Yun Xi had specially picked out the best hotpot seasoning and brought it over. In less than ten minutes, the fragrance of the Hotpot had already spread everywhere.
“This meat should be very expensive, right? I’m really sorry to make you spend so much. Actually, the specialty I gave you isn’t worth much. I just want to talk to you for a few minutes.”
Zhang Ling looked at the exquisite meat in the hotpot and held the ointment that Yun Xi gave her in her hand. She felt a little embarrassed.
“It doesn’t matter. The soldiers are all brothers. Then we can be considered sisters.”
“I think you’re quite young, and you’re so beautiful. Unlike me, who’s old and not good-looking, I can even be your aunt.”
“No way! I think we’re about the same age, don’t underestimate yourself!”
Yun Xi asked Zhang Ling if she had anything to avoid and then began to add her favorite ingredients to the bottom of the hot pot.
“I’m already 34 this year, and my best years of youth have passed…” Zhang Ling said with some nostalgia.
“34 years old is not old! This is the best age! There are no longer young people, and the body is in the most energetic period.”
Yun Xi was also good at comforting people.
“Sigh!” Zhang Ling sighed heavily again.
“Eat quickly, eat quickly! This beef is freshly cut. You only need to boil it in the soup for 30 seconds, and then take it out.”
Eating hotpot was originally a happy thing, and Yun Xi did not want Zhang Ling to keep recalling those bad memories.
Zhang Ling followed Yun Xi’s instructions and picked up a piece of beef and placed it in the soup. The outer layer of the beef was covered with egg liquid. Now, when it was placed in the soup and lightly soaked, the surface of the beef was covered with a layer of egg.
It looked very nice, and Zhang Ling was a little stunned. This was the first time in her many years of life that she had eaten beef like this.
“Mm, it’s really delicious! Thank you so much for inviting me to eat hot pot today. I don’t have many friends. From now on, you’ll be my best friend.”
Yun Xi’s hand that was holding the chopsticks trembled.
The way to express good feelings between people was to eat together. She did not expect Zhang Ling to be so lacking in love. After just eating a hot pot, she had become her best friend.
“Actually, I lied to you. I have already been in the military region for more than half a year.”
The steam at the bottom of the spicy hot pot was somewhat choking her eyes. Zhang Ling’s eyes had unknowingly turned red.
Yun Xi did not speak. Now, all she could do was listen.
“When I was 20 years old, I married my husband. I watched him change from an ordinary soldier to a vice company commander of the new recruit company. I was just an ordinary housewife. I wanted to live with my husband and children, but…”
At this point, Zhang Ling began to sob.
“When my child was seven years old, he was kidnapped by human traffickers. We husband and wife tried all means to find our kidnapped child, but to no avail.”
In this era, surveillance was not widespread. Many criminals took the opportunity to commit crimes.
At that time, there were a lot of criminals abducting and selling people. Some of them sold the children into the mountains and forests to be the children of other people. This situation was considered good.
Some criminals even cut off the children’s hands and feet and let them beg on the streets. They would then give the money back to the criminals. If they could beg for money, they would get a full meal. If they could not beg for money, not only would they not be able to eat, they would even be beaten up.
“So, you’ve been staying in the military area all this time to think of ways to find the kidnapped child with your husband?” Yun Xi asked.
“No. My child has been missing for more than two years. In these two years, we’ve tried all kinds of ways to find the child. We put up a lot of posters along the way, but in the end, it was like a stone sinking into the sea.”
The smell of hotpot could not hide the sadness in Zhang Ling.
