Chapter 19
Chapter 19: Sensible
“Don’t push your luck!”
Su Xiaoxiao pulled the blanket over the three children with a dark expression.
The kiss plan failed.
The three little ones closed their eyes regretfully and obediently stopped talking.
The children played happily and slept quickly. Not long after, the sound of their even snores came from the bed.
Su Xiaoxiao rested her chin on her hand and looked at the three children who were sleeping soundly. She didn’t even know what it was like to have her mother accompany her, but she inexplicably became someone else’s temporary mother.
Some people wanted to hold umbrellas for others after having been in the rain. However, there were also people who inherited their parents’ cold genes.
… .
It was late at night when the father and son dragged their tired bodies back.
When they arrived home, Old Father Su rushed into his room without eating dinner.
Su Xiaoxiao scooped a bowl of soup and rice and handed it to Su Ergou. “Where did you go today? What happened to Dad?”
Usually, the first thing Su Cheng did when he returned home was to look for his daughter. Tonight was clearly abnormal.
Su Ergou took the soup and took a sip of rice. He whispered, “Uncle Cheng is gone. He disappeared five days ago. Father only received the news today and rushed over to bury him.”
“Who’s Uncle Cheng?” Su Xiaoxiao asked.
Su Ergou sighed. “One of Dad’s brothers used to follow Father on a few missions. His legs were not good, so he stopped working. All these years, he had been working as a short-term worker in town and had a difficult life. When Father was in his prime, many people came to curry favor with Father. When Father quit, only Uncle Cheng was still willing to interact with Father. Don’t you remember? When you were young, you fell seriously ill and didn’t have the money to go to the medical center. It was Uncle Cheng who sold the old cow in his family and gave us the money to treat your illness.”
That was when Su Daya was seven years old. Su Ergou was five years old. She was too sick and had a fever. Therefore, only Su Ergou remembered the despair of his family and the new lease of life brought by Uncle Cheng.
Zhang Dao was an ingrate while Uncle Cheng was a loyal person.
No wonder Old Father Su was so sad.
Su Ergou was actually very sad. “In the past few years, the Cheng family has borrowed a lot of money to treat Uncle Cheng’s illness. After Uncle Cheng left, he left behind an orphan, a widow, and an old mother. Not to mention paying the debt, they can’t even live anymore.”
—
There was no lamp in the room, so Su Cheng sat on the chair in a daze.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. “Dad, it’s me. Are you asleep? I’m coming in.”
With that, Su Xiaoxiao brought a bowl of soup and rice to Su Cheng.
She did not light the lamp. The dim candlelight shone in from the central room. It was not too bright, and Su Cheng’s disappointment was hidden.
Su Cheng did not want to be too embarrassed in front of his daughter. He said in a normal tone, “I’m not hungry.”
Su Xiaoxiao handed him a note. “Take it.”
Su Cheng asked, “What?”
“IOU,” said Su Xiaoxiao.
Su Cheng did not understand.
Su Xiaoxiao pulled his hand and placed the IOU in his palm. “He Tongsheng still owes 15 taels. When he returns the money, take it to the Cheng family.”
Su Cheng suddenly raised his head and looked at his fat daughter in shock.
Su Xiaoxiao let go of his hand and sat down on the stool beside him. “If that’s not enough, I still have four taels.”
“Enough, enough…” Su Cheng choked.
“Our family of three can do things. We will definitely earn money.” Su Xiaoxiao didn’t know how to comfort people. She didn’t know if saying this would make Father Su feel better.
“I won’t buy those rouge and cosmetics in the future, nor will I eat Jin Ji’s snacks. The expenses won’t be big. I remember that our family has land. When Wei Ting recovers, let him farm. Our family will have food and can save a sum.”
“Look, it’s quite enough, right?”
She spoke carefully.
Su Cheng’s throat was so swollen that he could not speak.
For the passing of a good brother, and for his sensible daughter.
Su Xiaoxiao struck while the iron was hot. “Dad, let’s do proper business in the future and not extort money from the villagers, okay?”
—
The next day, Su Xiaoxiao used all her willpower to pull herself out of the warm blanket.
Last night, she had made it sound easy. In fact, how could she be so optimistic?
Losing 15 taels of silver all of a sudden made this poor family worse.
It was true that there were three people at home, but there were also seven mouths waiting to eat. All of them were good-for-nothings… except for the seriously injured Wei Ting.
This guy might be a good-for-nothing after he recovered. After all, the three little ones could eat a lot, so their father’s appetite should not be bad either.
“Fortunately, I bought the ingredients yesterday. I planned to do business today, so I don’t have to panic.”
Su Xiaoxiao pulled open the cupboard and took out a large alms bowl filled with dough.
There was no yeast in ancient times. People used fermented old noodles or wine. She used old noodles.
The duration of fermentation of old noodles varied according to temperature. Generally speaking, the higher the temperature of the environment, the easier it was to ferment. In summer, it was usually four hours. In winter, it was eight hours.
She usually kneaded the dough before sleeping. When she woke up the next morning, it was almost fermented.
While waiting for the dough to wake up, Su Xiaoxiao boiled the red bean and green bean into two pots. She also boiled the dried plum vegetables and took out the braised pork belly.
She wanted to make crispy pastry, so she needed a layer of oil pastry.
It was not difficult to cook the oil pastry. After adding lard and white flour into the fresh egg yolk liquid, it was time to prepare the oil pastry.
The skin was wrapped in a layer of oil, making the texture even more oily and soft.
She made a total of three fillings: red bean, green bean, and dried plum.
In the end, she ran out of stuffing and only had a little dough left. On a whim, she made a few fat intestine crisps and brown sugar crisps.
“Sister… what delicious food did you make again?”
Su Ergou was woken up by the urge to pee. He went to the toilet and was attracted to the kitchen by the fragrance.
He was still half-asleep, but it didn’t stop him from eating. He casually picked up a biscuit and bit into it-
Su Xiaoxiao said, “It’s hot!”
“Howl-” A bubble appeared in Su Ergou’s mouth.
He was awake now and his tongue was swollen.
However, it did not prevent him from eating his sister’s pancakes.
“Sister, your pancakes are even better than Jin Ji’s osmanthus cake!”
He was eating brown sugar. The sugar had completely melted, and it was sweet with a hint of lard. It was so delicious.
Su Xiaoxiao let him try one of each flavor.
“Are you full?”
“Oh, pretty much.”
“Then pack up and get ready to work.”
Su Ergou was stunned. “What work?”
… .
Fifteen minutes later, the siblings carried the basket to town.
“Sister, where are we going to sell it? The market?” Su Ergou asked.
Ordinary people might have reservations about their first time doing business.
Su Ergou was talented and his skin was thick enough to be used as the sole of a shoe. Would he have reservations? It was impossible!
“Not the market,” Su Xiaoxiao said.
Su Ergou asked curiously, “Then where are we going?”