Grandpa Su waved his hand and refused, "I'm perfectly fine. Just give it to your grandmother to replenish her strength!"
Good heavens, his wife ate two a day, which was already a strain. If he ate two more, how would the family get by?
Su Xiaotian wanted to give her mother a thumbs-up. She was so thoughtful to even consider that Grandpa needed to replenish his health.
"Grandpa, eat it. Xiaotian doesn't want to see Grandpa faint too," Su Xiaotian walked over, took Grandpa Su's hand, and gently shook it.
It wasn't just Grandma who was depleted; Grandpa's condition was likely even worse.
Grandpa was currently holding on by sheer willpower, which was the most frightening thing. If he were to collapse, it would be like a mountain crumbling.
She still remembered the pain of Grandpa falling ill and leaving them forever in her previous life. She didn't want to repeat the same mistake in this life.
Grandpa Su was surprised by his granddaughter's words and froze.
He saw the panic in Su Xiaotian's eyes.
The child was too young and was clearly frightened by her grandmother fainting.
He tenderly hugged his little granddaughter.
"Don't be scared, my precious. Grandpa will be fine, and Grandma will be fine too. We'll watch over our precious girl.
In the end, the elderly couple ate all the sweet egg custards sent by Liang Xiu.
While eating, they still felt pained, always wanting to save one for their grandchildren.
But Su Xiaotian guarded them, insisting they finish everything, including the soup, leaving nothing behind.
Liang Xiu praised her daughter's behavior immensely.
This child was truly clever and not greedy, which was rare.
Liang Xiu went to the kitchen to wash the bowls and chopsticks, and Grandpa Su went out to help when he heard the grandsons returning.
In the main hall.
Su Xiaotian nestled beside Grandma Su, chatting with her.
"Xiaotian, why didn't you eat the egg custard just now?" Grandma Su stroked her granddaughter's little braid and said.
She still felt pained that she had eaten two eggs in one go.
"Grandma, you eat first. We're eating well now and are in good health," Su Xiaotian said with a smile.
"What do you mean by eating well! Look at how well Jinbao and Yinbao from your second uncle's family have grown?" Grandma Su said with emotion, looking at the thin Su Xiaotian.
"They're just fat and not good-looking," Su Xiaotian said dismissively.
Grandma Su couldn't help but chuckle. Indeed, her granddaughter was right; the two boys from the second branch were indeed too fat and not good-looking.
Their own children were better looking, all of them, boys and girls alike.
"Grandma, I'll tell you a secret, I got more coupons."
"What coupons?" Grandma Su leaned her head closer to her granddaughter and asked quietly.
"Not only meat coupons, but also sugar coupons and egg coupons," Su Xiaotian whispered.
After speaking, she smiled at Grandma Su, as if proud of the little secret they shared.
Su Xiaotian skipped down from the kang with her short legs and ran to her small room.
When she returned, she held a stack of money coupons and handed them all to Grandma Su.
"You keep them. Later, let my father buy things from the city, and you and Grandpa can replenish your health."
Hearing the words "replenish your health," Grandma Su felt a pang of heartache. How could she not?
"Grandma, I'm telling you, our family can afford to eat eggs now. You and Grandpa will have two eggs every day from now on. This is non-negotiable."
Grandma Su held the thick stack of money coupons, almost disbelieving her eyes, and didn't even notice what her granddaughter was saying.
How did this child get another stack of money coupons?
She carefully flipped through them, distinguishing them by their different patterns, and indeed, there were all sorts of coupons.
The money wasn't much, but it was more than the previous times, totaling over twenty yuan.
Grandma Su wrapped the coupons in a handkerchief and carefully placed them under her pillow.
Lately, thanks to the money coupons Su Xiaotian brought, the family's life had improved significantly.
Grandma Su couldn't help but sigh, "Xiaotian, you are truly our family's lucky star."
"Grandma, Xiaotian is indeed a lucky star. If she hadn't come with us to the mountain, we wouldn't have found anything good besides pig feed," Little Jiu pouted and walked in, having just heard this sentence, and quickly said.
"Brother Jiu, what did you get today?" Su Xiaotian asked with a smile.
"Nothing but pig feed, not even a mushroom," Little Jiu said with great dissatisfaction. "Grandma, get well soon so Xiaotian can go to the mountain with us."
"Alas, Grandma will definitely get well soon." Hearing her grandson's words, Grandma Su's mood improved a lot.
"Brother Jiu, there aren't many mushrooms around this time, but we don't lack mushrooms in our family."
In the past few months, since they went up the mountain, they had stored two large bags of dried mushrooms, dozens of pounds, enough for winter.
