Reborn, nothing made her happier than getting rich.
However, Su Xiaotian was just an ordinary person in her past life, and making money was really far from her.
Su Xiaotian did not possess the skill of making money in a short period.
Moreover, her current self and her current environment were not very suitable for making money.
It could be said that for getting rich, there was no favorable time, place, or human element, and the road ahead was difficult.
Thinking that Chi Yiyuan was a big shot in her past life, she felt that this matter could be discussed with Chi Yiyuan.
Thinking again, Chi Yiyuan was just a teenager.
Even if he was capable, he was still too young!
After much thought, Su Xiaotian finally made the difficult decision to ponder this matter slowly.
While Su Xiaotian was considering, every household began steaming buns, and the production team started slaughtering pigs for the New Year.
The Red Heart Production Team had raised quite a few pigs this year. After slaughtering the pigs for the New Year, they would hand over the portion for the collective and distribute the remaining meat per capita. Each person in the production team would receive two jin and four liang of meat.
This amount was much more than last year, and the members were happily drawing lots and queuing up to receive their meat.
Su Xiaotian was lucky, and the Old Su family was among the first to pick up meat.
The Old Su family had eighteen people and received more than forty jin of meat in total, which was quite a lot.
Grandma Su picked ten jin of fatty pork, and the remaining meat was all streaky pork chosen by Grandma Su.
Su Xiaotian actually wanted some ribs or offal, but if she didn't choose the good meat and chose these instead, Su Xiaotian estimated she would be scolded.
When Grandma Su took the meat home with her sons and grandchildren, it made the people in the production team very envious.
More than forty jin of meat was the largest amount for any family in the entire production team.
"It's still good that Auntie's family has so much meat, they can have a prosperous New Year!" Li Zhuzi said enviously.
The Su family received the most meat in the entire production team, and he, being only one person, received the least meat in the entire production team.
His luck was bad today, and he drew the last lot. He had to wait until the end to pick meat, and by then, all the good meat would probably be gone!
Grandma Su also liked Li Zhuzi. She hadn't realized it before, but Li Zhuzi was actually a pretty good kid.
"When it's New Year, you come to our house for dinner. After you get married next year, you won't have the chance to celebrate New Year at our house." Grandma Su said cheerfully.
Li Zhuzi's scabby head had been cured, and he had gone on a blind date with a girl, planning to choose a date to get married in the spring of next year.
"Okay, I'll come to Auntie's house for dinner then." Li Zhuzi said without being polite.
As they were talking, they happened to see Su Taohua, who was wrapped up tightly.
Others might not know, but Grandma Su knew about Su Taohua's situation, and she couldn't help but say a few more words.
"Little Aunt, thank you very much." Su Taohua said with a smile and then went to collect her meat.
Her family only had five people, and they received more than ten jin of meat.
Carrying a small piece of meat, Su Taohua was very satisfied, and finally, a smile appeared between her eyebrows.
With a small family, this was enough to eat!
"Mom, I want to eat meatballs!" Su Xiaogang ran around in front of Su Taohua, his face full of joy.
"Okay, Mom will make meatballs for you, and I'll also make dumplings for you for New Year." Su Taohua said happily, looking at her son's cheerful demeanor.
However, Su Taohua never expected that she would not be able to fulfill her promise to her son.
After distributing the meat, it was soon New Year's Eve.
On New Year's Eve, the members were all preparing for the New Year.
Su Taohua had mostly recovered, so she forced herself to prepare dumplings.
Accountant Li lay on the kang, acting like a big shot. Not only did he not help, but he also made sarcastic remarks.
The central idea he expressed inside and out was that Su Taohua was a dull and uninteresting housewife.
Because it was New Year's, Su Taohua didn't want to argue, so she channeled her resentment into her hands.
She held her breath and kneaded the dough heavily, one push after another.
Just then, Kang Yiye's voice came from outside the door.
"Accountant Li, I have something to discuss with you. Are you free to come over for a moment?" Her soft and weak voice was enough to charm one's soul.
Hearing his goddess's voice, Accountant Li stopped sleeping and jumped up, extremely excited.
He ran while putting on his shoes, lifted the door curtain, and rushed out.
Su Taohua, watching the man who seemed eager to run out barefoot, was so angry that she almost cried.
"Mom..." Su Xiaogang, Su Taohua's youngest son, called out softly.
"Xiaogang, Mom is fine." Su Taohua looked at Su Xiaogang and comforted him softly.
"Mom, my dad..." Su Xiaogang was a teenager and understood many things.
During this time, people in the production team were saying that his father was having an affair with Kang Yiye and that their relationship was impure.
