.
Because a performance had been arranged in the square today, for the soldiers this was one of the happiest days of the entire year.
Qin Yu’e and the others in the cafeteria put all their effort into making the food as delicious as possible.
These soldiers had devoted their entire youth to the country. During holidays and festivals, they couldn’t even remain beside their parents. After a whole year of hardship, this one relaxed day was something they deserved.
By breakfast time, Qin Yu’e carried out huge trays of fried dough sticks and coarse flour cakes, along with stir-fried duck eggs, dressed Chinese toon shoots, and other dishes.
The spread looked far richer than usual.
The leftover bear meat from yesterday had been sliced cold and mixed with peanuts and cucumbers before being drizzled with sesame oil.
The fragrance alone was enough to make people swallow their tongues.
It immediately became the most popular dish, and within moments more than half the basin was gone.
Then a familiar voice from the line stretched out a lunchbox.
“Three youtiao, two coarse cakes, and two scoops of vegetables.”
Without even looking up, Qin Yu’e knew it was Huo Guangji.
Silently, she accepted the lunchbox, swiftly filled it with food, and handed it back.
Huo Guangji opened his mouth slightly, clearly wanting to ask why she had thrown him out the night before.
But surrounded by soldiers on every side, he ultimately felt too embarrassed to say anything.
Beside Qin Yu’e, Auntie Liu—who was also serving food—couldn’t resist teasing them.
“Little Qin, why don’t you give your own man an extra scoop of food! Give Captain Huo some of that special meat salad you made. Your husband will definitely enjoy his own wife’s cooking!”
The moment those words fell—
He Jiaojiao, standing farther back in the line, suddenly jerked her head upward.
Her face filled with disbelief as she stared at the woman standing behind the serving window.
She…
Was Brother Huo’s wife?
Brother Huo was married?!