"Little Jiu, why are you bothering Grandma? Go play outside with your brothers." Qi Liangying came in and saw Little Jiu leaning by her mother-in-law's kang, and quickly called out.
Male children's fussing was not conducive to her mother-in-law's recovery. It was enough for Xiaotian to accompany her.
"It's alright, let Little Jiu stay here. Listening to the children talk makes me feel better!" Grandma Su didn't want her grandson to be wronged and quickly said.
Qi Liangying didn't say much more, asked Grandma Su if she felt uncomfortable anywhere, and only felt a bit relieved when she knew her mother-in-law was fine, then went out to busy herself.
Grandma Su and her grandchildren sat on the kang and talked. The grandparents and grandchildren chatted happily, dispersing much of the previous gloom.
The next day, Su Laosan took leave and went to the county town.
Fearing being noticed, Su Laosan returned under the cover of darkness.
When he returned, the woven basket on his back was heavy, full to the brim, with no gaps.
Since the production team had distributed grain, the family had all sorts of grains, so they didn't buy any this time. It was only these odds and ends, the most being the nutritious meat and eggs that Su Xiaotian had mentioned.
Su Laosan took out oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, eggs, meat, and two packs of sugar from the basket.
Most curiously, he finally took out a can of malted milk essence.
The family looked at the can of malted milk essence as if watching a novelty.
The adults had seen it, but the younger children had never seen it and were very curious.
Little Jiu blinked his big eyes and asked, "Third Dad, what is this?"
"This is malted milk essence. It's a nutritional supplement, very precious, and only city people can eat it," Su Laosan replied proudly.
"Why is there malted milk essence?" Grandpa Su asked in surprise.
"Dad, I met Minister Chen in the county town today. He spoke a few words with me. He heard that Mother wasn't feeling well, so he gave me two cans of malted milk essence, saying it was for Mother's health." Su Laosan said.
"Why did you accept his things?" After saying this, Grandma Su suddenly felt that her words were a bit affected.
They had already received quite a bit from Minister Chen, and it didn't seem like they were lacking this one can of malted milk essence.
"Laosan, two cans of malted milk essence, why did you only bring out one?" Oldest Brother Su asked curiously, looking at the now empty back basket.
"On my way back, I passed by the cowshed and left one can of malted milk essence for them. I also left them eight eggs and a pound of brown sugar. I didn't dare to leave the meat, for fear of the smell being detected."
Grandma Su smiled and said, "Laosan, you're thoughtful. We should leave some for them. Although our health isn't good, theirs is even worse!"
The others didn't find anything wrong with this.
Although most of the Su family didn't know the relationship between Minister Chen and the Chi family.
But they weren't foolish. They could see that Minister Chen took such good care of their family, not only because of the old chief's relationship but also because their family had taken care of the grandfather and grandson in the cowshed.
To be honest, they were the ones who benefited.
"You did the right thing, Laosan." Grandpa Su was very satisfied with his son's handling of the matter.
"How many pounds of meat did you buy today? I see seven or eight pounds," Grandma Su said, staring at the pieces of meat on the table.
"Mother, this is ten pounds of meat. You gave me ten pounds of meat coupons, and it just so happened that I bought it all. I just didn't manage to buy pork fat, but this meat is also fatty."
"Make meat porridge for Grandma. Lean meat is fine, fatty meat doesn't taste good," Su Xiaotian's weak voice came.
Liang Xiu looked at her daughter and smiled, "After all, she's just a child. Lean meat has no oil."
Without oil, how could there be any nourishment?
Su Xiaotian was stunned. The nutritional value of lean meat and fatty meat wasn't that different, was it?
Then, she remembered that people in this era generally lacked oil and fat, and everyone firmly believed that fatty meat was good.
"Mother, you'll be right if you listen to me. Fatty meat makes inedible meat porridge," Su Xiaotian said. "If there's a layer of oil on top of the porridge, no one could eat it."
Everyone laughed upon hearing this. Wasn't that exactly the case?
"Then use the fatty meat to render oil for stir-frying, and the lean meat for meat porridge. Stir-fry some minced meat and send it to the Chi family's grandfather and grandson."
Just as the family was talking, Li Zhuzi arrived.
He was holding a chicken and looked slightly awkward at the entire room.
"Zhuzi, why did you bring the chicken?" Wang Xianghua asked quickly.
"I only have one chicken at home, and it's not easy to raise, so I thought I'd take advantage of you and have your family raise it for me. I heard from Little Si that your chickens lay many eggs." Li Zhuzi said somewhat awkwardly.
Everyone in the family understood Li Zhuzi's intention. If they didn't let him kill the chicken, he brought the chicken over, hoping Grandma Su would eat more eggs.
Li Zhuzi was indeed grateful.
