Chapter 8: Chenchen Speaks!

Su Taotao was confused. “What do you mean?”

Su Taotao had never cared about the affairs of the village and had no idea who lived in the neighboring houses.

Zhou Linglan folded the letter and placed it back in Su Taotao’s hands. Sighing, she said:

“Taotao, you probably won’t be able to get the money back. Comrade Cao Guohua is living in the cow shed behind our house right now. He’s been here for two years. His family has probably been ransacked and attacked many times. When he arrived, he was in tattered clothes, and everything he brought was searched. He probably can’t even hide a single thread, let alone the money.”

Su Taotao never expected this turn of events. No matter the era, those who owed money were always in the wrong. She had thought getting the money back would be difficult, but she never imagined it would be for nothing.

“Mom, why do you call him Teacher Cao? What kind of person is he?”

Zhou Linglan paused for a moment, and then her expression subtly changed. She quickly went about tidying the table to cover up her emotions and said:

“I’m not familiar with him. He and Zhengtu’s father were comrades-in-arms, and they met once. Later, I heard he transferred to a military school to be a teacher. Two years ago, he was suddenly assigned here. A widow’s household often faces trouble, so I’ve never dared to interact with him alone. Sometimes, I’d ask Yuanhang to deliver some fruits and vegetables to him. He would also secretly teach Yuanhang things that aren’t in the textbooks.”

“Ah, I see.” Now Su Taotao understood. During the Great Movement, many teachers were sent to the countryside for reeducation. As long as their character wasn’t too problematic, and they hadn’t committed any major offenses, they could return to the city after the movement ended, and many would resume their previous positions.

The money can definitely be recovered, but it’ll be a few years later.

The problem is that she needs money urgently right now. It will be at least another six months before Fu Zhentuo returns. Not to mention, Chencheng’s nutrition is falling behind. Even if they can’t get baby formula, she needs to buy some malted milk to make up for it.

She only has 13 yuan and 85 cents left—barely enough to buy salt or sugar. What can she do with that?

Suddenly, Su Taotao had an idea. Oh right, sugar! The White Rabbit milk candy! At this time, White Rabbit milk candy was a luxury, and in the future, it was said that a few pieces of White Rabbit milk candy had the same calcium content as a glass of milk.

But even so, she could only buy a small amount, and the key problem was that she didn’t have sugar ration coupons.

It really was true that “even a skillful woman can’t cook without rice.”

While eating breakfast, Su Taotao was distracted, her mind racing with ideas on how to get money.

Zhou Linglan knew Su Taotao didn’t like sweet potato porridge and pickles. Though it was called sweet potato porridge, only Su Taotao and Chencheng had white rice in their bowls. For Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang, there was almost only sweet potato in their bowls. There wasn’t much fine grain at home, so they had to save it for Su Taotao and Chencheng.

Zhou Linglan took half of the egg custard she had steamed for Chencheng, added a few drops of soy sauce, and placed it in front of Su Taotao. “If you can’t eat the pickles, have this.”

Su Taotao finally snapped back to reality.

She looked at the steamed egg custard in front of her, then at her own bowl of porridge with more sweet potato than rice, and then glanced at the others. Chencheng had the same meal as her, and in these times, just having enough food and warmth was a great blessing for children. The little guy was using his spoon so skillfully, steadily and accurately bringing the porridge to his mouth along with the egg custard. He was eating with such joy.

If he ate like this every day, Chencheng wouldn’t be so thin. But maybe he didn’t always get eggs, or perhaps the original Su Taotao had taken them, leaving the money for other expenses. The eggs were probably exchanged for cash, and Zhou Linglan couldn’t even afford salt or matches.

Fu Yuanhang and Zhou Linglan were eating with the same indifference, scooping sweet potatoes with rice soup and pickles.

Su Taotao felt uncomfortable in her heart, feeling it was unfair to these kind and gentle mother and son. They were doing everything they could to be good to the original Su Taotao, but she had been so unworthy.

The family was still too poor. She had to come up with a plan.

