Xibao, with his fat cheeks covered in crumbs, pushes forward a chunk of pea yellow cake that he has gnawed on, now sticky with saliva. "Grandpa, eat?" he asked, assuming the elderly leader would want some.
Feng Qingxue was mortified. She hurriedly said, "Xibao, give Grandpa a good piece."
"Oh!" Xibao withdrew the gnawed cake, shoved it into his own mouth, and waddled over to the little tea table. Standing on his tiptoes, he picked out two pieces of the cake from the plate, one in each hand. He held them up to compare the sizes, then handed the slightly bigger cake to the elderly leader. "Grandpa, eat!"
Everybody thought he was thoughtfully giving the bigger piece to the leader and couldn’t help praising him: "That’s a good boy, Xibao!"
Only Feng Qingxue understood. The little chubby boy habitually determines which piece is bigger so he can keep it for himself. He is quite bossy, rarely ending up with the smaller piece. However, the size of this pea yellow cake shrunk evenly, he could barely distinguish the difference, and accidentally ended up passing the slightly larger piece to the leader.
The elderly leader, unaware of the details, joyfully accepted it.
"Xibao, can you also give one of these to this grandpa?" Feng Qingxue pointed at Wang Xinsheng.
Xibao frowned, "Grandpa, oh!"
There were only four pieces in the plate, and now only one remained.
Xibao looked perplexed and said to Feng Qingxue, "There’s none left, Mommy, buy more!"
"Mommy doesn’t have any money." Feng Qingxue shrugged, her workbag containing her work diary and other items set aside.
"Daddy earns money! Earn money to buy it!" Xibao said this as if it were a given. Seeing Feng Qingxue nod, he finally gave up the pea-yellow cake in his hand to Wang Xinsheng. Then he ran to the tea table, his tiny feet pattering, grabbed the last piece of pea yellow cake on the plate, and loudly declared, "Mine!" to indicate ownership.
Wang Xinsheng laughed, "This is given by Xibao, I must savor it."
Xibao nodded his tiny head in agreement.
The elderly leader finished his cake with pleasure, pulled out his handkerchief to wipe his hands and the corners of his mouth, and continued to ask Feng Qingxue about Lu’s father’s specific situation. Upon hearing, he asked, "Did Comrade Lu Zhiyuan mention the IOU? Why not ask the government?"
Feng Qingxue laughed, "My father mentioned it. He also said that the Liberation Army’s rule is not to take a pin or thread from the common people, but he willingly d for the resistance war effort. Therefore, he never wanted it back. He instructed us to keep your handwriting as a souvenir and not to ask the country for debt repayment. The country has brought us peace; it doesn’t owe our family anything. We are not your creditors; you are our benefactor."
Wang Xinsheng inwardly praised her, thinking, ’She indeed is Lu’s daughter-in-law, what a tactful choice of words!’ Regardless of who it was, hearing her words would undoubtedly bring great joy.
The elderly leader was deeply moved, and said, "The country can be what it is today thanks to the selfless dedication of a group of people."
He then asked Feng Qingxue how she became a medical soldier. Feng Qingxue answered truthfully, leading the elderly leader to suddenly realize, "So Comrade Lu Zhiyuan’s youngest son is actually a soldier? Lu Jiang, the soldier who shielded his comrades during the border intruders incident a few years ago in the Southwest Military Region, and happened to be hit by many shrapnel pieces? I personally approved his first-class merit honor."