Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Uncle
“Seven hundred and eighty.”
Su Xiaoxiao said.
Su Ergou was surprised. “Sister, I was the one who collected the money. How did you know?”
Su Xiaoxiao said, “We used twelve for tasting and gave one away. You ate three and crushed six. The remaining seventy-eight cost ten coins each.”
Su Ergou admired her sister so much.
“Sister, did you hurt your brain? Did you recover from the fall?”
Su Xiaoxiao was speechless at her silly brother.
“Sister, are we still selling pancakes tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Are we still heading to Jin Ji?”
“Yeah.”
She would continue to leech off Jin Ji’s traffic.
“Alright!”
Su Ergou was very happy.
Selling pancakes was much easier than extorting money. He could even eat them all the time.
“Sister, I like dried plum vegetables the most!”
It was oily and salty with a hint of sweetness. It was so delicious that he wanted to bite his tongue.
“Is your tongue done?” Su Xiaoxiao asked.
Su Ergou stuck out his tongue a few times. It did not hurt.
He said, “Done.”
Su Xiaoxiao said, “I’ll make you preserved vegetables and braised pork when we get back.”
Su Ergou asked, “What’s that?”
Su Xiaoxiao smiled. “You’ll know after eating. Let’s go to the market to buy some ingredients.”
Business was too good. She planned to make more tomorrow but the ingredients would not last for a few days.
“Miss!”
She had just arrived at the entrance of the market when she was stopped.
She looked up and saw that it was the young butcher.
The butcher jogged over and said with sweat all over his face, “You’re finally here. Otherwise, I was wondering where to find you.”
“Looking for me?” Su Xiaoxiao looked at him in shock.
The butcher smiled in embarrassment. “It’s like this. Do you… have any more of the braised intestines you made yesterday?”
To be honest, he didn’t plan to eat it at first, but it would be a pity to throw it away, so he braced himself and tasted it.
“It’s better than my mother’s.”
Su Xiaoxiao rubbed her chin. “Are you here to ask me how to make braised intestines, or do you want to buy a bowl of braised intestines from me?”
“Ah…”
The butcher was successfully stumped.
Naturally… he was here to ask for guidance on the cooking method. However, after hearing the little village girl’s words, he felt that it seemed a little unreasonable not to buy a bowl.
“Buy, buy… How do you sell it? How much do the braised intestines cost?”
Look, he was stuttering.
Su Xiaoxiao smiled. “It’s not expensive. Twenty coins a catty.”
Butcher suspected he’d heard wrong.
‘Twenty… twenty coins? A catty?’
A whole set of pig intestines weighed 20 catties and could not be sold for 10 copper coins. How did she dare to shout this price?
The rarer something was, the more expensive it was. In the entire market, she was the only one who could make this braised food. Moreover, sugar and salt were expensive. She really did not bid recklessly.
Su Xiaoxiao continued, “If you buy it, I’ll only charge you ten copper coins.”
The butcher said blankly, “So… so cheap?”
Could it be that the little village girl had taken a fancy to him?
Su Xiaoxiao smiled. “See you tomorrow, then.”
“Ah, see you tomorrow.”
The young butcher turned and blushed.
When Su Xiaoxiao passed by the stall selling dry goods, she met the old woman again.
The old woman opened her mouth and said, “60 copper coins for dried plum vegetables!”
She had lost 50 copper coins last time!
Su Xiaoxiao said, “Oh, I don’t want dried plums today.”
The old woman was speechless.
—
There were not many ingredients bought today, and Su Ergou carried everything the entire time. They did not take the ox cart and walked back to the village.
Old Master Su was not at home. He must have gone to settle Uncle Cheng’s matters.
The three little ones were at Liu Shan’s house.
“Go and fetch Dahu and the others,” Su Xiaoxiao said to Su Ergou.
“Alright!”
Su Ergou put down the heavy basket and walked out of the central room. After a while, he returned in a panic.
“Sister! Sister! Sister! Someone’s here!”
Su Xiaoxiao was getting water in the backyard to wash her hands. Hearing this, she looked up calmly. “Who’s here?”
