Quick Reminder:
Madam Zhou = Su Yongqiang(aka the Su family patriarch)’s wife
Madam Qin = Su Yongshun’s wife
After hearing Madam Qin’s persuasion, Su Tang still said, “Well, even so, Xiao Nuo and I are both very grateful to Brother Shun and Sister-in-law Qin.”
But hearing that just made Madam Qin more upset, feeling that Su Tang and her brother were really being too polite.
However, Madam Zhou just assumed this meant that Su Tang wanted to head back over to Madam Qin’s place, so she opened her mouth to say, “Aren’t Sister Tang and Brother Nuo planning to head into town soon? Our house is closer to town, so it will be less of a trip later if you come to our place instead.”
“You should know that ever since last time when your nephew and his wife tried your jujube pastries, his wife has been thinking of making some cakes for you to try. But in the end, you’ve always been so busy that she never had the opportunity. So today is a good chance for you to come and have a taste of Laiwang’s wife’s craftsmanship. “
Madam Zhou pressed on with her invitation and, seeing how sincere and polite the older woman was being, Su Tang looked to Madam Qin and said, “According to common sense, my brother and I really shouldn’t let a matter like this bother the elders of the Su family, right? Also, in the end, it really is more convenient for us to head into town from Brother Qiang’s house, so…”
Madam Qin understood that Su Tang had made her decision, and she didn’t try to insist any further. Anyway, she knew that even if Su Tang and her brother went to Su Yongqiang’s place instead they would still be taken good care of, so she smiled and graciously withdrew, “Oh well, I suppose I’ll let Sister-in-law Zhou win this time.”
Madam Zhou laughed along, “What are you talking about, winning and losing? As family members, this is just what we should do. Anyway, let’s go!”
Su Tang somehow felt that Madam Zhou was even more anxious about this matter than she was, but she still said firmly, “There are still some things left in our house here that we need to retrieve. Let Xiao Nuo and I stay here to clean up a bit first and then we’ll come over to your place by ourselves in a bit.”
Of course, Madam Zhou could clearly see Su Tang’s house for herself, and her words weren’t an exaggeration. Things really were a bit of a mess, with the iron pot still laying on the floor where it had been tossed aside earlier, so she understood that Su Tang’s words were very reasonable. “Well, why don’t we help you clean up here …”
“No thanks, it’s fine. How could we let you do this for us? My brother and I will be enough.” Su Tang quickly refused. In fact, there really wasn’t much left inside the house right now because Su Tang usually put most things into her space anyway. All that was in the house were her and her brother’s two sets of bedding, as well as a few bowls, some pairs of chopsticks, and the larger pieces of cookware.
She really only wanted to try to retrieve the bedding. After all, if she left the bedding exposed to the elements it would quickly become unusable, and that would be a terrible waste.
Seeing how insistent Su Tang was, Madam Zhou and Madam Qin didn’t say anymore and left first. Before leaving, Madam Zhou said that she would definitely go back and tell Laiwang’s wife that they were coming, so the siblings should be sure to come over as quickly as they could to have a taste of her cooking.
Su Tang agreed and sent them all off with a smile. Then, once everyone had gone far away and there were only her and her brother left in the yard, Su Tang looked at the completely collapsed house and sighed, “What a mess!”
Su Nuo saw his sister looked worried, so he walked forward and grabbed her hand with his own. Then he muttered in an anxious tone, “Sister, what should we do about the River God?”
The little guy had actually been silent for a long time, but Su Tang hadn’t noticed because she had been busy settling those thieves. But now the little guy, who looked carefully all around them as if afraid that someone might overhear him, suddenly whispered these words to her while staring at a certain crushed bamboo basket that Su Tang had placed in the corner of their house with uncertain eyes.
Su Tang suddenly remembered that she had told the little guy before that the bamboo basket had been put there so she could give offerings to the River God and he had always believed it. Obviously, now that the roof of the house had collapsed and the bamboo basket had been crushed, it was no wonder he was worried that the River God would be angry.
In fact, Su Nuo hadn’t originally thought of this at all, but hadn’t Su Tang brought up the River God herself when speaking with the others just now? With that reminder, the little guy remembered everything and got nervous. He asked in a small voice: “What if the River God gets angry?”
Su Tang herself hadn’t thought of this at all, because she was very clear about what was really going on and knew clearly that there was no River God in their house. In reality, all of the ‘offerings for the River God’ had been eaten clean by the orange cat, that so-called Divine Beast, and all of the things ‘given to them by the River God’ were really just produced in her space.
So seeing how worried the little guy was, Su Tang was completely dumbfounded for a moment. But she quickly recovered and replied in a low voice, “Don’t worry about this Xiao Nuo. Actually, the River God is very satisfied with your sister’s cooking and he has even promised to start coming to town to get the offerings again once we’ve moved there. The River God is an immortal, so he can fly there in a blink without any trouble, you don’t need to fret.”
Cuuute little Nuo! Why was my bro never so adorable…