Su Xiaoruan's heart stirred.
Grandma made all the decisions at home. Although Grandma had given birth to four sons and two daughters, only their branch of the family truly stayed by her side.
Eldest Uncle Su Jianguo was in the Military, and it seemed he was already a high-ranking Cadre now; he might not return even once in one or two years.
Second Uncle Su Jianjun worked on the railway, and the number of times he returned home throughout the year was also limited.
Third Uncle Su Jianmin left home to seek opportunities in his early years and has now settled down in H Province, where he also married and had children, but he hasn't returned even once over so many years.
Both Aunts were married, and they didn't visit their maternal home often, nor did they have the temperament To cause trouble, so overall, the Atmosphere in the family was quite harmonious.
Su Xiaoruan figured she couldn't hide things from everyone, so she might as well rely on Grandma, that powerful figure, to help cover for her.
"Grandma, come in."
Su Xiaoruan knew that there were no Fine Grains left in the house because the new courtyard house next door had only just been built a few days ago and hadn't dried out yet.
To build those few Brick and Tile Houses, they had spent almost all the family's savings, even exchanging Fine Grains for Coarse Grains to eat.
Grandma Su heard her granddaughter speak and pushed the door open directly.
Upon entering, she first saw a large bag of White Rice leaning against the corner of the wall.
"What is this?"
Grandma Su was stunned.
When she stepped closer to take a good look and touched it, oh my heavens!
This was top-quality White Rice.
"Ruan Bao, where did this come from?"
"Grandma, Grandpa gave it to me."
Su Xiaoruan knew Grandma was superstitious; when controls weren't strict in the past, she used to burn incense and pray to Buddha every day.
It was only in recent years, with strict crackdowns, that Grandma hid the statues she worshipped, otherwise, their whole Family wouldn't have fared well.
"This? Your Grandpa?"
Su Xiaoruan's Grandpa had passed away early; in fact, Su Xiaoruan herself had never seen what her Grandpa looked like, only hearing about him from Grandma and Father.
At this moment, in order to account for the origin of her Things, she had to come up with an excuse.
"Uh, I don't know either. Anyway, when I fell into the water, I heard an Old Man's voice saying he was giving me a blessing. Just now, while I was asleep, I saw the Old Man again; he gave me this, saying it was so our whole Family could have enough to eat. When I woke up, this rice was here."
Grandma Su was clearly finding it hard to believe.
She circled the rice a few more times, confirmed it was indeed White Rice and nothing else, then said tremblingly, "What did the Grandpa in your dream look like?"
Su Xiaoruan tilted her head, feigning recollection, while actually thinking about the descriptions Grandma had given of Grandpa in the past.
"He didn't look too old, uh, he looked a bit like Father, especially his eyes, exactly the same."
Grandma Su excitedly slapped her thigh.
"Oh my, that's right! It's the Old Man coming back."
After speaking, Grandma Su bowed towards the west, "Buddha bless us! Our family's ancestor has shown his spirit and knows to return to protect us."
Seeing this, Su Xiaoruan breathed a sigh of relief.
This meant Grandma had accepted her story.
Then future matters would be easier to handle.
"Grandma, let's steam White Rice for Noon. Don't we have the Eggs compensated by the Yu Family? Let's stir-fry a few more eggs, and stir-fry all the remaining Cured Meat too."
That piece of Cured Meat didn't have much left, probably only about half a *jin* at most.
Grandma Su had always been very frugal when it came to eating.
If it were a normal day, Grandma Su definitely wouldn't agree and would surely scold her for not knowing how to manage the household.
But today was different; with this bag of White Rice, almost twenty *jin*, it was enough for the Family to eat for quite some time.
Grandma Su looked at her granddaughter's expectant face, knowing everyone had suffered while building the house, and gritted her teeth, "Fine! Do as you said."
Su Xiaoruan was so happy she almost jumped up.
Work in the Field was not easy now; except for Zhao Hongmei, almost everyone who could Go to work earned Full Work Points. If they didn't eat well, wouldn't they easily get sick?
Su Xiaoruan decided that in this new life, she absolutely had to take care of the whole Family's health first.
At Noon, Su Jianye and Zhao Hongmei returned, followed by Zhao Yingzi.
Su Xiaoruan's older Brothers had gone to repair the irrigation channel and wouldn't be back for a couple of days.
It was precisely because they felt the Su Family was short a few Strong Laborers that the Yu Family siblings dared to devise such a scheme to trick people.
If Su Xiaoruan's older Brothers had been present, the Yu Family members wouldn't have dared to harbor such thoughts even if beaten to death.
Zhao Yingzi was a pitiful person from Zhao Hongmei's maternal Village. In 1961, her family was so poor they couldn't even afford to cook; Zhao Yingzi's Parents thought of selling her off.
But this was the New Society; how could selling sons and daughters still be in fashion?
It was the Old Lady who took pity on the small, thin child Zhao Yingzi, generously brought her to their home, found someone to transfer her Household Registration, and registered her at the Su Family as Su Xiaoruan's future Sister-in-law.
Zhao Yingzi had left early that morning, so she had no idea about the trouble the Yu Family caused.
By the time she found out, her Parents were already in the Field.
Upon entering the house and seeing Su Xiaoruan, Zhao Yingzi rushed over immediately.
"Ruan Bao, how are you? Do you have a fever?"
"Sister, I'm fine. I even helped Grandma Stoking the fire."
When the few of them entered the room and saw the fragrant food laid out on the table, they were all stunned.
"Mother, where did this White Rice come from?"
Su Jianye's eyes were wide open, and at the same time, he started swallowing saliva.
He hadn't eaten White Rice for over half a year!
"If there's food, eat quickly, why so much talking!"
After scolding them once, Grandma Su picked up her chopsticks, "Let's eat."
The Su Family was very strict about rules. It was said that Grandma Su was once a young lady from a landlord family, but later, during the war, Grandma's Father decided to donate most of the family property and had saved several Red Army soldiers. Furthermore, they fled north later, which is how they avoided implication.
So, the page in Grandma Su's Household Registration Book now clearly listed them as Poor Peasants.
It had been a long time since they had eaten such a rich meal.
A dish of Wild Vegetables Stir-fried Eggs, a dish of Shredded Radish Salad, a dish of Cabbage Stir-fried Cured Meat, and a dish of Mushroom Soup—it was so fragrant their teeth almost fell out.
The whole Family ate until they were satisfied, everyone wearing smiles.
Su Jianye ate three large bowls of Rice before stopping.
After eating, Zhao Yingzi went to clean the Bowls and Chopsticks. When Su Xiaoruan tried to help, she was stopped by her.
Grandma Su called Su Jianye and Zhao Hongmei into the Inner room.
"You both saw Ruan Bao's attitude today. I think we need to break off this engagement with the Yu Family as soon as possible."