Chapter 145: Destined Events

He Daqing ultimately did not ask, sighing in his heart; he would wait for Cai Quanwu to say it himself.

After He Daqing left, Cai Quanwu also packed up all the food and went to the Hospital.

"Brother Cai, over here." Xu Huizhen was like a wife waiting to be fed; she pulled Cai Quanwu over and whispered,

"Call me Huizhen, otherwise it's a waste of effort to explain to others."

"Oh, oh, okay." Cai Quanwu understood in a second; this was fine too, it wasn't impossible for him to be with her in the future.

"Huizhen, I stewed chicken soup, sit down and have some quickly."

"Mm, okay. I plan to be discharged this afternoon; bring the flatbed cart over this afternoon."

"Okay."

In the afternoon, Cai Quanwu borrowed a flatbed cart and brought both of his quilts along.

"Huizhen, take it slow." Cai Quanwu held the child in one arm and supported Xu Huizhen with the other, slowly moving her to the flatbed cart at the door.

"Cover up quickly, don't catch a cold."

"Mm."

Watching Cai Quanwu busy running back and forth, it would be a lie to say Xu Huizhen felt no stirrings in her heart; he had sent her to the Hospital when she was most desperate, and now he was even taking time off to care for her with meticulous attention.

Compared to her husband's abandonment, Cai Quanwu's arrival seemed to cast a ray of sunshine into her gloomy heart, warming her heart's chamber.

The two returned home through the side door of the Small Tavern. After settling everything, Cai Quanwu finally left. For the next half month or so, Cai Quanwu delivered meals morning, noon, and night. He Daqing wanted to speak several times but hesitated.

"Dad, Second Uncle, what is he busy with every day? Why does he cook good meals in the kitchen every day and take them away? This is too extravagant."

"Go, go, go, go do your work." He Daqing didn't know how to explain it either.

"Oh."

As for the Small Tavern side, after more than half a month of Cai Quanwu's feeding, Xu Huizhen's complexion visibly improved, and everything in their interaction remained unspoken.

On this day at work, He Daqing finally couldn't hold back and pulled Cai Quanwu to the side.

"Quanwu, is that friend of yours someone who just gave birth?"

"Yes."

"Then what about her man? You're running around busy like this, does he have any objections?"

"She doesn't have a man."

"..."

"Actually, Big Brother, I wanted to tell you a long time ago. Her husband is a jerk. The two of them got together because of a misunderstanding, but her husband is already with her sister now and isn't here."

"No, then you..."

He Daqing felt uneasy; he didn't want his younger brother, a young man with no experience in Personnel matters, to marry a twice-married widow.

"Big Brother, I've thought it over. I won't marry anyone but her."

"You..."

He Daqing didn't know what kind of love potion this Xu Huizhen had fed him to make him so devoted.

"Fine, I won't worry about you anymore."

Although He Daqing said this, he took leave and went to the Zhengyangmen Small Tavern himself.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Who is it?"

"I'm Cai Quanwu's big brother."

Hearing that the visitor was Cai Quanwu's family, Xu Huizhen felt a panic in her heart. She knew she would have to face this sooner or later, so she stopped struggling internally and opened the gate. When she saw He Daqing, she was also startled; the two looked exactly alike.

He Daqing didn't have much of a reaction upon seeing Xu Huizhen; she was quite pretty, just a bit skinny.

"I won't go in. I know Quanwu's thoughts, and I won't interfere much in your affairs, but if you get married in the future, you must leave an heir for Quanwu."

After He Daqing finished speaking, he turned and left. He knew the minds of these widows too well; in order to ensure their existing children were not treated differently, they often wouldn't have more.

They weren't wrong to think this way, but Cai Quanwu was his younger brother, and He Daqing would not let him jump into a fire pit.

Xu Huizhen was a person who stuck to her principles. In her time with Cai Quanwu, since she had accepted him, she wouldn't change. If they married in the future, she would definitely have children for him.

