Rebirth Counterattack with Space

Lu Yun suddenly realized that she was being scorned for walking too slowly and missing the meal. She couldn’t help but chuckle, "Then let’s hurry up."

As she picked up the pace, she felt an urge to laugh and asked Wen Shan, "Aren’t you also just arrived today? How do you know about this so well?"

"People who practice martial arts always have big appetites, and it’s probably the same for the guards here. If you’re even a little slow when eating, you’re likely not to get enough. So during meal times, if you don’t scramble, you go hungry," Wen Shan shared her lesson.

Even Su Qiaoling, who usually didn’t show much expression, couldn’t help but laugh after hearing this.

Lu Yun suddenly became intrigued and stopped admiring the scenery, recalling that Shitou once complained about being too absorbed in his research at the institute and missing meal times, ending up with nothing to eat in the cafeteria. She remembered he didn’t wait for himself to make plain noodles to eat.

She chuckled, also finding it odd, "If there’s not enough food, why not just make more?"

"You’ll understand once you see it. For those with high metabolisms, their stomachs are like bottomless pits that never think there’s too much food, no matter how much they put down. Where we’re from, most people can finish a large bowl of rice in less than a minute, and they can eat three or four bowls in one meal. If we’re having steamed buns or dumplings, each person at least needs a dozen or so. Not only can they eat a lot, but they’re also fast," Wen Shan explained with a heavy laugh in her eyes, "And despite eating like that every day, everyone still remains skinny as a rail, and it’s a mystery where all the food goes."

Lu Yun was astounded at the thought of that scene. Of course, she believed Wen Shan wouldn’t lie to her, "Do the women eat that much as well?"

"Pretty much the same," Wen Shan nodded.

"Makes sense, based on your training intensity, it’s normal to eat more. Definitely not the same as us regular girls. But Shitou did tell me about something once. It was during his military training at the start of university, when one of his classmates threw a half-eaten bun straight into the swill bucket.

The training instructor who happened to pass by saw the bun in the bucket and asked who did it, but no one dared to stand up and admit it. So, the instructor gathered everyone around the swill bucket to give them a lecture,

Then he picked up a piece of the bun from the bucket, broke off a piece and ate it, and then passed the bun to the next person. That day, they ended up eating all the buns in the bucket while standing around it.

After that, during the military training period, no one in his class wasted food ever again. When I heard this, I thought it was quite admirable, the way that instructor handled it."

Picking up a bun from the swill bucket and eating it without changing expression indeed takes a courage not everyone possesses.

"Many of the instructors who train university students now come from our security company. Wastefulness tends to happen more among students who have just started military training. If it’s not nipped in the bud straight away, it might recur. So, it’s common to deal with it that way," Wen Shan said casually.

Wen Shan chuckled, "Don’t think eating buns from a swill bucket requires courage, you haven’t seen people eat live bugs with a straight face during their wilderness survival training yet."

Lu Yun: "..."

She suddenly regretted bringing up this topic right before mealtime.

Fortunately, the cafeteria wasn’t too far from the family compound, and the three of them chatted away and arrived without even realizing it. When they arrived, Lu Yun noticed that the cafeteria was indeed quite spacious.

Su Qiaoling, Wen Shan, and Lu Yun walked in and found many of the institute’s researchers and assistants already dining.

Lu Yun checked the time and saw that there were still seven or eight minutes left until twelve o’clock. Inside the cafeteria, the staff were busily prepping meals in an orderly fashion.

Su Qiaoling and Wen Shan told Lu Yun to find a place to sit while the two of them quickly got their food trays and brought back three servings of food. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Lu Yun saw that besides a box mostly filled with white rice, there were only two dishes, stir-fried cabbage with cured meat, and stir-fried pork with potatoes, neither of which had much oil.

The soup was seaweed egg drop soup with thin slices of egg that looked like they couldn’t even be scooped up, to say nothing of an oily sheen.

"Is this how everyone’s meals are?" Lu Yun was shocked and suddenly stood up.

"Yeah, it’s actually pretty good. There’s meat in both dishes, not just vegetables." Wen Shan laughed, obviously quite satisfied with the food, and even Su Qiaoling nodded.

"But this is simply--"

Lu Yun clenched her teeth and swallowed the rest of her words. The portions of meat in the dishes were far from what she had imagined; they couldn’t possibly meet the high energy demands of her body after taking a medicinal bath.

Lu Yun’s face grew stern. She wondered if the members of Dragon Squad also ate in this cafeteria. Had Shitou realized this yet?

Seeing that Lu Yun’s expression was very troubled, Su Qiaoling and Wen Shan exchanged looks and both shook their heads silently, indicating they didn’t understand.

"I want to see Shitou. Do you know where I can find him?" Lu Yun hesitated but then decided that, whether Shitou had noticed or not, it was necessary for her to remind him again.

Before the food issue was resolved, she might as well postpone the medicinal bath.

"We know." Both Su Qiaoling and Wen Shan remembered that Shitou had said if Lu Yun asked to see him, he would be available at any time.

"Let’s eat first, and we’ll go see him in the afternoon." Lu Yun began to shovel food into her mouth, her mind wandering, still pondering where things had gone wrong.

--

Capital City.

Ever since Lu Yun left her side, Xia Yuan had been in a daze. When alone, or even in front of Lu Aiguo, she sighed and occasionally burst into tears when thoughts overwhelmed her.

Lu Aiguo saw the pain in her eyes and felt deeply uncomfortable. He mainly pitied his wife and tried to console her. "Xiaoyun will come back. Just think of it as if she’s leaving home early to get married, right?"

"It’s precisely because I’m thinking of her getting married and not being able to stay with me anymore that my heart aches... You wouldn’t understand a mother’s feelings," Xia Yuan pushed Lu Aiguo away and sniffed, "I’m fine, just let me cry by myself for a while."

"..."

How could he just let his wife cry alone? Lu Aiguo was at a loss and could only hold her, comforting her patiently, "It’s alright, if you want to cry, just lean on me. I’ll keep quiet so I don’t annoy you."

Xia Yuan suddenly laughed, unable to cry anymore, and gave him a gentle pat, "How can I cry when you’re like this?"

"Then let’s not cry. Look, your eyes are already red. Be careful not to swell up by tomorrow. Jinsheng will tease you if he knows you’ve been crying."

Shitou teased her, and he only mentioned Lu Jinsheng because Lu Jinsheng’s uncle and aunt, along with his other uncle and aunt, were living in the villa. Their three families usually went about their daily routines—school and work—and only stayed at the villa on weekends.

"Jinsheng isn’t that bad. He’d only feel sorry for me," Xia Yuan glared at Lu Aiguo, "Don’t try to drive a wedge between my son and me."

"Alright, alright, I was wrong, okay?" As long as his wife stopped crying, Lu Aiguo felt that anything was acceptable.

"Of course, you were wrong." Xia Yuan had long been "bullying" Lu Aiguo, though he also quite enjoyed being "bullied" by her.