Chapter 8 Dust Speaks

Su Taotao was a little confused: "What do you mean?"

Su Taotao never cared about the team's affairs before, and she had no idea who lived in the neighborhood.

Zhou Linglan folded the letter and put it back into Su Taotao's arms, sighed and said:

"Taotao, I'm afraid we won't get the money back. Comrade Cao Guohua is now living in the cowshed behind our house. He's been here for two years. His house has probably been smashed and looted countless times. He was wearing tattered clothes when he came here, and the things he brought with him have been searched countless times. I'm afraid he can't even hide a thread, let alone money."

Su Taotao never expected that this would happen. No matter what year it was, the one who owed money was always the grandfather. She thought it might be difficult to get the money back, but she didn't expect it to be totally wasted.

"Mom, why do you call him Teacher Cao? What kind of person is he?"

Zhou Linglan paused, and suddenly thought of what happened more than two years ago... Her eyes flickered, and her expression became a little unnatural. She quickly cleaned up the table to hide her emotions and said:

"I'm not familiar with him. He was a comrade-in-arms with Zhengtu's father. I met him once. Later, I heard that he changed his job and became a teacher in a military academy. Two years ago, he was suddenly transferred to our place. There are always many people who gossip about widows. I never dared to contact him alone. Sometimes I would ask Xiaohang to bring him some fruits and vegetables. He would secretly teach Xiaohang something that he couldn't learn from textbooks."

"Is that so?" Su Taotao understood what he said. During the Great Movement, many teachers were labeled as "stinking ninths" and sent to the countryside for reform. As long as they had no major character problems and did not commit any serious mistakes, they could return to the city after the movement, and most of them could even return to their original positions.

The money will definitely be returned, but it will be a few years later.

But the problem is that she needs money badly now. Fu Zhengtu won't be back for at least half a year. Apart from other things, Chen Chen's nutrition is already insufficient. Even if she can't buy milk powder, she has to buy some malted milk to supplement it.

She only had 13.85 yuan left in her hand. The salt she bought was not salty and the sugar she bought was not sweet. What could she do?

Su Taotao suddenly had an idea. Oh, yes, candy! White Rabbit Toffees! White Rabbit Toffees were a very good thing back then. It was said that the calcium content of a few White Rabbit Toffees was equivalent to a glass of milk.

But she couldn't buy more than a few kilograms, and the main thing was that she didn't have any sugar coupons.

It really proves the saying that a good cook cannot cook without rice.

Su Taotao was absent-minded when she ate breakfast, her mind was full of thoughts about how to make money.

Zhou Linglan knew that she was not used to sweet potato porridge and salted vegetables. Although it was sweet potato porridge, only Su Taotao and Chenchen's bowls had white rice in them. Her and Fu Yuanhang's bowls were almost all sweet potatoes. There was nothing she could do. There was only so much grain at home, so they had to stick with Su Taotao and Chenchen.

She evenly scooped out half of the steamed chicken egg custard for Chenchen, added a few drops of soy sauce, and placed it in front of Su Taotao: "If you can't eat salted vegetables, eat this with them."

Su Taotao finally came to her senses.

She looked at the steamed egg in front of her, then at the sweet potato porridge in her own bowl which had more rice than sweet potato, and then at the others. Chenchen had the same food as her companions. It was a great happiness for children these days to be well fed and warmly clothed. He did not need to be fed at all. The little guy was very skilled in using a small spoon, and he steadily and accurately put porridge with the egg custard into his little mouthful after mouthful, and he ate it with great relish.

Logically, if Chenchen ate like this every day, he wouldn't be so thin. Maybe Chenchen didn't get to eat eggs every day, or maybe the original owner snatched them away. All the money in the family was spent by Su Taotao, and the eggs had to be exchanged for money, otherwise Zhou Linglan would have no money to buy salt and matches.

Fu Yuanhang and Zhou Linglan looked as if they were used to it, and they ate sweet potatoes with rice soup and pickled vegetables.

Su Taotao felt very upset and felt sorry for this gentle and kind mother and son.

They all tried their best to be nice to the original owner, but the original owner was really a bad person.

This family is still too poor, she has to think of a solution.

