The children, however, were well-behaved. Despite not having eaten meat for a long time, they didn't act like ravenous wolves.
They waited obediently for Grandma Su to get on the kang, and then patiently waited for the elders to start before letting out a "wu" and all digging into the meat pancakes.
The brothers were all faster than each other, and each held two in their hands.
The adults at the main table watched and couldn't help but smile, but after smiling, they felt a pang of sadness.
Grandma Su murmured, "Good thing we made all three jin of meat, otherwise there wouldn't be enough for these little wolves!"
Three jin of meat wasn't much. For over a dozen people, each could only get a taste. Although called meat pancakes, the filling was mostly chives.
But even the chives, after being enriched with oil, tasted different from usual.
For the old Su family, who hadn't had oil in a long time, it was a rare delicacy.
The whole family ate with greasy mouths, very happy, and the atmosphere at home was unprecedentedly good.
After all, even during the New Year, they hadn't eaten so much meat in one meal.
Last year, during the New Year, the family was allocated over twenty jin of meat. Su Manxiang visited twice in three days, pestering them until she took away ten jin.
After rendering the remaining meat into oil, there was nothing left.
In the end, they had no choice but to make dumplings with oil residue and cabbage for the New Year.
"Mom, what we're eating today is better than during the New Year!" the eldest, Su Mancang, said, taking a bite of a meat pancake.
When he said this, all the adults in the family were stunned.
They suddenly remembered where the meat had come from.
"Mom, where did the meat come from?" Su Lao Er suddenly asked in a muffled voice after a while.
The children were still busy eating meat pancakes, but the adults couldn't eat anymore. They stared at Grandma Su, hoping for an answer.
They knew the family's situation, so how did they suddenly have meat to eat?
Grandma Su slapped her chopsticks onto the table and said irritably,
"Can't these meat pancakes shut your mouths? Eat the meat you're given, why are you asking so many questions?"
After scolding her sons, Grandma Su couldn't help but say, "If I had known, I wouldn't have given it to you. I would have saved all these meat pancakes for my sweet baby!"
She couldn't answer this question, nor could she answer it, so she decided to be domineering! This would prevent similar incidents from happening.
She only knew one thing: no matter when, she couldn't put Tiantian in danger.
Su Lao San had actually thought about this question when he went to buy meat today. The meat coupons had come a bit too suddenly.
But since his mother didn't say anything, he didn't dare to ask, and had held it in all afternoon.
Now that his second brother asked, but his mother didn't answer anything and instead started scolding people, he knew that he absolutely shouldn't ask.
Grandpa Su looked at his wife, who was inexplicably angry, and observed her curiously but said nothing. He just urged his sons and daughters-in-law to eat the meat pancakes.
"Hurry up and eat, you have to work after you finish!"
No matter what the secret was, if his wife didn't say it, it meant she didn't want more people to know.
The sons and daughters-in-law stopped talking and quietly started eating.
The atmosphere gradually became harmonious with everyone's chewing sounds.
"Grandma, can we go to the cowshed to thank Brother Chi later? We can take a jin of sugar and wrap up a few meat pancakes, okay?"
Su Xiaotian had eaten one meat pancake and was pretty much full. She patted her belly and spoke appropriately, easing the awkwardness at the dinner table.
"Okay, I'll have your grandpa take you. They saved your life, that's a great kindness. Old man, we still have a few old pumpkins left, why don't we take one along?"
Food was undoubtedly precious, so Grandma Su didn't dare to make the decision herself and therefore consulted Grandpa Su.
Grandpa Su nodded, "That's right, we must repay kindness!"
If it weren't for that boy from the Chi family, their little granddaughter might not even be here.
His wife was willing to give up this food, which proved that the family could afford it.
Although the Chi family's background was not good, they hadn't done anything bad in the village over the years. Instead, they had helped many families.
The villagers were still quite kind to the Chi family. Occasionally, someone would feel sympathetic and secretly send some food to help them out. However, their own families were struggling, so they hadn't sent anything.
This time, no matter what, they should express their gratitude. They should go secretly tonight, just don't let anyone see.
"Lao San should go too," Grandpa Su added.
Su Lao San quickly agreed.
When the family members heard that so much food was going to be sent, although they felt reluctant, they thought about the Su family's only daughter and that her life was saved by them, so they let it go.
Su Xiaotian sipped her sweet potato flour soup and suddenly remembered that Kang Rende had seen her selling meat today.
The Kang family, including her aunt Su Manxiang, were all the same. When they saw something good, they would definitely rush over!
Perhaps, early tomorrow morning, Su Manxiang would return to her maiden home to ask for meat and sugar.
"Grandma, we have to finish all these meat pancakes tonight. If we leave them until tomorrow, someone will come to snatch them!"
"Snatch? Who dares to snatch?" Grandma Su said coldly, "Whoever dares to come, this old woman will sweep them out with a big broom..."
Just then, Liu Xiuying's voice suddenly came from the courtyard: "Oh my, what delicious food are you eating today? I could smell the aroma from your yard from three li away!"
Liu Xiuying was typical of someone whose voice arrived before she did.
The people inside the house exchanged glances, knowing that Liu Xiuying had arrived, and that there would be trouble.
She must have smelled the food and come here, right?
Grandma Su calmly instructed her eldest grandson and eldest daughter-in-law to hide the basin containing the meat pancakes, and then said loudly, "So it's my second aunt! Why are you shouting in the courtyard?"
She also glanced at her little granddaughter, wondering why this child was acting so strangely. She had just said someone was going to snatch the meat pancakes, and then this person arrived in the courtyard.
"Sister-in-law, why do I smell meat in your house?" Liu Xiuying entered, followed by two boys and a girl.
The girl was Su Xiaoqin. Unlike Su Xiaoqin, whose clothes were tattered but neat and clean, these two children had dirty clothes and were even drooling.
The old Su family was eating. Seeing such a disgusting sight, they couldn't eat anymore.
"What meat smell? We just wiped the bottom of the pot with lard. We haven't had oil for a long time, and our old iron pot is almost rusted!" Grandma Su said calmly.
This sister-in-law, if there was anything good, she would definitely try to get some to take back.
If she saw the meat pancakes, she would definitely not leave any behind. She wouldn't stop until she was so full she couldn't move!
"It doesn't smell like that, it smells like chive and meat pancakes," Liu Xiuying said, looking unconvinced.
She sniffed around the room, her eyes darting around, afraid of missing any spot, but found nothing.
However, she just refused to believe it and looked at Grandma Su suspiciously.
Grandma Su was almost furious!
"You can smell a lard and chive pancake? Are you a dog?" Grandma Su scolded irritably.