Ye Hao and the others arrived at the cafeteria. Sun Chaoshu was still planning to order meat dishes when he realized there were none, only stewed potatoes with vermicelli and braised cabbage with vermicelli.
Ye Hao understood that the whole country was short on food at this time, and having these was already quite good.
In the end, everyone ordered three large basins of dishes, one basin of steamed corn buns, and one basin of white flour steamed buns. It wasn't that Sun Chaoshu didn't want to order all white flour steamed buns; it was all they had. The white flour steamed buns certainly wouldn't be enough for everyone, as they were all young people still growing and ate a lot.
Huang Su Su asked the cafeteria for a large bowl, scooped some dishes, and took two white flour steamed buns. She said to everyone, "You all eat first. I'm going to take some food to Yuan Hang. I'll pay for our meal." With that, she left the cafeteria, holding the bowl.
Ye Hao just shook his head at this scene, but Tang Zilan, with her fiery temper, almost couldn't hold back. Just as she was about to get up and say something to Huang Su Su, Ye Hao stopped her. "Their own business, you don't need to interfere." Ye Hao shook his head at Tang Zilan. Tang Zilan still wanted to say something, but Sun Chaoshu handed her a white flour steamed bun and said, "Zilan, eat first. How long has it been since we had something hot?" Seeing that no one else said anything, Tang Zilan had no choice but to sit down and eat.
"I didn't expect this braised cabbage with vermicelli to be quite tasty," Zuo Lei said, trying to ease the somewhat awkward atmosphere.
"You're just hungry. You haven't had anything hot for several days, that's why you say that. This dish has no oil, and so little salt," Niu Jianwen replied, seemingly not understanding Zuo Lei's intention.
Zuo Lei's small face puffed up in anger, and she stopped speaking. Ye Hao found it amusing; Zuo Lei was quite cute when she got angry.
The meal ended in such an atmosphere.
Perhaps tired from the journey, everyone returned to their rooms to wash up and lie down after eating. Ye Hao had originally wanted to go for a walk, but seeing everyone return to their rooms to rest, he didn't go out either and lay down to sleep peacefully.
However, when he returned, seeing the bowls and chopsticks on the table, he knew that Zhao Yuanhang had eaten the food Huang Su Su brought him. He had thought he was someone who didn't partake in worldly pleasures, but in the end, he couldn't escape the 'it tastes so good'law.
The night passed without incident. The next morning, Ye Hao woke up early and went for a run, which was his daily morning exercise, a habit Ye Hao had developed recently.
Ye Hao returned to find everyone still sleeping and didn't wake them. He went to the cafeteria alone, ordered a bowl of noodles, and started eating. While Ye Hao was waiting for his noodles, Huang Su Su walked in from outside, still holding the bowl she had borrowed from the cafeteria yesterday. It seemed she was there to return the bowl.
Ye Hao glanced at her and ignored her, but then Huang Su Su walked towards Ye Hao.
Approaching, Huang Su Su spoke, "Comrade Ye Hao, do you have any extra national grain coupons? I didn't bring too many when I came out. Could I exchange some with you? I'll pay with money."
"Yes, how much do you need?"
"Just one catty will do." Saying this, Huang Su Su took out a pile of loose change, all one-fen, two-fen, one-jiao, two-jiao coins, with the largest denomination being only five-jiao.
Huang Su Su somewhat shyly counted the money and handed it to Ye Hao. Ye Hao handed the grain coupons to Huang Su Su without saying anything.
Huang Su Su took the grain coupons to the attendant and bought two white flour steamed buns and two steamed corn buns. Huang Su Su first wrapped the two white flour steamed buns in newspaper, while she herself ate a steamed corn bun.
Ye Hao just shook his head at this scene. This kind of behavior would be called 'licking the dog' in later generations, but in later generations, it was usually men who acted this way.
After Huang Su Su finished her steamed corn bun, she started walking back. As she passed Ye Hao, she said thank you to him and left.
Before Ye Hao had finished his noodles, he saw Sun Chaoshu walk into the cafeteria, yawning. He walked straight to Ye Hao's table, sat down, and said loudly, "Get me a bowl of noodles too."
