Chapter 136 The Taste
A family reunion is always a joyous occasion.
Grandma and Da Da prepared her favorite braised chicken, steamed sea bass, braised eggplant, and egg and tomato soup.
The meal consisted of three dishes and a soup, all served on large platters.
Xiaoqi held her favorite chicken leg to Su Meng's lips and said in a childish voice, "Sister, the chicken leg is delicious, you can have it!"
Grandma smiled and put a chicken leg on her plate as well, saying, "Eat more if you like it."
"You haven't eaten for the past couple of days, have you? Your chin looks so sharp."
Su Meng chuckled and touched her chin. "Grandma, it's not that exaggerated. She ate two meals."
Grandma froze, her hand still holding the food, and looked at Su Meng with eyes full of sorrow, "That's only one meal a day, they..."
She was about to curse when Ah Da stopped her.
Xie Mian leaned closer and whispered, "There are people outside the courtyard."
Less than a minute later, Ah Da returned with a gloomy face.
Under everyone's gaze, he grabbed his bowl and shoveled down two mouthfuls in quick succession before finally speaking, "It's that kid from the Nie family."
Everyone: "..."
Grandma frowned, waved her chopsticks in the air twice, opened her mouth as if to scold someone, but in the end she only sighed heavily.
Then, he stared sternly at Su Meng and warned, "You are not allowed to associate with the Nie family from now on, especially their son."
Su Meng was stunned. The Nie family must be quite something to have such a strong resentment in her usually kind and tolerant grandmother.
"What heinous things did they do?" she asked cautiously, her gaze sweeping over her family members.
Grandma's brows were furrowed, and the deep, long lines at the corners of her eyes seemed to hold boundless anger, yet she held it back.
She calmly greeted everyone, "Eat first! We'll talk about this after we eat, otherwise we'll get indigestion."
Su Meng chuckled to herself, "Grandma, you're so cute!"
Grandma finished eating quickly, then glanced at the yard with disgust. "The new bride of the Nie family threatened your colleague to steal some data, and then she was taken away on the day of the wedding banquet."
Serves you right!
Some people are blind, unable to recognize gold inlaid with jade, mistaking fish eyes for pearls.
Haha! According to his new wife, Sun Qiao, this isn't the first time she's tried to frame you.
The fact that she was followed on the day she went to Zhou City, and the accident at the shipyard, were all deliberately orchestrated by her.
She even betrayed the whereabouts of an elderly colleague from your institute, which nearly led to that colleague's death in Shanghai.
Their family is blind; they can only fancy a vicious woman with a heart of stone!
Upon hearing this, Su Meng was stunned!
Recalling the scene of encountering Mr. Qi in danger at the state-run restaurant in Shanghai, I thought, "No wonder the murderer attacked Mr. Qi during lunch; he must have been trying to seize the opportunity to make a desperate gamble."
It's funny, I was the one innocently suspected by Huo Zhenhua.
After hearing her recount Qi Lao's ordeal, Xie Mian sighed, "Some people just can't resist the allure of sweet words."
Sun Qiao's punishment has been handed down: death penalty and imprisonment, mainly because it involved classified information.
Although Yao Hongjun was threatened and repented in time, his thinking was shaken, which caused a negative impact.
He was dismissed from his post and sent to a makeshift "cow shed" for re-education.
Su Meng fell silent, her heart heavy.
There was absolutely no joy in the fact that the evildoers were punished.
I can't describe the feeling in my heart.
They were just one of thousands of greedy and cowardly people, completely unaffected by Liu Sheng's morally ambiguous nature.
Despite being such a stubborn person, Liu Sheng never forgot his original aspiration.
She thought that those of them who were alive should not live in pain and hatred, but should do their part to build up their motherland.
When they are strong and their country is strong, they will not be afraid of small fleas or provocations from foreign enemies.
"Dad, when will the diesel engine factory be operational?" she abruptly changed the subject.
Su Mianzhi lifted his eyelids and gave her a cool look, "It should be ready for use within about a month."
