In addition to Madam Luo and Madam Miao, there was another young girl in the house, and she also came out to see the excitement. It was Su Yongqiang and Madam Zhou's daughter Su Xue, who was 17 years old this year.
Around two months ago she had been betrothed to a young man from the neighboring Wangjia Village, so she didn't plan to go out until her marriage after the new year. These days, she spent all of her time at home working on embroidery for her dowry.
When they saw Su Tang and her brother coming into the room, both Madam Luo and Su Xue called out, "Aunt Tang, Uncle Nuo, you both came!"
Su Tang and her brother had met Su Yongqiang's children during their past visits to the household, so when they called out to them the siblings replied with smiles and nods.
"Wow, the water at Sister-in-law's house must be different from the kind at our house. It seems that Xue'er has become even more beautiful compared with when I last saw her."
When Su Xue stood up to help Su Tang and Su Nuo with their coats, Su Tang casually avoided her, said a few words of praise, and then added, "You don't need to come over and help us, we can do it ourselves. Don't trouble yourself."
Su Xue, hearing Su Tang's praise, felt her face flush with embarrassment, but at the same time, she was a little at a loss as to why Su Tang had avoided her help.
However, Madam Zhou understood Su Tang's intentions. After all, Su Tang and her brother were still in the middle of their mourning period, so it wasn't quite appropriate for them to come and visit like this.
Especially since Su Xue was about to be married and, according to the rules, she should definitely avoid Su Tang and her brother, lest their funerary aura conflict with the upcoming joyous event, which wouldn't be good at all.
Madam Zhou realized again how meticulous Su Tang was and felt a little grateful before standing up to hurriedly say, "Su Xue, go to the kitchen and have a look, see if you can't help your sister-in-law at all. Today she's doing her best to cook for your Aunt Tang and Uncle Nuo, so if things aren't perfect she'll definitely regret it in the future."
Su Xue quickly realized that her mother had said all this to give her an excuse to avoid Su Tang and her brother, so she saluted shyly before obediently heading to the kitchen.
Su Tang looked at the little girl's blushing face and sighed, "Sure enough, that Su Xue had really bloomed into a beautiful flower, ah."
Of course, considering her mental age, Su Tang had been an adult since long ago. But saying such words with the body of an eight-year-old little loli, really make Madam Zhou, Madam Miao, and Madam Lou look at her funny.
"Saying such things about our Su Xue, how old are you anyway? Where did you learn something like that?" Madam Zhou smiled and spoke to Su Tang.
Su Tang also smiled along, but then she started as if remembering something, and offered up the grass carp in her hands to Madam Zhou. "I especially buried this fish in the snow a few days ago and then dug it up just now. I know that Brother Qiang and my nephews have all gone out and are working hard, so it would be good if they could have some fish soup to warm their bodies when they come back."
When Madam Zhou saw Su Tang had brought something over, and it was even a fish that was hard to eat ever since the Qing River had frozen, she naturally tried to turn it down, "What are you talking about, how could we take your things? You should save it and bring it into town and sell it instead."
But Su Tang deftly stuffed the fish into her hands while saying. "Sister-in-law, why are you still acting so polite with us? In fact, I had originally always wanted to come over and make some fish balls to let you and Brother Qiang taste my craftsmanship. And anyway, I've already spent a while fishing up fish, making them into fish balls, and selling them in town, so I already have a lot of money. I don't need to sell this one."
Even when Madam Zhou heard Su Tang's reassurances, she still felt reluctant. After all, a fish cost a lot of money during this time of year. However, as if seeing her hesitation, Su Tang said, "Well, if Sister-in-law can't rest assured with just this, let's do it like this. I'll make you some fish balls this time, and if they suit Sister-in-law's tastes, you can just give me another cake or two."
Since Su Tang had already spoken to this point, Madam Zhou knew it wouldn't be good to refuse again. At any rate, it was normal for relatives to make such exchanges, so she accepted it. "It's a deal then. Don't be polite with us today, eat as many cakes as you like."
"Then, with the fish, I'll.." Su Tang planned to take the fish to the kitchen to make fish balls.
Of course, Madam Qin wouldn't allow it. "You're our guest, don't try to work so much. Just let those girls in the kitchen handle it. As for you, just come sit down with us and chat for a while."
Of course, there was no way Madam Qin would let a guest go to the kitchen and help with the cooking, even if they were members for the same family. With that in mind, she quickly shooed the girls away to the kitchen to let them start working while at the same time pulling Su Tang and Su Nuo into the main room.
As Su Tang and her brother entered the main room, Madam Lou and Madam Miao stood up to go and fetch some water for them, and several children all tumbled in together to salute them. "Greeting aunt and uncle!"
Among these kids, the oldest one was Su Laixi and Madam Lou's eldest son Su Rui, who was seven years old. He had started studying at the age of five, and Su Tang had heard that he learned pretty well and could be considered Su Yongqiang and Madam Zhou's greatest hope for the future of the Su family.
As Su Nuo sat in his seat and watched these kids saluting him, he suddenly recalled how when he had gone to greet his elders in the past they would sometimes give him food. Thus, the little guy put on an expression he considered 'wise' and reluctantly took out some frosted red fruits from his precious pouch to offer up. "Your old uncle here will give you some delicious food this time. Actually, these frosted red fruits were personally made by my sister over there, and they are very delicious."
