Chapter 42

Su Xiaoxiao poured a bit of jelly bear and a small amount of celery into the chicken soup to make a soup base She also added a large handful of dried noodles from the pot, filling a big bowl full of each cub.

She badly wants to eat spicy food; however, there is no chopped chili or chili sauce, so she could only make some chili sauce with the remaining chili peppers.

The process of making it was very simple. The chili peppers were cut into rings and added hot oil. Stir-fry twice and immediately add soy sauce, vinegar, salt, and an appropriate amount of sugar to balance the taste. 

After it cools down, transfer it to a jar, add some garlic cloves to it, seal it, and let it sit overnight.

However, Su Xiaoxiao can’t wait for it to be marinated all night. She needs to eat it now. Eating this kind of noodle without chili sauce is like removing half of its flavor.

Su Xiaoxiao served it in a small bowl and started eating the noodles. 

Han Cheng saw it, tasted a little of it, and felt it was very appetizing: ‘This is good, it’s delicious when mixed with noodles.

Su Xiaoxiao thought of Li Yufeng after eating this: “I wish my mother was here. Her pickled radish, pickled cucumber, and all kinds of sauerkraut are very delicious.”

Su Xiaoxiao suddenly remembered something and patted her forehead, saying, “I almost forgot. She seems to have brought me a small bag of dried radishes. I’ll go and find it later.”

Although there is nothing to eat in Sujia Village, the authentic salty pickled Chinese cabbage made by Li Yufeng, various dried goods in the sun, and various pickled dried turnips and plums are all very delicious.

This is how people are. Since Su Xiaoxiao is now living a better life than before, she has dared to eat things she couldn’t eat in the past.

Han Cheng said, “Shall I send a telegram back to the army to ask?”

Su Xiaoxiao shook her head and said, “No need. I told Mom to call us when her departure time is confirmed. I think she’ll call us soon.” 

“Huh?” Su Xiaoxiao calculated the time and said: “Next week is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Do you think my mother will come to our place for the Mid-Autumn Festival? Forget it, I’ll call the commune and have someone send a message to my father to inquire if my mother can come to our place for the Mid-Autumn Festival.”

Han Cheng nodded and said, “Okay, you can do as you see fit.”

“Mom, I still want to eat!” Fantuan recently wondered if he had grown up since he had been eating a lot. The five-year-old cub not only ate more than an average six-year-old child, but he almost caught up with Su Xiaoxiao. He had eaten up all the noodles in such a big bowl, but he still didn’t have enough.

Xiao Doubao is different. He eats beautifully and stops when he is full. He pushed the remaining noodles from the bowl to Fantuan and said, “Brother, eat~”

Fantuan froe, his eyes widening, looked at Xiao Doubao with his big eyes: “Xiao Doubao, did you call brother? Did you really call brother?”

This time, it was not for Xiao Zhuzi. ‘Yes, he called me Brother! He also gave him his own food for me to eat! Sure enough, I am Xiao Doubao’s favorite brother!’

Fantuan hugged Xiao Doubao and kissed him heavily, “Xiao Doubao, you are really my obedient younger brother!”

Xiao Doubao pushed him away in disgust and said, “Noisy”

Then, Xiao Doubao pushed the leftover noodles he had eaten to Xiao Zhuzi and said, “Brother, eat~”

Whenever Xiao Doubao speaks, he unconsciously elongates the ending sound, making it sound particularly milky. 

Xiao Zhuzi touched the little head of Doubao and said, “Brother will be full after eating my food. Let’s give them to your Brother Fantuan.”

Xiao Doubao climbed down from his chair and ran to his mother, ignoring his Brother, Fantuan.

Su Xiaoxiao hugged the baby and let him play by himself.

Xiao Fantuan is very generous, and he is neither annoyed nor disgusted by Doubao’s saliva. He picked up the rice bowl from Doubao and ate it with gusto. He also stared at the chili ring in front of Su Xiaoxiao: “Mom, I want to try this.”
    
Su Xiaoxiao pushed it over, and Fantuan tasted one. The sour and refreshing taste soared, which opened the door to a new world for Xiao Fantuan’s taste buds: “Sweet, sour, and spicy, it’s delicious!”

This foodie son.

Su Xiaoxiao drizzled a little on Fantuan’s noodles and said, “This is enough. Children should not eat too much; it is not good for your stomach.”

Little amounts are better than nothing. Fantuan had a delicious meal, and when he was full, he even caressed his bulging belly.

While washing dishes, Su Xiaoxiao asked Han Cheng, “Isn’t it bad for Fantuan to eat so much?”

Han Cheng shook his head and said, “It’s okay. He exercises a lot, and these things are easy to digest. If he runs two laps, he will burn it.”

Okay.

When Su Xiaoxiao opened the pomelo, she took special care to keep the whole pomelo peel, took out the pulp first, gave each of the cubs a piece, and let them take a nap after eating.

Su Xiaoxiao peeled off a piece, took a bite, and also fed it to Han Cheng directly. “You eat it too, it’s especially sweet.”

Han Cheng took a bite from Su Xiaoxiao’s hand and nodded, “Hmm, it’s sweet.”

Su Xiaoxiao’s eyebrows curled with her eyes bent, she took a bite, and then fed Han Cheng another bite. The taste of the pomelo was like the life of the newly married couple, and it was sweet like honey.

After eating pomelo, Su Xiaoxiao asked Han Cheng to take a nap. She woke up late in the morning and was not sleepy.

Han Cheng was really sleepy. He kissed Su Xiaoxiao and went back to his room for a nap.