He remembered such a small kindness even now.
"Zhuzi brought it, so let's accept it," Grandpa Su said, stroking his beard.
It wasn't easy for Li Zhuzi to live alone. If the family could take care of him a bit more, that would be good.
Su Xiaotian also remembered treating Li Zhuzi's ringworm at this time and said with a smile, "Uncle Zhuzi, I asked Doctor Li a couple of days ago. There are a few medicinal herbs that can treat the sores on your head. Do you want to try?"
Li Zhuzi touched the sores on his head after hearing Su Xiaotian's words and said, "Forget it. If there was a way to cure it, it wouldn't have dragged on until now."
But Grandma Su, hearing her granddaughter say this, felt that this matter was probably true.
"Zhuzi, just try what Xiaotian says. It won't cost much anyway."
"Exactly, Uncle Zhuzi. It's just a few herbs. Boil them with water and wash your head every day. It just costs a bit of firewood and time."
"If you find it troublesome, Third Sister-in-law can boil the medicinal water for you every day," Liang Xiu also said with a smile.
Li Zhuzi had had ringworm since he was young and had been ridiculed a lot over the years. He had refused outright just now because he was afraid of getting his hopes up and then being disappointed.
How could the Su family's persuasion not move him? He thought that trying it wouldn't hurt, as it would still be the same anyway.
"Then I'll try it. I'll trouble Third Sister-in-law to boil the medicinal water for me. However, from now on, I'll pick firewood on the mountain."
Li Zhuzi himself was impatient with doing these things, so he simply agreed to Liang Xiu's words.
County Town.
Chen Zi'an's home.
Su Manxiu was cooking. The staple food was two-grain rice, and the dish was tofu braised with minced meat.
She had been a diligent person since childhood. Over the years at the Wang family, she had been working non-stop, never idle.
After being taken in by Chen Zi'an, out of gratitude, she was even busier.
Chen Zi'an's courtyard had changed dramatically since Su Manxiu arrived.
The small vegetable garden, which had been desolate, was deeply cultivated by Su Manxiu, who planted some green onions and easy-to-grow small bok choy. They had already sprouted and would be ready to eat in a few more days.
The crookedly growing flowers had also regained their vitality under Su Manxiu's care. Su Manxiu had also carefully built trellises for the flowers.
Under the large date tree in the courtyard, where firewood was piled, Su Manxiu neatly stacked the firewood in a corner of the courtyard.
She also moved the stone table and stone stools from the corner and arranged them, wiping them clean. When the weather was good, they could sit under the tree to cool off and eat.
Chen Zi'an entered the door, smelling the rich aroma of food.
A smile flashed across his lips.
No wonder people say that a home needs a woman to feel like a home.
Isn't that exactly the case? In such a short time, his place had undergone a drastic change.
"Minister Chen is back. You can wash your hands and eat. Today we have minced meat braised with tofu," Su Manxiu said, raising her face and smiling.
That day, after she left the hospital, she had intended to die, but Chen Zi'an had chased her back.
Afterward, Chen Zi'an never asked about her situation again, only brought her back to his own home.
To the outside world, Chen Zi'an said she was someone from his hometown who had come to him for help because she couldn't survive back home.
Chen Zi'an had even handled the legal procedures for Su Manxiu and found her a temporary job in the county town's canteen.
"I met an acquaintance on the road today," Chen Zi'an said to Su Manxiu while washing his hands.
Su Manxiu smiled and said, "Who is it?"
"Someone from Hongxin Brigade!"
Chen Zi'an said this while staring intently at Su Manxiu.
Although Su Manxiu hadn't said where she was from, Chen Zi'an felt that Su Manxiu had a connection with the Su family from Hongxin Brigade.
He had sent people to inquire. There was a daughter in the Old Su family named Su Manxiu who had committed suicide a few days ago due to unbearable mistreatment by her in-laws. The timing coincided with the time he had saved her.
As expected, upon hearing the words "Hongxin Brigade," Su Manxiu accidentally cut her finger with the knife.
"Oh dear, how could you be so careless?" Seeing that Su Manxiu was injured, Chen Zi'an quickly reached out and held her hand.
Su Manxiu was very uneasy and quickly pulled her hand out of Chen Zi'an's, saying, "I'm fine, I just cut myself carelessly."
"I'll go get some gauze to bandage it for you." Chen Zi'an also blushed and hurried into the house without looking back.
He didn't know when he had developed some different feelings for this woman, Su Manxiu, but he also knew that it was wrong.
Even if Su Manxiu had jumped into the river, she was still the daughter-in-law of the Wang family, Wang Gouzi's wife, if she hadn't died.
Su Manxiu was still a married woman, and he couldn't have other thoughts.