Even as he was offering the food up, he didn't forget to praise his sister. Su Rui looked at the red fruits in Su Nuo's hand and when he saw that they were dusted with a light coat of white sugar and emitting a sweet smell he couldn't help but gulp audibly.
They were all the children of farmers', so they knew that sugar was a precious thing. Although Su Yongqiang's family could be called relatively rich, they still weren't at a level where they could let their children eat sugar all day long. So when these kids were faced with something so delicious, they couldn't help but stare.
However, they also didn't dare to just directly accept the offered candies, and instead they turned to look at their mothers, Madam Luo, Madam Miao, and Madam Lu, with pleading eyes. Seeing their children making such expressions, the mothers felt a little embarrassed.
When Su Tang saw what was going on, she quickly intervened, "Just take it as a gift from your elders. If your uncle is offering it to you, don't hesitate, just take it and eat it happily. After all, he seldom gives his own good things away."
In fact, these frosted red fruits were actually the hawthorn berries that Su Nuo himself had picked from the mountain earlier in the year. Later, after he had carefully washed them all by hand, Su Tang had taken them and made them into these frosted red fruits and returned them to her brother as a snack for him to eat.
The little guy had long been used to living a very poor life for as long as he could remember, so he cherished all the good things that fell into his hands and also carefully saved up all the pocket money Su Tang gave him every month and never took it out to spend.
Fortunately, although Su Nuo had this sort of personality, he also wasn't stingy when it came to his own people. As long as he was facing someone who was kind to him, he was always willing to share. In fact, this was a principle that Su Tang had taught him. The idea that when others were good to him he, of course, needed to be good to them in turn.
Su Nuo knew that Su Yongqiang and his family were all good people who had helped him and his sister, and Su Rui and these children all called him 'uncle', so he felt it was only right to share his delicious food with them. Of course, other people did not get this kind of treatment.
Because she knew his mindset, Su Tang also knew why it was rare for Su Nuo to do such a thing. But since he was offering, Su Rui and the children should just accept his good will and quickly accept.
Since Su Tang had already said as much and since, as mothers, Madam Luo and the rest didn't want to refuse their children's requests in the first place, they all nodded along. Once the children got their mother's consent they all excitedly surrounded Su Nuo and gratefully accepted the frosted fruits, twittering happily all the while.
After being surrounded like this, Su Nuo's face flushed red and he only managed to stammer out a few lines, seemingly on repeat, "Actually, it's very delicious, right? My sister made it personally. My sister is amazing."
Su Tang, who was listening on the side, felt speechless, and Madam Zhou and the mothers all laughed along happily.
Friendship between children was something very easy, so after Su Nuo shared his food the big group of children around him quickly dragged him outside to play in the snow together and make a snowman.
Su Tang watched the big group of children playing around in the yard from her seat the main room and sighed emotionally, "Sister-in-law's house is really lively."
When Madam Zhou heard Su Tang's sigh, she also sighed in her heart. She knew that Su Tang and her brother were the only two people in their house these days, and after coming from a place that had many more family members, they probably felt more lonely now.
But she didn't say anything about it, instead, she comforted: "When you and Brother Nuo get married in the future, there will be more and more people in your house as well."
Su Tang had sighed, but truth be told, it was for a different reason than what Madam Zhou thought, it was more a sigh of relief. She really couldn't imagine living in a place like this every day, and just thinking about it made her skin crawl a bit. After all, she never liked children very much.
In her previous life, she had really never seen the point of marriage. Could it be that those married people felt that games weren't fun? That TV and movies weren't entertaining enough? That there weren't enough rivers and mountains left to explore? If not, why would they ever want to settle down to get married and have children?
"Haha, en, it would be good if Xiao Nuo could get a good wife. But for people like me… it's probably good enough that I'm not out harming people." Su Tang humphed. Indeed, it was good enough to watch this sort of hustle and bustle at other people's homes, but she herself really never wanted to face such a thing in her own home.
Even back in modern society she really couldn't imagine herself serving her in-laws the way people expected a married woman to, let alone now in this feudal society.
When they heard Su Tang say this, not to mention Madam Zhou, even Madam Luo, and Madam Miao didn't really know what to say. After all, they couldn't really tell Su Tang not to worry about it like they normally would in this kind of situation, because none of them really felt she had 'nothing to worry about'. If they were to say the usual comforting words elders might say, like she would be able to find a good marriage someday in the future, then they would really feel like they were spouting nonsense.
After all, even though Su Tang and her brother didn't go out or interact with other people much, their story had already spread in all of the nearby villages. The villagers who lived in the villages along the Qing River had been offering sacrifices to the River God since ancient times, but in all of that time, only two of those sacrifices had a fate so adverse that they were sent back after being sacrificed. Those two being Su Tang and her brother. That being the case, just who would dare to marry them, ah? Wasn't that just asking for death?
For a moment, the atmosphere turned a little heavy. Su Tang wanted to open her mouth and say something to ease the tension, but just as she did there was a sudden noise at the door. It turned out that Su Laiwang had come back.
"Mom, dad told me to come back and tell everyone that it would take another hour or so to clear the road, so you and everyone shouldn't keep waiting for us, just go ahead and have dinner with Aunt Tang and Uncle Nuo first."
It turned out that Su Yongqiang, who had gone out to clear the road, realized that it was getting late and told his son to go back and tell the people at home to start eating without them. After all, Su Tang and Su Nuo were the children of Su Laochuan, who had a long friendship with his own household, so they could hardly be counted as guests and it would be unacceptable to let them starve on his behalf.
