Chapter 185: A Preposterous Request
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Aunt Zhao, Bai Shuang, and the others served them a big bowl of beef dough bits soup.
“Not yet. I don’t know why, but our house is much warmer than the outside.”
Su Ying, who was sitting at the side, took a sip of the dough bits soup. Of course, she wouldn’t tell them that the reason the house was warmer than the other houses was that she had secretly placed a solar heater on the roof. After the solar panels absorbed the light energy during the day, it would transmit the heat to the heat sinks in the house. This was also why the house was very warm even without a heater.
Meng Jiang was still young. After the dough bits soup was served, he picked the bowl up and took a big sip. Thereafter, he couldn’t stop eating. He had never tasted such delicious dough bits soup in his life. Very soon, he finished the whole bowl.
“Uncle Meng, you guys try it too. Uncle Hea and Uncle Murong’s cooking skills are not just for show.”
The Meng couple found it difficult to refuse their hospitality. They each picked up their bowls and started eating. After taking a mouthful, their eyes lit up.
Although the dough bits soup didn’t look amazing at first glance, it was silky smooth when eaten. The fragrance of the beef was especially strong, making it impossible to stop eating once one got started.
“Delicious! It’s really delicious.”
After the two of them finished eating, Bai Shuang scooped a second helping for each of them.
After two big bowls of soup, the family of three was extremely contented.
“Gosh, look at me. I was so focused on eating that 1 almost forgot about serious matters.” Meng Zi put down his bowl in embarrassment.
Su Ying was also full. “What’s the matter?”
Meng Zi looked at Su Ying and said with some awkwardness, “It’s really not easy for us to broach this subject, Madam Su. But for everyone’s sake, I have to be thick-skinned and bring this up. Recently, 1 saw the people of the West District making charcoal on the back mountain, so I was wondering if you could teach us folks from the North District?”
As if afraid that Su Ying would not agree, Meng Zi added, “Madam Su, please don’t misunderstand. We definitely have no intention of taking advantage of you. We are prepared to spend money to learn this charcoal-making technique. In the future, if we sell these batches of charcoal, we can also share part of the earnings with you.”
Tian Niu also said, “That’s right, Madam Su. You don’t know how cold the winter in the northern wilderness is. It’s wet and cold. It’s really torture for people. Every winter, many people freeze to death. We thought that if we could learn it, we could allow everyone to make charcoal to burn in winter. That would make their lives much easier.”
And Su Ying was wondering what was the serious matter that was bugging them. Thus, she agreed without thinking too much about it. She was still thinking of looking for more people to make charcoal when Meng Zi and the others came knocking on her door.
“Sure, no problem. Let’s do it tomorrow. I’ll bring some people to the North District tomorrow. Uncle Meng, see if there’s a place suitable for charcoal production in the North District. If there’s none, you’ll have to go and look for one. After all, winter is not too far away now.”
Meng Zi hadn’t expected Su Ying to agree so readily. He was so happy that the creases on his face deepened. “Yes, yes. There’s a hillock behind the North District. There are trees on the hillock too. We can make charcoal there.”
Now that they had a suitable place and raw materials, things would be easier. “Alright, 1’11 bring some people over tomorrow.”
“We must thank you, Madam Su.” Meng Zi’s face was full of gratitude. “It’s getting late. We won’t bother you and your family anymore, Madam Su. We should go back now.”
Tian Niu also stood up. “That’s right. Sorry for bothering you tonight.”
“If you have anything to discuss, feel free to come over anytime.”
“Alright, alright.”
The couple helped Meng Jiang up. Before they left, Aunt Zhao packed some dried beef slices for them to take back.
The three of them refused to no avail, and could only accept it eventually.
Su Ying stood outside the courtyard and watched as their ox-cart swayed and wobbled on their way out before returning to the courtyard and closing the gate behind her.
Meng Zi drove the ox cart while Tian Niu carried an oil lamp that was flickering with a faint light to illuminate the road ahead.
“I didn’t expect Madam Su to be so magnanimous. That’s a skill that can make a fortune. Yet she was so willing to let us learn the moment we asked.” Tian Niu sat on the cart and could not help but sigh.
However, Meng Zi said, “When she set up the school and let all the children in the base camp study for three years for free, you should know that she was making long-term plans for the Tiger Base.”
“Mother, this Madam Su is so strong. Just now when she held my arm, I couldn’t even move. Her martial arts are really amazing.”
Meng Zi and Tian Niu looked at each other and smiled. “Of course, her skills are amazing. Otherwise, those scum rats from the Venom Cult would not have been defeated by her.”
“Hey! Be careful, Husband!” Tian Niu suddenly exclaimed.
Meng Zi instinctively pulled the ox cart to a stop.
Meng Jiang almost fell off the cart. Fortunately, Meng Zi reacted quickly and held him back.
“What’s wrong? Why are you making so much noise?” Meng Zi looked at Tian Niu.
Tian Niu looked ahead and frowned. “I saw a person lying on the ground just now. If you didn’t stop, we would have run over him?”
“A person?” Meng Zi became wary at once and pulled out a wooden rod from the cart before jumping down.
Tian Niu also got off the cart and looked around warily.
“Come and take a look. It’s a girl.” Meng Zi, who had walked to the front to check, suddenly called out.
When Tian Niu heard this, she walked over with the lamp. After the dim light shone on the person on the ground, she was also very surprised.
She reached out to feel her pulse. “She probably fainted from hunger.”
If they left this person who had fainted from hunger here in such a dark place, who knew what might happen to her. Meng Zi thought for a while and decided to bring her back first.
Tian Niu was not a heartless person either. She had the same thoughts as Meng Zi. She asked Meng Zi to hold the oil lamp while she carried the person on the ground onto the ox cart.
“Mother, are we really going to bring her back?”
Tian Niu took the blanket from the cart and covered her with it. “Bring her back first. We’ll talk about it when she wakes up.”
With that, the couple jumped onto the cart and continued to the North District.
The next morning, Su Ying woke up to the younger toddler Ling’s cries.
“I don’t want to go to school. Father, 1 don’t want to go to school today…”
Su Ying got up, put on her clothes, and walked out. She saw the younger toddler Ling hugging Xiao Jin’s leg and crying miserably.
It was not only her. Xiao Jin had never experienced such a thing before either. For a while, he did not know how to placate her because he had already said all the nice things. However, the child who was throwing a tantrum was simply in no mood to listen. What should he do?
Su Ying felt a headache coming on. She went to the kitchen and brought a plate of cakes to Ling.
“Ling, look. What’s this?”
The younger toddler Ling turned around when she heard Su Ying’s voice. The little fellow’s nose and eyes were already red from crying.
“It’s… it’s rice cake. It’s sweet and sticky rice cake.”
Su Ying picked up a piece of rice cake and waved it in front of Ling. “Do you want to eat it, my precious baby?”
Ling swallowed a few times. “1 want to eat it.”
“If you go to school with your two older brothers and Teacher Chu, I’ll let you bring these to school, okay?”
When Ling heard that she still had to go to school, she puckered her face and got ready to bawl again.
However, before she could start crying, Su Ying took a piece of rice cake and put it into her mouth. “Forget it. It looks like Ling doesn’t really like rice cakes. Since you don’t want to bring them to school, I’ll eat them all..”