Chapter 30

Director Han was merciful. Doctor Chen can now finally, eat the meal that he had dreamed of, and that made him cry in his dreams several times!

Su Xiaoxiao asked everyone to eat and drink the soup first. Stir-fried snails should be held in the hand to savor their flavor, and that’s why they were left until the end.

Doctor Chen had eaten lotus root stick bone soup, but how could this dish become even more delicious just by adding a handful of peanuts? The taste is totally different. The soup was also delicious and thick. If he could, he would drink three bowls!

But after thinking it through, Director Han may not even let him pass by the gate of their house in the future if he eats too much right now.

Su Xiaoxiao still thinks that it was all because the ingredients were better. They are stewed first, and then let simmer. She even used an iron pot and charcoal, as long as the ingredients are properly measured, it won’t taste bad.

Han Cheng and the children like the bone marrow inside the big bone very much. The big bone has no meat, but the bone marrow inside was soft, smooth, and oily. It is the most delicious food in the world.

However, Su Xiaoxiao thinks it’s too greasy, and she didn’t like it very much. 

Doctor Chen also likes bone marrow very much.

Knowing that he only exchanged a few vegetables for something as delicious as this, Zhuzi felt a little embarrassed to stretch his chopsticks to taste the several dishes in front of him. 

Fantuan ate one himself and gave another one to Zhuzi. Zhuzi, on the other hand, repeatedly said that he had enough and that there was no need to add more. 

Fantuan said the words he learned from Su Xiaoxiao: “Mom said that we are in a stage where our bodies are still growing. Our brain and body can only develop when we eat. We need to eat to grow smarter and stronger. Didn’t you notice how smarter I am than the other kids?”

Su Xiaoxiao: “I didn’t say the last sentence.” What about acting modestly? This clever little one.

Fantuan raised the bowl of rice that was bigger than his face and disagreed: “Mom, you praise me for being smart every day, and you also praise me for being great!”

Su Xiaoxiao: “…” Well, I’ll pay attention to the words I say in the future, otherwise, this clever child’s tail will go up to the sky.

Han Cheng glanced at his talkative son: ” Your mother also said to not talk when your mouth is full.”

It is said that the nine sons of the dragon are different from each other. His two sons, one who talks all day long, and one who is almost two years old, still do not want to talk.

Fantuan pouted. Too many people are against him. 

Fantuan didn’t care about his father anymore and continued to bury his head in food.

The food looked like a lot, but in fact, it was not enough to fill the bellies of everyone at the dining table. 

Su Xiaoxiao cleaned up the leftovers on the table and asked Han Cheng to go in and take out the fried snails.

Several trays of fried snails and soup were filled with half of the enamel plates.

As soon as this thing is on the table, Doctor Chen can’t bear the mouth-watering smell coming from the food in front of him. Even when he just entered Director Han’s house, he could smell the faint fragrance coming from Su Xiaoxioa’s dishes. How overbearing this is!

Doctor Chen rubbed his hands. He could hardly control himself: “Sister-in-law, this is a river snail? How can it be so fragrant?”

“Because I mixed a lot of perilla leaves on it, the river snail and the perilla leaves are a perfect match.” If there are sour bamboo shoots, they will add another flavor to this dish. Well, this is good enough.

Doctor Chen, learned: “So it’s because of the perilla. Is this your hometown’s practice? We use purple perilla to pickle vegetables.”

Su Xiaoxiao said, “The difference in the taste of food lies in the reasonable combination of ingredients. The raw materials are all the same. Alright, let’s start.”

At the command of Su Xiaoxiao, all the comrades, big and small, didn’t act polite anymore and reached out to eat the river snail.

Zhuzi often finds some quite edible things, but this is the first time he has found out that this food can be so delicious.

This is the first time Fantuan has eaten snails. While eating, Zhuzi taught his little friend with his hands. 

Of course, the smart little Fantuan quickly mastered how to eat the river snails properly. The snails he ate were especially delicious. The more he ate, the more he enjoyed it.

Xiao Doubao is too young. Su Xiaoxiao didn’t dare let Doubao eat the snail all by himself. She took a toothpick and put the snail meat into his small bowl and let him eat it with a small spoon.