When Madam Zhou heard what Su Laiwang had to say, she quickly agreed, "OK, I understand. You keep an eye on your father, be safe out there!"
"En, don't worry about us mother, we'll be careful. I'll go first." Having finished his errand, Su Laiwang hurried off again.
Madam Lu had originally wanted to come out and have a look at her husband, but by the time she managed to escape from the kitchen she was only able to catch a hint of his disappearing figure, so she could only shake her head and go back to cooking.
But thanks to this episode, the awkward atmosphere disappeared. At the same time, Madam Luo and Madaam Miao saw that it was getting late and headed into the kitchen to help with the cooking. Seeing that, Madam Zhou pulled Su Tang into another room and asked to have a look at her needlework to keep her busy.
In the end, Madam Lu personally made all the cakes with her own hands, while Madam Luo made a fried vegetable dish and Madam Miao stewed the grass carp Su Tang had brought along and made a big pot of soup. Of course, because Su Tang and her brother were still young and couldn't eat much, they only served some small portions and left most of the food in the kitchen to be saved for the men in the family.
Thus, they had a happy dinner with Su Tang and her brother and, soon after they finished eating, Su Yongqiang and the other men all came back and, without stopping to eat, told Su Tang that the road had finally been opened.
It was winter, so the days were short. Now that Su Tang knew that the road had been opened again, she didn't stop to waste any more precious daylight and directly took Su Nuo to bid Su Yongqiang and his family farewell so that they could hurry and set off for town.
Of course, Su Yongqiang and Madam Zhou understood that the two kids couldn't be delayed, so they didn't waste too many words and just sent the two of them off. Once they were gone, Su Yongqiang and his three sons finally sat down to eat and were all shocked by the delicious fish soup.
At the same time, Su Tang led Su Nuo out of Su Yongqiang's house and, without lingering at all, directly headed to the road that led out of Sujia Village. It had just snowed so it was very cold and there weren't many people outside, and the two kids ended up walking slowly to Qinghe Town all alone, holding hands for warmth.
Because it still wasn't too late, Su Tang and Su Nuo didn't rush as they walked and only slowly marched through the thick snow. As they walked, they laughed and played around, seemingly completely unburdened by the circumstances. At any rate, they had a place to live in town so neither of them felt too worried.
But who would have guessed that, as they were walking on the road away from Sujia Village, they happened to see a carriage heading toward Sujia Village! Looking up, Su Tang recognized the driver at a glance and was very surprised. "Pengmo? What are you doing here? Did you come looking for us?"
Indeed, it turned out that the driver of the carriage was Pengmo! As soon as he saw the two of them walking on the road he quickly stopped the carriage and then the door opened up to reveal Song Yi inside, glaring at Su Tang with a heavy expression.
In fact, when Song Yi had woke up this morning to find that it had snowed so heavily the night before, he had gotten very worried about Su Tang. In the end, he was so worried that he especially had Pengmo go out and ask around, and he was only even more worried to find that many of the crude houses in the shantytown on West Street had collapsed and people had even been hurt.
At first, he had wanted to let Pengmo go to Sujia Village and take a look, only to find that the road had been blocked by the snow. Because of that, Song Yi had only gotten more anxious, until, in the end, he personally waited for the road to be cleared so he could go check on the two kids himself.
After all, there had been no news from Su Tang all day, so could Song Yi not worry about her? But the result was, almost as soon as he left town, he found the little girl all dressed up warmly and leisurely walking toward town. Seeing her like this, he glared angrily and snorted, "Bah, you unworthy disciple! Not only did you stay out all day, you also didn't even send a message?"
Su Tang had never had many attachments in her last life, and she felt it was the same in this life, so she was used to living her life accordingly. After everything she had been through, she had no desire to rely on other people, so it didn't even cross her mind to try to let someone know she was okay after a small incident like this. Besides, she knew Song Yi stayed in town and, when she saw the blocked roads, she assumed that he would be able to infer why she didn't come over or send him any news. She really never expected that the old man would come out in his carriage to look for her himself.
Knowing that he had been worried about her, her heart felt warm, but at the same time her mouth couldn't help but start making excuses, "Well, you see I…"
"See, what should I see?! Starting from today, you have to come live in the Song residence from now on!" Song Yi directly made a decision.
When she heard that, Su Tang subconsciously retorted, "I can't do that!"
And, sure enough, when he heard that Song Yi began to look even angrier, so Su Tang could only desperately continue, "Wait, master, let me explain… actually, let me explain in the carriage, it's too cold out here!"
As she spoke, she mischievously pulled her brother up and climbed into the carriage. Of course, Song Yi's face stayed looking angry like a tiger, but when he heard her say that she was cold he obediently shuffled aside to let the two kids climb up.
From the side, Pengmo watched his master try to put on airs while he was actually obviously very worried, smiled secretly, and then turned the carriage around to drive back.
"I've decided that Xiao Nuo and I will begin living in town starting today, just we'll stay in the place Second Young Master Luo rented for us." Su Tang immediately announced that she did plan to live in town after today in order to calm the situation down.
But who was Song Yi? Did he not know what kind of little fox this girl was? He looked at her sternly and asked, "Oh really? And why is that? What happened to your house in Sujia Village? Did it collapse or something?"
