When they sat at the table, one of them even praised, "Wow, this restaurant is really affordable."
If it weren’t for Han Yi, she wouldn’t have served that much.
After serving the dishes, Lin Wan filled a pot with warm water and placed it on the table, saying, "Please help yourselves. The dumplings will be ready soon." After that, Lin Wan ran to the kitchen to help.
When the last plate of dumplings was served, it was for Han Yi. Anyone with a keen eye could see that this plate definitely had more than the others.
"Hey, hey, waiter, why does he have so much on his plate?" one of the soldiers asked, puzzled.
"... Uh, it’s a complimentary gift." After saying that, afraid they might have more questions, she quickly slipped away to the backyard.
"Boss, don’t you think that little girl is too friendly with our Han?" One of the younger guys raised an eyebrow while talking to Boss Zhang, but his eyes were on Han Yi.
"Friendly or not, it’s all for Han Yi. If you had a face like Han Yi’s, the little girl would give you a special share too," Director Zhang commented while eating, making a few jokes at his expense.
The young guy wasn’t offended and nudged Han Yi with his elbow, saying, "Han, it’s hard to find someone who likes you. Why not consider it? The girl looks pretty good."
"Just eat your food." Han Yi looked up and shot him a glance.
"I must say, this newly opened little place has really good food." Director Zhang suddenly spoke to Han Yi, "What do you guys think?"
"It is delicious. Next time we go out for a meal, let’s come here. It’s affordable and tasty," one of them replied.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
While they were eating, Lin Wan stayed hidden by the backyard door, watching Han Yi from afar. Although Han Yi kept his head down while eating, she was still happy just to see him.
She vaguely remembered that she met Han Yi the year after in S City, the city where her brother was studying, and her university was also there.
It wasn’t exactly a meeting, though.
As people get older, some choose matchmaking agencies to resolve their marriage issues. At that time, matchmaking was just a few enthusiastic aunties from the Women’s Federation doing community service.
She remembered it was during the summer vacation of her second year of university. After the holiday ended, Lin Wan found a job in the city to earn some living expenses.
She found several tutoring jobs, and the mother of the child she taught worked at the Women’s Federation in a suburban community.
In the early 1980s, the Women’s Federation dealt with everyday matters, either mediating various household issues or engaging in neighborhood gossip.
With numerous problems resolved, they even started handling marriage matters for the older singles in the community. Over time, those looking for partners would leave their information there for introductions.
It was this child’s mother who introduced her to Han Yi.
To this day, she still didn’t know why Han Yi would approach the Women’s Federation matchmaking agency to find someone.
Han Yi wasn’t that old; he was only twenty-four that year.
According to the child’s mother, Han Yi had checked out several girls, but either he didn’t fancy them, or many of the women felt that marrying a soldier who was rarely home wasn’t practical.
The child’s mother even brought her own younger sister to meet Han Yi, but it didn’t work out either.
Just as she was distressed, she noticed Lin Wan teaching her son at home, and after some inquiries, she felt they were suitable and insisted on arranging a meeting between her and Han Yi.