Fish balls, shrimp balls, braised fish chunks, stir-fried chicken with potatoes, chicken soup, stir-fried chicken offal with cabbage, spicy shrimp and crab, boiled shrimp and crab…

Each dish was made in a huge basin, and they practically used up all the pots, bowls, and pans in the kitchen.

Qiao Jiuru thought to herself: Miscalculation — I didn’t think to buy more basins, and now there aren’t enough to hold everything.

Luckily, the steamed buns could be left in the steamer and didn’t take up a basin, so it wasn’t too big of a problem for now.

Su Huaiyuan had caught five big fish from the river, each weighing over ten jin (about 5–6 kg).

He was completely exhausted, even more tired than after a day of labor.

Of the five big fish, one was braised, and the rest were made into fish balls.

As for the chickens, Qiao Jiuru had slaughtered four, and even saved half a basin of chicken fat.

They would now have enough cooking oil for quite a long time.

Just dealing with the fish and chicken alone left both Qiao Jiuru and Su Huaiyuan completely worn out.

Da Bao and Xiao Bao (their two little ones) fell asleep not long after finishing the shrimp and crab.

Qiao Jiuru and Su Huaiyuan only went to bed after applying ointment on their sore hands, sleeping straight through until five in the morning.

After that, they busied themselves a bit inside the space (her magical storage) before taking Da Bao and Xiao Bao outside.

After the family finished breakfast, they went off to work right on time. But as they passed Uncle Jiu’s house, they were stopped by Uncle Jiu, who had been waiting outside early.

“Xiao Ru, I’ve got something to discuss with you.”

Uncle Jiu was clearly in a good mood.

Seeing Da Bao and Xiao Bao made him smile warmly, and he waved them over.

“Da Bao, Xiao Bao, come here! Uncle-Grandpa has something tasty for you.”

The two little ones looked at their grandpa and grandma, then at the old man not far away.

With grandma’s nod of approval, they happily toddled over on their short little legs.

“G’pa, g’pa, hi!”

“Uncle g’pa, hi!”

Da Bao and Xiao Bao’s speech wasn’t fully clear yet; their soft, milky voices were so sweet and adorable. Despite wearing patched-up little clothes, they looked so lovable and tugged at people’s hearts.

Uncle Jiu was completely smitten by their cuteness and felt a wave of affection.

“These are for Da Bao and Xiao Bao — eat up so you can grow chubby and tall!”

He handed them the biscuits and milk candies his son had bought, tucking the treats into their small hands and adjusting their hats.

“Thank you, Uncle-Grandpa!”

“Uncle-Grandpa, thanks!”

The two little ones hugged their pile of biscuits and candies, smiling sweetly.

Then they both solemnly gave Uncle Jiu a little bow, thanking him in their soft voices.

Uncle Jiu was practically melting inside from their sweetness.

“Uncle Jiu, have you all made a decision?”

Qiao Jiuru knew why Uncle Jiu had come, so she asked directly.

“Xiao Ru, we old folks and the others have talked it over and decided to follow your advice — we’ll wait a few years before doing anything. But we did decide to make the formulas into pills for our own team’s use.”

After discussing and debating, Uncle Jiu and the others decided to listen to Qiao Jiuru’s advice, making sure to get the most out of the three medicine formulas she had provided.

After all, at most, the formulas would only exchange for a few permanent job slots at the pharmaceutical factories — it wasn’t something that would benefit everyone in the production team, and it could easily spark conflicts or resentment.

Most importantly, they all felt that people like Qiao Jiuru and Su Huaiyuan, who had seen the world and lived abroad, had better vision and long-term thinking. It was safest to trust their judgment.

“Uncle Jiu, the team’s decision is great. Making them into pills for our own use means we’ll see the effects firsthand, and later if we do bring them out, they’ll carry even more weight — we’ll have years of proven results, which is the strongest data.”

Qiao Jiuru was pleased with their foresight and fully supported their decision.

She wasn’t just looking at immediate, small gains — that would be like picking up sesame seeds while dropping a watermelon.

Uncle Jiu hadn’t thought of this angle before, and now he admired her even more.

He had assumed that with his age, his experience would give him an edge, but standing before Qiao Jiuru, he realized how much he still lacked.

“Xiao Ru, you’re absolutely right. I came not just to tell you this but also because everyone thought, since you gave us such valuable formulas, maybe you had some requests? As long as it’s something our production team can do, we’re willing to fulfill it.”

Everyone figured that besides seeking protection, Qiao Jiuru might want to exchange the formulas for some other benefits, so they sent Uncle Jiu to ask.

“Uncle Jiu, we don’t have any requests. We just hope not to be denounced or persecuted, and to live quietly here, letting Da Bao and Xiao Bao grow up safe and healthy. We’re willing to obey the production team’s orders and arrangements, as long as we’re not looked down upon.”

Qiao Jiuru was sincere — no matter how valuable the formulas were, people were more important. She didn’t lack those things.

Inside her space, she already had over five hundred gold bars — more than enough to last her a lifetime.

Not to mention the three huge boxes stuffed with gemstone jewelry, pearls, jade, and gold accessories.

And then there were jade pieces, antiques, art, calligraphy, nearly twenty thousand in U.S. dollars, British pounds, Hong Kong dollars, Chinese banknotes, ration tickets of all kinds — enough for her family to live in wealth and freedom for generations.

On top of that, she had dozens of property deeds. While most weren’t from the Su or Qiao families, at least six or seven belonged to them, and those properties — whether large courtyard homes or smaller ones — would be worth at least hundreds of millions decades later.

And that wasn’t even counting the wealth the overseas Su family members would send back when they eventually returned after the economic reforms.

“Xiao Ru, don’t worry — even if you hadn’t said it, we’d still look out for you. Honestly, I want to tell you: in the production team, you don’t need to live so cautiously. Look at Da Bao and Xiao Bao, following you to the fields every day — you won’t even give them a little stool to sit on. In this cold weather, you should at least find something to shield them from the wind.”

“You adults need to be careful, sure, but no one’s going to criticize little kids.”

Uncle Jiu understood that both the Su and Qiao families were wealthy, well-bred, and far-sighted.

He wasn’t surprised by her attitude, but he felt she was being overly cautious here.

He felt bad seeing the little ones out in the cold every day, so while gently scolding Qiao Jiuru, he handed her two small stools and two large winnowing baskets he had prepared.

Qiao Jiuru was delighted to see these — they were exactly what she needed but hadn’t had time to make or buy from the team.

“Uncle, can we also go buy some more stools, tables, wooden boxes, and basins?”