Su Taotao took a deep breath, divided the white rice in her bowl into portions for Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang, and then split the small bowl of egg custard into three portions. It was just one spoonful each, which she directly put into their bowls.

“Eat up. I told you yesterday, from now on, our family will have whatever food there is. Don’t eat two different kinds of meals. Mom, how could you forget again? You should just think of the old Su Taotao as dead. The new Su Taotao is this temper.”

After saying that, Su Taotao lowered her head to drink the porridge.

She didn’t mind if they doubted her. Even if she told them she was the Su Taotao from the 21st century who had traveled here, it was up to them whether they believed it or not. But they definitely wouldn’t tell anyone. She just didn’t want to explain too much—it was too troublesome.

Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other’s eyes.

From yesterday until now, Su Taotao had shocked them too many times. It wasn’t until this moment that they truly believed Su Taotao had changed, as if she were a completely different person.

She was so much better now.

“Clink clink…”

The sound of a spoon clinking against a bowl—it turned out that the little guy was imitating them, taking a spoonful of egg custard from his own bowl and putting it into his little uncle’s bowl. The spoon accidentally hit the bowl’s edge, making a sound. The little guy’s expression was very serious as he furrowed his brows and said, “Cī…” (a childish way to say “eat” in Mandarin).

Fu Yuanhang was so startled that the bowl almost flew out of his hands. He quickly put down the bowl and chopsticks, grabbed Chencheng’s little hands, and looked around nervously. “Chencheng, did you speak? Tell Uncle if you just said something?”

Zhou Linglan covered her mouth, nodding. At times, she covered her mouth tightly, and other times, she let go, excitedly saying, “Yes, I heard it! Chencheng spoke! Chencheng spoke!”

It was no wonder they were so excited. Chencheng was almost two years old, and some children his age were already saying short sentences and expressing their thoughts accurately. At the very least, they could call their parents, occasionally saying a few words.

But Chencheng, who had never liked crying, understood everything said to him, and learned everything quickly, yet he wouldn’t speak. He was such a smart child, but hadn’t uttered a single word, sometimes lost in his own world.

The original “Su Taotao” was a negligent mother who never cared for her son, while Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang had been anxiously trying to care for him.

There had been many rumors in the village about Chencheng. Some people said he was mute, others said he was dumb, and some even said he was both mute and dumb.

Fu Yuanhang had fought for the first time when some classmates said Chencheng was mute and mocked him in front of Chencheng. He beat the person up right there, and no one dared to say it in front of him again.

Even Zhou Linglan, with her good temper, would only get angry at people who called Chencheng names, shouting, “The smart child speaks late.”

She wasn’t sure, though. No matter how hard she and Fu Yuanhang tried to teach him, Chencheng just wouldn’t speak. Zhou Linglan was more worried than angry. Without his father around and with his mother being neglectful, even though the little one was small, he understood everything. He must have been upset, which was why he refused to speak. But now, Chencheng had finally spoken.

He wasn’t mute, and he wasn’t dumb.

It was only because Su Taotao had been talking to him these past two days, getting closer to him. She had even shared food with him, so he finally felt comfortable enough to speak. He was clever, just spoke late.

Su Taotao was also very pleased. She moved her small stool to sit next to him, looked him in the eyes, and teased, “Chencheng’s first word must be ‘Mom,’ I’m Mom. Chencheng, say it to Mom.”

However, the little guy just gave her a helpless glance, then turned his gaze away, continuing to eat his meal with an indifferent expression.

It seemed that the precious “cī” (eat) they just heard was just their imagination.

Su Taotao wasn’t upset. She moved her bowl over and said cheekily, “Chenchen just gave the egg custard to Uncle, so now it’s my turn.”

Chen Chen still looked helpless, pursing his lips as he scooped a little from his bowl for her. Su Taotao laughed heartily, took the remaining two-thirds of the steamed egg custard and scooped most of it into his bowl, leaving only a small amount for herself, saying:

“Thank you, Chen Chen. I’ll share with you too. We need to share everything from now on. Eat more, so you can grow tall!”

The spring sunshine outside the window seemed especially warm and gentle today, just like the family. Though poor, it was beginning to feel warm and full of love.