Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 317: Chapter 299: Radish Baozi

If you were to ask who in the entire squadron could be fully trusted by Qin Liang to have his back, there wouldn’t be many—it could be counted on one hand, and included the unreliable Luo Qianqian. However, knowing Luo Qianqian’s identity meant absolute trust.

If it weren’t for trust, why would he let a newcomer study in his office? And even personally tutor her? He even specifically taught her basic medical knowledge?

Although Luo Qianqian had only heard a rough outline, she understood that there was a mission. Nevertheless, who would be chosen to join was uncertain, and she felt a bit excited. Despite this, she wouldn’t gossip carelessly—she was tight-lipped.

”Xiao Meng, you’re so lucky to have someone visit you. You have no idea, that big pervert Zhang Jin actually made me carry a stone and run cross-country, a whole ten kilograms!!!” Chang Xi saw Luo Qianqian return, full of resentment, completely filled with grievance as she looked at her.

Luo Qianqian was taken aback, and then glanced at Zhang Jin, who was not far away and had obviously heard what Chang Xi said. Seeing him awkwardly turn his head away, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly, she said, ”Can’t you control your volume? The big pervert heard you calling him that.”

Chang Xi looked around in alarm, and not seeing Zhang Jin looking at her, she breathed a sigh of relief and moved closer to Luo Qianqian, ”Who came to see you? You were allowed to come back only after dinner, right?”

”My... my brother’s friend. He came by for some business and took the opportunity to check on me. Then the Great Demon King made me write two test papers before letting me go,” Luo Qianqian also pretended to be in pain, ”Why do perverse people emerge from beautiful places? Why are there so many perverts in such a good place?”

”Your exam is coming up. It’s good to study more. It was Wei Guang who asked him to teach you more. He probably has the highest education in the whole squadron.” Although, it was an education that currently had nothing to do with her, ”You better not casually mention the Great Demon King. If she hears you, you’ll suffer.”

”You’re one to talk. Only ten kilograms—haven’t you lost more than that in the past few months? What kind of weight training is that?” Luo Qianqian consoled her while handing over two almost deformed cream puffs wrapped in a plastic bag from her pocket, ”Saved these for you.”

Chang Xi was touched. In this environment, no one would worry about calorie intake, and she hadn’t had such things for a long time. After gobbling down the cream puffs, she even wanted to lick the plastic bag.

Luo Qianqian was also full of emotions. Everyone was losing weight. How come she was the only one getting fatter? Could it be that the late-night snacks were too good?

It had to be said, the soup Qin Liang made every night using a small clay pot on the stove tasted amazing. Even when sometimes there was no meat at all and it was just bone broth with noodles, the flavor was still super. With the weather being so cold, she got to eat something warm every night. Considering she had an upcoming exam, Zhang Jin didn’t increase her training intensity; keeping up with the basic training was enough.

After three months of hard work, Chang Xi was able to keep up with the basic training. Although she could fall slightly behind sometimes, it was not a big deal compared to how she started—it was a vast improvement.

Even Fang Rou, who hadn’t participated in training, noticed that Chang Xi had lost a lot of weight. She had even helped adjust the waist of Chang Xi’s trousers because Luo Qianqian was hopeless with such tasks. When holding a needle, she didn’t know where to start, and even the pork slices she was trained to stitch by Qin Liang ended up terribly aligned, with the needle piercings being deep in some places and shallow in others.

Qin Liang lamented that if those were human wounds, the patient wouldn’t die from the ailment but would be tormented to death by such stitching. Luo Qianqian, on the other hand, didn’t feel an ounce of shame. She thought she had done quite well—after all, she wasn’t a professional, and managing to join two pieces into one was progress.

So, following that, Luo Qianqian was tasked with an additional assignment: sewing rags to practice her stitching.

”Right, I heard we’re having buns today. I wonder what kind of filling it’ll be.” Having finished her cream puff, Chang Xi felt blissful, full of happiness. She walked towards the canteen with Luo Qianqian, gossiping along the way.

Luo Qianqian pursed her lips, ”Cabbage with pork, shredded radish with shrimp skins, onion with egg.”

Those were the only three possibilities because, in the north during winter, the only vegetables stored in large quantities were cabbage, potatoes, radishes, and onions. Only a small amount of sweet potatoes was stored, as they couldn’t be cooked as a vegetable and were only used as a staple boiled. However, Luo Qianqian also occasionally enjoyed sweet potatoes roasted on the stove by Qin Liang, which also tasted very nice, fragrant and sweet.

”Being told like that by you, there’s really nothing to look forward to.” Chang Xi was stunned for a moment and smiled bitterly as she shook her lunch box, right, there were only a few varieties available. But there wasn’t much to complain about, as the unit only had four cooks responsible for the food for the entire unit, which was a massive amount of work. Making baozi could require waking up three or four hours early, or even staying up late the night before to prepare.

Why did she understand all this? She had Zhang Jin to thank for that. Unlike Luo Qianqian, Chang Xi was a fully developed woman, so, there were always those few days every month when she didn’t feel well and couldn’t do strenuous exercises. Zhang Jin, out of kindness, would arrange for her to help in the canteen. The people there were nice and didn’t bully her, letting her help with watching the fire and such, and wouldn’t make her touch cold water.

Luo Qianqian pursed her lips and smiled, rubbing her aching head from reading too much.

Lunch turned out to be exactly as Luo Qianqian had guessed, baozi filled with shredded radish and shrimp skins.

After lunch, Luo Qianqian very conscientiously shuffled back to Qin Liang’s office, her lunch box full of steaming-hot baozi.

Qin Liang was quite surprised that Luo Qianqian had brought back food, and touching his nose while looking at Luo Xiying with wide eyes, he said, ”How about I boil you some noodles? They’re easy to digest.”

”There’s nothing wrong with my stomach.” Luo Xiying picked up a baozi, took a bite, frowned as she finished it off, and dissatisfiedly asked, ”These kids are all still growing, can they really be okay with not even a bit of meat?”

”Brother, big brother, my dear brother, have you ever eaten baozi with radish and meat filling?” Qin Liang was speechless as he looked at Luo Qianqian, ”Go back to sleep, you’ve written all morning, don’t overexert yourself.”

Luo Qianqian nodded and said to Luo Xiying, ”Little uncle, please wash this after you’re done eating,” then left without looking back.

”This kid, how can she not understand to respect the old and love the young?” Luo Xiying was quite dissatisfied, and then he saw Bai Yixian and Qin Liang each happily eating a baozi, so he quickly secured the lunch box, ”This was given to me, if you want some, go get your own.”

Qin Liang rolled his eyes, if it weren’t for them, he would have gone to have his meal already, okay? Why would he have to sit here hungry?

”Honestly, I’m starting to crave roast duck.” Qin Liang sighed, ”You guys don’t know, when this girl arrived, she brought a whole roast duck, but gave it all to Wei Guang. That kid Wei Guang didn’t leave a single bite for me, ate it all up.”

”She must really regret it now.” Thinking of how eagerly Luo Qianqian had eaten her dessert earlier, Bai Yixian chuckled.

Luo Xiying nodded affirmatively, ”Definitely regretting not eating it herself, I suspect she might eat herself sick during the exams when she goes back.”

Qin Liang twisted his lips, ”Is it that serious? If nothing else, we do have meat here.” Even if he couldn’t get two pieces of meat in the communal meals, the midnight snacks almost always ended up in that girl’s stomach.

”One lunch box, not a single piece of meat in sight,” Luo Xiying pointed out, gesturing to the two remaining baozi in the lunch box.

Qin Liang was speechless.

Bai Yixian turned his head to look out of the window.