59.059 Thoughts

Su Yu was worried that Xiao Yuan's grandmother would cause trouble again, but this time she guessed wrong. She asked the neighbors if any strangers had come to her house, and the answer was no. So Su Yu stopped taking Xiao Yuan and Ping An to the orchard.

It wasn't until a month later that she heard the follow-up from Boss Xu. His hand was ruined at the quarry, and when the quarry was going to dismiss him by paying compensation, he suddenly became smart and refused the money. He asked the quarry to transfer him back to the office, with his salary remaining at the same level. He insisted that he didn't want money, just work, and in the end, the result was as he wished.

As for why Xiao Yuan's grandmother didn't have any wild ideas, it might be because she learned her lesson from what happened to Xu Lao San, or it might be because Xu Lao Da stopped her. Su Yu leans towards the latter guess, after all, if Xu Lao Da doesn't want to go back to farming, he can only hold on to this job tightly, and he is more afraid than anyone else of being reported and losing his job again.

Su Yu hadn't kept Xu Laoda's situation a secret from Xiao Yuan from the beginning. Firstly, it showed her stance, and secondly, it tested his attitude. As it turned out, he wasn't a child without principles. Aside from the initial shock, when he heard that Xu Laoda's left hand was crippled, he only frowned slightly, without actively inquiring or showing any sadness for his blood-related uncle. He continued eating and playing as usual.

When the oranges started to ripen, Xiao Yuan, Ping An, and Er Ya entered the second grade of elementary school. Some went to school, some went to work, and during the day, when it wasn't mealtime, there was only Xiao Hei, the dog, at home.

It was time for Su Yu to take stock of the results of her six months of hard work.

Two half-green, half-yellow oranges were placed on the table in the shade. Su Yu peeled the oranges she had picked, without even removing the white pith, and divided them into four pieces, giving them to the other three people.

"It's not sour, much sweeter than in previous years." Qiu Fuli took the orange that Liu Quan had peeled, tasted it, and said, "It's still not as sweet as a normal orange, but it's much sweeter now. You're still in charge of the orange trees on that hill. We'll see if we continue to adjust the sourness next year or what."

On the other side of the table, Yu Yuan'an and Liu Quan each ate their two portions of oranges. Yu Yuan'an squeezed the peel of an orange and said, "Good thing, each generation is better than the last. I spent three years on those orange trees, trying everything I could, but I couldn't stop them from getting sourer every year. On the contrary, the fruit got smaller and smaller, and the peel was so thick that they wouldn't even be suitable for canning." He smiled and said, "It's just that I wasn't meant to die. If you hadn't come, this winter would have been the time to cut down those orange trees for firewood."

This made Su Yu feel guilty. She might have a cheat code, but she couldn't bear the claim that "each generation is stronger than the last."

"I just happened to have this talent by sheer luck. I don't think I can take credit for this all by myself. If you hadn't given me the opportunity to experiment and let me do whatever I wanted, I would have kept my talent to myself no matter how great it was."

"You do have some self-awareness," Liu Quan said half-jokingly. "Maybe it really was just a lucky break. Maybe we've been fertilizing and pruning the trees and soil in previous years, and Sister Su got a great deal this year."

Su Yu stared at him with a fake smile. This was the first time she had heard him call her "Sister Su." He was really all talk and no action.

"Nonsense! Which patch of soil in this orchard hasn't been fertilized? Which tree hasn't been pruned? If you don't know, don't spout nonsense. I know better than you. Without Su Yu, those trees would still be in the same terrible state." Yu Yuan'an felt a little embarrassed. He knew he couldn't do anything about those orange trees, but Liu Quan's attempt to take credit and drag him into it only made him seem more incompetent. Especially since Liu Quan was someone he had mentored and was still working for him, Su Yu might even think that he had instructed Liu Quan to say those words.

"Su Yu didn't just play a role in this one thing. She also came up with the methods of standing on the tree to shake off the insects and brushing lime on the trunk. In previous years, you've seen fruit trees infested with insects. Without medicine, people could catch them, and most of the fruit trees would fail to produce any fruit. This year is considered good." He continued to praise Su Yu, trying to distance himself from Liu Quan, who was a sour grape.

Liu Quan lowered his head and moved his lips. He had been scolded again in front of Manager Qiu! He could only say with a pale face, "Brother Yu is right. I was just joking. Sister Su, please don't take it to heart."

“You always say whatever comes to mind without thinking. My son’s words are even more hurtful than yours. If I took it to heart, I would have died of anger long ago. You’re too young, I know that.” Seeing Liu Quan panting heavily with anger, she said to the man who looked older than her, “I’m two or three years older than you, and I’m also older. Let me give you a few pointers. If you keep speaking so bluntly, someone will eventually take it to heart, and you’ll be the one who suffers in the end.”

“Su Yu is right. You need to change your ways. Young girls love to hear nice things. Winter is coming soon and the new year is approaching. If you drive away your blind date again, I won’t have anyone to introduce you to anyone.” Qiu Fuli repeated his old tune. Whenever Liu Quan didn’t do what he wanted, he would bring up his bumpy blind date history.

