Chronicle of the 70s-Chapter 365 - 346: Trapped Together, Part 3

Then he said to everyone, "My wife, Liu Huahua, please make yourselves at home. I’ll go and get the car out quickly; otherwise, it’ll start freezing once the sun sets."

Hu Zi and the driver insisted on accompanying him, so the three of them left, and Liu Huahua, with a smile, welcomed everyone inside.

There was a heated kang in the room and an iron stove on the floor, so the room was quite warm.

The two kids woke up halfway through, and Li Xianglu quickly laid them on the kang, covering them with small blankets.

The little ones’ cheeks were frozen red, and their noses were glowing red too, but they kept curiously looking around.

Seeing the two identical children, Liu Huahua showed a bit of surprise and then asked, "Sister, are these twins? That’s really rare!"

Li Xianglu politely smiled and said, "Yes, they are very mischievous!"

But Liu Huahua looked envious as she said, "I’d love to have a little troublemaker myself, but God isn’t giving me any!" After saying this, she told everyone to take off their shoes and join her on the kang, adding, "I’ll make some ginger syrup water for everyone; it’s good for warming up."

Then she turned around and left.

Only then did Li Xianglu and the others really take a look around the house—it was very tidy. There was a Butterfly brand sewing machine by the window, spotlessly clean, with its machinery out and fabric beside it; it seemed Liu Huahua was making clothes before they arrived.

Leng Qing rubbed her hands together, and once they were warm, she jumped down from the kang to help carry the water.

The ginger syrup water wasn’t very spicy; Liu Huahua hadn’t used too much ginger, probably considering their children. She’s really thoughtful, quite unlike that Chen Zhong.

After everyone had their drink, they finally started to feel warm. By then, Li Xianglu was feeling extremely hungry.

Just then, Liu Huahua reappeared, carrying two large porcelain bowls steaming with heat.

Leng Qing quickly jumped down to help carry them; they were hot noodle soup topped with chopped green onions.

Leng Qing helped bring in the other two bowls, and then Liu Huahua passed over two smaller bowls.

Li Xianglu smiled gratefully and dished out some noodles to cool for the two children, then began eating some herself.

The kids were hungry too, but they remembered the manners Su Yan taught them; they just looked eagerly without touching the bowls, knowing the noodles were hot.

Seeing this, Liu Huahua, fascinated, offered to feed them. Li Xianglu wasn’t keen on the idea initially, but upon seeing her eager look, she relented.

The kids, being hungry, didn’t care who was feeding them and just started eating.

After watching for a while and seeing Liu Huahua feed them well, Li Xianglu relaxed.

You couldn’t imagine it, but under severe hunger, even ordinary noodle soup tasted incredible—no gourmet dish could compare.

Everyone had their fill and felt sleepy with the warmth of the heated kang, but the two children were energized, with no one to play with, and leaned at the edge of the kang.

Liu Huahua was really fond of the children, so they started playing together. Li Xianglu, worried about the dimming sky, wondered about the situation outside; the car was irrelevant, but she hoped dearly no harm came to anyone.

Just while Li Xianglu was worrying, she heard the sound of a car horn from outside.

The car had returned; Li Xianglu put on her clothes along with Leng Qing and went down.

Hu Zi and several young men got out of the car, all staring at the vehicle joyously.

Hu Zi and the driver were so hungry they could eat a horse, Li Xianglu jokingly told Leng Qing, "Go to the trunk and get out our food, let’s make something good."

Leng Qing, smiling, agreed and went to fetch the things. Fortunately, Li Xianglu had packed everything in bags, so nothing was messed up.

Liu Huahua then came out, and seeing Li Xianglu rolling up her sleeves to cook, she immediately insisted, "Don’t, big sister, you rest, I will cook."

Li Xianglu smiled and said, "I’ll just make something simple; I have recovered now."

Liu Huahua tried to insist further, but seeing that Li Xianglu wasn’t tired anymore, she finally agreed to help.

The cooking setup in Beihai was similar to that in Guanzhong, with big pots and stoves, very convenient with four stove heads. They steamed rice, meatballs, crispy pork, and chicken chunks in the pots.

They had brought cured meat, which they sliced and stir-fried with dry chili peppers, the spicy aroma making the three women cry and laugh.

Li Xianglu thought the cold weather called for something spicy to ward off the chill and finally made a cabbage and vermicelli soup with pork. The pork was provided by Liu Huahua, a big chunk from a pig they had recently butchered at home.