In the past this little fox had always refused to stay in the Song residence, and whenever Song Yi asked why she would only say that she didn't want someone chasing her and pestering her to do her studies at all hours of the day. Whenever he heard that answer, Song Yi could only sigh and lament what a waste it was for such a genius to have been born so lazy and reluctant to study.
But when Su Tang heard Song Yi's words, she immediately opened her eyes wide and gave Song Yi a flattering look, "Wow! Master, your eyes really see everything!"
Song Yi had prepared a lot of words to say, but when he heard that he could only croak out, "Wait, it really collapsed?"
"En, that's right. It collapsed late last night. Master, you don't know how thrilling it was at that time. It was the middle of the night, so I was deep asleep when I suddenly heard a strange sound, like a voice calling me and telling me to wake up. I woke up a bit and wanted to ask who was calling me and disturbing my sleep, but when I opened my eyes do you know who it was? It was actually the roof creaking!"
"Of course, your disciple is very smart, so I knew at once that there was danger. In a flash, I smacked my brother to wake him up and hurriedly threw some clothes over both of us before rushing out of the house. Then, just after we got outside, the roof fell in with a bang!"
As Su Tang animatedly talked about her experiences from the night before, Song Yi looked at her worriedly, "You weren't hurt, right?"
Su Tang quickly clutched at her chest, "Ah, actually, my heart was hurt! Master, I was so frightened… I think I need to rest and recuperate on my own quietly for at least…"
Before she even finished speaking, Song Yi snorted. He should have known this little fox would never be so obedient, clearly, she had been just waiting for him to ask that question!
"Haha, I see… rest and recuperate on your own, huh? For what reason do you need something like that?" Song Yi ignored her words and directly countered.
Of course, this wasn't the first time Su Tang had squabbled with Song Yi, so they both knew each other very well. "Of course, the main reason is that now I begin to feel afraid that if I don't have a good rest now, then maybe I'll never overcome this trauma. That's how terrible last night was for me. Master, can't you understand your disciple's frightened heart?"
"All this is to say that you just don't want to live with me, right?" Song Yi nearly laughed from anger. This little fox, ah, really willing to play all sorts of tricks to avoid learning.
"Master, how could you misunderstand your disciple like this?" Su Tang immediately began to lie without blinking.
"It's just not suitable in the end. Mainly because this disciple is fated to face adversity and, on top of that, I'm a girl while master's residence only has men."
"In fact, this disciple has never told this to master before but, thanks to my previous father, it seems I've developed a psychological shadow regarding men. Now, whenever I get too close to a man I will feel very uncomfortable and unconsciously be repulsed and disgusted."
"Of course, this disciple knows that master is a good man and not like her previous father at all, but despite knowing that in my head disciple still really struggles… Anyway, I hope that a great, magnanimous, and broad-minded man like master won't argue with his disciple over a petty thing like this."
"This disciple will swear that in the future she will never again live in a dangerous house that might collapse, and also swears that she will never be late to arrive for her studies again!"
The orange cat, who was curled up on top of the carriage, snorted: 'Does Su Dafu know that he's carrying pots* for you?'
Su Tang: 'He should be grateful that his existence finally has meaning!'
At the same time, Su Nuo bowed his head and didn't say anything. In truth, he was a little afraid of Song Yi. Although he knew that Master Song was a talented and learned scholar, he was also really fierce at times. Secretly, he felt fortunate that it was his elder sister who studied under Master Song. He didn't need this sort of scary master, and he definitely didn't want to live together with him in the future.
Therefore, he just quietly listened from the side, not too concerned at all. At any rate, wherever his sister went, that was where he would go to. So long as they didn't separate, he would never be afraid.
Meanwhile, Song Yi was almost ready to applaud this little fox of a disciple. She could really think up a plausible reason in an instant, and he definitely had to acknowledge her skills since she was able to speak nonsense in such a serious tone.
"So you have a psychological shadow regarding men?" Song Yi looked at Su Tang quizically and asked.
Su Tang once more clutched at her heart, and said in a grave tone, "Indeed, master, I do! In fact, this shadow is very large, bigger than the master's courtyard, and probably even bigger than the imperial palace!"
Actually, there was a reason she was saying all this nonsense. Of course, Su Tang knew that she couldn't fool Song Yi at all, but sometimes that kind of thing wasn't actually what was important. What was important was offering up a plausible explanation and giving her master a reasonable excuse to take a step back.
And it really wouldn't be any good for her if they lived together. After all, Song Yi definitely wouldn't be as easy to fool as Su Nuo, and having him around would make various things inconvenient for her. In the final analysis, it was absolutely impossible for her to agree to living together.
For his part, Song Yi found the whole situation a little strange. He didn't know why Su Tang had always refused to come and live in the Song residence, but he could sense that she really had some sort of reason. Of course, he didn't believe the nonsense she was spouting about a 'psychological shadow regarding men' or whatever.
But in the end, whatever reason the little fox gave him didn't really matter, what mattered was that she truly didn't want to come and live with him right now.
"You must study hard and not be lazy!" In the end, Song Yi chose to respect Su Tang's wishes. Anyway, he had known from the start that this little disciple wasn't ordinary, so it was within what he could tolerate. After all, she was a genius.
Su Tang nodded immediately. "Of course master. This disciple has always been a good student, both diligent and studious…"
Song Yi knocked her on the head. "Don't talk any more nonsense. Especially this psychological shadow stuff. How will you get married in the future if you say things like this?"
