Su Tang felt very grateful to Su Yongshun and his family for going outside to save her and her brother with their shovels and hoes, despite the fact that it had been the middle of the night and also in the midst of a big snowstorm. Although Su Tang and her brother had already managed to escape on their own and there hadn’t been anything for their rescuers to, Su Tang definitely knew that this family was being good to them. After all, except Su Nuan who had stayed back to take care of the little one at home, the whole family had come out to look for them.
Obviously, as soon as they heard that scary ‘bang’ they had all come over in a hurry, full ready to try to find a way to dig her and her brother out of the wreckage in the middle of the night. So, their goodwill toward her, Su Tang kept it in her heart.
If people were good to her, she would be good to them in turn. That had always been Su Tang’s principle.
And, in truth, she was actually a person who had a lot of trouble sleeping in unfamiliar beds. For instance, she hadn’t been able to sleep well at all for a while after she had moved into Su Laochuan’s house and she had only recently gotten used to it. So, last night, when she was suddenly asked to sleep with Su Nuan in her bed, she really couldn’t fall asleep at all. Even though Su Nuan had quickly fallen asleep, Su Tang really couldn’t do the same herself.
Which was why, after laying down with her eyes open and chatting with the orange cat for a while, she gave up on trying to sleep and just got up to make fish balls.
After that, she had quickly thrown her trouble falling asleep to the back of her mind because she had a lot of other things to think about. Soon, she would be going to live in town, and then she needed to build a new house and also go and retrieve Su Yonghe and his family’s remains, all of which was going to cost money. Still, even though it would sting a bit to spend all that money, she knew she had bigger business on the way, so she felt it was an acceptable amount to spend.
And sure enough, when Su Yongshun and Madam Qin heard Su Tang’s explanation, they realized that they had misunderstood her. It turned out that she didn’t go into town every day to sell her fish directly, but rather she made the fish into fish balls and sold those, which meant that she was making much more money than if she were simply selling the fish raw.
Before, when they heard Su Tang say that she wanted to build a new house and retrieve the remains of her family members this spring, the couple had been a little curious about where she had gotten the money to afford all that. However, it hadn’t been very long since Su Tang had strongly told off certain people for caring too much about her family’s affairs, so they hadn’t asked. After all, at the end of the day, that sort of thing really wasn’t their business, and it really wasn’t the sort of thing that should be asked about.
Which was why they hadn’t asked. Still, they had wondered. But now, after listening to Su Tang’s explanation, they finally understood. It seemed that the money could also be made like this!
“Huh, I’ve heard that there is a Jiang family that runs a noodle stall in town that sells fish balls that taste very good. Could it be that those fish balls were made by you, Aunt Tang?” Coincidentally, while Su Tang was explaining, Su Fuhua happened to walk in and overhear, so he asked that question curiously.
Su Fuhua was a fisherman, and he would typically sell his catch in town. In the past, he had happened to hear that there was a noodle stall near the academy that had started selling fish balls recently. It was said that that noodle stall’s fish balls tasted very good, and that they had no small bones inside at all. Furthermore, those fish balls would be sold out early every day, and if you came too late then sometimes you wouldn’t be able to eat them at all.
So, for a long time now, Su Fuhua had been curious about what kind of fish balls were so magical. In fact, their family had once eaten a grass carp that Su Tang had given them, and it had tasted really amazing. By comparison, it seemed that all the grass carp that he had fished up and eaten in the past were just ‘grass’, without the ‘carp’ part at all.
Thus, today, when he heard Su Tang’s words, it all seemed to connect in his mind, and he couldn’t help but ask.
Su Tang was a little surprised and asked in return, “Is Brother Jiang’s noodle stall really so famous?”
“Well, it’s just what I happened to hear. But now I’m excited that I finally get to try Aunt Tang’s fish balls.” Su Fuhua said with a smile.
Su Yongshun and Madam Qin quickly scolded him laughingly, “What are you thinking about now? Why don’t you go and clear up all the snow in the yard!”
Su Fuhua heard that and nodded seriously before going to find his older brother and hurriedly dragging him out to work. “Brother, let’s go clear the snow. There will be fish balls made by Aunt Tang to eat today.”
Su Fu’an, who had been passing by, was suddenly dragged outside to clear the snow, and he could only follow helplessly. When they saw that happen, everyone in the room laughed happily. Hearing all the laughter from the main room, Su Nuo blearily woke up and came out of the bedroom, and then shortly after that Madam Wen and Madam Tong had finished making several extra dishes, so the whole family sat down to eat.
Because Su Tang and her brother couldn’t eat fish due to being in their mourning period, Madam Wen and Madam Tong had specially boiled some thick Millet Congee for them to eat.
Thus, in the midst of the appetizing smell of fish balls that wafted throughout the room, Su Tang and Su Nuo didn’t show any greed at all but properly and obediently drank their congee.
This entire food restriction for mourning is just ludicrous. I can see doing it for 3 days at most. Beyond that isnt respectful mourning, its just child abuse due to malnourishment. Whats the logic? A parent dies so you want to stunt the growth of the entire next generation? That doesnt help anyone