Su Xiaoxiao peeled the outermost green peel of the pomelo peel, cut it in half, and removed the segments. Peel the segments, deseed, and cut them into a larger size. It’s ready to be turned into pomelo-stuffed meat. 

The green layer is not wasted, and it is good to keep it for making pomelo tea.

Su Xiaoxiao blanched them separately and soaked them on a clean plate.

Originally, Su Xiaoxiao didn’t plan to go out today, but while they were taking a nap, she found a scarf to wrap around her neck and took the time to go to the post office to call Su Jia Village.
The person who answered the phone was the commune secretary. Su Xiaoxiao knew her, so she asked him to relay a message to her parents and ask them if they had received her letter and if they could come to her side for this coming holiday on August 15th.

The secretary of the commune said that her father happened to be coming for a meeting tomorrow and that she would tell him when the time came.

At this time, the phone bill is particularly expensive. Su Xiaoxiao thanked the secretary of the commune and hung up the phone.

On the way back, Su Xiaoxiao unexpectedly met Cheng Lifang.

Is this what they mean when they say “enemies are bound to meet head-on on a narrow road.”

Cheng Lifang still had that foul mood written on her face.

As she passed by Su Xiaoxiao, she suddenly shouted, “Hey…”

Naturally, Su Xiaoxiao won’t answer her, unless she stops using “Hey” when calling her.

“Hey! I called you!”

Su Xiaoxiao still ignored her and walked straight ahead.

“Su Xiaoxiao!” Cheng Lifang found herself particularly annoyed every time she met Su Xiaoxiao. She hated the way she pretended not to care about anything and didn’t take everything seriously, even though she was clearly a nobody.

Su Xiaoxiao stopped, looked at her lightly, smiled, and said, “So you can speak human language. I thought only animals would say “wei, wei” when they call out their own kind.”

“You!” Cheng Lifang took a deep breath: I am a dignified teacher, why would she care about what an uneducated country girl says?

Cheng Lifang really didn’t want to talk to her much, so she said directly, “Come to school tomorrow.”

Su Xiaoxiao blinked. Did she hear her right? Teacher Cheng used a commanding tone to let her go to school. Why would she go there? Do you want me to take your place and teach your students?

“Why?” Su Xiaoxiao asked.

Cheng Lifang: “Aren’t you in charge of Zhang Zhu?”

Su Xiaoxiao nodded and said, “What’s wrong with him?”
Cheng Lifang snorted coldly, “Why are you asking me? You’ll know when you come to school.”

Cheng Lifang didn’t want to talk to her, so she twisted her waist and walked away. After walking for a few steps, she seemed to be out of breath but then stopped. She turned her head and looked up and down at Su Xiaoxiao, disdainfully saying. “Hmph, there is nothing in your entire body that compares to Jiang Xue, and I don’t know what Director Han likes about you, he’s really blind.”

Su Xiaoxiao: “…” Why did she suddenly compare herself to Jiang Xue?

Su Xiaoxiao really can’t figure out where Cheng Lifang’s inexplicable hostility comes from. Logically speaking, the little things between children shouldn’t rise to this level. How can a narrow-minded person be a teacher? Aren’t the higher-ups in the Academy afraid of her, misleading the students?

Su Xiaoxiao rolled her fingers around the beautiful hair on her chest, looked at her up and down like her, and seriously asked, “Is the person who likes you blind and deaf?”

The tone is very gentle, and it doesn’t sound like she was trying to piss off the other party.

Cheng Lifang: “You!”

Su Xiaoxiao doesn’t care about her, she just turned around and left.

Su Xiaoxiao thought to herself: “With this person’s level of emotional intelligence, she can make her vomit blood for a few more rounds. Forget it, she doesn’t want to be a murderer.”

On the way home, Su Xiaoxiao was thinking about what had happened to Zhuzi at school. He came back every day and behaved normally. He didn’t look like he had encountered troubles at school.

Last time, his schoolbag had footprints on it. Su Xiaoxiao thought he had been bullied at school, but the intelligence agent, Comrade Fantuan, said no.

What the hell is going on here?

Su Xiaoxiao hurried home. Xiao Zhuzi had already gone to school, and Han Cheng was ready to go and stood at the door waiting for her to come back.

Seeing that Han Cheng was in a hurry to return to the army, Su Xiaoxiao didn’t mention Zhuzi’s matter to him for the time being, thinking that it would not be too late to talk about it when he came back from work this evening.

However, there is no need to wait for Han Cheng to leave work. Su Xiaoxiao and her cubs have not been studying for a while, and the school has already sent someone to invite them, saying that Zhang Zhu’s parents should hurry to the school.

Su Xiaoxiao asked Fantuan if she could take his brother to Dundun’s house for a while. 

After she settled the cubs in the house, she went to school to see what had happened to Zhuzi.

Fantuan and Doubao refused at first but insisted on following her. Su Xiaoxiao, for better or worse, grabbed a handful of candy and cakes for them, and they reluctantly agreed.

Su Xiaoxiao took the cubs to Aunt Zhang’s house and asked her to take care of them. She came back to pick them up later and gave Dundun and Yaya a portion of the cake and candy before leaving.

“Xiao Fantuan can eat and play as long as he wants. It’s okay. Xiao Doubao is different. He has two tears in his eyes and looks at his mother with a grievance on his face, conveying that he wanted to go with his mother. Su Xiaoxiao almost gave in and took the baby with her, but she stopped herself. 

She left the courtyard with a determined heart.

She couldn’t imagine what can an obedient Xiao Zhuzi could do at school.