Chapter 227

"Manman, congratulations, congratulations! You passed the military medical exam and even got first place. You really brought honor to your master!"

"It's all thanks to the good teaching of Master and the senior masters. If it weren't for the careful guidance of all you elders, how could I have passed so smoothly?"

"You child, you're being too humble. You are excellent enough on your own; we just added flowers to the brocade. It still relied on your own solid skills..."

"Alright, alright, stop praising my granddaughter; you're making the child shy."

"Hahaha."

The old men all laughed kindly. Everyone came sincerely to congratulate Shen Man, send gifts, and incidentally, have a meal and gather.

Before long, the old men went about their own business in twos and threes, trying not to add trouble to the younger generation.

"Sister-in-law, is there anything I can do? Let me help you."

Ji Xianxian felt like she couldn't fit in, so after finishing the honey water, she took the initiative to offer help.

"Sister-in-law, your condition isn't very good, it's not suitable for you to work hard. How about this: you help peel the garlic, and let the men do the other chores; we can just watch."

Shen Man was stirring egg liquid; hearing Ji Xianxian wanted to help, she wouldn't really assign her heavy work.

After looking around, she found the lightest task for her.

"Okay."

Ji Xianxian didn't say anything more upon hearing this and peeled the garlic quietly.

She calmly observed everything in the courtyard; such leisurely, affluent, and worry-free living conditions were what she had always dreamed of...

"Hey, I say Zhou Yan, you're really not being a good friend. How come you came to the Sea Island without greeting me? I also heard the big happy news that sister-in-law got into military medical school, so I brought my two apprentices to sponge a meal..."

Hearing this loud voice, Shen Man's action of stirring the egg liquid paused. Sure enough, it was Brother Mo.

Another round of pleasantries followed. Lao Mo was a loyal person; once he arrived, Jiang Ye wasn't as busy, as there was someone to share the work of processing ingredients, and he even took over the important "position" of chef.

Lao Mo's two apprentices were both very honest and down-to-earth.

They weren't smooth-talkers, but they were polite.

After following Master Mo to greet everyone, they silently looked for work to do, and without needing to be told, they consciously got to work.

In terms of being observant, they were simply amazing.

Section Commander Duan was playing chess with Old Man Lin, and laughter was constant.

Old Man Lu was a terrible chess player, and recently no one wanted to play with him.

So he followed his grandson to build the stove and dig holes, having a great time.

At such an old age, playing in the mud with his grandson made some old men feel sour inside.

Old Lu was lucky to have his grandson and granddaughter by his side, and both were filial.

Unlike them, after coming to the Sea Island, their own children and grandchildren rarely came to visit, didn't send telegrams, let alone show filial piety.

Actually, that wasn't the case; the old men's families were still very concerned about them.

But they were far away, and everyone had their own lives and careers to busy themselves with.

They couldn't spare the time to visit the old men, and since the old men said they were doing well in their telegrams, their families were quite relieved.

The elderly were actually like children, craving care and attention.

Old Man Lu was lucky that his grandson and granddaughter had both started families on the Sea Island, so they were close and could meet anytime.

Other old men, after being coaxed over, were too lazy to move, feeling that the Sea Island was warm as spring all year round, gathering seafood was fun, and they had old friends by their side to look after each other, so they were happy to stay...

"Lu Xiu Bai, come here."

There were too many people, so Pei Yan Ting called her husband to go home and move tables and chairs over.

If there weren't enough, they would have to borrow benches from familiar military wives.

"Coming, coming."

Lu Xiu Bai heard his wife calling him and, without a word, left his grandfather behind and trotted over to his wife's side, looking completely at her beck and call.

Old Man Pei noticed this scene and raised his eyebrows at Old Man Lu in a good mood.

Look, your grandson is so obedient in front of my granddaughter.

Old Man Lu pursed his lips and lowered his head indifferently to continue adjusting the pit.

His grandson being henpecked wasn't a bad thing.

It was still better than his father. Thinking of his son, he felt nothing but disdain.

Now it was a mess, everything was ruined.

Someone far away in a border town sneezed out of the blue.

Then he pulled his tattered coat tighter, squatting by the stove with a sallow face, staring at the wild vegetable porridge in the pot.

In the few months he had been here, although he wasn't used to the local conditions and the social atmosphere wasn't right, he had found peace of mind.

Here, he didn't have to worry about the schemes of the person sleeping beside him, didn't have to face the schadenfreude of his colleagues, and didn't have to face the sympathetic eyes of his neighbors.

Here, no one knew his past; it was truly good.

Because he had requested a transfer himself, moving far away to a remote border area.

So the unit didn't lower his allowance, and he had agreed with the unit that his monthly allowance would be split into two parts: one part sent to the Sea Island for his daughter.

The other part was just enough to maintain his basic expenses.

He wondered how his father was doing on the Sea Island.

Whether he had adapted to life on the Sea Island, and whether he was suffering from the change in environment.

Whether his daughter-in-law and son-in-law were easy to get along with, and whether they would dislike his father.

All of this, he had no way of knowing.

Write a letter?

He didn't dare.

How could he still have the face to beg for his children's forgiveness now?

Living was for atonement.

For every extra day he lived, he could send an extra day's allowance to his daughter.

With so many people, they eventually borrowed tables and chairs from the military wives they were close to; all three tables were full of people.

If it were outside the Sea Island, preparing such a table of food would cost quite a bit of money.

But this was the Sea Island; fish, shrimp, and seafood were the least valuable things.

You could trade grain coupons or oil coupons with the villagers and get a whole sack!

Barbecue was also quite popular: grilled eggplant, grilled garlic oysters, grilled scallops, grilled sea shrimp, grilled small yellow croaker, grilled squid, etc. Not to mention the young people liked it, even the old men with good teeth ate it without hesitation.

The sponge cake and cat ears Shen Man made were suitable as after-dinner desserts.

Speaking of desserts, coconut milk Qingbuliang was widely acclaimed.

Everyone ate food and drank fruit wine, enjoying themselves to the fullest.

Tangyuan also had a treat today. Meow couldn't eat ingredients with heavy seasonings, but it wasn't an ordinary meow; it was an artifact spirit, so it didn't matter—just eat!

Facts proved that the old men were quite discerning.

The fish and shrimp from the space and the fruit wine Shen Man added Spiritual Liquid to were the first to be eaten up.

It wasn't that the other dishes Lao Mo made weren't delicious, but due to subtle differences in taste, they just couldn't help wanting to eat the fish and shrimp first and finish the fruit wine first.

There definitely wasn't enough fruit wine, so Jiang Ye opened two more bottles of Erguotou.

And then he stopped serving it; getting drunk wasn't good, just satisfying the craving was enough.

Regarding this, Section Commander Duan had nothing to say; as the highest commander on the island, even on a weekend rest day, he had to keep a clear head and couldn't get drunk...