Su Taotao took a deep breath, gave some of the rice in her bowl to Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang respectively, and then divided the small half bowl of egg custard into three parts, which was actually only one spoonful per person, and she scooped it directly into their bowls.

"Eat quickly. I said yesterday that our family will have rice and porridge in the future. We won't have two kinds of food anymore. Mom, why did you forget it again? Just treat the former Su Taotao as dead. The current Su Taotao has the same temper as me."

After Su Taotao finished speaking, she lowered her head and began to drink her porridge.

Let her temperament change drastically, let them doubt her, she believed that even if she told the mother and son that she was Su Taotao who traveled through time from the 21st century, they would believe it or not, but they would definitely not tell anyone. It was just that she really didn't want to explain so much, it was too troublesome.

Zhou Linglan and her son looked at each other and saw the shock in each other's eyes.

From yesterday until now, Su Taotao has shocked them so many times that it was not until this moment that they believed that Su Taotao had really changed, like a completely different person.

She is so nice.

"Bang bang..."

The sound of the spoon hitting the rice bowl, it turned out that the little boy followed suit and scooped a spoonful of egg custard from his bowl into his uncle's bowl. The spoon accidentally hit the edge of the bowl and made a sound. The little boy's expression was very serious, and he frowned and grinned and said, "Next..."

Fu Yuanhang was so scared that the bowl in his hand almost flew out. He quickly put down his bowl and chopsticks, grabbed Chenchen's two small hands and stared at him left and right: "Chenchen, did you say anything? Tell your uncle quickly, did you say anything just now?"

Zhou Linglan covered her mouth and nodded, covering it tightly for a while, then loosening it, and said excitedly: "Yes, I heard it, Chenchen spoke, Chenchen spoke..."

No wonder they were so excited. Chenchen was almost two years old. Some children of the same age could already speak in short sentences and express their thoughts accurately. The worst ones could call daddy and mommy and utter a few words from time to time.

On the contrary, Chenchen has never been a crybaby since he was a child. He can understand everything you say and can learn anything you teach him. But he just doesn't want to speak. Such a smart child has never said a word. Sometimes he likes to be in a daze, immersed in his own world.

"Su Taotao" is a cheap mother who never cares about her son. Only Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang are extremely worried.

There were a lot of rumors about Chen Chen in the team. Some said he was mute, some said he was stupid, and some even said he was both mute and stupid.

Fu Yuanhang got into his first fight because a classmate called Chenchen dumb. He beat up the guy in front of Chenchen, and no one dared to say that to his face since then.

Zhou Linglan, who has such a good temper, would only lose her temper at those people when she heard them say such things about Chen Chen, and would shout, "Smart children speak late."

In fact, she herself was unsure, because no matter how she and Fu Yuanhang taught him, Chenchen just refused to speak. Zhou Linglan felt more distressed because his father was not around and his mother didn't care. Although the child was young, he actually understood everything. He must have been unwilling to speak because he was sad. Now, Chenchen finally spoke.

He is not dumb, nor is he stupid.

It was because Su Taotao had been talking to him these past two days and had been close to him. She even shared food with them just now. He knew that his mother had gotten better and had him in her heart, so she was willing to speak. He was just smart and spoke late.

Su Taotao was also very happy. She moved her own stool to sit next to the boy, looked him straight in the eye, and teased him, "Chenchen, you should call me mom first. I am mom. Chenchen, call me mom quickly."

However, the young man glanced at her helplessly and looked away, continuing to eat calmly.

It seemed as if the precious "time" just now was just an illusion for them.

Su Taotao was not annoyed and moved her bowl over as well, saying naughtily, "Chenchen just gave his eggs to little uncle, mom wants some too."

Chen Chen still had a helpless look on his face. He pursed his lips and scooped a little from his own bowl for her. Su Taotao laughed happily and scooped most of the remaining one-third of the egg custard into his bowl, and only scooped the last bit into her own bowl, saying:

"Thank you, Chenchen. I'll give you some of Mom's food. We should share with each other in the future. Eat quickly, Chenchen. Eat more so you can grow taller."

The spring sunshine coming in through the window today seems especially warm and gentle, just like this home, which, although poor, is beginning to become cozy and loving.