Chapter 26 You Successfully Offended Me

Su Taotao really can't stand hearing the word "faith". When she hears this word, she thinks of Chenchen's annoying cheap father.

"Chenchen wants to ask if Mom received Dad's letter when she went to the county town today?"

Chenchen shook his head and raised his little paws high: "Here's a letter to Daddy."

Su Taotao picked up the little guy's paw and looked at it, then pulled it to her nose and sniffed it: "What is this?"

Chenchen tilted his head: "Ni Ni~~"

Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang knew they could no longer hide the truth, so they looked at each other and decided to tell the truth.

"Taotao, I asked Ah Hang to write a letter to his eldest brother today, asking him to give me a definite answer as to when he will be back."

Su Taotao was stunned for a moment, let go of the boy's hand, turned around and went back to the room.

Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang looked at each other and saw the tension in each other's eyes. What did that mean? Was he angry?

After a while, Su Taotao took out the letter and spread it in front of them: "Don't ask, I received it in the middle of the month, and they said that the return date is to be determined."

Zhou Linglan picked it up and took a look, confirming that it was the handwriting of her eldest son. She looked at Su Taotao's face again and frowned for the first time: "Don't be angry, Taotao. Mom will definitely scold him when he comes back this time. He didn't come back and refused to write two more words. I don't know who he inherited this temper from."

Fu Yuanhang looked at the two words and wanted to defend his elder brother, but what should he say? Should he say that his elder brother was always frugal with words and kept his words short? Or should he say that his elder brother was so busy that he could only spare a few seconds to write two words? No matter which reason he gave, it was not valid. In the end, he pinched the corner of his clothes and said nothing.

After such a long time, Su Taotao was no longer angry. What was she angry about? What could two people who had no emotional foundation say? Moreover, they had never even met each other, so why force it?

"It's okay, Mom. You don't have to send the letter. Let's wait until he comes back." What Su Taotao wanted to say was that it was useless to send the letter. At most, she would just receive a reply with a few words. She was angry that he knew about Chenchen's existence but refused to ask any more questions. She was very angry for Chenchen.

After Su Taotao finished speaking, she went to talk to Chenchen again. Others didn’t care about Chenchen, but she cared about him even more.

Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang looked at each other worriedly.

The letter was never sent, and Fu Zhengtu was out of contact again.

The villagers were extremely curious when they saw Su Taotao going to the county every market day. Not to mention other people, even Uncle Niu was extremely curious. However, Su Taotao smiled all day long. Today she stuffed him with some candies, and tomorrow she gave him some fruits. One time, he even received a handful of fried dough twists from Su Taotao.

As the saying goes, if someone makes up a story about Su Taotao again, Ah Niu would have to step forward to refute her, saying that she had been to the county many times in the past, and it was not just recently that she went there.

The key point is that every time she comes back from the county town, her house is filled with a fragrance that would make the kids next door cry. It wasn't like this before, and no matter how Uncle Niu argues, it's useless.

Is there a wall that is impenetrable? Nowadays, everyone eats a lot of vegetables and grains, and it is rare to see meat once a month. But your Fu family is different. They stew meat every few days. Apart from other things, the fact that Chen Chen is gaining weight at a speed visible to the naked eye is the best evidence.

In the past, Chen Chen was dark and thin, but now he is plump and white, wearing new and clean clothes. He has become the most handsome guy in the village. Who wouldn’t take a second look at him?

So someone reported to the team leader, Fu Zhengtu's uncle, that Su Taotao was cutting off the tail of capitalism, going to the county to cut meat every market day, everyone in her family wore new clothes, and lived a luxurious life.

Uncle Fu had no choice but to come to Su Taotao's house to understand the situation.

At this moment, Su Taotao is still collecting dried goods at her fellow villager's home.

The first dish she provided to the hotel last market day was braised pig skull with bamboo shoots.

It is a common dish from Su Taotao's grandmother's hometown. The meat in the pig skull has a special aroma, and tastes better than mutton after stewing. What's more, it is many times cheaper than mutton, so it is sold out as soon as it is put on the market.

Chef Xu joked that she was planning to cook all the pig scraps, whether it was the pig's tail, pig's ears or pig's skull, and wondered if she should cook the pig's offal next time.

Chef Xu was right. The new dish Su Taotao is going to prepare next month is cold-boiled pork belly. She really likes cold dishes.

But that's all next month's matter. The side dishes for the pig skull can be replaced with other ones. I chose bamboo shoots and sweet peaches out of selfishness. As the name suggests, Qinglian Commune produces agricultural products related to the word "lotus", such as lotus seeds and lotus roots. However, these two things are very seasonal and are only available in autumn. As for the spring that has just passed, the most seasonal thing is naturally the fresh spring bamboo shoots that have just been dried in every household.