"Brother Hao, you got up to eat and didn't call me. It was Huang Su Su who woke me up when she came to our room to get yesterday's bowl," Sun Chaoshu complained.
"I got up early. I already went for a run and came back. When I got up, you were sleeping like a dead pig, so I couldn't bear to wake you up so early. I was planning to bring you two steamed buns after I finished eating."
"Brother Hao, that Zhao Yuanhang really stepped in dog poop to meet such a good partner. She brought him food last night, and when I came just now, I saw her bring Zhao Yuanhang two more steamed buns," Sun Chaoshu said with some envy.
"What? You're envious? Don't get involved in their business. Just take care of yourself." Ye Hao was afraid Sun Chaoshu would be nosy, so he gave him a heads-up.
"Brother Hao, don't worry, I'm just saying. I have serious business to do now, and I don't have time to meddle in their affairs." He said, winking at Ye Hao.
As soon as Ye Hao saw Sun Chaoshu's expression, he knew what he meant.
"Let me remind you, Tang Zilan is not that easy to subdue, and she's been practicing combat since childhood. Be careful not to get beaten so badly you can't get up. With your thin arms and legs, I think she could knock you down with one hand," Ye Hao said, looking at Sun Chaoshu teasingly.
"Go away, go away, what nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean 'subdue'? That sounds so unpleasant. Although I can't beat her, I want to move her with sincerity. I'm pursuing her, not looking for a fight."
"Alright, alright, you move her. Just be careful, this kind of woman is very hard to win over. Hurry up and eat."
After Sun Chaoshu finished eating, he bought two more white flour steamed buns from the attendant.
The two returned to the guesthouse and saw that everyone was awake. Huang Su Su was packing Zhao Yuanhang's luggage, while the others were taking out dry food from their luggage to eat.
Sun Chaoshu went to the girls' room and saw that they were all awake. Tang Zilan and Zuo Lei were sitting on the bed chatting. He knocked on the door. The two heard the knock, turned their heads, saw it was Sun Chaoshu, and let him in.
"Zilan, these are the steamed buns I brought for you. They're still warm, eat them while they're hot." Sun Chaoshu quickly handed over the steamed buns in his hand, looking ingratiating.
"Oh, Zilan, eat them while they're hot. I say, Sun Chaoshu, you're not having good intentions, are you? Only Zilan has some, not me?" Zuo Lei mimicked Sun Chaoshu's voice.
This made Sun Chaoshu blush. "How could that be? One for each, one for each. Didn't I go to have breakfast with Brother Hao and brought these for you all?" he quickly explained.
Tang Zilan also saw Sun Chaoshu's embarrassment and quickly smoothed things over: "Thank you. Lei Lei and I were just wondering if we should go to the cafeteria to eat, and you brought them over. You've gone to so much trouble." Saying this, she took the steamed buns from Sun Chaoshu's hand, handed one to Zuo Lei, and Zuo Lei, not being polite, ate it right in front of Sun Chaoshu.
Sun Chaoshu glanced at Tang Zilan and saw Tang Zilan looking at him with a smile, immediately feeling a bit flushed. He lowered his head and said, "You two eat first, I'll go back now."
After speaking, he turned and left, thinking to himself: How embarrassing, Sun Chaoshu, how could you be so useless? You're usually fearless, why are you such a coward today?
Ye Hao saw Sun Chaoshu walk out of the girls' room with his head down, and pulled Sun Chaoshu aside, saying, "What's wrong? Were you rejected?"
"No, it's just..." Sun Chaoshu recounted what had just happened to Ye Hao.
Ye Hao burst out laughing after hearing it.
"Chao Shu, when did you become shy, haha, you're killing me with laughter."
"Brother Hao, you're still making fun of me. You don't know how embarrassed I was then."
"Haha, alright, no more laughing. Chao Shu, I didn't expect you to have such a side. Since Tang Zilan didn't reject you, it proves she doesn't dislike you. Keep up the good work." Ye Hao encouraged Sun Chaoshu.