Song Yi quickly cut off Su Tang's nonsense talk and, at the same time, let her know that he knew that what she was saying was nonsense and warning her to knock it off.
When she heard Song Yi's warning, Su Tang covered her head pitifully and said, "Understood!"
But when she looked up and saw that Song Yi was about to knock her again, she hastened to add, "But what's the point of getting married unless I find an excellent, powerful, great, and affectionate man like you master? If I can't find a man as good as master, what's even the point?"
Seeing his master suddenly start to shamelessly brown-nose, the orange cat narrowed his eyes and waved his tail around in a manner that conveyed one word: Disdain!
Su Tang: 'Haha, you four-legged beast, just wait!
The orange cat that was shot while lying down: …
In the end, whether due to Su Tang's flattery or something else entirely, Song Yi didn't force Su Tang to come and live in the Song residence. Instead, he asked Pengmo to send them to the courtyard that Luo Xingchen had rented for now.
He decided to let Su Tang have a good rest today and then come to the Song residence to continue her studies tomorrow.
"Young miss, young master, are you both alright?" Zhang Cuilan and Baohe had both been worried when they saw how heavily it had snowed the night before, and then they were even more worried when Su Tang and her brother didn't arrive at the usual time in the morning. Because of that, they had gone to take a look at the entrance of town earlier this morning.
But when they saw that the road was impassable, they realized that they had no choice but to wait. Now when they finally saw Su Tang and her brother come to their courtyard, they felt very relieved, and Zhang Cuilan looked the two children over carefully to make sure neither of them had been injured.
Seeing their worried expressions, the siblings gave comforting smiles as they walked inside. Su Tang said, "It's nothing much. It's just that the house in Sujia Village collapsed, so we will live here from today on. Miss Lan, please tidy up the room in the east wing for the young master to live in. Just take all the finished soap to the shed behind the main building from now on."
Su Tang issued some instructions to Zhang Cuilan, and the older woman immediately agreed. At the same time, Baohe headed to the kitchen to fetch hot water.
But when Su Nuo heard his sister say to clean up the room in the east wing, he looked at her with disbelief, "Sister won't live with me anymore?"
The little guy had always been living together with his sister ever since he could remember, but now Su Tang suddenly said he was going to live on his own. Hearing that, he looked pitiful and aggrieved.
When Su Tang saw this, she sat him down, held his hand, and said seriously, "Xiao Nuo, you are already six years old this year. In the past, we lived in a barn so we were always together, and after that, we lived in a house with only one kang bed, so we were together again…"
"But Xiao Nuo, you are growing up now, and you will need your own space. Don't you also want your own room? A room that it for you and for you alone, where you can put whatever you want and decorate however you like?"
"I'm not leaving you, we just won't sleep in the same room anymore. But I'll always be here, right next door. Except for bedtime at night, we'll always be together, the same as always."
Seeing how down the little guy was, Su Tang explained everything to him patiently. Of course, in the first place, Su Tang had never liked sleeping with other people but before this she had no choice but to endure because of the circumstances she had been in. At most, she had been able to slip away into her space from time to time to keep herself from going insane.
But now, if she could finally have her own room, she would definitely be more comfortable. And besides, children always wanted to be more independent when they grew up. Even though the little guy seemed a bit unwilling right now, in a year or two he wouldn't want to sleep in the same room with her even if she asked him to.
Meanwhile, when Su Nuo had heard that he could decorate his own room, he began to feel a little moved. His own room, ah! For the little guy who had always been forced to 'contribute' everything he earned to his family ever since he could remember, he had never thought of anything as truly being his.
But recently things had begun to change. Slowly, he found that he had his own pocket money, his own new clothes, his own snacks, and now, even his own room.
Su Tang was also trying to slowly ease the little guy into living a life that was better and better than ever before. Of course, in the past, there was no other way. But she wanted to show him that they now had the resources to do better, and also teach him that, obviously, a sister and brother can't live together in one room their whole lives.
Su Tang continued explaining, "Also, as you've heard my master say before, men and women are considered different after the age of seven, and after the new year you will be almost seven years old. On top of that, you've already begun your studies, so you can be considered a big child now. Given all that, don't you think it would be good to live in your own room?"
"Also, when big sister here sends you to school next year, you will definitely be meeting some new friends your age, when that time comes, don't you think that you'll want to invite them over to play? Don't you think it will be better to have your room when that time comes?"
It must be said that, although Su Tang didn't have any thoughts of settling down and having children of her own, she was still very patient with her little brother Su Nuo. And after she explained everything so carefully, Su Nuo understood what she was getting at, "En, I want to invite Huzi and Dongzi right now."
"Right! Those two don't have their own rooms either, so I'm sure they'll really envy you this time." Su Tang breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he seemed to be coming around to the idea.
Su Nuo nodded. "Haha, then they should envy me, after all, thanks to sister, my life is getting better and better."
In the end, he was still a child, so once he was convinced, he was immediately beaming with enthusiasm. And when Su Tang saw him getting happy like this, she was also felt happy inside.
Before the siblings arrived, all of the boxes where the soap was made were being stored in the room in the east wing, and all of the completed soap was being stored in the shed out back. Of course, the courtyard wasn't very big in the first place and only had a few rooms, so after the boxes were cleared out of the room on the east side for Su Nuo, they could only be temporarily moved into the large study room, which was fortunately big enough to accommodate all of the boxes with room to spare.
