Chapter 10 Conquering the whole family's stomach
Cao Guohua's eyes were firm and he did not look away. He always kept a distance of three meters between him and Su Taotao.
Su Taotao didn't know how her cheap father who was a worker could know such a friend.
The two of them walked to a deserted valley, and Taotao didn't bother beating around the bush and directly showed him the loan agreement and photos.
"Teacher Cao, do you still remember this? I am Su Taotao, the daughter of Su Donghan and the wife of Fu Zhengtu. I know your current situation is not good. If my family had not been struggling to make ends meet, I would not have come to you at this time. I just want to ask if you can repay the money now, just return the principal without interest, or pay me back as much as you can first to deal with the emergency."
Cao Guohua took the loan note and the photo, and looked at Su Taotao in surprise. He didn't expect that the notorious educated youth daughter-in-law of the Fu family was actually Su Donghan's daughter.
Although his eyes are a little big, his words and actions do not make him as unreliable as the rumors say. It seems that the rumors are not false.
Well, the daughter raised by someone like Su Donghan would probably not be too bad.
If Su Taotao knew he was thinking this way, she would definitely complain about what had become of the original owner.
Cao Guohua felt relieved after thinking about it. He nodded and shook his head: "I did borrow this money from your father. A real man's word is as good as gold. I will pay back what I promised."
Su Taotao was silent, thinking to herself, of course I have no objection. Even if you dare to return five hundred and twenty to me, I will still accept it. After all, I am poor.
"That……"
Cao Guohua raised his hand to interrupt her: "I have already prepared the money. Do you have paper and pen?"
Coincidentally, Su Taotao actually brought it with her. She learned design all her life, and the habit of carrying paper and pen with her was ingrained in her dnA.
Cao Guohua wrote down an address, attached a letter and his own signature and handed it to Su Taotao: "Go to this address and find a man named Chen Sihai, he will give you the money."
Su Taotao took it and looked at the address. It was not far away, in the county town.
"Is your father okay?" Cao Guohua asked again.
Su Taotao had no answer to this question. According to the original owner's memory, she went back once in the first year of her life in the countryside, but they ended up parting on bad terms. Later, she insisted on getting married, and her family almost cut off ties with her. She never went back after marriage. She only wrote a letter to her family to report her safety when she got married and had a child. The only thing that the original owner had some integrity about her was that she never asked her family for money or things.
"Trust." What else could Su Taotao say?
Cao Guohua nodded. He was not a talkative person to begin with, but he still said, "The Fu family are all good people. You..."
There were so many rumors about Su Taotao in the team, and he had no way of verifying which ones were true or false. He did not say the latter part, and in fact, he had no position or qualifications to say anything.
But Su Taotao understood what he meant and said with a smile, "I know, I wasn't very sensible before, but I won't be like that in the future."
Cao Guohua said nothing more, nodded again, left a sentence "Zheng Du will be back", and led the cow into the mountains.
"Teacher Cao, never give up. Just hold on a little longer and you will see the light at the end of the tunnel. If you have any difficulties, you can tell us and I will help you."
In three or four years at most, you will be rehabilitated and return to the city. Su Taotao naturally couldn't say this, so she just stopped there.
Cao Guohua's back was obviously straightened, but he did not turn around. He just said, "Go back. If you see me again in the future, just pretend you don't know me."
Su Taotao looked at his tall and straight back and felt sad for a while. A person like him shouldn't be treated like this, but she also believed that nothing could bend his back.
After returning from the back mountain, Su Taotao felt much more at ease.
Fu Zhengtu will be back in half a year. This money is enough for their family to live well for the next six months. It will just be a waste of money. She doesn't have the habit of asking men for money. Even if Fu Zhengtu comes back, she still has to find a stable source of income.
Take your time. The most urgent thing is to get the money back first.
After taking the reassurance pill, Su Taotao felt a lot more relaxed and even hummed a little tune while cooking at noon.
She lived in the countryside with her grandmother for a period of time when she was a child, otherwise she would have been fed up with the big pots and pans in the countryside.
However, the Fu family has a small population, so they use small stoves, small charcoal stoves, and small iron pots more often.
After having sweet potato porridge in the morning, Su Taotao cooked taro rice in a small clay pot at noon. The ratio of rice to coarse grains was almost one to one, unlike Zhou Linglan where coarse grains accounted for the majority.