"Yes, I need to learn how to speak properly." Su Yu could ignore him or not, but he couldn't afford to offend the man who had decided whether or not to give him a raise, especially since he was counting on Qiu Fuli, a local, to introduce him to a girl with good prospects.

“Actually, I was also curious whether the orange trees changed because of the change in soil acidity, so when I sprinkled acid water the second time, I left two trees untouched. Shall we go take a look?” Su Yu stood up and invited the three of them to go over together.

Upon hearing this, Yu Yuan'an glared at Liu Quan again.

Upon reaching the foot of North Mountain, they could spot which two trees hadn't been sprayed with acid water without Su Yu pointing them out. The oranges were all different sizes. Yu Yuan'an walked over and picked one, but he frowned as soon as he peeled it.

"That's the smell. I used to feel like vomiting whenever I smelled such a strong sour smell. This proves that all my hard work this year has been wasted." He threw it away before even seeing the orange segments.

"It seems I was right back then; the soil on this hill is acidic."

Yu Yuan'an was even happier than Qiu Fuli. Su Yu was capable, and he now had someone to consult. In previous years, whenever something went wrong in the orchard, people would come to him for advice. Even when Qiu Fuli came to ask, Liu Quan, a proper college graduate, had no ideas. Like the year before last, when the peach trees were infested with insects, almost the entire crop was lost. By early summer, the leaves on the peach trees had been completely eaten away by the insects. He worried about this every year. This year, the orange trees were infested with insects, and he hadn't slept well for several nights, fearing the peach trees would also be infested. The peach trees had already begun pollination, and if they got infested, it would be all over again.

He decided to do Su Yu a small favor. "Su Yu has been here for half a year now. Shouldn't Manager Qiu give her a raise? She not only works for you, but she also brought her two sons to help you. Aren't you being considerate?"

"You're such a good person, I was planning to bring it up as soon as I came down the mountain." Qiu Fuli stopped laughing as soon as he finished speaking, and said to Su Yu, "The original promise remains unchanged. After you've worked for two years, I'll give you at least 73 yuan a month. I'll give you an extra 10 yuan now, and another 10 yuan next summer."

"Why not just add it all at once? The orchard is making so much money, it doesn't matter if she adds ten or eight yuan," Yu Yuan'an said disdainfully.

“No way, she switched jobs so readily this year, I have to lure her away with a raise.” Qiu Fuli refused with a smile, and seeing that Su Yu had no objections, he simply finished explaining everything at once.

"After the orange orchards closed down, there was basically nothing for you three to do until you started working again next February. So your wages will be halved, and you won't have any food or oil coupons until you start working again, at which point things will return to normal."

Su Yu only received a meager twenty yuan salary each month. "Manager Qiu, you're so stingy. No wonder you only gave me a ten-yuan raise. You just don't want to pay the extra ten yuan," Su Yu complained.

"No, the money doesn't go into my pocket either. It all belongs to the collective and the country. I'm telling the truth. I'm just worried you'll switch jobs again. I heard you started planting trees on your way here again. What's going on? You're not up to any dirty tricks, are you?" Qiu Fuli asked, squinting.

She's really well-informed; she's only planted twice, and there aren't even ten trees yet.

"I just planted it casually. It's too dangerous for my husband to drive a car. We encountered a landslide before because the trees on the mountain were cut down. I planted trees to comfort myself and also to do good deeds to save his life." Su Yu said half-truthfully. Qiu Fuli didn't suspect anything anymore, but he didn't raise her salary. That afternoon, he picked a few pounds of oranges for her to take back to her children.

"Mom, Xiaodan's stepmother is pregnant. He said he's going to have a brother." During dinner that night, Ping An started broadcasting about his classmate and his classmate's parents again.

"Oh, that's good." Su Yu replied casually.

"It's really good. He said he gets to drink chicken soup every day, and he eats all the fish his mom can't finish. He's even gained weight," Ping An said enviously.

"Are you craving something again?" Su Yu asked Xiao Yuan. "What do you want to eat?"

"Roast duck." Xiao Yuan swallowed hard.

"I think grilled fish is delicious, it has tofu and bean sprouts," Ping An said enthusiastically.

“You think it’s useless, and Xiao Yuan thinks it’s useless too. It’s my turn to order this time. I want to eat vegetable buns. I’ll cut some chives later, and you two can clean them. I’ll steam the buns for tomorrow morning.” Su Yu made the decision.

Lying in bed that night, Su Yu still found Ping An's words amusing. He said that Xiao Dan was able to benefit from her stepmother's pregnancy by drinking chicken soup and eating fish, and the envy on his face was genuine. However, he never asked her why she wasn't pregnant or when she would get pregnant.

She couldn't tell if he hadn't expected to come here or if he was testing her; a kid in his early teens could be quite cunning. Moreover, Xiao Yuan's reaction was different. When Ping An was speaking, Xiao Yuan seemed a little anxious, trying to stand up and cover Ping An's mouth, while also being mindful of her expression.

A family of four, and there are probably four different opinions about whether or not she should have children. Tsk tsk, interesting.

For a long time afterward, Ping An would mention Xiao Dan and his stepmother every day. Even Ning Jin, after returning from his truck ride the following spring, asked Ping An, "Xiao Dan's stepmother should have given birth by now, right?"

Just one day old, she's already better at keeping track of time than her dad.