Chapter 19: Goat Milk Tea

Neither the protagonist nor the empress really had much to do with Su Taotao’s life, so she didn’t feel the need to get involved.

It wasn’t for the sake of her reputation, but rather that she couldn’t stand seeing an honest young man being bullied. If she could silence them once and for all, she figured it was worth doing, since they likely wouldn’t meet again.

When Su Taotao returned home, she found a lid to cover the goat milk and placed it in a bucket of cold water, planning to make goat milk tea around noon.

It was still early, so she went to her room and grabbed a high school Chinese textbook. A couple of days ago, while organizing things, she had found a box of Fu Zhengtu’s high school textbooks. The owner clearly loved his books, as each one was well-preserved, with covers and pages filled with dense notes. The handwriting was particularly pleasing to the eye.

Su Taotao thought that if handwriting reflects a person’s character, the owner must have been incredibly handsome.

Even with her eyes closed, Su Taotao couldn’t picture what Fu Zhengtu looked like.

Su Taotao, fresh out of college, was reluctant to go through the college entrance exam again.

However, there was no choice. A degree was important in any era, and especially in this one, knowledge was the only way to change one’s fate. Reluctant as she was, she knew she had to take the exam, go back to college, and figure out her future career.

Su Taotao flipped through all the textbooks, gaining some understanding of the exam points for this era. There were still a few years to go, so there was no need to rush. Getting into college shouldn’t be too difficult.

It was after eleven when Su Taotao started to make milk tea.

She found a pack of tea leaves Zhou Linglan had roasted. Since there were children drinking, she only took a little. In a small clay pot, she melted some white sugar to caramelize, added the goat milk, and brought it to a boil before putting in the tea leaves. After a few minutes, she filtered out the tea leaves to avoid bitterness.

Su Taotao couldn’t wait to try a bowl. The milk was rich and smooth, with hardly any gamy taste. Su Taotao once again marveled at the food of this era—pure, natural, and free of chemicals. Everything was perfect.

Lunch was simple. Su Taotao added various beans to the white rice and cooked them together. She also blanched a plate of lettuce, added sliced garlic, drizzled a few drops of sesame oil, and mixed it all together, elevating the flavors significantly. A plate of braised meats rounded out the meal, making it quite satisfying.

Fu Yuanhang could smell the aroma of the braising liquid from far away. All morning, his heart had been racing home, thinking about the smell. As he approached the front door, he quickened his pace.

The classmate behind him caught up and noticed the adorable Chenchen sitting on his shoulder. He wanted to pinch the little boy’s cheek but suddenly remembered how Su Taotao handled people and retracted his hand. “Yuanhang, you’ve been acting strange lately. Always smiling—is there something good going on at home? By the way, did you eat sugar today?”

Fu Yuanhang wiped the smile from his face and nodded slightly. “Went to visit relatives in the city yesterday, and they gave it to me.”

His classmate walked alongside him, chattering. “No wonder. I thought your brother was coming back. What’s Zhengtu been up to? It’s been so long since we’ve heard anything…”

At the mention of his brother, Fu Yuanhang’s lips tightened.

As they reached the entrance of the Fu family’s courtyard, the classmate sniffed hard. “What’s that smell? It’s so fragrant! My mouth is watering! Iron Bull and the others were talking about it earlier. I didn’t expect it to be this strong.” The classmate kept peeking inside.

Fu Yuanhang subtly blocked the entrance. “Aren’t you supposed to go dig up sweet potatoes? Shouldn’t you be heading towards Daling Ridge?”

The classmate slapped his forehead. “Oh right! If you hadn’t reminded me, I would’ve been scolded by my mother when I got home. I’ll go now. Don’t forget to help me ask for leave this afternoon.”

Fu Yuanhang nodded. “Go on.”

Once the classmate was out of sight, Fu Yuanhang entered the house with Chenchen on his back.

Su Taotao poked her head out of the kitchen, smiling as she greeted the two children. “You’re back from school! Go wash your hands. Lunch will be ready soon.”

Seeing his sister-in-law’s smile, the unease that had surfaced in Fu Yuanhang’s heart dissipated. With his sister-in-law becoming so wonderful, his brother would definitely return.

While washing his hands in the bathroom, Fu Yuanhang whispered to his nephew, rubbing his little paw. “Chenchen, do you miss your dad?”

Chenchen looked at him blankly. The word “Daddy” was beyond his understanding. He shook his head honestly. “I don’t know~~”

Fu Yuanhang lowered his gaze and whispered again. “I miss him. I think he should be coming back soon.”

This was yet another “indulgent” lunch. Even Zhou Linglan had never tasted anything this good before.

“Taotao, your cooking skills are amazing. Even the chefs at the state-owned restaurant can’t match your skills.”

Fu Yuanhang, who had been eating hungrily and had never actually eaten at the state-run restaurant, nodded in agreement.

State-owned restaurant?

Su Taotao suddenly thought of something. “Mom, I’m going to the county town early tomorrow morning and won’t be back for lunch. The braised dishes won’t last long in this weather. Let’s have some for dinner and save a bit for tomorrow noon. You can cook some noodles and greens, then pour the braising liquid over them to finish it off. I’ll make dinner when I come back.”

As soon as she mentioned that she was going to the county town, the whole family stopped eating and looked at her.

“You’re going to the county town again?” Zhou Linglan asked.

Didn’t you just go there yesterday?

Su Taotao added a chopstick of vegetables to Chenchen before saying, “Mom, didn’t you say my cooking is better than the chefs at the state-owned restaurant? I want to go and discuss a collaboration with them.”

Zhou Linglan was surprised. “A collaboration?”

