Chapter 400 Su Yue Cures All Dissent!

"Scholarship is for understanding principles," Lin Ruolan changed the subject, "but doing business is different. Merchants are profit-driven, and dealing with foreigners is like walking on thin ice. I've read your report on that bacteriophage; you're taking such big steps, aren't you afraid of getting involved in that...?"

She didn't say the last two words, but the meaning was clear.

This is a warning to Su Yue, implying that she is arrogant and ignorant, and may even be a questioning of her political stance.

Su Yue glanced at her through the rearview mirror.

"Second sister-in-law's words are interesting." Su Yue suddenly turned the steering wheel, avoiding a duck slowly crossing the road in the middle of the road, and the car shook violently. Lin Ruolan was caught off guard, her body swayed to one side, and her dignified posture instantly collapsed.

"Ouch!" Zhang Huilan exclaimed in fright, gripping the handrail tightly.

Su Yue steadied the car and said calmly, "This road is like this, full of potholes and ducks. To avoid overturning, you have to be quick and nimble. Just sitting in the car and spouting grand theories won't get you to your destination. As for how big your strides are, as long as you're on the right road, you can run however you want."

Lin Ruolan straightened herself, her face pale, and straightened her slightly disheveled collar before falling silent. But as she watched Su Yue's retreating figure, her scrutinizing gaze intensified.

The car drove into the residential compound where the Gu family lived.

Gu Pingan and Gu Ningjing were already waiting at the door.

The two little ones saw the jeep and cheered as they rushed over.

"Cousin! Is cousin here?" Gu Ping'an peered through the car window, his dirty little hands still clutching a cicada he had just caught.

Gu Sichen got out of the car and looked at her cousin, who was as black as charcoal and smelled of dirt. She subconsciously took a step back.

"Hello." Gu Sichen hugged her schoolbag tightly.

"I'll take you to catch crabs! There are so many on the mudflats over there!" Gu Ping'an enthusiastically reached out his hand, trying to pull Gu Sichen along.

“Peace!” Lin Ruolan suddenly spoke up, her voice rising slightly. “Sichen just arrived and hasn’t changed her clothes yet. Besides, those mudflats are full of bacteria and unsanitary.”

Gu Ping'an's hand froze in mid-air, and he looked at Su Yue somewhat at a loss.

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

Zhang Huilan rubbed her hands, about to smooth things over.

Su Yue walked over, put her arm around Gu Ping'an's shoulder, and took the cicada from his hand, twirling it between her fingers.

"Second sister-in-law is right. Sichen is a pampered girl from the capital. How can she be allowed to roll around in the mud like us wild children? Ping'an, go wash your hands. Mom will fry cicadas for you tonight."

"Fried cicadas?" Gu Sichen's eyes suddenly lit up, but she quickly suppressed it with her good upbringing, only her throat bobbing slightly.

This subtle movement did not escape Su Yue's eyes.

After settling in, Zhang Huilan went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Lin Ruolan sat on a wooden chair in the main room, holding a cup of cold tea poured by Su Yue, but did not drink it.

She looked around the somewhat simple but clean room, her gaze finally settling on a photograph of Gu Beiyu wearing fisherman's clothes and tanned dark.

Her fingertips tightened on the cup, her knuckles turning white.

"Bei Yu... does he usually live in places like this?" Lin Ruolan's voice trembled slightly.

“My second brother lives in the dormitory at the fishing station, and the conditions are much worse than this.” Su Yue sat opposite her, peeling a freshly picked lychee. “But he enjoys it. Last week when I went to deliver sunscreen, I saw him squatting on the bow of the boat with a few old fishermen mending nets, laughing louder than anyone else.”

Lin Ruolan's face darkened. "That's self-degradation. He's a top student from Peking University; his hands are for wielding pens, not for mending nets with shuttles."

"A pen can write articles, but it can't mend a net or catch fish." Su Yue handed the peeled lychee to Gu Sichen. The child hesitated for a moment, but still took it.

"Second sister-in-law, you came here this time to take him back, right?" Su Yue asked bluntly.

Lin Ruolan put down her cup, and the facade of politeness finally crumbled. "There's a research institute in Beijing that's short of a deputy director. If he's willing to humble himself, he can get a permanent position right back home. I don't understand what kind of magic this wretched island has that can make him abandon his home."

"Magic?" Su Yue smiled and stood up. "Perhaps Second Sister-in-law should go and see for herself. Just listening to me is useless. Tomorrow morning, I'll take you to the fishing station."

The atmosphere at the dinner table was strange.

Zhang Huilan prepared a large table of dishes, including steamed grouper, boiled shrimp, braised pork, and a plate of deep-fried cicada nymphs that Su Yue specially requested.

Gu Pingan and Gu Ningjing ate with their mouths full of oil.

Gu Sichen sat to the side, chopsticks in hand, staring at the plate of dark cicadas, wanting to try them but not daring to touch them.

Lin Ruolan only ate a few bites of vegetables, but hardly ate any rice.

"Second sister-in-law, this fish was sent by my second brother the day before yesterday. He said it was just caught at sea and he specially saved it for you to try." Su Yue placed a piece of fish face meat into Lin Ruolan's bowl.

Lin Ruolan stared at the piece of meat in a daze for a long time before finally picking it up and putting it in her mouth.

It has none of the fishy smell you might expect, only an extreme sweetness.

"He... still remembers to send me fish?" Lin Ruolan murmured softly, her voice as light as a breeze.

Su Yue didn't reply, but instead picked up a cicada nymph from Gu Sichen's plate: "Try it, it's high in protein, even more nutritious than beef. If you're not brave enough to eat it, just close your eyes and chew."

Gu Sichen glanced at her mother, who was eating politely, and seeing that she didn't object, she carefully took a bite.

With a crisp "crunch".

The child's eyes widened instantly, a result of the novelty of having his taste buds awakened.

Night falls.

Gu Sichen and Ping An slept in the same room, and the two children quickly started making a ruckus.

Lin Ruolan stayed in the guest room.

Su Yue was collecting clothes in the yard when she saw through the window that the guest room light was still on.

Lin Ruolan was sitting by the window, holding a photo of Gu Beiyu in her hand, looking at it again and again.

The prickly, porcupine-like noblewoman from the capital city had now slumped her shoulders, revealing a hint of desolation and vulnerability.

"It seems the winds of the capital haven't hardened her heart." Su Yue put the clothes into the basket and turned to go back inside.

the next day.

The jeep bounced like a mad rabbit on the gravel road.

Lin Ruolan gripped the roof railing tightly with one hand, while using the other to protect her delicate little leather bag, her body swaying from side to side as the car swayed.

One strand of that meticulously styled hair finally came loose and fell beside her ear, making her look somewhat disheveled.

Gu Sichen adapted quickly. After Gu Ping'an stuffed her mouth with White Rabbit milk candy, she was now leaning against the car window, pointing at the distant sea and shouting.

"Why hasn't this road been repaired yet?" Lin Ruolan finally couldn't help but ask, her stomach churning.

Su Yue kept a steady grip on the steering wheel, not even turning her head: "It's been repaired. The gravel was just laid the day before yesterday. To get rich, you must first build roads. But here, to make a fortune, you must first go to sea. It's okay if the road is a bit rough, as long as the boat is fast."

The car braked suddenly and stopped in front of a dock that reeked of fish.