Grandma Su, unaware of everything that had happened, busied herself in the kitchen all morning after receiving two new recipes.
She only stopped her culinary experiments near noon when guests arrived, signaling the need to attend to them.
The restaurant was becoming increasingly popular. By lunchtime, the seating capacity was at seventy percent.
Su Xiaotian wasn't entirely satisfied with this, but she knew the reasons for this situation were complex, and significant improvements wouldn't be seen in a short time.
Maintaining the current state, even if it didn't lead to immense wealth, at least ensured a steady income.
After Grandma Su had served all the dishes ordered by the customers, she made final adjustments based on the feedback from Su Shouwen and the others who had tasted the dishes.
She excitedly brought out the two newly prepared dishes for her grandsons.
"These are the dishes improved according to your suggestions about their shortcomings. If you find them satisfactory, we'll finalize these two dishes," she announced.
Grandma Su was beaming, looking considerably younger than when she was at the Red Heart Brigade.
Even Su Xiaotian found it remarkable, realizing how crucial one's spirit and energy truly were.
Su Shouwen and the others, having tasted the dishes multiple times that morning, still noticed the changes.
"Grandma, the flavor of this dish is much richer now. Unlike before, the taste was only on the lips," Su Shouwen commented first.
Grandma Su glared at her eldest grandson and scolded, "Don't you try to be fancy with your words. Your grandma isn't highly educated and doesn't understand what you're saying. Just tell me, is it delicious or not!"
Su Shouwen quickly nodded repeatedly, "Grandma, it's delicious, truly delicious."
Hearing Su Shouwen being scolded, the other grandsons naturally dared not use elaborate language. They all nodded in agreement: "Grandma, it's really delicious. These dishes can be added to the menu!"
Su Xiaotian, seeing her brothers' reactions, almost burst out laughing.
Her grandma was truly as she always was.
"Then it's settled. I'll add these two dishes to the menu shortly," Grandma Su said, busying herself happily.
Grandpa Su glanced at his grandsons, raised an eyebrow, and left.
His wife had always been difficult, and now that she was making money, she was even more so!
However, this feeling was quite good.
After lunch, the siblings didn't stay at the restaurant but returned to Du Tonghe's home.
The second floor of the restaurant only had a temporary resting room, which wasn't conducive to their studies.
Su Xiaotian, however, was contemplating when she would have enough money to buy a siheyuan (courtyard house).
Although she was accustomed to living at the Du family's home, having her own place would be better.
All the cash she had on hand wouldn't be enough to buy a siheyuan.
Money was indeed hard to earn.
She began to ponder if there were other ways to make money.
However, at this time, although the economy was starting to develop, it wasn't as booming as it would be decades later, and there weren't many avenues for earning money.
As Su Xiaotian was contemplating this, the mail carrier arrived.
Su Xiaotian had a letter, which turned out to be from the newspaper office.
It was regarding the two short stories Su Xiaotian had written, and they were sending her sample copies and the payment for them.
Looking at the meager稿费 (gao fei - manuscript fee) of only a few dozen yuan, Su Xiaotian once again felt that earning money was difficult.
The Su brothers were overjoyed to learn that Su Xiaotian's stories had been published, praising her to the skies.
Having a story published in a newspaper was not something just anyone could achieve, was it? Clearly not!
"Xiaotian, you're amazing!" Su Ciliang even gave Su Xiaotian a thumbs-up.
"You've completely outshone us brothers!" Su Si mumbled.
Why was it that they were all children of the Su family, yet the differences were so vast?
Being constantly outshone by their much younger sister was truly stressful.
Su Xiaotian smiled but said nothing.
She wanted to earn money by writing stories, but the manuscript fees were too low. Even if she poured all her effort into writing, she could only earn a pittance, which was a drop in the bucket for buying a house.
After her brothers calmed down, Su Xiaotian called Su Shouwen to begin their lesson.
The other brothers were not interested in French and went about their own business.
Su Xiaotian's foreign language studies were guided by the system, ensuring precise pronunciation and an innovative learning method.
After an afternoon of study, Su Shouwen felt as if a veil had been lifted, and his mind had been opened.
Many concepts he hadn't understood before were now easily grasped.
Su Shouwen looked at the book in disbelief, unable to comprehend that French could be learned in such a way!
"Xiaotian, you teach so well. The methods used by our school teachers are not as effective as yours!" Su Shouwen finally said with emotion.
"Big Brother, after we master French, we can learn other languages too."
Since Big Brother was interested, she wouldn't limit him to just one. Once French was learned, they could learn others one by one.
In a few years, perhaps Big Brother would become a talented individual proficient in multiple languages!
Thinking of this possibility, Su Xiaotian couldn't hide the smile on her face.
She felt as if she could already see her Big Brother's brilliant future.
Although Su Shouwen didn't know why his little sister was smiling slyly, he was happy that his little sister was happy.
"Okay!" he readily agreed, secretly resolving to study diligently and make his little sister even happier.
After dinner, Su Xiaotian finally had time to sort through the questions raised by Su Sangong and put her organized thoughts into writing.
She worked continuously until past midnight, finally clarifying over twenty pages of content.
The next morning, when Su Sangong saw the stack of papers Su Xiaotian had given him, he was astonished.
"Xiaotian, when did you do all this?"
Yesterday afternoon, Xiaotian was still busy teaching Big Brother French. In one night, she had produced so much material.
"This is content from some books I read before. You and Uncle Shen can take a look; perhaps it will be helpful to you," Su Xiaotian said with a smile.
Su Sangong, holding the stack of manuscripts, was overjoyed.
"Xiaotian, you are truly our family's little lucky star, haha!"
Meanwhile, Su Ciliang had already begun his painting.
Ever since he had agreed to participate in the calligraphy and painting competition yesterday, he had decided to seize the opportunity to create a piece he was satisfied with.
In fact, he had produced several satisfactory works at school before.
However, his professor had deemed them unsatisfactory, and he had discarded them as scrap paper.
Thinking back now, he should have insisted on taking them back, even if they were scrap paper, to keep at home.
After confirming that her second brother was in good spirits that day, Su Xiaotian didn't bother with her second and third brothers, dedicating herself entirely to teaching her eldest brother.
As for Du Tonghe and Yu Ruiyuan, the elderly couple, they went out after breakfast.
Su Xiaotian knew they were going to inquire about matters at the school.
She couldn't help but feel grateful for the help of so many people. If their family had ventured into the capital alone, they would have taken many more detours to forge their path.
Be kind to others, and you will encounter kindness everywhere!
Author's Note:
Another chapter will be available before eleven o'clock!