Listening to everyone singing Lu Xibao’s praises, Bai Xue, sitting next to Su Junlin, felt as if a flame was burning within her heart, a fiery flame fueled by jealousy and resentment.
She looked at Feng Qingxue, only to see her sitting next to Lu Jiang, as clingy as a little bird.
Lu Jiang took some potatoes from the net bag beside him, buried them in the fire, and said with a smile, "It would be even better if we had sweet potatoes."
Roast potatoes were soft and delicious and could be used as a main course, but baked sweet potatoes had a mix of both softness and sweetness, which was Lu Jiang’s favorite. In the winter during the wartime, they relied entirely on the sweet potatoes supplied by the local people.
"You’re never satisfied!"
As Feng Qingxue said this, she took out a cloth sack containing Maotai liquor, canned meat and peanuts flavored with five spices. She called out Lu Jiang to pass them around to everyone, "My family planted a lot of peanuts this year. Every household received a share. I’ve shelled them and brought them here. I prepared them just today. Please give it a try, it’s a good snack to have when drinking!"
Xibao was resting in the commander’s arms, licking the dried yak meat that the commander had given him.
His milk teeth weren’t strong enough to chew, so he could only lick.
Lu Jiang stood up with the bag and started with the commander. Once he had taken some, Lu Jiang moved on to the army chief, the division chief, and when he got to Su Junlin, he said, "Commander Su, take more."
After Su Junlin took a couple more handfuls, he sidestepped Bai Xue and went directly to Zhao Yong. Only after everyone else had taken some did he return to his initial position.
Bai Xue became angry to the point of pallor.
However, Su Junlin continued to obliviously enjoy his peanuts. After having one, he offered the pocketful of peanuts to his wife, smiling, "Qingxue’s peanuts are pretty good, have a taste!"
"I’m not eating!" Bai Xue rejected without hesitation.
Shortly after her resentful outburst, Bai Xue
noticed Su Junlin’s surprised look. Her heart tightened, and she forced herself to smile, "You enjoy drinking, save them as snacks. I..." On the spur of the moment, she took out the expensive milk candy Su Junlin had bought for her, "I’ll just have this. I like milk candy."
Hearing this, Su Junlin’s surprised expression disappeared, "Alright, if you like it, once you finish it, I’ll buy you more!"
Bai Xue replied with an acknowledgment, and lowered her head.
The fire shining on her face, along with the unavoidable flush in her cheeks, made her look very attractive, almost as if she was blushing.
Looking at her brought cheer to Su Junlin, who had no idea that Bai Xue found this repulsive. She wished that the person buying her candy could have been Lu Jiang, the young, handsome, and promising Lu Jiang.
Thinking about Lu Jiang, Bai Xue couldn’t help but look up again. She saw Lu Jiang taking out a roasted potato, tossing it around a bit due to its heat, then peeled it and handed it to Feng Qingxue. Feng Qingxue smiled radiantly as she accepted the potato. At the same time, she naturally instructed Lu Jiang to open the liquor, pour it for the leaders present, and opened the canned meat, which she pushed in front of Zhao Yong.
Before she even finished watching, she heard Su Junlin say, "Bai Xue, today is New Year’s Day and we’re all gathered together, why don’t you sing a song to lift everyone’s spirits? Make everyone happy."
All the performers of the art troupe were there, performing for the soldiers, even the head of the team herself was joining in.
If Bai Xue hadn’t married Su Junlin and was sitting next to the fire with him, she would be among the performers, singing and dancing to cheer up the soldiers.
...Update will be around 10:30 later on.