“I’ll do it, go ahead and eat yours.” Han Cheng quietly held Xiao Doubao in his arms, gave Xiao Doubao one, and ate one himself.

Seeing the father and son eating with relish, Su Xiaoxiao started to eat too.

Su Xiaoxiao thought: The pure wild river snail is delicious. It would be better if I could have a can of iced beer.

But Su Xiaoxiao only taught about it and didn’t want to have it right now. It’s a luxury to eat and wear warm clothes in this era. If she dares to buy beer, Teacher Cheng without any doubt will report their family for having a corrupt lifestyle tomorrow. 

Anyway, she is quite satisfied with letting her little salted-fish-self live this current life.

Doctor Chen couldn’t stop eating and nearly swallowed his tongue. He suggested to Han Cheng: “Director Han, you should let the political commissar try the craftmanship of your sister-in-law. I promise he can approve the political review of my sister-in-law immediately tomorrow, saving you from rushing there every day.”

Han Cheng threw the shell at him and said, “Shut up, go back to your house when you are full!”

Han Cheng’s ears turned red. This guy doesn’t have a filter in his mouth. If he lets him enter the yard, Han Cheng won’t be named Han anymore. He had only come to the political commissar’s office once or twice. 

Su Xiaoxiao didn’t care: “It’s fine as long as I can get it approved before the end of the year, I want to wait until after the new year to go to work.”

Han Cheng calmly glanced at his lovely wife and then lowered his eyes. He thought that the sooner, the better.

The people gathered at the dining table have great stomachs, so a large plate of river snails can be finished without a few efforts. Doctor Chen can’t wait to drink the soup together. Every one of them was still touching their bellies in satisfaction.

Fantuan was asked by his mother to take a walk, and he took his little friend to walk with him: “My mother’s cooking is the best in the world, right?”

Little Zhuzi nodded: “Yes, this is the best food I have ever eaten.”

Little Zhuzi had never envied anyone before, but now he really envies Little Fantuan. This is what a home should feel like, and a mother should be like this. Then he thought of his mother, and his eyes darkened again.

Doctor Chen was ordered by Han Cheng to wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen. It was already hard work for his wife to cook for him. If he didn’t even do this little work, then, he wouldn’t be allowed to pass by the door next time.

Su Xiaoxiao also asked about the condition of Zhuzi’s grandma. Doctor Chen said that it was no big deal. In fact, the old lady ate too much. She ate two meals at a time. Doctor Chen had to make two meals for her. After eating a little shredded meat, she said she would leave it for little Zhuzi.

Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t laugh or cry.

There are not many lazy people at this time, and most of them are very diligent. Doctor Chen was very happy to see that Director Han doesn’t see him as an outsider. Su Xiaoxiao will not be polite to him. If he doesn’t want to wash the dishes, then Han Cheng will do it. Anyway, Doctor Chen was very enthusiastic about washing and brushing, but when he came out after washing dishes, he was kicked back home by Director Han.
He didn’t have time to ask Su Xiaoxiao if she has sisters who can cook as well as she can, and if she did, he might as well introduce her to him.

He was so fixated that when Chen Aimin wanted to arrange a partner for the older youth, he asked him what type of person he was looking for, and he blurted out: “Like Director Han’s wife, she must be good-looking and gentle, and she must cook delicious food.”

When Han Cheng found out, he was furious.

Of course, that was a story that will happen in the future.

The whole family was tucked in. Su Xiaoxiao told Han Cheng what she had heard about Zhuzi’s family.

She asked Han Cheng: “Zhuzi is so young, and Grandma Zhuzi is old. Zhuzi’s mother has taken all the pensions away to get married. Does the organization care about it?”

Han Cheng said: “It is difficult for an honest official to judge family matters. If Zhuzi’s grandma willingly gave the pension and chose to suffer, the organization can’t do anything.” 

Su Xiaoxiao is puzzled: “What about the child support paid every month? What about Zhuzi’s rations? I heard from an aunt nearby that today is the day for giving alimony. Zhuzi’s mother calculated the time to ask for it. I guessed that she would ask for it every month, but I don’t know how the fiasco happened. Zhuzi said that his mother pushed his grandma. If it weren’t for Zhuzi to come to me to ask for help, someone would die. Han Cheng, Zhuzi is a good child, the matter shouldn’t be left unclear.”

