Soon enough, the meals were packed.
Shi Jingfang thought of the state-owned restaurant not far from the cafeteria. "Come on, I’ll take you to have something good to eat."
Yunyi glanced at the lunch boxes in their hands. "We’ve already got our food, so let’s not bother. It wouldn’t look good to show up there with these."
Ye Wenhui, thinking about those people who always seemed to be looking for trouble, said, "Mom, since you’re not leaving until tomorrow afternoon, let’s go there for a good meal tomorrow at noon." ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel-fire.net
Looking at the throng of people in the cafeteria, Yunyi suggested, "How about we eat and chat at my place?"
Ye Wenhui thought about it. Indeed, the cafeteria wasn’t the best place for reminiscing, and her own dormitory wasn’t very convenient either. "Mom, Doctor Chu has a separate little courtyard. Why don’t we go there?"
Shi Jingfang frowned, looking displeasedly at her daughter. "Why are you calling her Doctor Chu? You’re a year older than Yunyi; you should call her Little Sister Yunyi."
Ye Wenhui raised her empty hand. "My mistake. Little Sister Yunyi it is."
Yunyi, watching the interaction between the mother and daughter, couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy.
Shi Jingfang, being observant, noticed a flicker of something unusual in Yunyi’s eyes and quickly spoke up. "Alright, then let’s take this opportunity to check out Yunyi’s place."
The three of them left the cafeteria together, heading towards Yunyi’s little courtyard.
Upon entering the courtyard, Ye Wenhui said enviously, "Ah, it really pays to have a skill. We all came here as ’educated youth,’ but look at the treatment you get."
Shi Jingfang looked at her daughter goofing around. "Now you understand? It’s too late."
Yunyi opened the room door with a smile. "Come in, it’s cold outside."
After the two followed her in, Ye Wenhui was even more envious. "This house is really nice; even the floor is tiled! That’s so much better than a dirt floor."
She lived in a large shared room, six people to a room. It had a dirt floor that turned to mud with the slightest touch of water, something she still hadn’t gotten used to.
Yunyi set down the lunch boxes. "I’m just benefiting from Doctor Ji, who was transferred out. She’s the one who paid to have the floor tiled herself, so I got lucky."
As for Doctor Ji, Ye Wenhui wasn’t too familiar with her, though she had heard her name mentioned.
Yunyi asked them to sit down and took out a bamboo tube she had procured in the south, making them a drink of brown sugar water. "Make yourselves comfortable; I’ll be right back."
Since they were her adoptive mother’s friends, she was determined to treat them well. She went to the kitchen.
She directly took a piece of cured meat, washed and sliced it, then steamed it. Next, she took some of her stored supplies from her space—a dish of potatoes stewed with rabbit—and placed them in the steamer as well.
Shi Jingfang, hearing the noise in the kitchen, came out. "What are you doing?"
Yunyi smiled. "Aunt Jingfang, you’ve come all this way. I happen to have some ready-made cured meat, so I thought I’d add a dish."
Shi Jingfang wanted to stop her, but the food was already in the steamer. "You child, you’re as sincere as your mother."
Shi Jingfang couldn’t help but talk about Ding Zhilan. When they were younger, their families lived not too far apart, and they often played together. After Shi Jingfang’s family moved away when she was in middle school, their houses were further apart. This led to fewer visits, but they had always kept in contact.
The fragrance of the cured meat soon filled the air, and Ye Wenhui also came out. "What’s that smell? It’s so good."
Shi Jingfang laughed, looking at her daughter poking her head in. "You’ve got a nose like a dog’s."
Ye Wenhui feigned anger. "What mother talks about her own daughter like that? Am I really your flesh and blood?"
Shi Jingfang glared at her daughter. "No, you were picked up from the garbage dump."
Ye Wenhui joked, "I knew it! Hmph, I’m going to find my real parents and never speak to you again."
Shi Jingfang was initially amused by her daughter’s antics, but then Yunyi’s background suddenly came to mind. She quickly interjected, "Enough of that! If I say you’re chubby, you start panting for show. Go inside and put the lunch boxes on the clay stove to keep them warm. Don’t let the food get cold. Yunyi is treating us to some cured meat."
Ye Wenhui had a knack for quickly warming up to people. "Well, then I’m in for a real treat!"
After speaking, she looked at her mother. "Don’t think you can send me away. I already put the lunchbox on the clay stove to keep it warm before I came out. Aren’t I smart?"
She turned to Yunyi. "Where did you buy that clay stove? It seems pretty convenient to have one in the house."
Huo Jingrui came to Yunyi’s mind. "My boyfriend bought it; I actually don’t know where."
Ye Wenhui was surprised. "You have a boyfriend?"
Shi Jingfang, however, asked, "The Qin family’s boy is here too?"