Chapter 307 The Chill on His Face is Comparable to the Biting Wind at the Border

Chapter 307: His icy expression rivaled the harsh winds of the frontier.

The atmosphere in the car became much livelier afterward.

Everyone could chat normally again.

The two children were very interested in Li Lifeng's life on the frontier, bombarding him with questions about everything under the sun.

Li Lifeng answered each one with great patience.

Xiao Lu drove very slowly, and by the time the group returned to the base, it was already past six in the evening.

Before leaving in the morning, Fu Zhengtu had mentioned that he would go straight to the canteen after work to bring back dinner.

Coincidentally, just as Su Taotao and the others arrived, Fu Zhengtu and Fu Yuanhang happened to be returning with food containers, meeting them on the flight of stone steps.

Uncle Mu was with them too.

"Daddy~~" Chenchen rushed over first.

Fu Zhengtu raised the food containers. "Careful, it’s hot!"

Chenchen usually charged ahead with no brakes, but luckily Uncle Mu reacted quickly, stepping forward to catch the little one.

Proudly pointing at Li Lifeng, who was holding *Pangpang*, Chenchen said, "Daddy, we brought *Pangpang*’s daddy back! It’s your job to teach him the ropes of fatherhood now~~"

Fu Zhengtu: "..."

Uncle Mu couldn’t help laughing. "Chenchen, you’re quite the bossy boots, assigning tasks now."

Chenchen nodded. "Yep~~ Uncle Mu, you have a task too~~"

Uncle Mu laughed even harder. "I have a task too? What is it? Let’s hear it."

"Find a little puppy for *Pangpang*, just like Baibai~~" Chenchen said.

Uncle Mu: "What? Where am I supposed to find a puppy?"

Chenchen blinked. "Uncle Mu, you’re lying! You promised Dongdong before that you’d find him a puppy~~"

Uncle Mu: "..."

Xia Zhiqiu and Zhang Chuncheng happened to be returning from the canteen with dinner as well. Dongdong hadn’t had dinner with his father for several days, so when he suddenly heard his name, he dashed over:

"Lying? Uncle Mu, what did you lie to me about?"

Without waiting for Uncle Mu to answer, Dongdong grabbed Chenchen by the leg. "Chenchen, you’re finally back!"

"Yep~~" Chenchen squirmed to be put down but still reminded Uncle Mu, "Uncle Mu, don’t forget about the puppy~~"

"Oh yeah," Dongdong remembered too. "Uncle Mu, hasn’t my puppy been born yet?"

Uncle Mu was at his wit’s end. "Not yet, not yet! Once the mother dog gives birth, I’ll definitely get one from Uncle Kang Zi!"

With that, Uncle Mu ran off—his head was pounding.

Su Taotao walked over, smiling, and patted Chenchen’s little head. "We’ll talk more at home."

Fu Zhengtu acknowledged Li Lifeng with a nod.

Li Lifeng looked at Fu Zhengtu gratefully and called out, "Fu."

Chenchen and Dongdong walked hand in hand to him: "Mister, this is Dongdong, he's also Pangpang's good friend~~"

Li Lifeng was flattered and quickly nodded at Dongdong: "Hello."

"Dongdong, this is Pangpang's dad, Uncle Li~~"

"Ah?" Dongdong took two steps back, tilting his head to look at Li Lifeng, frowning as he said, "You're so dark?"

Xia Zhiqiu was both amused and exasperated, gently patting the back of his head: "That's not nice. Call him Uncle Li."

Dongdong wrinkled his little nose, unafraid, and continued, "And kinda scary. You don’t hit Pangpang too, do you?"

Li Lifeng was both moved and saddened, shaking his head: "I don’t hit anyone."

He was moved that Pangpang had made good friends, but saddened that everyone knew Pangpang had been beaten and worried it might happen again.

Chenchen said, "I think he couldn't take my dad. If he dares to hit Pangpang, I’ll have my dad hit him~~"

Dongdong nodded emphatically: "My dad's not good at much, but he probably knows how to fight. I’ll ask him to help too."

Zhang Chuncheng: "Hey now, I haven't done anything to you kids!"

Su Taotao took Chenchen’s hand: "Alright, alright, if we don’t go home soon, the food will get cold."