The sensible Su Xiaogang didn't dare to go outside anymore, for fear that people in the production team would look at him strangely.
To avoid those gazes, he even lived with his aunt for a period with his older siblings.
Unexpectedly, when they returned, they found that his father had become even more brazen.
He had actually left with that woman in front of his wife.
"Xiaogang, it's my fault for being incompetent. Come, let's make dumplings and eat dumplings!" Su Taohua forced a smile and said.
That beast had been called away, and he would definitely not return. He might not even come home tomorrow. Since that was the case, it was as if this man didn't exist.
However, Su Xiaogang clearly didn't think so.
The young boy's face turned red, and he didn't say a word.
The two older children were not at home at the moment, and no one was there to help Su Taohua comfort her younger son.
"Xiaogang, whether your father is here or not, we have to continue living our lives, and we have to continue celebrating the New Year." Su Taohua said.
"But, Dad always takes our family's food away." Xiaogang said indignantly.
Half of the family's food was taken away, so what would they eat themselves?
Su Taohua's expression also worsened.
Their previously prosperous life was now shattered.
The white flour they had painstakingly saved for the New Year was taken away yesterday. She managed to snatch back a little, just enough to make dumplings tonight.
However, most of the meat in the house had been secretly sent to Kang Yiye. The meatballs she promised Xiaogang were gone, and even tonight's dumplings were vegetarian, with only a little bit of oil residue mixed in.
Just as mother and son were looking at each other, Su Taohua's eldest son Xiaoliang and daughter Xiaomei also returned home.
The family's meat had been ruined by Accountant Li, making it difficult to celebrate the New Year. To let her children eat better, Su Taohua asked her daughter Xiaomei to pick up some tofu.
The eldest son, Dagang, because Accountant Li was not moving, had to go and ask for couplets himself.
The siblings returned, only to find that the atmosphere at home was not right.
"Where is my dad?" Xiaoliang asked, looking at the empty kang with only a messy quilt on it.
"Called away by that slut!" Xiaogang shouted indignantly, holding back his anger.
Xiaoliang and Xiaomei also did not expect that on New Year's Eve, their father would still leave with another woman.
For a moment, the room became silent.
The Old Su family was harmonious and joyful.
Grandpa Su, with his sons and grandsons, was pasting couplets and sweeping the yard, even meticulously cleaning the pigsty.
Grandma Su was in the kitchen with her three daughters-in-law, busy preparing the New Year's Eve dinner.
Unlike Su Taohua's home, the Old Su family's New Year's Eve dinner was very rich.
They made two types of dumplings: one with pickled cabbage and pork filling, and the other with oil residue and radish filling.
In addition, there was a plate of deep-fried meatballs, a plate of winter fruit meat, and a plate of stir-fried eggs with scallions, all looking tempting.
Most families would not be willing to eat like this. In previous years, the Old Su family would definitely not have prepared so much food.
But this year was different. Grandma Su was willing to make so many delicious dishes at once.
Su Xiaotian, like a little glutton, scurried around, giving pointers on how to cook, and was very busy.
"Our family's New Year's Eve dinner is really sumptuous this year."
Wang Xianghua quickly flipped the dishes in the pot and casually picked up a piece of winter fruit soaked in meat and put it into Su Xiaotian's mouth.
Winter fruit pear meat was made by slicing streaky pork into thin slices, layering them with winter fruit pear slices, and steaming them.
The meat made this way was rich but not greasy, with a faint pear fragrance, soft and delicious.
The winter fruit pear slices, soaked in the aroma of the meat, were also wonderfully flavorful.
Of course, the main reason why people in the countryside did this was that the meat looked like more, while using less meat.
Su Xiaotian happily ate the sweet, meat-flavored winter fruit pear slices, her smiling face full of joy.
"It's delicious, Grandma! I like to eat it." She said with her oily little mouth.
"If you like it, eat more. We made a lot this year, enough for you to eat." Wang Xianghua said cheerfully.
This year, they had made a whole basin, how many slices could the little girl eat?
Grandma Su glanced at her eldest daughter-in-law and said, "I've let you all down in terms of food these past few years."
Sensing something unusual in her mother-in-law's words, Liang Xiu quickly said, "Mom, not at all, our lives are going well. Look around the entire production team, which family is like you?"
This was also true. In many families in the production team, daughters-in-law were not allowed to eat at the table. It was only in the Old Su family that there were no such rules.
"I'm telling the truth. Last year, Su Manxiang took a lot of the meat, and what was left was rendered into oil, which was not enough for the family to eat. There was no oil or fat for the New Year's meal."
