Chapter 190: Warmth
Upon returning to the base, Xiao Xu helped her carry her belongings upstairs. Yang PeiMin, grateful, handed him a package of pastries and said, awkwardly, "Thank you. You have no idea how I could have struggled until dark and not known if I could even make it back."
Xiao Xu smiled and replied, "Today, after escorting the officer out of the city, I rushed back and reached the town by noon. Before Brother Cui’s arrival, he specifically told me to take a couple extra rounds to see if I could pick up you all. It got delayed because we had to take an elderly person who fainted to the clinic. Luckily, we ran into you all, otherwise Brother Cui would’ve thought I was inefficient."
It turned out that Shen Yiguang had also reminded them.
With a sweetness in her heart, Yang PeiMin sent Xiao Xu off and energetically began tending to her meat.
First, of course, she had to burn the coal. Mrs. Cui arrived home twenty minutes later than Yang PeiMin who was stewing meat. The aroma of the meat wafted out into the hallway, pausing Mrs. Cui’s footsteps as her face fell slightly and her lips turned downwards, clicking her tongue, "Oh, Mrs. Shen is stewing meat? Your family’s life is really good."
Yang PeiMin chuckled, "Auntie’s family is not bad either. Brother Cui is also capable. Don’t hold back on them. They train outside almost every day, which is very tiring. It’s only right for them to eat well."
Mrs. Cui exclaimed, "That’s true; who doesn’t know that logic? It’s just my old self who lacks talent. Heavy burdens at home, many kids below; I’m not embarrassed to tell you, it’s been months since New Year, and our family hasn’t smelled meat at all..." She unconsciously sniffed in the direction of Yang PeiMin’s door, exaggerating, "It smells so good, if I could have a taste, this old lady could savor it for a month."
Yang PeiMin laughed. It was as if her house was the only one with heavy burdens, as if other families didn’t need to provide for theirs. If she used her own salary to support able-bodied siblings, then there would be no way out, nor could she blame the neighbor’s family for living better than theirs.