After leaving, He Daqing inquired about Xu Huizhen's character in the surrounding area and heard nothing but praise. It was also then that He Daqing learned this Small Tavern was hers, even though it had undergone a Public-Private Partnership.

It turned out his younger brother had married up; He Daqing wasn't as resistant to the matter anymore, provided she would have children for Cai Quanwu.

After He Daqing went back, he confessed to Cai Quanwu.

"Quanwu, I went to see Xu Huizhen."

"What? Big Brother, you didn't say anything to provoke her, did you?"

"No, I only said one sentence, and I also inquired about her character near the Zhengyangmen Small Tavern. I said..."

Cai Quanwu was silent after hearing this. Naturally, he wanted his own children, and he believed that if the two married, Xu Huizhen would have children for him.

"Big Brother, if I marry her, I want to go help her."

"Fine, as long as you've thought it through."

He Daqing didn't stop him on this point. He had been to the Small Tavern; the dishes were too monotonous, with only simple cold appetizers for drinking, and the taste was average.

Moreover, their marriage wouldn't happen all at once. By then, Cai Quanwu would have finished his apprenticeship and could fully handle a Small Tavern, or even expand it.

"Big Brother, I..." Cai Quanwu looked at this big brother who considered everything for him, feeling exceptionally moved.

"Alright, we are brothers. Don't think too much. Right now, the most important thing is for you to pass the Primary Chef assessment. Even if you go to the Small Tavern, don't stop practicing your culinary skills."

"Mm, Big Brother, I will."

There wasn't much He Daqing could do to help Cai Quanwu, other than his own skills and buying some equipment; he would have to walk the road ahead himself.

After getting off work, He Daqing ran to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative but couldn't buy any malted milk extract. Thinking of how Zhang Ping'an usually brewed Milk Powder for his younger brother and Yuliang and Bang Geng, He Daqing found Zhang Ping'an.

"Ping'an, do you have any malted milk extract or Milk Powder at home?"

"What's wrong? The Supply and Marketing Cooperative should have some, right?"

"No, I just went; it's for a friend of mine who just had a baby, and his wife doesn't have enough breast milk."

He Daqing saw that Xu Huizhen was scrawny and figured she probably didn't have much milk, so he planned to give it to Cai Quanwu tomorrow; caring about her child was also a way to capture a woman's heart.

"Alright, I do have two cans left, I'll give them all to you." It just so happened that the malted milk extract Li Huaide had given him came in handy.

"Good, good, good, thanks. Here is twenty yuan, take it."

"Done."

A can of malted milk extract nowadays is 500 grams, the price at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative is over four yuan, and ordinary people can't buy it anyway; the Black Market price has been bid up to seven to ten yuan a can, and it won't rise to forty or fifty yuan a can until the seventies.

The next day at noon, He Daqing handed the malted milk extract to Cai Quanwu.

"Quanwu, these are two cans of malted milk extract, take them to your future wife."

"Big Brother, where did you get these? I ran to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative several times and couldn't buy any, and I went to the Black Market a few times but didn't come across any."

"It was Ping'an; I got them from him. Before, when Yuliang went to his house to play, he would sometimes brew it for them to drink."

"Extravagant~" Cai Quanwu smacked his lips, and after a long while, he said this.

"Alright, go send it over at noon."

"Mm, okay."

The two returned to the kitchen, and Shazhu suddenly leaned in.

"Dad, what have you and Second Uncle been busy with, acting all sneaky lately?"

"Get lost, what 'sneaky'? It's only been a few years since you graduated, have you returned all your knowledge to your teachers?"

"..."

At the end of the year, Cai Quanwu also fulfilled his wish and passed the Primary Chef examination; from now on, he was also a rookie recognized by the culinary world, at the same level as Shazhu.

For the past six months, Zhang Ping'an had almost exclusively been enjoying his wife, children, and a warm bed, slacking off the whole time without affecting the procurement tasks of Group One.