Su Tang immediately put her words into practice and allowed Su Nuo to arrange his new room as he liked, only interjecting to make sure that he had left space for his desk and his writing tools so that he would be able to study in his room in the future. As for the boxes for making soap, she just left them in the study for now. After all, she didn't use the room for anything herself because she went to Song Yi's place every day and did all of her reading and writing there. She only very occasionally needed to use the study at this courtyard, and she figured that if really needed to write something in the future she could just go borrow the desk in Su Nuo's room.
After working hard for about an hour, everything was properly arranged and Su Nuo looked around his new room with wide eyes. There was a desk and bookshelf, which was currently empty, along with a kang bed and a small wardrobe for clothes.
It wasn't much, but for Su Nuo it was the first time he had the feeling that something 'belonged to him', so he was wrapped up in a unique sense of happiness.
"It's a bit simple, but we will live here for the time being. When I've saved up enough money we will buy a larger residence in town and, when that time comes, you will be able to decorate your new room to be even better than this one, however you want it to be Xiao Nuo."
Those weren't just idle words either, Su Tang truly felt that this courtyard was a bit too simple and humble for her and her brother. After all, when Luo Xingchen rented this place she had only been planning to stay for a short while, so she didn't look for a particularly good place to rent and probably only the large study attracted her to rent it in the first place, so Su Tang was eager to find something more to her liking.
However, for the time being, it was enough. This place could definitely be considered much better than the old house they had been living in before so, step by step, things were slowly getting better and better for the siblings.
Su Nuo looked up at her and said "En, sounds good!"
Su Tang nodded "En!"
By the time they finished all of this, night had already fallen. This was the first time that Su Tang and her brother had come to the small rented courtyard to stay overnight, so the mother and daughter pair, Zhang Cuilan and Baohe, were a little nervous and ended up specially preparing a few more dishes for the two.
Su Tang had specifically said that she would buy ingredients to feed her and her brother when she was coming home from the Song residence every day, and that there was no need for Zhang Cuilan or Baohe to worry about this aspect, they only needed to cook the ingredients she brought. Other than this, the two could just treat it the same as when the siblings hadn't been living here.
In fact, ever since Su Tang had bought Zhang Cuilan and Baohe and brought them back they began to live a life where they always had enough to eat and drink, and they never had too many responsibilities to attend to. In the end, they spent almost all of their free time making soap, so nowadays they were able to make 500 bars of soap a day.
They both truly liked their current lives, where there was always warm food, clothing, and no need to fear being beaten. Because of this, the mother and daughter had no desire to go back to their old lives, and they worked very hard every day.
At first, the two were a little nervous after hearing Su Tang's instructions, but as time went by they found that, just like the little girl said, even though the siblings were living in the courtyard with them now their daily lives were more or less no different from before.
After eating breakfast in the morning, Su Tang would spend a few hours teaching Su Nuo before going to study with Song Yi in the afternoon. Then when she came back from the Song residence, Su Tang would always bring ingredients back with her. Thus, the only change for Zhang Cuilan and Baohe was cooking a few more dishes at night.
Su Tang and Su Nuo were not very difficult masters. Su Tang had only a few rules and, while she was very strict with those rules, so long as they were obeyed there were basically no issues.
Even only a few days after being bought by Su Tang, Zhang Cuilan and Baohe realized that their lives were getting a little better each day.
However, around a month after Luo Xingchen left, some of her people arrived at the courtyard to pick up the next batch of soap before leaving again, and Su Tang suddenly realized that she didn't seem to have enough money.
Because the method to make soap was too easy to reproduce, Su Tang had insisted on being in charge of all the raw materials and production, and the Luo family only needed to sell the finished products. It was something she had no choice but to do to protect her business secret and ensure that the Luo family wouldn't cut her out of the process entirely but, unfortunately, she noticed one day that almost all the money she had earned up until then had been used up and it would still be some time before the Luo family paid her according to their contract.
Originally, she had wanted to open a grilled fish restaurant, but the investment required to open a restaurant was relatively large, and she didn't have the ability to secure the needed raw materials. On top of that, she still couldn't bring out the tomato sauce or the chili sauce for the moment because she had to wait until the Luo family started selling it first. In short, it would be some time until she would be able to open a restaurant.
Thinking of everything that needed to happen first, Su Tang realized it would be at least a few months before her plan to start a restaurant could go forward, but she couldn't just wait around for that, so she began to put some thought into how she might be able to start making money right away.
Thus, when they got up one morning, Zhang Cuilan and Baohe went into the kitchen and found that Su Tang had unexpectedly got up before them and was busily working. When they looked, they found that Su Tang seemed to be boiling milk in a big pot, and the whole kitchen was filled with a strong milky smell.
"Young miss!" Zhang Cuilan hurriedly went forward and took the long wooden spoon from Su Tang's hand.
Su Tang frowned and said, "Keep stirring it."
Zhang Cuilan didn't know what Su Tang was trying to accomplish, but she obediently used the wooden spoon the continue stirring the milk in the pot. As she stirred, the water in the mixture slowly evaporated and the substance in the pot became thicker and thicker.
Seeing that it was almost done, Su Tang asked Zhang Cuilan to stop stirring and transfer the contents of the pot to a big bowl.
