Hearing Su Qiao’s words, the three younger siblings came running out of the house together, their eyes wide with surprise.
Especially the two little ones, their eyes seemed to sparkle.
Their sister said she was going to take them into town to eat something good.
And to think that in all their years, they had never eaten out even once!
Su Wei was the first to react. He shook his head quickly: “Why go into town? We can just make something ourselves.”
As he spoke, he looked around and muttered, “We have the mill at home; I can grind this corn. If not, we can just boil some thin porridge to get by.”
Hearing this, the light in Su Peng and Su Lan’s eyes dimmed slightly.
Still, the two of them obediently nodded in agreement: “Let’s just have porridge, we’ll have porridge.”
Seeing her younger siblings so sensible made Su Qiao’s heart ache.
She felt no relief at all.
In her previous life, her brother Su Wei, being considerate, didn’t want to add any burden to her, she who was taking care of a younger brother with disfigurement. In the end, he hanged himself at the labor farm with a hidden hemp rope.
Her younger brother Su Peng, ever since he started following her, no matter how much suffering he endured or how many hardships he faced, never cried or caused trouble, always obedient and well-behaved. Yet in the end, he jumped to his death due to severe depression.
To hell with being considerate and obedient!
Since she had a second chance, this time Su Qiao would never let her younger siblings suffer alongside her again.
Money would be earned, money would be spent.
Joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness, whatever needed to be expressed, they would express it. The whole family would live freely and fully!
Thinking this, Su Qiao shot a glance at her brother.
“Stop talking so much. I said I’m taking you out to eat, so we’re going. You, take Su Peng and fetch a bucket of water, wash your face, and put on clean clothes. Bring another bucket while you’re at it; I’ll help Su Lan wash too.”
Hearing this, Su Wei knew there was no arguing, he nodded in agreement.
Su Peng and Su Lan could no longer hide their excitement; they cheered with joy.
After all, Su Changhe had worked on construction teams in the city, so conditions were relatively convenient. He had skills, and their house had always been better built than most others in the village.
Although their house was still made of mud bricks, the Su family had built up to about a meter from the ground with red bricks, and the roof wasn’t thatch but tiled. Even the windows were wider than other houses.
This made their home feel much more spacious and bright.
Not only that, at the back of the yard, Su Changhe had a well dug, a real first in the village.
Actually, Xiaojin Village was by a river, with a small river flowing past the east side of the village. Everyone used the river water for cooking and washing.
But Su Qiao’s mother, Chang Qiuyue, was a city-educated youth who settled in the village, and she had slightly higher standards for living.
She had always complained that the river water was dirty and not sanitary for cooking.
So once the family’s conditions improved a little, Su Changhe spent a lot of money having a well dug at home, supplying the family with drinking and cooking water.
After the water was ready, Su Qiao took off her little sister’s clothes and carefully wiped her down with a towel dampened with clean water, paying special attention to all the small cuts.
Then she helped her change into a fresh set of clothes and let her go play. She also treated the wound on her own knee.
By the time she finished, her two younger brothers had changed their clothes as well. The three of them stood together in the middle of the yard, waiting for her.
Since their parents were all good-looking, the four Su siblings were recognized as the most attractive family in the village.
Now standing together, even in old, patched clothes—Su Wei’s and Su Lan’s patched up, their appearance was striking and pleasing to the eye.
After locking the yard gate, Su Qiao first led her younger siblings to the village health clinic.
At that time, the clinic didn’t really have much medicine. The village doctor only applied some red antiseptic on Su Qiao and Su Lan to prevent infection.
Once the treatment was done, Su Qiao led them onto the main road heading toward the town.
Xiaojin Village wasn’t very far from the town; walking briskly, it took about forty minutes.
Since Su Qiao was injured, Su Wei insisted she couldn’t carry Su Lan. So she held the little brother’s hand while Su Wei carried their sister. The four of them walked in a row.
Although the midday sun in May was already scorching, making everyone sweat, it was the first time the siblings had gone out so neatly together. And since they were going to eat something delicious, the kids were overjoyed.
Not a single one complained about the heat; they all walked with a proud, confident stride.
After walking a good distance, Su Wei finally whispered, “Sis, do you have money?”
“Yes, I’ve been saving,” Su Qiao replied calmly.
She really did have money.
When her father passed away, County Officer Xu came to the village to handle the support arrangements for the children.
At that time, Officer Xu quietly reminded her to keep her own portion of the money in her hands, managing it herself.
He also said one sentence to her: “Having money in your hands keeps you from panicking. Money is safest when it’s in your own control.”
Su Qiao remembered this. Later, when Officer Xu organized a meeting with her uncle, aunt, and the siblings, she publicly stated that because she needed to live at school and pay for meals, her portion of the money should not go to her uncle’s house, but stay with her.