When the small clay pot started to bubble, Su Taotao opened the lid and poked a few holes in the rice with chopsticks. She then removed the firewood from the small stove, moved the charcoal fire to the small charcoal stove, put the small clay pot on it, and continued to simmer the rice with the residual heat from the charcoal fire.
She wasn't sure how much Fu Yuanhang could eat, so she put a few sweet potatoes into the small charcoal stove to simmer.
She planned to take advantage of this time to pick some tomatoes from the vegetable garden and make scrambled eggs with tomatoes for lunch.
Zhou Linglan is really good at growing vegetables. The fruits and vegetables in her small vegetable garden are of many varieties and grow well.
Su Taotao was already lusting after the round and red tomatoes, so she picked out the biggest and reddest one without even washing it. She just rubbed it on her clothes and it tasted delicious.
It was just as she imagined, sweet and sour, juicy, sandy and sticky. She had never eaten such delicious tomatoes when she lived in the countryside with her grandmother in her previous life. It was exactly what she wanted!
Su Taotao picked three in one breath before stopping. She picked several more tomatoes to eat as fruit, and also picked two cucumbers, planning to have some smashed cucumbers at noon. She also picked some peppers and eggplants to eat in the evening.
The most exciting thing about going back to the 1970s was that we could eat these pure natural and pollution-free good things every day.
Su Taotao thought that if she ate like this every day, she might be able to live a few more years.
Su Taotao came back with fruits and vegetables. The air in the yard was already filled with the aroma of taro rice. The rice cooked in a clay pot was so delicious.
She first went to the small vegetable garden in the yard to pick up some cilantro and green onions, washed them and set them aside. Then she went to Zhou Linglan's room to get two eggs and cooked the smashed cucumbers.
There is no technical skill required to smack cucumber, but it does take some time for the flavor to absorb.
Add garlic, coriander and green onions to the beaten cucumber. Because Chen Chen, a child, also wants to eat it, Su Taotao doesn’t add chili pepper. Just add salt, sugar and aged vinegar and mix. If conditions permit, adding some sesame oil and chicken essence will make it taste better.
Put the smashed cucumber aside and Su Taotao started to make scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
There was not much oil at home, so Su Taotao only put a little bit of oil in to fry the eggs and served them for later use. She was reluctant to wash the pot, so she put the tomatoes directly into the pot and added a little bit of sugar to enhance the flavor. She waited until the tomatoes were fried out of moisture before pouring the eggs back in, because she planned to pour it on the taro rice, otherwise the taro would be too dry and it would be easy to choke. Su Taotao added a little water to simmer it, and then added a little more salt and soy sauce than usual to season it. After the tomatoes and eggs absorbed the soup, she stir-fried them for a few more times and then turned off the heat, without leaving even the charcoal fire, and there was no need to serve the eggs.
Su Taotao found three rice bowls and Chen Chen's special small bowl, divided the taro rice in the small casserole into the four bowls, and left the taro rice in the small casserole.
The meal had just been distributed when Zhou Linglan came back from work, with Fu Yuanhang following behind her with a bag on his back.
Su Taotao popped her head out of the kitchen with a rice spoon in hand and gave them a big smile: "You're back just in time. Dinner is about to start. Go wash your hands and get ready to eat."
As soon as they walked into the yard, they smelled the particularly strong aroma of food, especially Fu Yuanhang. As the saying goes, the young boy eats his father poorly, and he was a young boy who was never full all year round. At this moment, he couldn't help swallowing his saliva. He was very curious about what kind of dishes this sister-in-law had cooked that smelled so good!
Even Zhou Linglan couldn't help asking, "I smelled the fragrance as soon as I got home. What did Taotao make?"
Su Taotao was putting a spoonful of tomato scrambled eggs with soup into each bowl. Without even turning her head, she said directly, "Taro rice, tomato scrambled eggs, and smashed cucumber."
Zhou Linglan often cooks these rural home-cooked dishes, but none of them are as delicious as this one.
She was stunned when she saw the scum in the clay pot: "You cooked the rice in a clay pot? No wonder it smells so good." Then she frowned again, "There's not much left of the small grains. Xiaohang and I..."
