Chapter 45: Preparing to Start a New Life

Going back to the base was one thing—but how did the conversation suddenly turn into visiting her parents’ home?

Su Taotao had thought that maybe one day in the future, Fu Zhengtu might meet her “family,” but she hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. She was completely unprepared, emotionally and mentally.

“Isn’t it across provinces? Is that really on the way?”

Fu Zhengtu replied, “We leave at five in the morning. It’s four hours to the city, then another four hours to G City. We’ll arrive before one in the afternoon, have lunch, and still make it back in time for the ten o’clock night train.”

If they were traveling by public transport, it would take a whole day just going back and forth. But with a car, they could get there in half a day.

But before he could even finish, Su Taotao immediately vetoed the idea. “No way. The timing’s too tight. You’d be driving for more than ten hours in a single day—it’s too dangerous. Let’s wait for another opportunity. Once we’re at the base, I’ll write them a detailed letter explaining everything. They’ll understand. After all these years, a few more days won’t make a difference.”

She spoke without much thought, but he took it to heart.

Fu Zhengtu knew he hadn’t exactly been a model son, husband, or father. No matter the circumstances that led to him marrying someone’s daughter, it wasn’t right to go so many years without even visiting once.

Honestly, he hadn’t planned on this before returning either—it was a sudden idea.

But she was right. It was poorly arranged. After years of absence, dropping in for a quick lunch might be worse than not going at all.

He mentally reviewed his work schedule for the next six months. He might be able to spare a few days around the New Year, but since it wasn’t certain, he didn’t bring it up. Instead, he said, “You’re right. I didn’t think it through—it was too rushed.”

Zhou Linglan chimed in, “Then Taotao should send more dried goods back home this time. Who knows when we’ll get another chance.”

“Okay.”

Su Taotao felt strangely relieved. She had been trying to repair her “relationship” with her family. After sending them a photo of Chenchen from earlier, she’d also written a letter, carefully imitating “Su Taotao’s” tone.

There had been a reply, albeit brief. They hadn’t forgiven her for marrying into a rural household against their wishes, but it was clear from between the lines that they liked Chenchen.

After all, it had been years. It was understandable for “Su Taotao” to have changed. She wasn’t worried about being exposed.

But she just wasn’t emotionally ready to face those “family members.”

That morning, Fu Yuanhang had already said goodbye to his teacher and classmates, and didn’t attend class in the afternoon. Zhou Linglan also skipped work to stay home and help Su Taotao pack.

A mother always worries when her child goes far. Zhou Linglan knew her son and daughter-in-law were independent and capable, but still couldn’t help fussing over every detail.

There was something Su Taotao had wanted to say for a long time:

“Mom, once we’re gone, please stop going to the fields. We’ve stored enough fine grains to last you a long time. You can’t even finish all the coarse grains and vegetables from the private plot. Our family doesn’t need the work points anymore—there’s no reason for you to wear yourself out.”

Zhou Linglan smiled as she folded clothes. “That’s just how life in the countryside is. I’ve been doing this for years—I’m used to it. It’s not tiring.”

Su Taotao pressed on, “Mom, if you really don’t want to stop, then come with us. If you stay behind, it should be for a more relaxed life, not to keep working just as hard as before. If it’s the same, there’s no point. Come with us. You can take care of Chenchen, and I’ll find a job.”

Zhou Linglan couldn’t help laughing.

“Taotao, in this village, who at my age doesn’t go to the fields? I’d be the laughingstock if I stopped now.”

Su Taotao insisted, “But it’s our life. Who cares what others think? No other family leaves a little old lady behind when everyone else is gone. If you’re worried about gossip, then come with us.”

Zhou Linglan couldn’t argue with her and finally said, “The double harvest is coming in two months, and we’re already short-handed. Let’s talk about it after that.”

Su Taotao replied, “You can help during the harvest, but as for that miserable plot in Dalingtou, whoever wants to farm it can go ahead.”

“Fu Zhengtu!” she suddenly shouted toward the door.

Fu Zhengtu was fixing the chicken coop. It was the first time she’d called him by his full name—he froze for a moment before responding.

“What is it?”

“Go talk to Uncle and tell him Mom isn’t feeling well and needs to rest. She won’t be working anymore. She can help during the double harvest, but no more heavy labor.”

Looking into her luminous eyes, Fu Zhengtu didn’t question her. “Okay, I’ll go tell him.”

Zhou Linglan was truly overwhelmed by them. She quickly rushed out to stop her son. “Don’t get dragged into Taotao’s nonsense. Something this trivial doesn’t need you to step in. Imagine what people would say! I can handle it myself. Taotao, I know you mean well, and I’m not weak. I know what to do.”

