One afternoon, Su Qinghe was cooking in her room and didn't go out.
Gao Xiulan knew she was sleeping, so she didn’t let anyone disturb her. She went out with a teacup and even went to the kitchen to smear some lard on her mouth.
Soon, someone noticed the oil on Gao Xiulan’s mouth.
"Aiguo’s mom, what’s going on? What did you eat? Your mouth is full of oil."
Gao Xiulan swallowed her saliva and said, "Why? My girl didn’t go to work in the city? She was thinking of me and sent me some good food during the holiday. It’s nothing much, just some braised pork. You all didn’t eat it? That taste..."
She had a look of aftertaste on her face.
Everyone else swallowed.
"Aiguo’s mom, your daughter is really filial."
"Qinghe has always been a good girl. No one in our whole production team can compare to her."
"Exactly. Otherwise, even that big rat wouldn’t have taken a liking to Qinghe."
Gao Xiulan drank her cold boiled water happily. "There’s nothing to say about our Qingmiao’er. Even several sons can’t compare to this girl. That’s why I love my girl so much—because I know she’s good. Just look at her now, she’s a treasure."
Several old folks nodded and started thinking about their own daughters.
Maybe raising daughters isn’t so useless after all. The three sons of the old Su family couldn’t bear to bring meat home, but the little girl came back with meat.
Raising a daughter is no worse than raising a son.
Oh, they had been too harsh on their daughters before. They should treat them better from now on. Who knows—maybe their own girls will turn out just as filial as the Su family’s little girl.
The thinking of the old people in Sujia Village was starting to change.
Gao Xiulan didn’t know her bragging would have such an effect. Seeing the envy in everyone’s eyes made her feel proud inside.
Who dared say it was wrong for her to love her daughter? Her girl was so good.
Their little seedling was even better than their sons. She deserved to be loved!
In the army’s kitchen, Su Qinghe was cooking enthusiastically.
A sour smell spread in the air.
She tasted a piece of fish with her chopsticks and thought it was pretty good. But the system still judged it as unqualified, so she could only add more sauerkraut and keep trying.
Now that she had gained more cooking experience, she had become more skilled in controlling the heat. Recipes only teach you the ingredients and method, but heat control was just as important.
This time, she focused on the stove. She felt the fish wasn’t tender enough—probably because the fire was too low, and the fish stayed in the pot too long.
When the sauerkraut fish was finally ready and taken out of the pot again, she heard a “ding” sound.
“Congratulations to the host. The B-level culinary assessment for Special Sauerkraut Fish has passed. The taste is good. You are rewarded with two sauerkraut fish ingredients and 1 skill point.”
Su Qinghe patted her chest in relief.
She already had seven skill points. She would make one more dish in the evening. Tomorrow was Monday, and she had to go to work. She would bring meat and try a new dish at the cafeteria.
She was close to leveling up.
She wondered what special reward the system would give. Su Qinghe thought about it happily and then put the sauerkraut fish away.
She looked at her storage space—there was a bunch of food. Well, next time she went home, she would bring some sauerkraut fish. Tomorrow she could also bring some with her. No waste at all.
Since she still had time, Su Qinghe didn’t want to study recipes anymore. Making new dishes was tiring. She decided to make some jerky for Chang’an. She already knew how to do it, so it would be easy.
She didn’t know if Chang’an had finished the last batch of jerky, but he exercised a lot, so it probably wasn’t enough.
Recently, Chang’an was even more tired than her. He trained every day.
The star coins he earned for her were enough to live on.
Back at home, Gao Xiulan had just made her rounds in the village and returned with an empty teacup. Her daughter should be awake by now.
What should she make for her girl tonight? Maybe beat an egg and make gnocchi? But her girl was eating well at the restaurant now. She might not be used to eating simple things at home. Her cooking skills weren’t great either. She was afraid her daughter wouldn’t say anything, but wouldn’t eat well.
Gao Xiulan thought to herself happily.
Just as she walked up to the door, she saw Guo Changsheng sighing, with his hands behind his back and shaking his head. She frowned, “Captain Guo, just the person I wanted to see. When will the rice seeds arrive? If they don’t, we’ll all starve to death! If it weren’t for our young seedling last time, how many people would’ve died from hunger? You're still relying on our little seedling!”
Guo Changsheng: “...I’m also trying to find a solution. There are no seeds at the commune. Didn’t we separate some of last year’s leftover seeds... Oh, look, you’ve confused me again. There’s a letter for your Qingmiao’er from the post office. Did someone send her money?”
Hearing the word “money,” Gao Xiulan immediately got excited. “Where? Let me see!”
Guo Changsheng twitched his mouth. “It’s for her. And besides, Comrade Gao Xiulan, aren’t you illiterate? What’s the use of reading it?”
“…” Gao Xiulan turned red with anger. “Who said I’m illiterate? I know one, two, three!” She turned and left with her hands behind her back.
Guo Changsheng was speechless. He had never seen someone act this way over a letter.
Oh well, this old lady from the Su family had always been like this.
When she got to the Su family’s yard, Gao Xiulan quickly went inside. Worried that Su Qinghe was still asleep, she called softly at the door, “Qingmiao, are you up?”
