Chapter 20: Don’t sit back and enjoy your life
Because of that handful of fruit candy, Uncle Niu’s favorable impression of Su Taotao rose sharply. Seeing this admiring mother and son in the morning made him feel much better.
Chenchen tilted his head and stared at Uncle Niu with his big round eyes.
There were many rumors about Chenchen in the production team. Some said that he couldn’t speak at the age of two and might be dumb. Some said that his eyes were empty and lifeless and wondered if he was a fool...
The gossipers who said these things might not have any bad intentions. They just wanted to eat something to satisfy their cravings. But gossip becomes serious as it is passed on. What is false becomes true. Uncle Niu looked at the delicate child in front of him, thought about the rumors, and silently felt sorry for the child.
He took out a double happiness candy from his pocket and handed it to Chenchen. He looked at Su Taotao and said, "I haven't finished the candy you gave me before. Here, Chenchen, take it."
Chenchen had been in this world for more than 700 days, and it was the first time that someone other than his family gave him candy. He didn't know how to react for a moment. He stared at the double happiness candy blankly, then turned around and looked at Su Taotao.
Su Taotao bent down, looked into his eyes with a smile and said: "Chenchen, do you want to eat?" Chenchen
tilted his head and thought for a while, then nodded: "Yes~~"
Su Taotao touched his head: "Go and get it, remember to thank Grandpa Niu."
Chenchen reached out to take the double wedding candy, tilted his big eyes and said to Uncle Niu in a baby voice: "Thank you~~"
Not dumb? Not stupid? Uncle Niu held the candy, stared at Chenchen's face for a long time, and forgot to let go.
Chenchen couldn't pull it, pursed his lips and turned back to look at Su Taotao, did this mean that he regretted not giving it?
Su Taotao saw Uncle Niu's shocked expression and guessed what he was thinking, so she called out, "Uncle Niu?"
"Oh, oh, oh," Uncle Niu came back to his senses, "I'm sorry, Chenchen is so cute, I was distracted for a moment."
Chenchen then happily took the candy and said "thank you" in a childish voice.
Uncle Niu "Pooh" those gossiping women were so angry that he wanted to drool. Chenchen was such a smart child, what had been spread about her? If he heard someone say bad things about Chenchen again, he would definitely scold them.
Chenchen's eyebrows curved, holding the double wedding candy in his two little hands and looking at it again and again, and handed it to Su Taotao: "Mom~~"
Su Taotao rubbed the little guy's head, very rare: "Chenchen, do you want to eat it now? Mommy will peel it for you."
Chenchen shook his head, and carefully put the small double wedding candy into his pocket: "Uncle, let's eat together~~"
Such a little boy actually doesn't eat alone, and will think of his little uncle when he has something good.
Su Taotao hugged the child tightly, feeling indescribably tender in her heart, and even a little jealous of the relationship between him and Fu Yuanhang and Zhou Linglan.
Of course, Fu Yuanhang and Zhou Linglan also put him at the top of their hearts.
The boy has just started to accept her. If he were to rank her in the family, she, the "biological mother", would definitely be the last one. Who would have let the original owner do that?
But Su Taotao is not in a hurry. She will slowly cultivate the relationship. Sooner or later, she, the biological mother, will be ranked first in the boy's heart.
The tractor rumbled towards the county town. Su Taotao would tell the children about everything she saw along the way, such as green trees, red flowers, flying birds, and big rocks. She would tell the children about everything and try to bring the color and quantity, etc. When she saw
a little bird flying, she would say that this gray little bird had a pair of wings, so it could fly into the blue sky.
Then the kid tilted his head and thought for a while, then shook his head: "Chicken, duck~~"
Su Taotao: "..."
She actually understood that he was asking why chickens and ducks have wings but can't fly.
Su Taotao rubbed the kid's head with her chin. Are all two-year-olds so smart?
She could only explain patiently: "This question is a bit complicated. Maybe you have to wait until Chenchen grows up to understand it. Now mom will explain it briefly. It's okay if Chenchen doesn't understand it for the time being, okay?" Chenchen
nodded, and his big eyes followed the bird's flight trajectory without blinking.
Su Taotao continued, "Chenchen, do you often see the chicks and ducklings at home flapping their wings and flying up? In fact, chicks and ducklings are birds, just like birds. They used to be able to fly very high and far, but later we kept them at home, and their wings began to degenerate. In addition, Chenchen and the uncle worked very hard to dig earthworms. "If we feed them earthworms, they will grow heavier and heavier, and they will no longer be able to fly high or far.
Now they can actually fly as high as the fence. Will grandma cut some feathers off the wings of the chickens and ducklings at home? This is to prevent them from flying out of the fence."
Chenchen tilted his head and thought about it, and finally nodded solemnly.
I don't know if he really understood.
Chenchen is a child with strong learning ability and very good concentration. No matter what Su Taotao said, he listened with great interest. He also has strong observation skills and will ask one or two questions when he is confused.
Su Taotao will patiently answer the child regardless of whether he can understand or not.
It is said that parents are the best teachers for their children. Two-year-old children are the most eager to explore the world. Chenchen is gradually opening up his own world and beginning to explore the world. Su Taotao has never raised a child, so she can only explore little by little, starting from a blade of grass, a leaf, and a flower.
The half-hour journey is neither long nor short, and the time for popularizing some small knowledge has passed.
When she arrived at the county town, Su Taotao did not delay for a moment and went straight to the meat processing factory.
