Su Xiaotian thought this way and acted accordingly.
After finishing the reception event, Su Xiaotian received three days of compensatory leave.
She immediately went to the factory to busy herself.
This is how things are in the world; one cannot make a fortune solely through manual labor.
Those who truly make money are mostly those who make money with money.
With money in hand, Su Xiaotian could naturally develop faster, rather than relying on the current factory profits to expand.
She promptly added a sum of funds.
Lei Gaocao was also recently troubled by the factory's products shifting from domestic sales to exports, with production capacity lagging behind.
He was overjoyed to hear that Su Xiaotian could add more funds.
During these three days, Su Xiaotian was even busier than when she was receiving the delegation from Country Y at the Translation Bureau. She finally managed to discuss a general plan for the factory matters with Lei Gaocao.
On the evening before her leave ended, Su Xiaotian returned to the Su family home.
Seeing Su Xiaotian looking tired with dark circles under her eyes, Grandma Su began to complain.
“You girl, you don’t know how to take care of yourself at all. At your age, you’ve already got dark circles.”
“Don’t think you’re young and can afford to be careless. Xiaotian, Grandma tells you, girls, from a young age, need to pay attention to their skincare.”
“Your work at the Translation Bureau is too demanding. Why don’t you change jobs? Burning the candle at both ends like this isn’t sustainable!”
…
Grandma Su chattered on, and Su Xiaotian listened with a smile on her face.
It felt good to be cared for by her family.
Amidst Grandma Su’s endless chatter, Su Xiaotian fell asleep.
Grandma Su had originally intended to cook something delicious for her granddaughter to replenish her strength.
However, before she knew it, Su Xiaotian had already fallen asleep.
Grandma Su could only cover Su Xiaotian with a blanket, letting her sleep soundly.
As she left the room, Grandma Su muttered, “Look how exhausted she is. My precious girl is working too hard!”
Thinking about her precious girl’s hard work, Grandma Su naturally began to shift her blame to her grandsons.
“It’s all because these good-for-nothing grandsons of mine. If they were even a little bit more capable, my precious girl wouldn’t have to work so hard!”
“I need to ask Shouwen later, what is he so busy with? Staying in the same unit, doesn’t he know to take good care of his sister?”
Su Shouwen, who was playing with his son at home, suddenly sneezed.
He looked around his home curiously. The doors and windows were all closed; there shouldn't be any cold wind blowing in. Why did he sneeze for no reason?
Li Linlin also heard Su Shouwen sneeze. She quickly took their son from him and said, “Are you catching a cold? Be careful not to infect the child.”
After a moment’s thought, she added, “Tonight, I’ll sleep with our son. You go sleep in the study!”
With that, Li Linlin carried their chubby son back to the room. Before going in, the little one gave Su Shouwen a triumphant smile.
A bewildered Su Shouwen was left to his own devices in the wind.
It was one thing to sneeze for no reason, but why was his wife abandoning him now?
Looking at that brat’s smug smile, Su Shouwen felt extremely dejected.
However, he still complied with Li Linlin’s arrangement and obediently went to the study.
Once in the study, finding he couldn’t sleep anyway, Su Shouwen took out a book to study.
Before Su Xiaotian came to the Translation Bureau, Su Shouwen felt he was doing alright.
Ever since his sister joined the Translation Bureau, Su Shouwen began to feel a sense of inadequacy.
He felt stimulated and realized he should work harder, mastering more foreign languages to keep up with the demands of the times.
Meanwhile, Grandma Su, after leaving Su Xiaotian’s room, went to the kitchen.
“Old woman, what are you doing? It’s this late, why are you still cooking?” Grandpa Su saw her and asked loudly.
Grandpa Su’s voice was a little too loud, and Grandma Su immediately hushed him and criticized him fiercely.
“Why are you shouting so loud? Precious is asleep. If you wake her up with all that noise, I won’t let you off!”
Grandpa Su: “…”
He didn’t know Precious was already asleep. If he had known, he wouldn’t have spoken so loudly.
Grandpa Su unconsciously lowered his voice and asked, “Old woman, what are you going to the kitchen for at this hour?”
“I need to stew some soup for Precious so she can replenish her strength. A young girl like her shouldn’t neglect her health.”
Grandma Su spoke as she entered the kitchen.
“You’re always so thoughtful, old woman. Come on, I’ll accompany you and help you cook!”
Grandma Su looked at Grandpa Su with surprise.
This old man, being so old, was now thinking of helping her in the kitchen?
He wouldn’t even accompany her to the kitchen when they were young, but now in his old age, he had become so sensible?
However, Grandma Su kept these thoughts to herself.
It was better to have the old man accompany her in the kitchen than to be alone.
The elderly couple thus busied themselves in the kitchen.
Indeed, their gentle way of working together gave a feeling of peaceful, quiet years.
Su Xiaotian woke up when it was already daylight.
As she walked out of her room, she could still smell the aroma of food.
“Grandma, what delicious food did you make?” Su Xiaotian asked, holding a washbasin to fetch water, her voice laced with affection.
“Breakfast is millet and pumpkin porridge, served with homemade pickled vegetables and preserved vegetables, all your favorites. I also made you chicken soup, with plenty of good ingredients. You drink a bowl before you go to work!”
The more Grandma Su spoke, the more her heart ached.
Her precious girl, so young, had to go to work. Other children her age were still in middle school.
If she had known, she wouldn’t have let Precious go to university so early. She would have had to endure hardship for several years longer than others!
But Grandma Su was a smart woman. Though she thought this way, she didn’t voice it.
Since the matter was already settled, there was nothing she could do by complaining.
“Grandma, why did you even make chicken soup? What time did you wake up?” Su Xiaotian hugged Grandma Su, her voice filled with concern.
Grandma was getting older and should rest more and labor less.
“I made it last night and simmered it on low heat for several hours.” Although Grandma Su appreciated her granddaughter’s filial piety and affectionate gestures, she knew that eating was the most important thing.
“Grandma, don’t work so hard in the future. It pains me!”
“What hardship? I don’t go to Yiming Pavilion much anymore. I just cook for you all at home, it’s not hard at all. If it were in our Nanling Village, women my age would not only have to manage the household but also work in the fields.” Su Dan’s novel website
Grandma Su chattered on, already bringing out breakfast. Seeing Su Xiaotian still holding the basin and not yet washing up, she urged her, worried the breakfast would get cold.
Now, only Su Xiaotian and her four grandsons, numbers six, seven, eight, and nine, lived at home. They had all started their internships and jobs, and sometimes they left in a hurry without time to eat breakfast.
At noon, they mostly ate at their respective unit canteens, so Grandma Su’s burden of cooking had significantly reduced compared to a couple of years ago.
However, as the children grew up and went their separate ways, Grandma Su couldn’t help but feel that the house was a bit lonely.
For a while, Grandma Su found it hard to adjust and almost considered returning to Yiming Pavilion to shine again.
Fortunately, she still had some old companions, which made things a little better.