After the meat was distributed, Su Manxiang came with her children, crying and saying that life was difficult, but Grandma Su and Grandpa Su firmly drove her out.
"We didn't live good lives before, but now we do. What more dissatisfaction is there?"
Wang Xianghua was a straightforward person and was very satisfied with the current life.
As they were talking, they heard the sound of a car outside.
"Doesn't it sound like Big Sister's husband's car?" Qi Liangying said, "Could it be that Big Sister's husband sent us New Year's goods?"
Grandma Su smiled and said, "Isn't there enough food for you to eat?"
Her teasing words made the atmosphere even better.
However, among the people from the production team, only Chen Zi'an could drive.
Su Xiaotian, however, had already run out with her short little legs.
Then, they heard the children's voices from the yard.
"Grandma, Grandma, my Big Aunt and Big Uncle are here!"
Grandma Su was startled. What? Her daughter and son-in-law were here?
It was almost dark, why were they here now?
According to old customs, married daughters were not supposed to celebrate the New Year at their parents' home.
"Oh my, why are you here now?" Grandma Su hurried out.
"Mom, it's just the two of us at home, and it's boring, so we came to your place for a meal!"
Chen Zi'an's face was full of smiles, and he was carrying two large net bags, filled with many good things.
With her son-in-law saying that, Grandma Su couldn't say anything else.
Chen Zi'an's parents had passed away long ago, and he was all alone. It was probably for this reason that he came to celebrate the New Year at their house.
Looking at Su Manxiu, who was wearing a thick cotton jacket and had a rosy complexion, Grandma Su's smile widened, knowing that her daughter was living a good life.
"Mom, I told you, it's not customary for married daughters to come home for New Year, but Zi'an insisted on coming!" Su Manxiu said nervously.
Although her parents were open-minded, this was an old custom.
If he wasn't a live-in son-in-law, there was no reason for the daughter and son-in-law to stay at their parents' home for New Year.
"I'll inform Captain Su later. We'll go to the production team headquarters for a while just before the New Year, and then we'll come back after the New Year!" Chen Zi'an said with a smile.
Su Grandpa, who was about to say something, was also silenced by this remark.
Su Xiaotian said with a smile, "Big Aunt, Uncle, Grandma made a lot of delicious food."
"Is Xiaotian willing to share the delicious food with Uncle?" Chen Zi'an asked playfully.
Su Xiaotian proudly raised her little head, "Of course, Uncle is the best!"
"What? Is Aunt not good?" Su Manxiu also teased.
"Big Aunt is also good." She said with a sweet little mouth.
As she said these words, Su Xiaotian still felt a bit disgusted. She was an adult, and saying such things made her feel ashamed!
"As expected, you've eaten winter fruit pear, your mouth is so sweet." Wang Xianghua said with a loud laugh.
"Big Sister, Brother-in-law, you should go to the main hall and sit on the kang to warm up. You must be frozen from the journey!" Liang Xiu quickly greeted the guests.
Qi Liangying's lips moved, but she didn't speak.
"Mom, let me help too!" Su Manxiu said, seeing that all the women in the family were in the kitchen.
"Hurry up and warm up. It's cold on the road, and it looks like it's going to snow!"
Grandma Su was reluctant to let her daughter go to the kitchen, so she took them to the main hall, and at the same time, she called the son-in-law to the main hall as well.
Seeing her mother-in-law take her younger sister and her husband to the main hall, Qi Liangying whispered, "People say that if a daughter comes home for New Year, the maiden family will have bad luck for the year."
Su Xiaotian happened to hear this and immediately chuckled, saying, "Second Aunt, in previous years, my Big Aunt and my Little Aunt didn't celebrate New Year at our house, and our lives weren't good either."
"Exactly, life is made by people. Why bother with such superstitions?"
Wang Xianghua clearly did not object to Su Manxiu coming home for New Year.
"Besides, didn't Brother-in-law say that we would go out to avoid the crowd during the New Year, so it wouldn't count as celebrating New Year at our house."
"I think Brother-in-law brought a lot of good things." Liang Xiu reminded with a smile.
Her second sister-in-law was not bad, just a little scheming.
As expected, the last trace of reluctance on Qi Liangying's face disappeared.
How could she forget that this brother-in-law was no ordinary person? He was a high-ranking official in the county, and even the leaders in the commune had to curry favor with him.
Perhaps, she could rely on this brother-in-law someday. It was just celebrating New Year at her parents' home. They themselves didn't mind, so why should she?
"Look at me, how could I have thought so wrongly!" Qi Liangying said with a smile.
Before she finished speaking, they suddenly heard a commotion outside.