Chapter 921: Unity and Harmony
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Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Binglan said, “Yeah, you and Father can go together. If you go now, you can make it home for dinner.’
“All right, then. We’ll leave right away.” Su Fengmao and Shen Qiuhua took the things and went to Chief Su’ s house.
Although people might have already eaten at this time during winter, most ate late in the summer. Therefore, Chief Su and his wife were preparing to cook when Su Fengmao and Shen Qiuhua arrived.
The older couple was delighted to see Su Fengmao and Shen Qiuhua. “h.e.l.lo there, Fengmao and Qiuhua. We’re about to make dinner if you’d like to join us.”
Shen Qiuhua smiled and said, “You don’t have to cook tonight. Fengmao and I brought you something to eat.”
The older couple’s eyes sparkled when they heard that. Chief Su’s wife smiled from ear to ear, saying, “Binglan is so busy, yet she still made time to cook for us.”
Everyone envied the Su family for having someone like Su Binglan as their family member. Chief Su’s wife treated Su Binglan as her granddaughter, even though Su Binglan was her grandniece.
Chief Su chuckled. “1 can already smell the food. It must be delicious since Binglan made it.”
He could not wait to taste the food. He was always severe and unsmiling as the village chief. However, he could not help but smile whenever anyone mentioned his grandniece.
The old woman was happy, saying, “l can smell it, too. I wonder what Binglan made for us this time.’
Su Fengmao brought the basket into the house and lifted the cloth to reveal what was inside. Then he removed the contents and said, “Binglan made stir-fried snails for you. I’ll show you how to eat them with these toothpicks.”
He then demonstrated it to the older couple. Chief Su l s wife became wide-eyed as she exclaimed, “These are delicious! 1 never knew we could eat snails.’
Shen Qiuhua smiled. “Here, have some more.”
The older couple plucked the snails from their sh.e.l.ls with the toothpicks and ate some more. Chief Su tasted a hint of spiciness, but he still thought it was fragrant and delicious.
Eating one made him want to continue eating. He even ate a few at once without knowing it. When he realized how much he had eaten, he said in embarra.s.sment, ‘1 I didn’t realize how much I ate. They’re just so tasty!’ Su Fengmao said, “Don’t worry. These are all for you.”
“But there are so many.” Chief Su felt he should not overeat, no matter how delicious it was.
Su Fengmao explained, “Uncle Su, you can ask Zhengde and the others to come over and share these. It’ll be fun, don’t you think? Oh, Binglan also sent you some fried cicadas.”
Chief Su and his wife’s smiles grew wider when Su Fengmao showed them the basket of fried cicadas. They did not expect Su Binglan to cook so much food for them.
Indeed, there was enough food to feed a whole family. The old woman was happy, saying, “Of course, we’ll invite Zhengde and the others over. Then, we can have dinner together. You two can join us, too.”
Shen Qiuhua waved smilingly. “Thank you, but that’s okay. Binglan cooked the same dishes for us at home. We’ll have to go home for dinner. Also, here’s a pearl necklace. The other women of the family will have one, too.”
The old woman could not take her eyes off the pearl necklace when she saw how shiny and beautiful it was. She could not bear to put it down, either. Her age did not matter as she still liked jewelry.
“Th-this is a pearl necklace? Did you get these from Ding Wan?” The old woman knew what pearls looked like because Ding Wan had previously gifted some to her.
The old woman liked pearls very much but could only look at them. She thought she would never be able to wear pearls. Nonetheless, she carefully placed the necklace into a box.
“Here, let me put it on for you,” Shen Qiuhua said.
“That would be lovely.” The old woman was so happy that she could not stop smiling.
After Shen Qiuhua helped to put the pearl necklace on the old woman, the latter touched the necklace and hurriedly looked at her reflection. “The pearls look gorgeous. ”
She looked at her husband and asked, “How does it look, dear?”
Chief Su smiled and began reminiscing about when they were young. He was the eldest son of the Su family and had plenty of land. He was also diligent, and his family’s conditions were decent.
His wife came from a good family, and she loved jewelry. When they had children, the old woman began to save as much money as possible to give her children better lives.
Although she liked jewelry, she never bought any after having children. Chief Su was happy to see how excited his wife was.
“You look wonderful.’
Su Fengmao and Shen Qiuhua were happy to see the older couple’s sweet interaction. After chatting for a while, they went to send the food to the other Su family members.
Everyone was happy, and Su Fengzhi was in disbelief when he saw the fried cicadas. He asked, “It must’ve taken you a long time to gather this many cicadas, right?”
Su Fengzhi remembered when he and his brothers used to catch cicadas. They would barely get a few, even after trying all afternoon to catch them. Su Fengmao waved. “Not at all. It was easy to get this many cicadas.”
Su Fengzhi was surprised. “How’d you do it?”
“We just made a fire near the pond. Then, we shook the trees, and the cicadas flew toward the flame. At that point, you can just pick them up.” Su Fengzhi was impressed. “l never knew we could do that.”
“Of course! You can try it for yourself next time. Besides, frying cicadas is easy, and they taste delicious.”
Su Fengzhi raised his brows, asking, “Can I add fried cicadas to my menu? People will enjoy them more with wine.”
Su Fengmao said, “If you think drinking wine while eating fried cicadas is good, just wait until you try these stir-fried snails with wine.”
Su Fengzhi tasted the snails, and indeed, they tasted excellent with wine.
“These are perfect, Fengmao. Can I buy this recipe from you?”
“What are you saying, Brother? We’re brothers, so you don’t have to buy it from me. I’ll tell you how we made the stir-fried snails.” Su Fengmao then taught Su Fengzhi how to make the dish.
Su Fengzhi was ecstatic. He could imagine his business soaring if he added wine with fried cicadas and stir-fried snails to his menu.
As the two brothers chatted, Shen Qiuhua and Madam Liu discussed the pearl necklace. Previously, Shen Qiuhua told Ding Wan about Su Binglan’s idea of making pearl necklaces.
Ding Wan was excited. She even told Teng Sushui about Su Binglan’s idea. The older woman knew her daughter-in-law would be thrilled. She even thought the pearl necklaces could make considerable profits..