Qiao Mei smiled as she sat under the shade of the tree and watched the soldiers scrambling to get their food. The junior soldier from the cookhouse ran to Qiao Mei as he panted.

“Sister-in-law, come try this. The food that’s made by the cookhouse today is very fragrant!” Beads of sweat rolled down the junior soldier’s face.

Qiao Mei looked at the junior soldier in front of her. The clothes on his back were drenched in sweat. He had very tanned skin, and a simple and honest smile. The mess tin in his hand was very clean and filled with all kinds of dishes, especially meat. In the army, meat was especially scarce and yet they were willing to give it to her to eat.

Qiao Mei quickly shook her head and said, “You guys gave me too much. Quickly bring it back for everyone else to eat.”

The junior soldier looked at Qiao Mei very seriously and said, “Sister-in-law! Don’t worry and just eat it! There’s still a lot left in the pots. I’ll leave it here for you. I need to go back, there’s still lots of work!”

The junior soldier hurriedly placed the mess tin on a stool at the side and ran back, afraid that Qiao Mei would stop him if he was even a second slower.

Qiao Mei shook her head helplessly and smiled as she looked in the direction that the junior soldier had left in, and then at the mess tin beside her. She could feel everyone’s care and love for her contained in it.

Qiao Mei happily returned to the tent with the mess tin and waited for Xia Zhe to come back to share it with her. Otherwise, she would definitely not be able to finish it herself and it would be wasteful.

After Xia Zhe and Zhuang Hua finished talking and made arrangements for the evacuation, he returned to his tent. He thought that Qiao Mei must be very bored staying in the tent alone.

Unexpectedly, before he even entered the tent, he could hear Qiao Mei singing in the tent. He could not tell what she was doing, but she sounded very happy.

Xia Zhe opened the tent door and saw that Qiao Mei was looking at a metal mess tin filled with meat and singing a song he could not recognize.

“Hey! You’re back! Hurry up, come and eat!” Qiao Mei’s eyes lit up when she saw Xia Zhe.

Xia Zhe took off his jacket and sat beside Qiao Mei. “What made you so happy?”

“Oh, let me tell you, I originally wanted to go to the cookhouse to take a look and help out. In the end, they didn’t let me help and instead gave me lunch with a lot of meat!” Qiao Mei indicated with her small hands to show how much meat there was.

Qiao Mei’s cute gesture left Xia Zhe in a good mood as well. He reached out to pat her head and asked, “Then why aren’t you eating? You just sit here looking at it.”

At the mention of this, Qiao Mei pouted and said, “All because I’m waiting for you…”

Xia Zhe thought his heart would melt. Although Qiao Mei was mostly a forthright person when she interacted with other people, she behaved like a little girl in front of Xia Zhe and he was just full of tender affection for her.

“Yes, yes, yes. It’s my fault. I’ll come back earlier next time. Hurry up and eat.” Xia Zhe handed the chopsticks to Qiao Mei.

Qiao Mei picked up a piece of meat and placed it by Xia Zhe’s mouth. “Try it quickly!”

Xia Zhe smiled and opened his mouth to eat it. He muttered, “You eat it. This is quite delicious.”

Hearing from Xia Zhe that it was tasty, Qiao Mei did not stand on ceremony and started eating. She suddenly thought of something else and ran to her bag to take out a glass jar filled with pickled radishes.

“Aye, I can’t remember who said that my pickled radishes don’t taste nice. Isn’t that right, Commander Xia?” Qiao Mei said enigmatically.

Xia Zhe also recalled what happened that day. At that time, he did not recognize Qiao Mei and just made a casual remark. He did not expect this little girl to bear a grudge.

“No way. It’s definitely not me,” Xia Zhe looked at Qiao Mei and answered tentatively.

Qiao Mei opened the jar and took out a piece of pickle. She waved it in front of Xia Zhe a few times before eating it, leaving Xia Zhe sitting on the spot with a helpless expression. He wondered how to deal with a troublemaker like Qiao Mei.

“My little ancestor, please spare me. I didn’t know it was you back then,” Xia Zhe said as he held Qiao Mei’s hand.

As the saying went, heroes could not resist the charms of beautiful women. For Qiao Mei though, the beautiful woman could not resist the charm of the hero.

Looking at Xia Zhe’s handsome face, coupled with his deep voice, she was unable to remain angry anymore. Besides, she was just joking and did not really want to ask Xia Zhe for an explanation.