Su Ergou said, “It’s Uncle and Aunt!”
The uncle and aunt that Ergou mentioned were from the family of their biological mother, Madam Chen. Their uncle was Chen’s biological brother. His name was Chen Feng and his wife was Madam Huang.
The Chen family was from Willow Village.
Su Xiaoxiao searched through the Host’s memories and understood why Su Ergou had such a reaction when the Chen family came.
Father Su was a beggar who wandered to Willow Village. He became a cowherd for the Li family and grew up eating all kinds of food. As for the Chen family, they naturally wouldn’t find a cowherd as their son-in-law.
The Chen family had arranged a marriage for Madam Chen in town.
The groom already had a wife and he had been unruly to Madam Chen before the wedding. Therefore, Madam Chen refused to marry him. For the sake of the generous betrothal gift, the Chen family forced Madam Chen into the marriage.
It was the young Su Cheng who ran to the town and beat that person up ruthlessly and the marriage was ruined.
Later on, Madam Chen wanted to marry Su Cheng. The Chen family did not agree and threatened to sever ties with Madam Chen if they dared to marry!
They thought that this could scare Madam Chen, but they did not expect Madam Chen to pull the young Su Cheng out of Willow Village without hesitation and settle down in Xinghua Village.
During the years when Daddy Su was in the limelight, the two families resumed their relationship.
Later on, Madam Chen, unfortunately, passed away when Su Cheng had taken a long journey. He did not even see his wife for the last time. After that, he quit being an escort.
The Chen family blamed Su Cheng for Madam Chen’s death. Not only did Su Cheng pay a large sum of money, but the relationship between the two families also broke down again.
Occasionally, they would bump into each other. The Chen family always treated the Su family of three badly.
Because of his wife, Su Cheng was especially tolerant of the Chen family. Su Daya and Su Ergou did not dare to challenge the Chen family.
After Su Xiaoxiao digested the memories in her mind, Chen Feng and Madam Huang entered.
“Yo, isn’t this Daya?”
Madam Huang saw Su Xiaoxiao walking in from the back door.
Su Ergou hid behind his sister.
Su Xiaoxiao said to him, “Ergou, greet Uncle and Aunt.”
Su Ergou reluctantly stuck his head out. “Uncle, Aunt.”
Chen Feng had a serious expression.
Madam Huang walked forward with a smile and sized up the siblings. “It’s only been a while since we last met, but Ergou is already so tall! And Daya is also so…”
“Fat.” Su Xiaoxiao finished her sentence.
Madam Huang smiled awkwardly and sat down with Su Xiaoxiao.
Chen Feng sat down early.
He frowned at the Su family, who had suddenly stopped being sloppy. For a moment, he suspected that he had come to the wrong place.
The last time the Su family was so clean was when his sister was still alive.
Madam Huang had actually discovered it too, but she automatically ignored it. She was here today for serious business.
Su Xiaoxiao said, “Ergou, go to the kitchen and boil some water to make tea for Uncle and Aunt.”
“Aye.” Su Ergou fled the central room with relief.
Madam Huang held Su Xiaoxiao’s hand affectionately and smiled. “Where’s your father? Isn’t he at home?”
Su Xiaoxiao looked at her hand. One who was unaccountably solicitous was hiding evil intentions.
“Father went out. I don’t know if he’ll be back today. Uncle and Aunt came at the wrong time.”
Madam Huang’s smile froze. “…Your father won’t object anyway. It’s the same if I tell you.”
Su Xiaoxiao smiled faintly. “What do you want to tell me, Aunt?”
Madam Huang said indignantly, “Your uncle and I heard about He Tongsheng. That Tongsheng is really a scumbag! How dare he humiliate you like this!”
Su Xiaoxiao nodded. “So Aunt is here to stand up for me?”
Madam Huang’s smile froze again. “Of course. Tomorrow, let your uncle come and beat that He up!”
Su Xiaoxiao nodded. “Why don’t we go today?”
Madam Huang was dumbfounded.