Su Taotao said firmly, “I have spies in the village. If I find out you lied to me, I’ll come back and take you away myself.”

She really did love this kind and gentle mother-in-law and wanted her to live a more comfortable life.

Zhou Linglan patted her head, “Alright, alright, I got it.”

Though she’d never had a daughter, she’d grown increasingly close to Su Taotao—just like one of her own.

“Comrade Su, you have a package!”

It was the mailman’s voice.

Fu Zhengtu stopped what he was doing and went to answer the door.

“Who could it be? Someone actually sent me a package?”

It wasn’t very big. Su Taotao checked the address and—speak of the devil—it was from her parents in G City.

As she opened it, she said, “This package really came just in time. One more day and we would’ve missed it.”

She rummaged through it—it was all stuff for Chenchen. Nothing for her.

She waved at Chenchen, who was packing his little backpack. “Chenchen, come here. Grandma sent you something nice.”

Chenchen put down his backpack and toddled over, tilting his little head. “Grandma~~?”

Su Taotao pulled out two little short-sleeved outfits, a pair of tiny leather shoes, and a cloth tiger doll, handing them to him. “Grandma is Daddy’s mommy, right? So ‘waipo’ is Mommy’s mommy. These are gifts from my mom—your waipo. This is a little tiger. Do you like it?”

Chenchen’s eyes widened as he hugged the doll tightly. He patted the tiger’s head, then grinned and nodded, “Like~~!”

Su Taotao took out two more cans of formula and said, “This is milk powder, it’s also Dusty’s food. Grandma’s so good to you, what should Dusty say?”

Dusty: “Thank you~~”

Su Taotao patted his head. “Later, Mommy will write a letter back to Grandma. Would Dusty like to say thank you to Grandma himself?”

Dusty nodded. “Okay~~”

The little clothes were made of soft cotton, perfect for kids. You could tell they were hand-sewn—clean and smelling faintly of soap.

The little leather shoes were likely bought a size bigger on purpose—just right for winter.

The cloth tiger was sewn from a variety of fabric scraps, colorful and festive-looking. The craftsmanship was average, nice from a distance but not so much up close.

As they say, love skips a generation—these things were full of Grandma’s affection for her grandson, and clearly not meant for her daughter. She was probably still angry.

Dusty really liked the cloth tiger and held it tight. After playing with it for a while, he finally put it into his little backpack.

Zhou Linglan looked at all the things and sighed. “My in-law really put in a lot of thought.”

She also felt relieved. Blood runs thicker than water—how could they truly ignore their daughter?

The whole family worked through the afternoon to get everything packed.

Looking at the mountain of things, Su Taotao felt a headache coming on and asked Fu Zhengtou, “What do we do with all this? I already tried to simplify as much as I could, but it’s still so much.”

Fu Zhengtou replied, “Let’s separate out the non-essentials. I’ll take them to the post office later. The dried goods and pickles you like can be mailed too.”

Su Taotao smacked her forehead. “I’m so dumb! That’s right—we can just take the clothes and essentials with us, and send the rest later. It doesn’t matter if it arrives a bit late.”

With that strategic adjustment, she got right to it. In the end, they were left with just two large parcels.

Fu Yuanhang’s comforter was also mailed—no use for it now anyway.

As for his and Dusty’s stuff, Su Taotao told them to pack and carry it themselves. They agreed they had to carry their own things.

Dusty had a ton of “treasures”—little rocks, a slingshot, comic books, the military chess set Fu Zhengtou gave him, and of course the cloth tiger from Grandma. He wanted to bring everything, and only stopped once his backpack was completely stuffed.

In the end, the stuff being mailed was several times more than what they carried. Dried shiitake, black fungus, bamboo shoots, dried daylilies, pickled cucumbers, pickled mustard greens, pickled bamboo, pickled radish… Su Taotao brought it all. She even packed a separate share for her family back in G City. By the time they were done, the SUV’s trunk was completely full.

Fu Zhengtou looked at the overflowing trunk helplessly. Honestly, he wanted to say they could probably buy pickles over there for less than the postage—but he didn’t say a word. Whatever Su Taotao said she wanted to send, he just sent it.

In the package sent to her family in G City, Su Taotao included a letter from both her and Dusty. Dusty’s “Thank you, Grandma” was written by guiding his little hand—crooked and childlike, full of innocence.

Everyone was full of hope and anticipation for the new life ahead.

That night, aside from Dusty, the whole family was too excited to sleep, counting down the minutes and seconds, waiting for the dawn of a new chapter.