She found Chen Sihai and explained her purpose. Chen Sihai gave her a pair of pig ears, two pig tails, and two pig hands without saying a word.
Chen Sihai refused to accept the money, but Su Taotao insisted on giving it to him.
Chen Sihai had to put it away: "I thought you would come next month."
Su Taotao did not hide it and told him about her plan. Finally, she said: "I just had this idea on the spur of the moment. These things are just to test the waters. It is not certain whether they will work or not."
Chen Sihai was shocked by her plan. He found that this female comrade was not simple when he first met Su Taotao. He did not expect that she was so smart.
"Is the family's expenses too high?" Chen Sihai thought he asked very tactfully.
Su Taotao smiled and said, "There will always be a day when all the resources will run out. The child is still young, so I have to prepare for a rainy day."
Chen Sihai nodded and said, "If you have any difficulties, just tell me. If I can help..."
Su Taotao interrupted him and said, "Uncle Chen, you have already helped me a lot. If this thing can be accomplished, I will have to trouble you again in the future."
Chen Sihai waved his hands and said, "No trouble, no trouble, it's just selling to anyone, it's just a piece of cake."
Su Taotao didn't bother to be polite with him, she explained Cao Guohua's recent situation, and then took the things and carried the little guy on her back to the state-owned hotel without stopping.
Chenchen was very well behaved, lying on his mother's back without crying or making a fuss, observing the people and things around him, and had his own ideas in his little head.
Qinglian County is a relatively large county town with a total of three state-owned hotels. The one Su Taotao chose is located on the Arcade Street in the east of the city. It has yellow bricks and gray tiles, and a three-story brick and wood structure in the style of an arcade. Behind the Arcade Street is a small stone forest with karst landforms, and the scenery is picturesque. In front is the confluence of two rivers, one side of which is crystal clear and the other side is turbid, forming a unique natural scenery. Many people come here to see the scenery. If people only talk about state-owned hotels, they usually default to this one.
At that time, the scale of the state-owned hotel in the small county may not be as big as the fly restaurant in later generations. It has a small storefront with a big red sign. There are only ten or eight shabby wooden tables and benches on the three floors. The brick walls are covered with various quotations with the characteristics of the times in red paint, which is full of the sense of age.
Among the three state-owned hotels, this one has the best location and environment, but the flow of people is the sparsest. If you are not in a hurry or have no choice, most people will not come to this restaurant to eat. At mealtime, the other two restaurants are often crowded, while this restaurant is deserted, forming a very sharp contrast.
Don't ask, the chef's cooking skills are too poor.
Even so, the waiter's attitude was still casual. If everyone didn't come here to eat, they could do less work. Anyway, they would still get paid. When he heard that Su Taotao came to see the chef, he sneered at her. If Chen Chen hadn't been dressed decently, the waiter would have thought that Su Taotao was a poor relative who came from nowhere to beg for money.
In the end, Su Taotao used a handful of White Rabbit Toffees to clear the way and finally met the legendary chef of the state-owned hotel.
I really didn't expect that White Rabbit Toffees are also hard currency these days.
"Hello, Chef Xu, can I have a word with you?"
As the saying goes, don't hit a smiling person. Chef Xu looked at the smiling female comrade in front of him with doubts. She was carrying a baby on her back and looked too young and beautiful. He really couldn't think of what she could have to do with him.
Chef Xu has a stereotyped bitter face, with eyebrows that are almost wrinkled into the shape of a "川" character. It is said that before he was discharged from the army, he was the squad leader of the kitchen squad, fought against the Japanese and won first- class merit. After he was discharged from the army, he stayed in the state-owned hotel to work. Maybe this is why he has never been replaced even though his cooking is not tasty.
"We don't recruit workers here, short-term, long-term or temporary workers."
Su Taotao smiled and said, "Chef Xu, I'm not here to find a job, I'm here to find you to help you win back customers."
Chef Xu looked Su Taotao up and down, as if he was looking at a fool, with a little sympathy for "you are so young and your brain is not working well."
Chef Xu waved his hand: "Ladies, please go back to where you came from. I'm busy. Don't waste my time."
Su Taotao waved the things in her hand: "Please give me a chance to cook a dish. If Chef Xu tastes it and thinks it can keep our guests, we can talk about other things. If Chef Xu thinks it's not up to standard, you can leave the things here and let Chef Xu deal with it. I only occupy one of your stoves and one pot. I bring all the ingredients myself. Except for the seasonings, I won't touch your other things."
Chef Xu looked at the pig's feet, pig ears, and pig's tail in her hand, and his brows wrinkled even more: "How can you keep our guests with these leftovers? " Isn't braised pork much more delicious than these?"
Su Taotao said, "So, these are all inexpensive leftovers with low purchase costs. It won't take long for them to be good. Let me try?"
Chef Xu was silent for a moment: "You only use one pot for so many things? Only one dish?"
Su Taotao nodded, "Yes."
These days, all the major state-owned hotels only serve those few dishes. Anyway, people come to eat whether they taste good or not, and the higher-ups won't say anything. It's just that other chefs' places are packed with people, but his place is deserted. Even the leaders don't come to eat at his place, which is a bit embarrassing.
"Then come in, don't delay my other work."
Su Taotao thought she would have to talk some more, but unexpectedly, this chef who looked like he was not easy to mess with was quite easy to talk to.
"Thank you, Chef Xu, don't worry, I will definitely not delay your other work."
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