Your uncle has already contacted all the suppliers.
You don't need to worry about these things, just take good care of yourself.
Su Meng touched her nose; it seemed that her father was terrified by her kidnapping.
The family chatted for a while longer before taking their own rest.
Su Meng hugged Xiao Qi and squeezed onto her grandmother's bed, looking at the old woman blowing out the kerosene lamp. "Grandma, tomorrow I'll apply for a plot of land to build a bigger house."
The old man groped his way to bed in the dark. "Your dad has already got the application approved. Construction is starting next door. Didn't you see?"
"That's ours? I thought it was our neighbor's." Su Meng replied with a yawn, and quickly fell asleep.
Nie Ronghua stood outside the village until all the lights in Su Meng's house were turned off before dejectedly turning his gaze away.
He came over as soon as he heard that Su Meng was back.
As I walked to the courtyard gate, I heard her cheerful and clear voice, and my tense nerves, which had been taut for days, slowly relaxed.
Just as I was about to turn and leave, I heard my grandmother say that she had lost weight.
His breath hitched, and his exhalation became heavier, thus revealing his whereabouts.
"go back!"
Hearing Ah Da's cold voice and seeing his warning look.
Nie Ronghua stared blankly at him for a few seconds, then guiltily gave in.
His neatly trimmed nails dug deep into his palm.
The light in his eyes gradually dimmed and lost its luster, and his overall aura also weakened.
She probably won't pay any more attention to him.
She must have long forgotten the person who fought alongside her on the ship.
"She must hate me, right?" he muttered to himself, his voice weak and listless.
He foolishly gave away their token of love; he didn't ask for her forgiveness, he only wanted her...
"I won't disturb her; I only wish her well!"
After saying this, he decisively turned around, left the courtyard, and walked to the village entrance.
The guard, Xiao Liu, whispered, "Commander, let's go back!"
Nie Ronghua took one last look at the courtyard in the darkness, and sighed, "Let's go back!"
Ah Da stood in the darkness, watching the man leave before returning to his house.
He tiptoed into bed, but Su Mianzhi still discovered him.
"He's gone?"
"They're gone."
"He is a good person, but his family members are of questionable character."
They lost our pendant, offered us a thousand yuan as an apology, and then accused us of extortion. How shameless!
"If I could get into the family quarters, would I care about her asking for a thousand?"
Although Nie Changrong quickly stopped these rumors, some people who were unaware of the truth and others who stirred up trouble continued to spread them.
Su Mianzhi: "When you go to the factory tomorrow, just pretend you didn't hear that. From now on, we all need to control our tempers and let our abilities speak for themselves."
Ah Da responded softly, "Okay!"
Upon hearing this, Ah Da realized that it was that old woman from the Nie family who was being gossipy again.
Even if the two families cannot become in-laws, it is unacceptable to use the other family's daughter as a pretext; she is trying to humiliate them.
Ah Da couldn't sleep; his eyes were darting around rapidly.
After hearing Su Mianzhi's breathing, he left the courtyard without anyone noticing.
The next morning, Su Meng finished breakfast early and went to work at the research institute.
But as soon as I passed the military area's guard post, I saw a crowd gathered in front of the bulletin board.
"That must be Su Meng, right? Su Meng is here!"
"Little Su, come and see, did you send this?"
Su Meng was completely confused. "What did I send? Sister Xiaoman, what did it say?"
Su Xiaoman stammered out a few words, her face turning red with anxiety.
She pulled Su Meng over and said, "You read it yourself, I can't recognize all of them."
Su Meng glanced at it and understood.
She didn't want to take this personally.
Just as I was about to leave, I heard a woman reading aloud:
"...The old lady spends a fortune, her generosity is so great that we dare not presume to be worthy of her."
Furthermore, the news spread far and wide, making our reputation for being greedy for money spread far and wide. The advertising fee was worth 100,000 yuan in the market, but the old lady did not take a single penny. She is truly a living Buddha.
We dare not accept any money obtained through extortion, and will now donate it all to the military region.
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