When Han Qingsong came back at noon, Lin Lan was very pleasantly surprised. She didn’t expect him to come back with food and kerosene!
Han Qingsong handed her the lunch box and satchel, “I haven’t eaten yet.”
Lin Lan glanced to see that there was actually meat in the satchel and her eyes suddenly lit up.
This was great! So many days had passed with her not getting a taste of meat. She was worried that the children would be so excited to the point where they would exclaim and make others jealous, so she would not make it public. She’d just process the meat as soon as possible after they were done with lunch. There was no refrigerator here, so there was a concern about meat spoilage. However, the meat would be cut into pieces and dried first. As long as no salt and water were added, the rest would not go bad if eaten slowly.
Han Qingsong looked at the smile on her face and felt that the meat was a good deal as he was even thankful to the team leader.
When he came back, the children who had been arguing about the radio immediately pretended that things were okay. After greeting their father, they hurriedly went to have lunch.
Lin Lan put the food that Han Qingsong brought back on the table, “Let’s see if the food in the cafeteria is better than ours.”
Sanwang said in surprise, “There is meat scraps and oil from the cafeteria!”
Lin Lan let the children eat the food that Han Qingsong brought back.
Han Qingsong placed the grains in the jar, washed his hands and went out to eat.
Lin Lan stewed pumpkin pancakes and also made eggs with shrimp skin. In autumn, there were fewer and fewer vegetables in the garden. So in a few days, only pumpkins, radishes and cabbage could be eaten.
Lin Lan said, “You can ride the bicycle to work, don’t walk.”
Han Qingsong said, “It’s not far anyways and it’s more convenient to walk.”
The children rushed to finish their meals and hurried to school, for fear of being caught and reprimanded by their father.
Lin Lan said, “Don’t be so serious. Look, the children are all afraid of you.”
Han Qingsong glanced at her, “Am I serious?”
Lin Lan showed a playful smile, “Fine, you’re not serious; I’m serious.”
Han Qingsong looked at her with a fixed gaze and the corners of his lips curved involuntarily, “I have received the food stamps for the last few days of this month and next month. The other tickets will be issued in two days.”
Lin Lan said happily, “It’s nice that you’re home, we can live better now.”
Thinking of the report letter, she felt a little guilty for fear that Han Qingsong would be affected by it, so she naturally wanted to thank him for coming back. She wanted him to feel a sense of accomplishment that was needed and feel her and her children’s dependence and gratitude for him.
Hearing her say this, Han Qingsong felt a little uncomfortable. People from the countryside would speak vulgarly, so only a select few would ever express their feelings since it would seem rather cringy to most.
However, his heart accepted the praise quite well.
He told her about the punishments of Zhao Jianshe and his gang. Lin Lan was secretly happy, but said something different out loud, “Is the fourth child of our family sentenced so badly as well? I’m afraid the old lady won’t accept it.”
Han Qingsong said, “It’s not a bad thing to go to the labor farm. With people watching his moves, he would know better than to stir up trouble in the future.”
Lin Lan said nothing more.