"Mom!" Su Taotao interrupted her, "Have you forgotten what I said this morning? Don't worry, I've already talked to Teacher Cao this morning and I can get the money back. Anyway, everyone will eat whatever I do in the future. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
The two children are growing up. Zhou Linglan does heavy work in the fields, and if she doesn't eat better, her health will be affected. Su Taotao has never thought about saving money on food. She will find ways to make money in the future and make sure the whole family is well fed and well clothed.
After washing their hands, the children came back and sat in a row. Chenchen blinked his big round eyes and looked curiously at the food placed in front of him. The red tomatoes and golden eggs were poured on the white rice, and even the two gray taro were sprinkled with the tempting soup.
Coarse grains are not easy for children to digest, and Su Taotao was also worried that the taro would cause him to choke on dust, so she only picked two pieces that were not so powdery for him to taste, and poured soup on them to ensure that the little guy would not choke on them.
It was the first time that Chenchen saw such a wonderful combination of colors. He stared at it for a long time and was reluctant to look away.
"Does Chenchen eat by himself or is he fed by his mother?"
"Send..." Chenchen took his own small spoon and replied to Su Taotao subconsciously before starting to eat the rice.
After putting a spoonful into his mouth, the little guy's big eyes immediately lit up. He scooped another spoonful and ate it with gusto, even at a much faster speed than usual.
Su Taotao picked up some smacked cucumber for him and said with a smile, "Chenchen, eat slowly and don't choke. No one is competing with you for it. If you like it, mom will make it for you tomorrow."
Chen Chen nodded obediently and continued to eat.
Su Taotao touched the little boy's head with satisfaction. This kid is so well-behaved and easy to raise.
Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang still had that surprised and happy expression, but no one chased Chenchen to ask questions anymore. They were all worried that Chenchen would be like he was in the morning, where he would stop talking after being asked too many questions. It was good to let it be natural this way.
Zhou Linglan came to her senses and found that her bowl was also filled with a large spoonful of scrambled eggs with tomatoes. She wanted to say that she couldn't eat that much and asked them to eat more, but she swallowed the words back. Su Taotao was very stubborn and she would not be happy anyway.
This was the most delicious bowl of rice she had eaten in the past few years. She had never expected that Su Taotao's cooking skills were so good. It was obviously the same ingredients, but Su Taotao made it so delicious that even her tongue wanted to swallow it. Even the flavor of the smashed cucumber was particularly good.
"Taotao, after eating the food you cook, I feel like I have wasted all the ingredients I have used for so many years. Your cooking is so delicious."
Needless to say, Fu Yuanhang was nodding his head continuously. He had finished the food in his bowl, but his eyes were still staring at the hot pot in the small casserole.
Su Taotao herself doesn't like eating hotpot, but the other kids like it. She gives the largest portion to Fu Yuanhang, but the stomach of a child of this age is a bottomless pit, especially in these days when there is not much oil and water, it is difficult for them to eat "full".
"Xiao Hang, go eat the hotpot. There's still some soup left in the big pot. Just eat it with the soup. Don't choke."
Fu Yuanhang blushed and felt a little embarrassed, but he still whispered "Thank you, sister-in-law", and directly took the small casserole to pour all the soup in the big iron pot into it. He brought it back very satisfied and ate it with the casserole. She also gave him a piece of dustpan for him to chew slowly.
Su Taotao added, "There are some sweet potatoes stewing in the small charcoal stove. If you want to eat them, just go and get them. Or you can take them with you to work or school in the afternoon and eat them when you're hungry."
Fu Yuanhang continued to nod. He exercised a lot and got hungry quickly. He often felt hungry after the first class in the afternoon. Zhou Linglan would also prepare some coarse food for him to take with him.
This was also the most satisfying lunch Captain Fu Yuanhang had ever had in his life. Usually at noon they would just eat whatever they wanted. If he wasn’t full, he would just eat a few more sweet potatoes. Now this is what it means to have lunch. This sister-in-law has become really nice!
After dinner, Fu Yuanhang washed the dishes while Su Taotao went to rinse her mouth, wash her hands and face. She couldn't let such a pretty little kid be dirty, so she had to cultivate the little guy's hygiene awareness.
Chen Chen no longer resisted Su Taotao and let her hold him obediently.
Su Taotao was so fond of him that she kissed him several times.
The little guy still looked confused and helpless, which made Su Taotao laugh.
Su Taotao didn't know that such a simple meal had already conquered the stomachs of the whole family. If she knew, she would definitely say, this is just the beginning, I'll let you guys see what delicious food is after I get the ingredients.