Officer Xu immediately approved her request, and no matter how unhappy Su Changfu was, he had no choice but to agree.
Because she didn’t hand over money to the household, over the past two years, Su Changfu and his wife never provided her with any dry food. Su Qiao survived on the poorest meals in the school cafeteria.
Not only that, whenever she occasionally went home, she had to buy some supplies in the county to bring back.
A bag of candy, a few snacks… if she didn’t, Wang Lanxiang would throw a fit, smashing pots and pans and giving her a hard time.
As a result, Su Qiao returned home less and less; if it weren’t for worrying about her younger siblings, she would have preferred never to go back to that house at all.
But precisely because of this careful saving, Su Qiao had money in her pocket.
She had saved 24 yuan and 30 cents, plus some food coupons, all kept close to her. Now she brought it all out.
In fact, aside from these twenty-odd yuan, the four siblings also had a sum of money, their father’s old survivor’s benefit: 470 yuan.
However, that money was being held by the Office of Preferential Treatment in the bank and could not be accessed until Su Qiao turned eighteen next year.
In her previous life, after her younger siblings got into trouble, Su Qiao applied to the county to use this money. Once the officials understood the situation, they immediately approved it.
Not only did they unlock the money for them ahead of time, they also assigned someone to help Su Peng contact a hospital and cover the subsequent medical expenses.
Without this, Su Qiao knew her younger siblings might never have made it through that crisis.
It wasn’t until much later that she learned the truth: the official who had suggested putting their survivor’s benefits in the bank, safeguarding it from greedy relatives, and later arranging her brother’s medical fees, the person who made all this possible, was the very high-ranking leader her father had saved years ago.
After learning the truth, Su Qiao never sought that person out; she felt it wasn’t necessary.
Her father had saved that man’s life, and in turn, that person had more or less saved her brother’s life. She considered it even.
From then on, neither side owed the other anything; they could just live their lives in peace.
This time around, Su Qiao knew she had to figure out a way to get that money early, using it as her startup funds.
Otherwise, with just the twenty-some yuan in her pocket, there was nothing she could do.
Su Qiao led her younger siblings with practiced ease into an alley at the back of the town’s health clinic.
They walked for quite a while, turning a few corners, until the siblings were completely disoriented, before finally stopping in front of an ordinary residential door.
At this time, the new policies hadn’t yet been implemented. Some townspeople were quietly running small businesses, but everyone was extremely careful, afraid of being accused of profiteering.
This household was no different.
From the outside, their house looked just like any other. If anything stood out, it was that their doors and windows were tightly closed, so you couldn’t see what was happening inside at all.
Su Qiao gently knocked three times, paused, then knocked three more times.
After a moment, footsteps sounded inside, and soon the door creaked open.
A burly man of about forty appeared. He wore a white cotton vest with a front overlap, a towel draped around his neck, and his scruffy beard made him look a little intimidating.
Seeing him, Su Wei and Su Peng instinctively stepped back, their expressions wary.
The man looked at the four children outside and was visibly taken aback. He furrowed his brow and asked, “Who are you looking for?” His voice carried a clear rural Sichuan accent.
Su Qiao smiled at him and said softly, “You’re Uncle Hu, right? I brought my younger siblings to eat douhua noodles. You still have some, don’t you?”
Old Hu was momentarily stunned. He instinctively opened the door wider but still asked cautiously, “Who told you I had noodles here?”
“We came from the health clinic,” Su Qiao replied calmly.
Hearing that, Old Hu visibly relaxed and opened the door fully, letting the four siblings in.
After closing the door again, he pointed to a room with a hanging curtain and said, “Sit inside. Douhua noodles, right? How many bowls?”
“Three bowls, four liang each. Please bring an extra empty bowl,” Su Qiao instructed expertly.
Seeing how familiar she was with the procedure, Old Hu couldn’t help but look at her again, then said, “A large bowl is 35 cents, four liang in grain coupons. Three bowls total 1.05 yuan, one jin of □□ coupons. Pay first, noodles come after.”
Su Qiao had obviously already calculated the amount. She cheerfully took her handkerchief pouch from her pocket and counted out the corresponding cash and coupons, handing them to Old Hu.
Seeing their older sister hand over so much money at once made the younger children uneasy. But now, their eldest sister carried herself with such authority that even Su Wei didn’t dare say anything.
They obediently followed her instructions and walked over to a square table in the room to sit down.
It was already past one in the afternoon, long past a normal lunchtime. After walking such a long distance, they were tired and hot, their eyes fixed on the kitchen with longing.
Soon, the kitchen emitted a rich, fragrant aroma. With a sizzling sound as garlic and scallions hit the oil, an indescribably savory smell wafted through the open door.
The aroma was so strong that all four children couldn’t help but swallow hard.