Su Taotao nodded. “It’s a spur-of-the-moment idea. I’ll explain the details when I come back tomorrow. Quick, eat, don’t delay your lunch break.”

Knowing that Su Taotao had a strong will of her own, Zhou Linglan didn’t ask any more questions.

After the meal, Su Taotao brought over the cooled goat milk tea she had prepared, serving everyone a bowl.

“Sister-in-law, what is this?”

Su Taotao said, “Goat milk tea, try it and see if it’s good.”

Chenchen was the first to show support, taking a sip and nodding his head rapidly like a chick pecking at rice, saying in a milky voice, “So good~~”

Su Taotao pinched his chubby cheeks, pleased that they felt much better, as if he had really been nourished. “Didn’t I tell you? Isn’t it as good as malted milk?”

Chenchen took another sip and nodded vigorously. “Just as good~~”

Zhou Linglan sighed in amazement after taking a sip. “Taotao, I never thought goat milk could taste this good.”

She felt like she had been missing out all these years. Everything Su Taotao made was a pleasant surprise.

Su Taotao said, “From now on, the task of getting goat milk will be Yuanhang’s. He needs to go early so we can have it for breakfast. If it gets too warm, it will go bad by noon.”

Fu Yuanhang was reluctant to finish his milk tea in one go, savoring it slowly, bit by bit. Hearing Su Taotao’s words, he looked up and asked, “Will we be able to drink this every day?” How great it would be to have this every day.

Su Taotao said, “That’s uncertain. It depends on whether we can get fresh goat milk from the pen. No matter how good something is, having it every day can get tiresome. Drinking it two or three times a week should be enough. I’m planning to improve it tomorrow by adding some White Rabbit candies. It should taste even better.”

By now, Fu Yuanhang wasn’t surprised by anything Su Taotao made, but imagining that the already delicious goat milk tea could become even better left him curious about how amazing it would taste.

Zhou Linglan wanted to say she didn’t need it every time, but knowing Su Taotao wouldn’t listen, she kept quiet.

In the past, people in the production team used to gossip, saying that their family had done something bad to deserve a daughter-in-law like Su Taotao. Now, Zhou Linglan felt like their ancestors’ graves must have caught fire to bless them with such a wonderful daughter-in-law. Even if their ancestors’ graves were smoking, they couldn’t have hoped for a better daughter-in-law.

After everyone was full and satisfied, Su Taotao handed Fu Yuanhang the bowl of goat milk tea she had set aside earlier, asking him to take it to the cowshed and bring the bowl back.

When Fu Yuanhang delivered it, the bowl from the morning’s braised dishes had already been washed and placed on a small stool by the door, which was missing a leg and had to be balanced by leaning against the threshold.

Fu Yuanhang silently put down the goat milk tea and took the bowl away. It happened so quickly that Guohua Cao barely noticed.

By the time Fu Yuanhang left, Guohua Cao sighed, picked up the bowl, and took a sip.

The smooth sheep milk, with its tea fragrance, slid down smoothly, and Guohua Cao’s expression changed slightly. His thoughts drifted to the distant frontier. When his comrade, who was Fu Zhengtu’s father, was still alive, they often drank sheep milk tea there. Sweet, salty, with various ingredients—they had it all. In winter, to ward off the cold, they would even add hard liquor to it. Drinking a bowl would make the whole body feel hot, and even lying on the grassland in heavy snow, with no greenery in sight, staring up at the stars, the howling northern wind’s biting cold wouldn’t feel cold…

The next day, Su Taotao got up very early, and just after she finished getting ready, Fu Yuanhang had already brought back the fresh sheep milk.

“I was the first to arrive and watched Brother Xiao Liu milk the sheep. He gave it to me right after milking. It was very interesting,” said Fu Yuanhang, who had become much more open and was no longer the timid and self-abased little boy he used to be.

Su Taotao felt proud seeing him like this.

“Very good. I’ll teach you how to make milk tea, little brother. When I’m not around and you want to drink it, you can make it yourself. Go start a fire and bring some tea over now.”

Fu Yuanhang had no objections; he did whatever his sister-in-law said.

This time, Su Taotao first roasted the tea leaves in a sand pot until their color slightly changed, then poured in the sheep milk and added the Big White Rabbit milk candies. She stirred until the candies melted and immediately filtered out the tea leaves.

“Alright, bring five bowls to distribute the milk tea.”

Both Fu Yuanhang and Zhou Linglan were watching closely, their eyes not blinking. After watching, they said in unison, “That’s it?”

Su Taotao nodded. “It’s that simple. If you use white sugar, you should caramelize it first. When the sheep milk is hot, add the tea, or you can also stir-fry it together with the caramelized sugar. Tea that hasn’t been fried has a stronger astringent taste and shouldn’t be steeped for too long—the main goal is to reduce the gamey flavor.”

Fu Yuanhang murmured, “Sister-in-law, you’re amazing.”

Zhou Linglan was also impressed. “City people know more tricks than we do. Who would have thought to drink sheep milk like this?”

These days, there’s a tea shop every five steps, and people have already come up with countless variations. This was the most rudimentary way to drink it, and Su Taotao couldn’t even be bothered to comment.

As usual, a bowl was sent to Guohua Cao, along with a multigrain pancake that Zhou Linglan had made—a hearty breakfast.

Today, surprisingly, Chenchen didn’t latch onto his uncle’s leg but instead actively asked to go to the county seat with Su Taotao.

Su Taotao was both surprised and delighted. She hugged and kissed her little treasure, then changed him into the new clothes and shoes she had bought a few days ago. Holding his small hand, they went to the banyan tree to wait for the tractor.