At this point, Su Nuo happened to get up and see that his sister and Zhang Cuilan were all busy in the kitchen, so he poked his head in to see what was going on, "Sister, what are you doing?"
Su Tang replied, "Making some toffee."
The mixture was just milk, water, and sugar, so after boiling for a while a sticky and relatively simple condensed milk product was created. As Su Tang answered Su Nuo, she began to add a strange white powder to the substance that had just been created.
From the scent, Zhang Cuilan and Su Nuo could tell that this mysterious white powder had the smell of milk, but they didn't know what it was. In fact, when the Processing Plant inside the space had reached level 10, Su Tang had unlocked something called a 'Centrifugal Spray Dryer'. At first, Su Tang actually had no idea what the machine did, but after a while, she discovered it was a machine for taking liquids and turning them into powder. Naturally, she was able to use it to make powdered milk.
So Su Tang had used the space to make powdered milk, which she was now adding to the substance she created with Zhang Cuilan.
Then, after having Zhang Cuilan wash her hands and adding milk powder, she asked the older woman to go ahead and knead the mixture she just created into a dough, roll it into large cylinders, and then cut the cylinders into small pieces.
Once that was done, she said to knead it into a round ball, add a thin coat of powdered milk on the outside, and finally put it outside in the cold to let it freeze and become a simple toffee.
"Is it done?" Su Nuo saw the little round white candies and asked his sister curiously.
Su Tang nodded and then picked one up and stuffed it into his mouth. Soon, his tongue was overwhelmed by a sweet and milky flavor. After savoring it for a moment, Su Nuo squinted happily and said, "Wow, so sweet!"
In fact, this toffee that was made in these crude conditions was not as sweet as some modern candies, but then again the candies in this era weren't very sweet in the first place, so it was no wonder Su Nuo found it so delicious.
Su Tang also tried one for herself. She found that the taste was relatively light, but it was indeed the proper taste of toffee. Seeing that it came out properly, she signaled Zhang Cuilan and Baohe to try some as well.
After distributing some to everyone who was there, Su Tang took the remaining half of the toffee to the master bedroom and gave it all to a certain greedy orange Divine Beast.
Of course, Zhang Cuilan and Baohe had been swallowing audibly after spending all this time smelling such the appetizing scent of the candies being made, so when Su Tang gave both of them some to eat they eagerly put it in their mouths. From there, the milky and sweet taste instantly conquered them.
When Su Tang saw their joyful expressions, she smiled with satisfaction, "It's good that it's delicious."
'You want to sell this?' After eating all the toffee put in front of him, the orange cat suddenly asked.
Su Tang rolled her eyes, 'What choice do I have? In the end, a machine that makes milk powder was unlocked at level 10, and a machine for making butter was unlocked at level 15. Isn't this practically telling me to make desserts? What can I do except be obedient?'
Speaking of this subject, Su Tang actually had some complaints. Back when the space had opened the processing plant at level five, she had been able to activate three machines all at once, so she had assumed that she would get three new machines every five levels because that was what had happened the first time. However, it turned out that the first five levels were some sort of novice gift bag or something, and after that, every five levels would only unlock one new machine at a time, and all dependant on her luck.
Every time she got another five levels it was basically the same thing as buying a lottery ticket and, obviously, it seemed that Su Tang's luck had been skewing her heavily toward desserts until now. Or else why would she have unlocked a machine for making powdered milk and then a machine for making butter one after another?
Su Tang had only had a few choices considering her limited options. Adding in the cheese machine from last time, and considering she was still waiting for the money from the soap sales to reach her hands, she ultimately decided to take advantage of the nearly complete production chain for sweets that had been casually delivered into her hands.
In the end, what else could Su Tang do? She was also very desperate, ah.
Hearing Su Tang's complaints, the orange cat responded helplessly, 'This isn't something that I can control.'
There really wasn't any secret conspiracy going here, random was random, ah. Even the Divine Beast selected to guard the space couldn't fully control how it would operate.
'Psh, what use do you have than, except for eating?!' Recently, Su Tang had begun to suspect that there truly was a reason why the Divine Beast guarding the space was a cat and not any other animal. That reason was: because if he had been any other kind of animal, whether a cow, chicken, duck, or goose, she would have probably stewed and eaten the so-called Divine Beast a long time ago.
The orange cat, who was being despised by its master again, put on an expression looking innocent and wronged. 'Meow! I'm not a cat!'
Su Tang had to admit that Xiao Four was truly a persistent one. It had already been so long, but he still insisted that he wasn't a cat?
'If you 're not a cat then don't meow!' Su Tang jabbed back impolitely.
The orange cat, who had been seriously injured after suffering a heavy blow to his heart, found he couldn't even open his mouth to respond because he could only meow. In the end, he turned away in a huff, leaving only his furry butt for Su Tang to see, 'Who is the one that said that all creatures that meow are cats, and that Divine Beasts cannot meow?'
Su Tang chuckled when she saw him sulking like this but at the same time, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. She really didn't have any money right now, but fortunately, she had suddenly stumbled upon the ability to start producing sweets, it was just perfect.
As she looked down at the batch of sweets she had made, Su Tang's eyes became unfocused as her mind began to wander, unclear what she was thinking about. Eventually, she smiled, and in another place, in a courtyard in Qinghe Town not too far away, Song Yi, who had just woken up, suddenly sneezed. He reached up to wipe his nose and said, "Huh, who's been talking about me?"
