Lin Shu was busy at home and decided it was time to start cooking.

Today for lunch, she planned to make millet pancakes with some added soybean flour, which would make the pancakes chewier and more fragrant.

While she was busy, the three children came home.

Panpan, covered in sweat, said, “Mom, I’m so hungry!”

Tiantian teased, “Oh, you’re going to turn into a little pig, you eat so much!”

Xiaoyou followed behind them quietly.

Although she was a few months older, she was about the same size as the younger ones and looked even smaller because she was so skinny.

She was very considerate and took on the role of an older sister, protecting her younger siblings.

When they got home, Xiaoyou immediately sat next to Lin Shu to help with the stove.

Lin Shu was surprised and asked, “Xiaoyou, do you know how to handle the stove?”

Handling the stove was a skill that required patience, and many adults struggled with it.

The stove, known as a “griddle,” was a round, cast-iron pan with a curved bottom and three short legs, used for cooking over a fire.

Because it was tricky to manage, many people either burned the pancakes with too much heat or left them raw with too little heat.

In fact, Lu Da and Fang Dihua, couldn’t do it properly.

They often ended up burning several pancakes every time they tried.

Lin Shu eventually preferred to handle the griddle herself rather than have them do it.

However, Old Lu and Lin Aidi were skilled at it.

She didn’t expect Xiaoyou to be so good at it too.

Panpan, who was drinking chrysanthemum tea, overheard and looked at Xiaoyou curiously.

Was she being praised by Mom?

Was Xiaoyou that impressive?

Was she trying to take Mom away from them?

That was not acceptable!

Panpan immediately grabbed Tiantian and sat next to Lin Shu to help.

Lin Shu thought they just wanted to play with the dough and didn’t refuse.

She let them wash their hands and gave each of them a piece of dough to roll out small pancakes.

Panpan said, “I’ll handle the griddle!”

He was a little man and didn’t want to be worse than the girls or Xiaoyou.

He wouldn’t let Xiaoyou take Mom away from them!

Xiaoyou quietly said, “Panpan, the griddle is very hot. It will burn and cause blisters.”

She made some space and invited Panpan to sit next to her so she could teach him how to handle the griddle and protect him from getting burned.

Previously, she had helped her grandmother with the griddle at home, and when her younger brother tried to play with the fire sticks, he accidentally touched the hot griddle and burned his fingers.

Burned herself with a scorching bubble.

Her grandmother immediately beat her with a fire stick.

Seeing her younger brother getting burned like that, she felt very sorry and didn’t want Panpan to get burned either.

Panpan: “Don’t worry, I won’t get burned. I’ll cook it well.”

He picked up the wooden spatula used for flipping pancakes, feeling like a warrior.

The wooden spatula was actually a thin, three-foot-long tool used to flip and handle pancakes.

Lin Shu taught Tiantian how to maintain a safe distance from the hot griddle and how to roll the small dough on it.

A child with a small piece of dough only needed to roll a little in front of themselves to make a pancake about the size of a palm.

“Wow!” Tiantian was very happy, flipping the pancake with the spatula.

She quickly rolled out a few more and started dividing them up.

Since Xu Xiaoyou was a guest, she gave one to him, one to her younger brother, and kept one for herself and her mother.

She even helped roll up vegetables inside, providing excellent service.

Lin Shu was enjoying the food being served by her beloved daughter when Fang Dihua returned from outside.

Seeing the three kids at the griddle, she was a bit worried. “Stay away from the griddle, go play over there.”

Panpan: “Grandma, we’re helping Mom cook!”

Tiantian’s little hands skillfully rolled another pancake, wrapping it with Chinese toon sprouts and pickles, and tried to feed it to Fang Dihua.

Fang Dihua was too tall to reach, and Tiantian was anxious.

Fang Dihua had to squat down to eat, “Mm, it tastes just as good as what your mother makes.”

The children were very proud.

Fang Dihua didn’t go home after finishing work in the evening but went straight to the commune.

Lin Shu handed her the prepared items and whispered a few words.

