"Wh-what... Brother Sanhu went to Southeast Asia..." Liang Siyu was shocked, her tongue was tied in knots, and she couldn't utter a coherent sentence for a long time.

The Su family members were also stunned. Why had they never heard of Su Sanhu going to Southeast Asia?

Su Hua raised her eyes to look at the woman, her eyes filled with coldness. "If anyone else from the village had come to borrow money today, I, Su Hua, would have lent them a penny without hesitation. But you, Liang Siyu, I won't lend you a single cent!"

The harm that Liang Siyu inflicted on Su Sanhu was not a simple physical injury, but rather a deep wound that had been planted in his heart.

Just like a patient with rheumatism, he would feel a dull ache when it was windy or rainy; otherwise, he wouldn't have wanted to escape to the army camp again because of Liang Siyu's entanglement.

Sincerity is worthless, yet it is the easiest thing to hurt.

After Danfeng saw that his young lady had finished speaking, he promptly "invited" Liang Siyu out.

In the courtyard, seeing that there were no outsiders, Madam Su Bai quickly looked at Su Hua, "Hua'er, Sanhu wants to go to Southeast Asia? When did this happen? How come I didn't know?"

The rest of the Su family members were also completely baffled.

They had only heard of Nanyang, but had never been there. They only knew that they traveled eastward from Tangshan Prefecture along the Yangtze River, passing through two prefectural cities before reaching the end of the river. Nanyang, on the other hand, involved taking a sea voyage south from the end of the river, passing through the vast ocean.

It would take at least two months to make just one trip.

As for the South Seas, they were not part of the territory of Yu the Great at all. The people there were all tall and strong, with blue eyes and hair all over their bodies like monkeys. They took pleasure in killing, and those who went there to run ships were risking their lives.

Looking at her family's worried eyes, Su Hua briefly explained how Liang Siyu and Meng Fu wanted the Su family's recipe for snails, and how they pretended to make Su Sanhu choose between the recipe and twenty taels of betrothal gifts.

As for the matter of her and Su Sanhu eavesdropping at the Meng family's house, she didn't mention it, since it wasn't a respectable thing and was unsuitable for children.

Upon hearing this, Su Bai was so angry that her chest heaved. "That little brat is willing to risk his life for a woman!"

For a woman like this, he'd abandon me, his mother, and his siblings. If I'd known he'd be like this, I would have just kept him inside me and never given birth, so he wouldn't have had to die for nothing.

When he gets back, I'll give him a good beating with a stick!

You little brat, you scoundrel, this is outrageous…

After Su Hua finished scolding her, she raised her hand and gently patted her back to calm her down. "Although Third Brother was a bit reckless before, he took after Mother and is loyal and righteous. Now he is becoming more and more mature every day and will definitely not be like before."

"Don't try to speak up for that brat. I know his personality. He's probably only clamoring to go to the army camp because of Liang Siyu." Su Bai sighed.

She had initially wavered upon hearing about the 'secret gate,' but now she was determined. "Hua'er, you can't be soft-hearted towards her anymore."

"This money must not be given. If it is, Liang Siyu will cling to me, and who knows how much trouble she'll cause later."

"Don't worry, Mother, I'm not the Leshan Giant Buddha." Su Hua nodded. "However, I need to inform Third Brother about this."

In this world, everything, from the smallest sip to the largest bite, is largely predetermined.

Liang Siyu has chosen this path herself, and she has no one to blame but herself. However, she is right about one thing: the bond she shared with Su Sanhu was real.

She is not Su Sanhu, and cannot make decisions for him.

After thinking for a moment, Su Bai finally nodded.

Immediately afterwards, Danfeng and Yuyu borrowed a carrier pigeon and sent a letter to Tangshan Prefecture.

For the next two days, the Su family stayed in their courtyard making sweet potato flour. The first batch of 2,000 catties of sweet potatoes produced about 600 catties of dried sweet potato flour. Su Hua asked Su Erhu to take one-third of it to Su's Restaurant for trial sales.

During this time, Feng's mother walked back and forth to the end of the village more than ten times, but each time she reached the narrow path, Da Bai and Da Hei heard her footsteps and chased her away.

On that day, which happened to be half a month after Su's Restaurant opened, Su Hua and Dai took a trip to Qingshui County. First, to see how the restaurant had been operating for the past two weeks, and second, to observe how the sweet potato noodles were received at the restaurant.

When the carriage arrived at the restaurant, it was around 9:00 AM, not yet lunchtime, but a small line of people had already formed in front of the restaurant.

Su Hua was sitting by the carriage window, about to get off, when she suddenly saw a small figure squatting by the wall outside the courtyard.

"Master, you've arrived!" Wang Ergou immediately came forward to greet the Su family's carriage.

Following the direction she was looking, when she saw Dong'er, she quickly smiled and said, "Miss, Dong'er has been very obedient these days and is willing to work. She helps wash vegetables at night and cleans the square in front of the restaurant during the day. She hasn't been lazy or shirking her duties..."

"Look at you, I'm not the kind of person who exploits child laborers." Su Hua found it somewhat amusing. If the person she brought was a cheat and sly one, it would only mean that she had poor judgment.

"What the boss says is true, I was being too attached to appearances." Wang Ergou scratched his big head in embarrassment.

"Alright! You go ahead and get busy, I'm just taking a walk." Su Hua shook her head and smiled, then started walking towards the east.

As they got closer, they could see that the previously skinny little guy seemed to have gained some weight. His face wasn't exactly a little dumpling, but it no longer just had a pair of big eyes.

Those big eyes were fixed on the direction of Meng's noodle shop.

Su Hua looked in his direction and saw only two tightly closed doors; there wasn't a single bird in sight.

She immediately raised an eyebrow. "What is Dong'er looking at?"

The sudden sound startled the little girl, who jumped to her feet, looked up at the familiar face, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Sister Dongjia, you've come!"

Su Hua smiled and nodded. "Have you been settling in well with the food and lodging at the restaurants these past few days?"

"Yes, yes, yes, Dong'er is doing very well at the restaurant." Upon hearing this, Dong'er immediately nodded emphatically, her little face full of smiles. "At the restaurant, Dong'er not only has plenty of food and new clothes to wear, but the older brothers and sisters also take good care of me, just like at home. It's very, very good."

The child's innocent words made Su Hua chuckle. She then pointed to the noodle shop across the street and asked, "Was Dong'er from the North before? Does he like noodles?"

"No, no." Dong'er shook his head. "My parents were originally from Qingshui County. It's not that Dong'er likes noodles, it's that he misses the taste of his parents' cooking."

"The taste of my parents?" Su Hua raised her eyebrows, not understanding what he meant for a moment.

Dong'er looked towards Meng's noodle shop, her big eyes filled with nostalgia, "The noodle soup at the noodle shop across the street tastes exactly the same as the noodle soup my parents used to make for me when they were alive."