Han Cheng nodded: “I will call back to the army tomorrow to find out about the situation. Don’t worry. Grandma Zhuzi went to the hospital. What she did, cannot be disregarded. No matter what the reason is, she can’t hurt people and run away. You can wait until Zhuzi’s grandma comes back and ask what happened.”

“Han Cheng, I have an idea.” Su Xiaoxiao said: “If I want to go to work after the year ends, I can’t take Xiao Doubao with me every time. How about we do it this way, Zhuzi’s monthly allowance will be managed by me, and during the day I work, I will ask Grandma Zhuzi to take care of Xiao Doubao for us. Zhuzi and Fantuan will come back to eat their lunch and dinner at our house. In the evening, they can go home and live in their house. They will eat two meals in our house every day. Fantuan and little Zhuzi can study together and make progress together. Fantuan is smart, while Zhuzi is steady, and they can urge each other together. Zhuzi is a good boy and an orphan of a martyr. I want to lend him a hand and hope he will have a better future. “

Su Xiaoxiao is truly a kind-hearted person. Han Cheng has always known that Zhuzi and his grandma are pitiful, so some are willing to help them, give them some food, and do some small favors. However, no one would go through this length like Su Xiaoxiao. She wanted to completely drag Zhuzi out of the quagmire and carry him on her back.

Han Cheng subconsciously wanted to help little Zhuzi, but he was also worried that Su Xiaoxiao was working too hard: “It’s already hard for you to take care of two children. If you take care of another one, you also need to take care of the meals of two more people. Wouldn’t you be too busy?”

After Xiao Doubao was born, Yangmei always asked the Yang Tao to take care of their children when she went to work, and even the food was made by the Yang Tao. Even with the help of Yang Tao, he and Yang Mei were still busy every day.

“Our children are worry-free. Little Zhuzi is more worry-free than Fantuan. To be honest, teaching two children is better than teaching one. They will encourage each other. Eating is also a matter of two more handfuls of rice. You saw how Zhuzi acted today. If Fantuan doesn’t take vegetables for himself, he will only take the soup to soak in miscellaneous grains and say he has eaten enough. Even if he was raised in such an environment, he could still remain kind. Han Cheng, I know there are many poor people in the world. I, we can’t do much. Since we have fate with him, and we have the ability to help little Zhuzi, let’s give him a hand. “

Su Xiaoxiao had no parents to take care of her since she was a child, but she didn’t worry about money. She could always live very well in that open and developed era, but that was not the case for Zhuzi, or in this era. If Zhuzi’s mother continues to suck the blood of her mother-in-law and child, they will be drained and destroyed sooner or later.

So Su Xiaoxiao came up with a way to cut down the grass, eliminate the roots, and stop Zhuzi’s mother from continuing to suck their blood from the source.

Zhuzi’s mother is an adult with hands and feet. She always has her way to survive, but she can’t always squeeze the poor old people and children like this.

Han Cheng took her petite but energetic lover into his arms and kissed her hair,

“When Grandma Zhuzi leaves the hospital, you should discuss it with her. If she agrees, I will go and tell the organization. But this is the only time I will allow you to do this. I don’t want you to work too hard and be tired.”

In this military region, Zhuzi is not the only poor child. If she sees a poor child and brings that child home and takes care of another one, this house couldn’t accommodate more, and this would tire her even more.

How can there be such a good and naive girl in this world? Han Cheng even wondered whether she was willing to marry him because she felt sorry for his two children and no one took care of them.

Su Xiaoxiao hugged Han Cheng’s waist and rubbed against his chest: “I’m not a saint, I can’t take care of another kid, but Zhuzi was too good to give up on.”

……

The couple was so focused on talking that they didn’t notice that, there was a child dressed in rags and with tears on his face listening to their conversation. The child clenched his fist as he can’t describe how he felt that time. He cried but didn’t dare to cry out loud, he didn’t dare to make a sound, he was just standing outside of the door.

…