Fang Dihua was puzzled, “What’s this for?”

Lin Shu: “Mom, the teacher said in class that rural credit cooperatives lack effective supervision and can easily breed corruption. We need to keep an eye on them secretly.”

Wow, this sounded very professional; Fang Dihua didn’t understand it at all.

She nodded, “Okay.”

She first took food to her husband, then delivered it to the rest of the family, and continued working in the afternoon.

Noticing the time, she asked the team leader for leave, instructed the second sister-in-law Lu Er to bring back the lunch containers and soup pot, and walked to the commune.

When the second sister-in-law Lu Er asked where she was going, Fang Dihua had already walked away.

Song Chunfang: “Ah, there’s no mother-in-law who isn’t biased.”

The second sister-in-law Lu Er bit her lip, snorted, and continued working.

Fang Dihua went straight to the commune and directly headed to the credit cooperative.

At that time, rural credit cooperatives were…

Not many people came to deposit money or take out loans, so the staff there had a lot of free time.

Usually, they were lazy and indifferent toward ordinary people, and they didn’t bother to show any courtesy even to officials from other teams.

But Fang Dihua was different.

They didn’t dare offend her and were somewhat afraid of her.

When she first came, she was ignored too.

At that time, she was young and dressed in worn clothes with sand and grass stuck in her hair, looking very shabby.

Nobody paid her any attention.

In fact, a young man even rolled his eyes and told her to go away.

Fang Dihua got angry and loudly scolded him, “How dare you look down on people? I know this is a credit cooperative, and I’m here to deposit money, not beg for it. This credit cooperative was set up by us farmers, and we support you. How dare you sit up high and look down on people?”

Her loud shouting made everyone fear her.

Soon, the manager came out and scolded the young men.

When they learned that Fang Dihua’s son was in the army, they quickly apologized and hurried to open an account and give her a passbook.

At first, Fang Dihua deposited just two yuan, and the young man sneered at her, thinking she was just a poor peasant showing off.

But Fang Dihua kept coming back, sometimes every month, sometimes every few months.

Over the course of ten years, her passbook balance grew to two thousand yuan!

Who would dare look down on her now?

These days, only production teams and large groups had money to deposit in the credit cooperative.

It was unusual for individual households to have spare cash.

Even a production team saving two thousand yuan was considered impressive.

Not everyone knew how much money was in her passbook.

Only the clerk she dealt with, the accountant, and the leaders at the credit cooperative knew.

Fang Dihua always went to the clerk with the braided hair because she was the only one who hadn’t mocked her.

Now, that clerk had become a mother, and her braids had turned into a neat short haircut with a black headband.

Today, she wasn’t here?

Fang Dihua peeked around and asked, “Is Yanzi not here?”

“Hello, Auntie!” Zhai Xiaoyan came out of the office and walked quickly to greet her warmly. “Auntie, are you here to deposit money?”

Fang Dihua looked around and quietly said, “I’m not depositing money. I want to withdraw all my money today. Can I do that?”

Zhai Xiaoyan was surprised and asked, “Auntie, is something wrong? Do you need that much money for something at home?”

Although Lu Shaotang was rarely at home, he was very famous.

His reputation stemmed from his youthful demeanor and his striking appearance.

Especially after he joined the army and earned a considerable amount of money, his mother frequently deposited money at the credit cooperative.

Everyone knew and envied her, spreading the news far and wide.

She felt quite sorry for Fang Dihua.

She worried that Fang Dihua might be pressured by other sons to share Lu Shaotang’s money with them, in exchange for their support in her old age.

Fang Dihua: “No, I want to deposit it in the county bank.”

Zhai Xiaoyan sighed with relief. “The county bank does offer slightly higher interest, but Auntie, if you deposit it there, it will be a hassle to withdraw or deposit money. Our credit cooperative is more convenient. Besides, this credit cooperative is our own local institution, so it feels more familiar and secure.”

Fang Dihua: “It’s good, but I still want to deposit it in the county bank.”

Clearly, she was adamant.