Chapter 190: Is the House on Fire?

"Why not? Military dependents need entertainment too."

As they were talking, Jiang Cheng walked in with the Guard Xiao Zhang and a few young comrades, and they bought dishes and rice at the canteen.

He also brought back a table, several wooden stools, a large water vat, and other items like a cabinet and a dish rack.

In short, with these things set up, it finally felt a bit like a home.

While eating, the two children woke up, likely stirred by the aroma of the food.

Si Rong went to feed the two children, and Hu Qian put half of the dishes from the plate back into the thermal container.

She had also been a daughter-in-law once; when she was nursing her children back then, she had practically withered away to skin and bones.

Only when eating would Nainai Jiang offer to help hold the children so that she, Hu Qian, could go cook; it was only after a few times that Hu Qian understood.

By the time she sat at the table, the food had almost been finished by them, leaving only leftovers.

She would not let what happened to her happen to her own daughter-in-law.

So, by the time Si Rong finished feeding the children and sat down to eat, the dishes and rice were still warm.

"Thank you, Mom."

Si Rong knew that Hu Qian treated her like a daughter, and she would treat her mother-in-law with filial piety in the future as well.

"We're family, why thank me? Tonight we won't go to the canteen to get food; Mom will cook." Hu Qian thought that it wasn't that they couldn't afford to buy food at the canteen, but it was just that, as the Army Commander's wife and mother had both come to follow the troops, it would inevitably invite gossip if they went to the canteen for food every day.

"Okay."

Si Rong felt very sweet inside, "Mom, I'll help you."

At this moment, neither the mother-in-law nor the daughter-in-law realized the importance of this issue.

After eating, Jiang Cheng threw himself into his intense work.

After tidying up, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went out to the store to buy some vegetables for dinner.

The wall that Shen Qingyu had built next door was still there, unmoved; it was unclear if she hadn't gotten around to it or if it was intentional.

Since they were neighbors, Si Rong thought she would give her one more night.

If it was still like this tomorrow morning, then she shouldn't be blamed for what happened next.

The store on the island was very small, with only the most basic daily necessities.

The only vegetables were radishes and cabbage; the owner explained that when a boat arrived in a couple of days, there would be meat and fresh vegetables then.

"Radishes and cabbage are fine to eat!" Hu Qian bought a small bag of flour, two radishes, one cabbage, and some simple seasonings.

On the way back, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law found joy in their hardship and even let the children play on a patch of grass for a while.

It was mainly to let them relieve themselves, because there was no toilet in the house yet.

There was a public toilet on the island, but it was very dirty in the summer; adults could manage, but small children could not.

Back home, Hu Qian let Si Rong watch the two children playing in the stroller while she took the flour and vegetables to the kitchen to cook.

It was dusk; Si Rong gently rocked the small stroller and watched the wisps of cooking smoke in the distance, which had a kind of artistic beauty not found in the city.

It seemed as if everything had slowed down.

Moreover, the situation was not as bad as she had thought; at least Hu Qian helped her shoulder most of the burdens of daily life.

At this moment, she opened her pager and saw messages from Ming Zi and her second brother.

They were all asking if she had arrived, and Si Rong replied to them one by one.

She told them the scenery here was very good and that she could adapt, telling them not to worry.

After replying to the messages, Si Rong suddenly smelled something burning.

A sense of foreboding rose in her heart.

"You two stay in the little cart and be good," Si Rong instructed the two little ones, "I'm going inside to check on Grandma."

In the kitchen, there was a thick, black cloud of smoke.

Hu Qian was coughing while stubbornly tending the fire to cook.

"It's fine, Mom will have the food ready in a moment."

Si Rong:...

"Mom, something seems to be burning."

Hu Qian looked around in confusion, "Is it? Let me see."

Her sense of smell had been gone since she was young, so she opened the pot lid first.

Whoosh—

It nearly scalded her to death.

"I must have forgotten to add water to the steamer, but it's not a big problem, I'll add it now."

Hu Qian scrambled to scoop water from the vat, and the burning firewood nearly fell out.

Si Rong hurriedly went to push the firewood further in.

Then, turning back, she saw Hu Qian pouring the water directly onto the raw steamed buns that weren't cooked yet but were already smoking.

Heavens! Is that how you do it?

"It's fine, they have to be steamed anyway," Hu Qian remained very calm, "You go back out and watch the children! Mom has it under control here. By the way,"

Hu Qian asked with some lack of confidence, "Mom hasn't cooked in a long time. If it doesn't taste good, you won't mind, will you?"

Si Rong:...

She forced herself to say, "Of course not."

But in her heart, she missed Wang Ma so much!

With her mother-in-law's cooking skills, she was worried it wouldn't just be a matter of it not tasting good.

Before long, Shen Qingyu poked her head over the two-meter-long wall she had built and asked her, "Si Rong, is your house on fire?"

Si Rong:...

"No, no, my mother-in-law is cooking."

Shen Qingyu:...

She didn't mean to tease Si Rong; she had truly thought the Jiang Family house was on fire when she smelled that odor just now.

Si Rong watched the two children while worrying about her mother-in-law in the kitchen.

Fortunately, the smoke in the kitchen was slowly dissipating.

Si Rong breathed a sigh of relief, then heard Shen Qingyu ask her, "Is your family going to build a courtyard wall?"

Si Rong felt that if she answered that they weren't building a wall, Shen Qingyu would be eager to build the space at the entrance right into her courtyard.

"Build! Of course we'll build! Otherwise, once the two children start walking and running around everywhere, how will it work without a courtyard wall?"

"Then with your Jiang Cheng so busy, will you be able to build it?" Shen Qingyu asked again, her eyes looking triumphant as if she were showing off how great she was at building walls.

Si Rong realized then that she was actually competitive at heart; she knew Shen Qingyu was provoking her, but she still said, "If I don't know how, I'll learn. Who is born knowing how to build a wall?"

Now it was Shen Qingyu's turn to be speechless; having nothing more to say, she could only add, "I really think the smell from your house is like it's on fire; you'd better go back and check!"

Si Rong turned around and discovered that the smoky smell coming from her house was indeed getting stronger.

"Mom?"

As soon as the two children got close to their home, they were choked into coughing.

Si Rong had no choice but to leave the two children at the door for a moment and went inside, calling out first.

"Oh, Rongrong, Jiang Cheng is getting off work soon, right? We can get ready to eat; I've stir-fried two dishes!" Hu Qian's voice sounded perfectly fine.

Si Rong found the pull-cord on the wall and pulled it, and the room lit up.

Only then did she see Hu Qian wearing an apron, busy with her hair in disarray and covered in sweat.

Si Rong felt a bit heartbroken; since she married into the Jiang Family, where had she ever seen Hu Qian in such a disheveled state?

Yet for the sake of their family, she was willing to be this busy.

She thought that no matter how the food Hu Qian cooked today tasted, she must eat a lot of it and express that she loved it.

Until Hu Qian brought a steamer of lumpy steamed buns and two plates of charred, blackened dishes to the table.

It was also the first time in her life that Si Rong discovered that when the heat reaches a certain level, cabbage and radishes are the same.

At this moment, Jiang Cheng returned from work; as soon as he entered the door, he frowned and asked, "Did the house catch fire?"

Hu Qian:...