...

Li Lifeng hadn’t expected the residential area to be so lively.

It was his first time seeing such a close-knit community.

Life at the border was tough—so tough that there was no time to feel the warmth or coldness of human connections. Just putting food on the table and clothes on your back was hard enough.

Things were pretty crazy out there, but here, there was no sense of tension. Everyone wore genuine smiles.

It was like that Peach Blossom Spring paradise—a bridge and a checkpoint separating them from the outside world. Everyone lived and worked in peace and contentment.

It was a warmth he had never experienced before. If only he hadn't trusted the wrong person, his child could have been very happy.

Dinner was eaten at Su Taotao’s house. Xia Zhiqiu and the others had deliberately brought extra food, so their family of three stayed to eat together.

Su Taotao whipped up some flatbreads and had Fu Yuanhang preheat the oven to bake some sweet potatoes, potatoes, and other coarse grains.

Everyone ate until they were full, and only then did the dinner come to an end.

Mo Jiazhe heard that Pangpang’s biological father had arrived and came down with Uncle Mu to join in the fun.

Mainly to see what sort of person Li Lifeng was.

Where there was a gathering, Auntie Zhong couldn’t be absent. Not only did she come, but she also brought a huge bag of sunflower seeds and peanuts.

It had been so long since Su Taotao moved in, but this was the first time her little courtyard was so lively.

Fu Yuanhang and Uncle Mu took the three kids to listen to some radio programs.

The adults sat around chatting.

After Chenchen said he smelled bad, Li Lifeng had been particularly embarrassed. As soon as he arrived, he used Su Taotao’s bathroom to take a shower and changed into clean clothes.

Dongdong studied him for a while and said he seemed a little whiter after the bath and less intimidating.

Li Lifeng was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Although everyone had Pangpang’s best interests at heart, they felt too embarrassed to grill Li Lifeng for answers.

At least for now, he seemed like a reliable person.

They had already learned what they needed to know, and harping on the past was pointless. What mattered most was living well in the present and the future.

"Your transfer order won’t come that quickly. It’ll take at least until next month," Fu Zhengtu said.

Li Lifeng nodded. "I know. I haven’t taken any leave in years. This time, I was granted over twenty days of home leave. Once the transfer order reaches the border, the process will be complete."

"Given your situation, you’ll have to share a courtyard with others first. One of the rooms will have to accommodate an unmarried male comrade. Any issues with that?" Fu Zhengtu asked.

Li Lifeng shook his head. "No problem at all. I’ll comply with the organization’s arrangements. Even if I’m just given a spot to crash on the floor, this environment is already so much better than the border. I can sleep anywhere."

"You might be fine anywhere, but what about Pangpang?" Auntie Zhong teased. "If you’re willing, I wouldn’t mind Pangpang staying with Uncle Mu all the time."

"No way!" Uncle Mu raised his hand. "Pangpang is a fidgety sleeper—he takes up too much space and keeps hogging my blanket!"

Pangpang blinked. "Wait, you’re the one who tucked me in! You even hug me while sleeping—I was roasting!"

Uncle Mu looked at him speechlessly. "You stole it! You insisted on hugging my blanket to sleep. I just wanted my blanket back!"

Uncle Mu also had a habit of hugging his blanket while sleeping. With Pangpang stealing it, he had nothing to hold, so sometimes he unconsciously ended up hugging Pangpang instead.

Auntie Zhong couldn’t help but say, "That tattered blanket of yours—you’ve clung to it since you were a kid, and it’s been stitched up countless times. Yet you still refuse to throw it away."

If Auntie Zhong of all people wanted to toss it, one could imagine how worn-out it was.

"No, no! I love it. I don’t want any other blanket!"

Auntie Zhong sighed. "This Li Qiuju—abandoning Pangpang was bad enough, but she didn’t even leave him his blankets or clothes. If it weren’t for the many kids in our residential compound, Pangpang wouldn’t even have clothes to wear for a while..."

"Auntie Zhong..." Su Taotao gave her a slight shake of her head.

Auntie Zhong didn’t understand and turned to look at Li Lifeng.

The moment Li Lifeng heard the name "Li Qiuju," the ice in his expression was already as biting as the harsh winds of the border...