Chapter 34.1

Still, Xiao Doubao didn’t answer Su Xiaoxiao’s question. He stuffed his cheeks with toffee, and the baby’s cheeks were bulging. 

He tilted his head, bent his big eyes to look at Su Xiaoxiao, and grinned. 

He immediately hung his small head, as if he were a little embarrassed.

Truly, the little cub can melt the hearts of anyone. If it wasn’t for his hands not being fully healed, Su Xiaoxiao would have liked to give him a set of hugs, kisses, and lifts, How can a human cub be so cute?

“Mom is really happy to hear Xiao Doubao speak. Mom hopes to hear Xiao Doubao speak every day, OK?”

The baby hugged Su Xiaoxiao’s neck and stopped talking.

Su Xiaoxiao caressed his little head. She no longer forces him to speak and will not force him again to speak in the future. The baby is too obedient, and he will naturally speak when he wants to.

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When it was time to prepare lunch again, Su Xiaoxiao first refined the pork belly oil.

In the other pot, she cooked coarse-grained rice. Su Xiaoxiao didn’t want to eat sweet potato rice anymore, so she replaced it with brown rice, wheat, and corn. 

In short, she ensured that the amount of white rice is enough to not make the rice difficult to eat and that its nutritional value will be more balanced.

In the 1970s, pigs were not too fat. Every family is short on oil, and everyone is unwilling to eat lean meat. No matter how good lean meat is when buying meat, lean meat is less desirable than fats; there’s no such thing as too much fat. The pork belly bought by Han Cheng was probably one kilo, while the lean meat was about half a kilo at most.

The scallops can’t be stored for a long time, so Su Xiaoxiao decided to cook them at noon. Each big scallop is divided into two.

She let Fantuan move a small bench to sit on the side of the pump, wash each one by one, and then dry it for use.

Su Xiaoxiao began to prepare the garlic sauce. She chopped a lot of garlic, and reluctantly put oil in the garlic. She took a few pieces of pork scraps and diced them before adding them to the garlic sauce. Su Xiaoxiao also added a little white wine to remove the fishy smell. The simple version of garlic sauce was completed.

Su Xiaoxiao hasn’t eaten pepper since she arrived here in this era. She has been so greedy for pepper and remembered that in the vegetable garden of Zhuzi’s grandma, it seems like she grew peppers. 

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When Zhuzi came back from school, his patched schoolbag was covered with some dirt, and his overall atmosphere looked a little unhappy. 

However, when he saw Su Xiaoxiao’s smiling face, he still braced up and pretended as if nothing happened.

“Does little Zhuzi recognize pepper?” Su Xiaoxiao asked.

Little Zhuzi nodded: “Yes, Grandma planted two.”

“Yes, there are two in Grandma’s vegetable garden. Well, Auntie needs a little for cooking. Can you go home and pick some for Auntie?” Su Xiaoxiao asked again.

Little Zhuzi nodded and put down his schoolbag: “Yes, I will go now.”

“I want to go too!” The little Fantuan, who had been playing with scallop meat for a long time, heard that he could go out to play, and immediately came over and said he wanted to go together.

“You can go with Zhuzi, but Fantuan, come here first.” It’s not good for the children to stay home all day. Anyway, little Zhuzi is leading them, so Su Xiaoxiao was not worried. 

Su Xiaoxiao looked at Zhuzi’s bag quietly and called Fantuan into the room.

Su Xiaoxiao handed two milk candies to Fantuan: “You and little Zhuzi have one each. Now listen, Mom will assign you a special task.”

Little Fantuan peeled a piece of milk sugar and put it in his mouth. He put another piece of milk sugar in his pocket, puffed up his cheek, and asked Su Xiaoxiao, “What’s the task?”

“Mom suspects that little Zhuzi is being bullied at school. You can secretly ask how little Zhuzi is doing at school later, but you can’t say that Mom asked you to ask about it. As much as possible, you must ask about it; it must feel like you are just having a casual talk. Then remember the information you get and tell Mom word for word, but you can’t let little Zhuzi find out. Can you do it?”

Su Xiaoxiao was not mistaken; the dirt on Zhuzi’s schoolbag should be a shoe print, although he concealed it very well. But Su Xiaoxiao could tell that he was forcing a smile, probably because he was bullied by someone and he thinks no one can handle it, so he dared not say it.
Little Fantuan blinked and was a little angry: “Was Zhuzi bullied like how Tiedan and Tieniu bullied me and my brother?”

Su Xiaoxiao rubbed the child’s head. It seems that the impact of this incident on Fantuan still exists. How can someone afford to bully such an obedient child, like Fantuan?

“Mom asked Fantuan to know about this because Mom still doesn’t know what happened. Xiao Zhuzi has no father or mother. He only has his grandma, but his grandma is old and she is still in the hospital. If Fantuan is bullied, you can tell Mom and Dad, and Mo and Dad will protect Fantuan. However, Little Zhuzi won’t take the initiative to tell his mother. You are little Zhuzi’s good friend. When you ask him, he will tell you, and when he does, don’t forget to tell me what happened. Only when I know what happened will I be able to help little Zhuzi? Do you understand?”

Fantuan quickly understood the importance of this matter. “Um,” he said, pressing his lips together. “I understand, Mom. I promise to finish the task!”

Su Xiaoxiao rubbed the child’s head and said, “Go ahead, don’t be too obvious, just…”

Su Xiaoxiao is still organizing the words she wanted to convey when Fantuan took her hand and said, “Mom, I know. I should ask him when he is not paying attention. Let him tell me unknowingly, and I will tell you secretly.”

Su Xiaoxiao was dumbfounded. Are children so smart now? Is this little Fantuan going to become a master?

Before she could process her emotions, little Fantuan had already run away.

Su Xiaoxiao came out and looked at Xiao Doubao, who was writing and painting at the door. Xiao Doubao did not look at his brother, nor did he bother to go out with him. He grinned at Su Xiaoxiao.

Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t help holding up the cub and rubbed his forehead against her forehead: “It seems that only Xiao Doubao is mother’s sweet little cotton-padded jacket.”

In response, her little cotton-padded jacket kissed her, leaving Su Xiaoxiao’s face with drool.