As the saying goes, live off the mountain. Another unique specialty of the First Brigade is the bamboos and bamboo shoots that cover the entire mountain. It is a vast expanse of lush green as far as the eye can see.

Zhou Linglan got a lot of sun exposure, but except for the little she kept for herself, Su Taotao sold out the rest.

"Good mother-in-law, this is enough. There is no place to dry them in the hotel. If you buy too much at once, they will easily mold. You can keep the rest and take them out to dry in the sun every now and then. I will collect them next time."

Haopo felt very sorry because this local dish consumed too much oil. Although members of several nearby brigades would buy some every year, she could not eat it very often. She did not expect that someone would come to buy this thing that every household had.

"Su Zhiqing, how did you find this job?" Haopo asked her.

Su Taotao glanced at the little girl next to her and said with a smile, "I have thin arms and legs, and I can't earn much even if I work on the ground, but I am a high school student after all. I saw that the state-owned hotel was hiring, so I went to try, and that's how I found it."

Su Taotao had a very bad reputation. Although it had improved recently, her image of being lazy and idle was still deeply rooted in people's minds. Haopo did not agree to sell it to her at first, fearing that she would take the money and sell it on the black market, and then be caught, which would implicate her. Later, when Su Taotao produced the purchasing certificate, they found out that she was doing purchasing for the state-owned hotel.

Haopo's granddaughter Xiaomeizi is only nine years old and in the second grade of primary school. She doesn't know many words, but can barely understand the purchase certificate.

Only then did the good mother-in-law feel comfortable selling the dried bamboo shoots to her.

Su Taotao asked Zhou Linglan in advance that there were several families in the team whose living conditions were relatively difficult. Although every family was not wealthy these days, families like Haopo's who had to raise their granddaughter alone had a more difficult time. Su Taotao gave priority to purchasing from these families.

Su Taotao gave all the remaining candies in her pocket to Xiao Meizi, and reminded her to study hard, saying that knowledge could change her destiny. Then she smiled and carried a big bag of bamboo shoots home.

The grandmother stared at Su Taotao's back for a long time with her dim eyes. Finally, she touched her granddaughter's head and said, "Studying is still useful. Even a lazy and gluttonous person like Su was able to find such a good job because he could read and write."

Xiao Meizi nodded and put a candy into the mother-in-law's mouth after peeling off the candy wrapper: "Grandma, eat candy. Su Zhiqing is so kind. I will definitely study hard and buy you more candy in the future."

The good grandmother felt sweet from her mouth to her heart. She patted her granddaughter's head and said with a smile, "You eat it. Grandma doesn't like candy."

Everyone in the team said that Xiao Meizi was a little girl. They didn't understand why they insisted on sending her to school when her family was in such a difficult situation. Wouldn't it be better to let her work in the fields for a few years and then get married to earn some money for the bride price? No matter how much she studied, it would only benefit her in-laws in the future.

Haopo has never been to school, but she knows that studying is the only way out of this mountain. Xiaomeizi has no support from her parents, and she doesn't know how she will be treated by her in-laws after she leaves. The only way she can think of to help her granddaughter succeed is to read more books than others.

After meeting Su Taotao today, Haopo became more determined to at least support her granddaughter through high school graduation. The money left by her son should be enough.

Su Taotao came home carrying bamboo shoots. Fu Yuanhang and Chen Chen were there. They must have just returned from school. She was surprised to find Uncle Fu in her house. She put down the sack and asked Uncle Fu, who was staring at his sack, "Are you here to see me?"

If you want to look for Zhou Linglan, you shouldn't choose this time.

Uncle Fu then shifted his gaze from the sack in her hand to her, and said sternly, "It seems the informant was right. Are you really engaged in speculation? Tell me the truth. What is this thing? What are you going to do with it?"

Su Taotao blinked. What did that mean? Was she reported? Who would have nothing to do when they were full?

When Fu Yuanhang heard this, he immediately stood up to explain for Su Taotao: "Uncle, don't listen to what others say. It's not true. My sister-in-law would never do such a thing!"

It would have been fine if Fu Yuanhang hadn't said anything. As soon as he spoke, Uncle Fu's gaze shifted from Su Taotao to him. He sneered, pointed at his clothes and shoes and asked, "Nothing? Then tell me, you always dress like a beggar, how did you get these new clothes and shoes? Did they fall from the sky?"

Uncle Fu's words, "You always dress like a beggar," really hurt the boy's self-esteem. Fu Yuanhang lowered his eyes, and his eyes suddenly turned red.

Su Taotao narrowed her eyes and said, "Very good, Uncle Fu, right? You have successfully offended me!"