Pengmo entered the door and responded, "Probably it was the young miss that was talking about you master."
When Song Yi heard Pengmo mention Su Tang, he snorted, "Bah, that little fox must have set me up again this time. Do you know that I've been teaching her a new composition recently and she still hasn't learned it even after three days? Such a lazy girl!"
Pengmo silently put the food down, secretly a bit speechless about his master's complaint. He clearly remembered before, when that little ancestor Pei Xuan had taken a whole month to learn the very same composition, his master had been over the moon and even praised the boy as being very clever. But now when he was teaching Miss Su, he was unhappy after Miss Su spent only three days learning it. Sure enough, Miss Su herself had said it best, his master really had double standards.
Of course, Pengmo could only think all of this in the safety of his own mind, and he didn't dare to say any of it out loud.
After that, Song Yi sat down to have breakfast and began to sort out in his mind what he planned to teach Su Tang today.
Meanwhile, Su Tang was busy going through her usual daily tasks. As Zhang Cuilan hurriedly made breakfast, Su Tang had her hands full teaching Su Nuo all morning. Then, in the afternoon, she left Su Nuo to practice his calligraphy alone while she headed off to the Song residence alone.
And during all that, she made some time to make a few more of her milk candies and put them into a beautiful box, which she took with her to the Song residence.
"Master, please try some of this milk candy I made. Is it good?" Immediately after she arrived at the Song residence, Su Tang went and found Song Yi and offered him the milk candies she had made for him this morning.
Song Yi was busy drinking tea when his disciple suddenly appeared and offered him the small, round, and white milk candies. Curious, he reached for one and popped it into his mouth. After a moment, he was shocked by the sweet but also milky taste.
In fact, while making delicious foods with cow or goat milk wasn't too common in small places like Qinghe Town, you could find it here and there in the capital. Before this he had eaten a dish called Gusulao before, which Su Tang would have recognized as a kind of yogurt, and that dish had a similar taste. However, that dish had come in a large bowl, while the thing Su Tang had given him was very small, and obviously easier to carry and eat, but still equally flavorful.
Song Yi took another at Su Tang and couldn't help but think that this little disciple of his really had some skills, she was truly worthy to be called a genius.
"Delicious, right?" Su Tang was completely unaware that the milk candies she had casually made had caused Song Yi to reaffirm his evaluation of her once again, so she just stood to one side and looked at him with a mischievous expression on her face.
But when Song Yi saw that, he couldn't help but furrow his brows. He had long learned that he would always be in for a headache whenever he saw that mischievous expression on Su Tang's face because, generally, she would only put it on when she had set her mind on something strange again.
"En, it's alright. Your master has felt your filial piety this time." Song Yi stroked his beard and threw out these words.
Su Tang gritted her teeth. It seemed that he was determined to play dumb with her.
"Master…" Seeing him like this, Su Tang forced her eyes to turn red and then threw herself into acting pitifully. "Master, this disciple really doesn't have things easy. Originally, I just wanted to go to the river to catch fish so I could make some fish balls to sell, but now the river has frozen over and my way to make money has disappeared."
"At home… there are no elders, but there is a little one. This disciple has to care for her little brother, and also teach him to read and write while also earning money to send him to school in the future."
"This disciple has had many sleepless nights recently. Whenever I remember that I have a responsibility to uphold my father's household, and that I still need to go out to bring back my poor brother, sister-in-law, and niece, it all becomes too much to bear. I can almost feel my father looking down at me from above with disappointment."
No matter whether the circumstances really made her feel miserable or not, Su Tang certainly put on her pitiful act wholeheartedly, with reddened eyes that seemed to tell a story filled with countless difficulties.
But was this the first time Song Yi had dealt with this little fox? Seeing her like this, he just looked at her and asked dryly, "So you have no money?"
Heh, in fact, Song Yi had long been waiting for this day to come for this little fox and, after asking that question, he quickly produced a large coin purse from inside of his robe. The coin purse was almost comically oversized, and it jingled loudly as it appeared.
Song Yi opened it to reveal a great many silver taels, and he took a handful out with a flourish.
Su Tang's pitiful act ground to a halt as she was distracted by the sudden appearance of so many silver taels. All around, she felt she could almost hear the siren song of that rotten thing called money… it was beautiful!
"Want it?" Song Yi watched the little fox staring fixedly at the silver in his hands, and asked in a cheerful tone. However, opposite to his cheerful tone, his expression was like the sinister smile of an insidious and perverted old man who was trying to abduct an underaged little loli.
Song Yi, of course, had no idea that he had been branded as an insidious perverted old man by his little disciple in her heart, but he was able to notice that the way she was looking at him had turned slightly strange. He asked, "What's the matter?"
But just as that question escaped Song Yi's lips, he suddenly felt that he was about to eat a big loss after this move.
And, sure enough, after the question was spoken, the next thing he heard was Su Tang heaving a big sigh before saying: "In fact, this disciple hesitated greatly in the past. This disciple always felt a little worried, worried that perhaps she was a little too out of sync with her master, who has a noble character that treats money like dirt. Back then, this disciple could only sigh, because in the end this disciple really does love money too much to give up on this part of herself. But, unexpectedly, even though master supposedly has the noble character that treats money like dirt, it turns out that in reality master was more similar to this disciple than she had ever believed…"
