NFBE Chapter 1394 The taste of home
Chapter 1394 The taste of home
"I feel like this dish tastes so familiar, it's exactly the same as what my mom cooks. My mom loves to put tons of minced garlic in her vegetables, and you can tell just by smelling it!" The soldier said, picking at his food with a look of reminiscence.
“No way, I feel like this dish is poisonous. My dad’s cooking always tastes like this. It’s weird…” another soldier muttered half-jokingly, frowning.
Wang Chao, who had just come from the border, picked up a large mouthful of food with his chopsticks and savored it carefully. The moment it entered his mouth, his eyelids twitched slightly. Then, as if drawn by some magic, he quickly took several more large bites. As he ate, for some reason, tears began to flow uncontrollably.
That familiar taste... it was unmistakably the taste of his mother's cooking! Since going to northern Xinjiang, he hadn't been home for a very, very long time, and naturally, hadn't tasted his mother's cooking in ages. He used to think his mother's cooking was bad, too salty. But now, tasting that similar flavor again in this place far from home, he suddenly realized that this was the taste of home, a longing he could never sever no matter how far he went.
It was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the festive atmosphere easily evoked feelings of homesickness, especially for Wang Chao. Before he knew it, he had finished all the hot food on his plate.
Like Wang Chao, his comrades around him were also touched by the familiar taste and emptied their plates.
Just then, a deep, powerful roar came from the doorway: "Stand up!"
The next moment, as if by reflex, everyone stood up in unison. Their eyes turned to the doorway, where Chen Jun stood tall and straight. Everyone understood that an emergency assembly was about to begin.
Then, Chen Jun stepped to the side in front of everyone and made a gesture. Immediately afterward, Lao Fan led a group of people in slowly.
Of course, everyone's attention wasn't on Lao Fan, who had a beaming smile on his face, but rather... everyone's eyes were drawn to a group of people who walked in behind Lao Fan.
"Holy crap... Am I seeing things? Is this my mom?" A soldier stared wide-eyed, his face filled with disbelief.
"Old Deng, what brings you here..." another soldier exclaimed, both surprised and delighted.
"Holy crap, my parents actually came together. Are they going to give me a mixed doubles beating? I haven't been home for two years..." One soldier said with surprise and self-deprecation.
Although they said those words, these soldiers, who were usually so tough and resolute on the training field, instantly felt their eyes well up with tears when they saw their loved ones at the door. In truth, in front of their parents, they were still just children.
Wang Chao's mother hurried to him, extending her calloused yet incredibly warm hands to gently stroke his face, weathered by the biting winds of northern Xinjiang, as if it were a priceless treasure. Her body trembled slightly, and she murmured, "My child, my child..."
Wang Chao could no longer hold back; tears welled up in his eyes when his mother touched him.
"So many people are watching, Mom, don't cry. If you cry, I'll be even more unable to hold back. Why did you come all this way here?" Wang Chao asked, his voice choked with emotion, trying to hold back his tears.
"It was arranged by your superiors. They sent a special car to pick me up and bring me here to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival together. How was the food?" His mother's gaze was gentle and loving as she stared intently at Wang Chao.
"Great, excellent! This is the best food I've ever eaten." Wang Chao nodded vigorously. At this moment, this simple meal surpassed all the delicacies in the world in his heart.
On the other side, Chen Zhi, who was in the same unit as Wang Chao, saw that his father had also come.
"Old Deng, what brings you here?" Chen Zhi was both surprised and delighted, and hurriedly went to greet him.
"You brat, I forced you to join the army back then, do you still hold a grudge against your old man? It's been over two years, and you haven't come home to visit even once..." Chen Zhi's father looked at his son, his eyes filled with deep apology and a hint of reproach. Back then, this son was indeed quite disobedient, and it was he, as his father, who had forced him to join the army.
"Old Deng, I'm only grateful to you now. Alright, stop hitting me. I'm not the same as before. I can take on ten of you by myself." Chen Zhi joked with a smile, but his eyes were full of affection for his father.
"Oh ho, you're itching for a beating, aren't you?" The father pretended to be about to strike, but couldn't help laughing.
“Dad, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! I was disobedient and disappointing before, but I will definitely work hard to make you proud and make you the most outstanding guy in the whole village…” Chen Zhi said earnestly.
"More like the proudest old man, and the coolest kid too." The father said with a hint of disdain, but a smile of satisfaction appeared on his face. He could clearly feel that his son had grown up. Although he still loved to bicker with him, he could now understand his good intentions from back then. Moreover, he could see from his son that the past two years of military life had made him much more mature, though also more weathered...
Everyone was immersed in the joy of reuniting with their loved ones. The scene was lively, with some talking excitedly, some shedding tears of emotion, and some weeping with joy...
At that moment, Chen Jun's loud voice rang out again: "Your loved ones have traveled a long way to get here and have been busy all this time, without even having a hot meal yet. Now, please sit down and let's all enjoy a meal together. I wish you all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival!"
After a pause, Chen Jun said loudly, "Everyone is on holiday tonight. Spend the holiday with your families."
"Yes, thank you, sir!" All the soldiers' eyes were red, and they saluted Chen Jun in unison and with great force.