Chapter 7: Right at Hand

Humans are visual animals and naturally like beautiful things.

If a person is good-looking, he will be happy in his life and others will be happy when they see him. That's great.

Su Taotao poked Chen Chen's little chubby cheeks and was satisfied with everything about him. It was great that such a well-behaved and cute baby was hers.

Chenchen's face was white after washing. Although it was a little tanned from the sun and didn't have much flesh, his facial features were well-shaped and he looked cute and soft, which was really rare.

Su Taotao couldn't help herself and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

Chen Chen's face was full of confusion and discomfort at her sudden closeness. He puffed up his cheeks and rubbed the place where Su Taotao had just kissed him. He blinked at Su Taotao innocently and puzzledly, as if asking: What are you doing?

If Su Taotao hadn't been worried about scaring him, she would have wanted to kiss him a few more times.

She smiled and took his little paw and put it in the wash basin, muttering:

"Mom kisses you because she likes you. Now let's wash our hands. Rub the palms and backs of your hands together to keep viruses and bacteria away from me. Remember to brush your teeth and wash your face first thing every day when you wake up. Remember to wash your hands before every meal."

Children in the country are generally brought up roughly. Compared with other children, Chenchen has been well taken care of by Zhou Linglan, but she is too busy. In addition, children these days are left alone and are not so particular. They do not pay attention to hygiene like Su Taotao.

Chenchen's frown has never relaxed since Su Taotao forcibly carried him into the bathroom. This mother is really weird. She has never been like this before. But he doesn't hate her, he just feels uncomfortable.

Fu Yuanhang's eyes have always been on Chenchen. The more he thought about it, the more panicked he became. His sister-in-law has never cared about Chenchen's eating, drinking, defecating or urinating, but today she actually washed and dressed Chenchen herself. This is bad, bad! She must have washed Chenchen clean first so that she can sell him for a good price!

That must be the case. She was chattering on and on to Chenchen about so many random things. She must be saying goodbye!

It must be like this!

While Su Taotao wasn't out yet, Fu Yuanhang quickly threw away the shovel and ran into the kitchen.

"Mom, I suspect my sister-in-law wants to sell Chen Chen!"

Zhou Linglan was startled by his incoherent words. She looked outside and saw Su Taotao was still in the bathroom. She patted her son's arm and said in a low voice, "What nonsense are you talking about so early in the morning? How could your sister-in-law sell out her own son!"

Fu Yuanhang stamped his feet anxiously: "Mom, didn't you see how nice she was to Chenchen today? She kept smiling at Chenchen, washed him clean, and told him a lot of things. Chenchen has never said so much to him since he was born. It's very abnormal. Didn't she spend all the money that big brother left for her? Two days ago, she scolded the family for eating pig food. How could she eat coarse grains and wild vegetables with us? She suddenly changed into a different person, which must be to lower our vigilance. She took Chenchen to exchange money to return to the city. We must keep an eye on Chenchen!"

Zhou Linglan's heart began to beat fast. Thinking about the mess her daughter-in-law had done in the past, frankly speaking, she might be capable of doing something like this.

At this time, Su Taotao came in with Chen Chen, who had been washed clean: "Mom, Yuanhang, what are we having for breakfast?"

Zhou Linglan looked at her grandson, who had been washed clean, had his hair combed neatly, and looked much more energetic than usual. Her eyelids twitched as she thought about what her youngest son had said.

She secretly took a deep breath, exhaled slowly to calm her heartbeat, and then said, "Sweet potato porridge and salted vegetables again."

Su Taotao just took a look at the chicken coop. These days every household has a set number of chickens they raise, two or three at most. In their chicken coop there are two hens and three little chicks with yellow feathers, which probably just hatched not long ago.

Su Taotao thought for a moment and asked, "Can the chickens at home lay two eggs a day?"

Zhou Linglan nodded and said, "Yes, Xiaohang digs earthworms every day to feed them. The eggs they lay are quite big. The supply and marketing cooperative can give you eight cents each."

Zhou Linglan's inner uneasiness became more and more intense. She used to pick up the eggs and put them away before Su Taotao got up. She would exchange one for money and steam the other for herself and her grandson, half each.

Eggs were hard currency these days and supply and marketing cooperatives were allowed to recycle them. An average-sized egg could be exchanged for about five or six cents, and an egg that could be exchanged for seven or eight cents was considered the best.

Su Taotao never cared about these things before.

Su Taotao said: "From now on, we can keep the eggs for ourselves. Don't worry about the money. I will find a way. By the way, I will take Chenchen to the county to do some work later."

"Bang!" The aluminum plate in Fu Yuanhang's hand fell directly to the ground. Without saying a word, he rushed over with a dark face, snatched Chenchen and held him in his arms, and shouted at Su Taotao, "If you want to go to the county, go by yourself. Even if you want to go back to the city, we can't control it, but you can't take Chenchen with you! And you can't sell him..."

"Xiao Hang!" Zhou Linglan stopped him immediately.

Fu Yuanhang's eyes were red and he closed his mouth, pursed his lips and stared at Su Taotao stubbornly.

Chenchen is the eldest brother's biological son and nephew, and he was the one who was raised by him. If Su Taotao wants to take Chenchen away, she has to kill him and walk over his corpse!

Zhou Linglan thought about it and her face turned pale, as if her son had really come true. She was shocked and afraid, and looked at Su Taotao pleadingly: "Taotao, I can agree to other things, but Chenchen is the only flesh and blood of you and Zhengtu, can you..."

"Mom, Xiaohang, what are you thinking about?" Su Taotao was simply at a loss whether to laugh or cry. She didn't need to listen to anything else. Just from the word "sell" that Fu Yuanhang said at the end and his reaction as if he were facing a powerful enemy, she knew that they were thinking the wrong thing.

How could she do such a heartless thing when she loved this little kid so much? But it was hard to say what the original owner said.

Su Taotao simply took out the IOU and showed it to them: "Look, this is what my father gave me before I went to the countryside. I was planning to go to the county to find the person on the IOU to ask for the money. What are you thinking? I guess you ignored what I said last night. No matter how crazy I am, I can't do what you think. I've made it so clear that we are a family. You have to give me basic trust and live a good life. You can't be so suspicious anymore."

Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang could both read. They came over and read the loan agreement from beginning to end. They looked at each other and were a little at a loss.

Su Taotao handed the photo over again and pointed at Su Donghan: "This is my dad," and then pointed to Chenchen, "Chenchen, look, this is grandpa. I will indeed bring Chenchen back to the city to visit grandpa in the future, but not now."

Su Taotao pointed at another person and said, "This is Comrade Cao Guohua who lent money to our family. I want to take Chenchen with me to the county to ask him for money. Raising a child is not easy. He won't refuse to pay me if I take him with me. I also want to take Chenchen to see the world."

Fu Yuanhang realized that he had misunderstood her. His face turned red and he lowered his head and said "I'm sorry" in a mosquito-like voice.

Chenchen tilted his head and looked for a long time, then suddenly clicked on the photo and pointed outside the kitchen window.

Zhou Linglan was so lost in thought that she forgot to feel embarrassed. She stared at the person in the photo for a long time before asking Fu Yuanhang: "Xiaohang, do you think this person looks familiar? Does he look like..."

Fu Yuanhang didn't look carefully at first. He thought Chenchen was pointing at something and was still looking out the window. This time he was stunned after seeing it clearly, and followed Chenchen's example and pointed to the small window in the kitchen: "Who? Teacher Cao?"

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