Su Qinghe had just finished making the jerky and was wiping her face to rest. When she heard the system notification, she quickly came out. She sniffed herself—it was clean. The system’s cleaning was thorough. Then she opened the door.
“Mom, what’s up?”
“Did I disturb you?” Gao Xiulan asked kindly.
Su Qinghe said, “No, I just woke up and was about to come out.”
“Oh, that’s good. Come out quickly. Guo Changsheng brought you a letter from the post office. Maybe someone sent you money!”
Su Qinghe remembered what the system had told her—Chang’an had given her all his allowance, and all his money was handed over to her.
Was it here now?
She ran out excitedly.
“Thank you, Captain.” Su Qinghe smiled and took the envelope from Guo Changsheng. She opened it. Sure enough, it was a notice of remittance. The sender was the army, and the amount was 16 yuan.
Chang’an really sent her money!
Su Qinghe held the notice, her eyes turning red.
Gao Xiulan leaned over. She couldn’t see the name and felt frustrated. Being illiterate was a real disadvantage. She decided to study with her granddaughters. She didn’t believe she couldn’t be better than a few little girls.
“Qingmiao’er, how is it? Did he send money?”
“Mom, Chang’an sent me the money. He gave me all of his allowance.” Su Qinghe said emotionally. Chang’an was so good to her. He didn’t save a single cent and sent it all to her.
How was he managing on his own over there? She hadn’t even thought to ask, just focused on herself.
Hearing that her son-in-law sent money, Gao Xiulan immediately got excited and shouted, “Oh—my good son-in-law! Truly a good son-in-law who loves his wife!”
This son-in-law was exactly the one she dreamed of. He had ability and took good care of her daughter.
Next to them, Guo Changsheng looked stunned.
Wasn’t the Su family’s son-in-law a little too good? He had already sent things before, and now he was sending money? How did the Su family get such a son-in-law?
He glanced at Qingmiao’er again...
Guo Changsheng felt it must be a case of good karma. Qingmiao’er did a good deed and saved so many people. So, heaven blessed her with a good partner.
Because she received Chang’an’s allowance, Su Qinghe felt warm inside.
She used to want someone to support her and let her lie down to eat and drink. Who would’ve thought that, in the 1960s, she really found one?
Though she didn’t have a strong desire to spend money anymore, she still felt touched.
Chang’an was so good to her because he cared.
After dinner that evening, she went into her room early. First, she made some jerky for Chang’an. While it was steaming, she studied a new dish.
She used the fish she had been rewarded with in the afternoon. Since the jerky was steaming, she made a steamed fish too.
When the jerky was done, the steamed fish was also ready.
But the fish was overcooked… She kept trying! If Chang’an could persist with training, she could persist with cooking.
After all, she could eat what she cooked. She took a bite of jerky and got back to work.
After steaming five fish, she finally heard the prompt: “Ding... Congratulations to the host. The B-level cooking assessment for Steamed Fish has passed. The taste is good. You are rewarded with two steamed fish ingredients and 1 skill point.”
The next day, Su Qinghe got up early.
Gao Xiulan felt bad but knew her daughter was going to the county to live a better life, so she had to go.
She didn’t want to send her off—Su Qinghe didn’t let anyone else come either. It got too emotional every time, and she couldn’t take it.
When everyone else left, Gao Xiulan held her daughter’s hand. “Eat well. Don’t take anything from home. There are food stamps. This year’s not looking good. If it ends up like last year, there’ll be food shortages again. You have to take care of yourself.”
“Mom, I know. Don’t worry. I’m doing well at the state-owned restaurant. My in-laws treat me well, and Chang’an sent me money. How can I not eat well? But Mom, you don’t need to save so much. The eldest, second, and third girls are still young. Your mother-in-law likes girls, and they have to do some work too, right?”
“I know, what can I do to you? Everything’s fine here. They eat and drink like Dabao and Erbao. But they still have to work. Girls need to learn to work. Otherwise, they’ll end up like Tian Xiaomei. If they don’t work and marry off, our Su family will be laughed at.” Gao Xiulan had long-term plans.
Su Qinghe didn’t say anything. She was lazy, but she couldn’t claim that laziness was right...
As long as there was food and the family didn’t starve, that was enough. In a famine year, having a full and united family was already the best outcome.
When Su Qinghe arrived in the county, she didn’t go to the Gu house first—she went straight to work.
On Monday morning, they served big white buns and meat buns.
Qiao Da immediately gave Su Qinghe a big meat bun full of meat. Even Aunt Li got one.
Su Qinghe understood the meaning behind it. After the morning rush, she taught Qiao Da how to cook braised pork.
Qiao Da was an experienced cook and learned it quickly. The braised pork was steamed and ready for sale at noon.
Su Qinghe liked the idea of turning unwanted things into something valuable—her skills could even earn her money.
After she was done with work, just as she was about to rest, a young officer from the county’s personnel department came and asked her to complete some formalities.
“What formalities?” Su Qinghe asked curiously. They weren’t firing her, were they? She was an honest worker and hadn’t done anything wrong.
The young woman looked at her and said, “You’re being made a full-time worker at the state-owned restaurant.”
Su Qinghe: “…” Was this what they called pie falling from the sky?