Chapter 42 Not Wanting to Return to the City

Chapter 42: Not Wanting to Return to the City

"Oh, nothing. Just thought the noodles smelled really good," Fu Tinghua said with a smile.

"Really? They're just about ready. I'll fix you a bowl," Su He replied, reaching for a bowl before Fu Tinghua stopped her.

"I'll help myself."

Su He thought it made sense—better to take just what you'll eat—so she didn’t insist.

"I'll get the kids' bowls then."

After saying this, Su He took out four bowls and four pairs of chopsticks from the cupboard, gave them a quick rinse, and handed one bowl to Fu Tinghua.

Fu Tinghua took the bowl and started helping himself to noodles.

Today, Su He hadn’t put any meat in. In the countryside, you couldn't get meat every day. She had spent the entire previous day with the Fu family and hadn’t had a chance to get any.

Besides, it was summer, and meat would spoil too fast. Afraid Fu Tinghua might question where the meat came from, Su He had to settle for giving the kids vegetarian noodles.

But as it turned out, Su He could make anything taste good. Even without meat, both polished off big bowls.

"Mom, this is so yummy!" Niu Niu said after finishing the broth in her bowl, licking her lips.

"Of course, we grew these ourselves," Su He agreed.

"Can we eat our own veggies every day from now on?" Zai Zai asked innocently.

Su He thought for a moment before answering, "We can while we’re in the countryside. But when we go back to the city, we won’t have a garden plot, so we’ll have to buy them."

As soon as she finished speaking, Zai Zai suddenly turned to Fu Tinghua and said, "Dad, I don’t want to go back to the city."

Fu Tinghua looked at his son in surprise. "Why not?"

"Those neighbors don’t like Mom, and they don’t like us either," Zai Zai said, lowering his head as if deeply upset.

Su He was surprised by Zai Zai’s words. She hadn’t realized how observant such a little kid could be.

Even though their mother hardly ever took them out, they still knew the neighbors didn’t like them much.

"It’s Dad’s fault. I haven’t been around enough. From now on, I’ll be around more, okay?" Fu Tinghua reached out and patted Zai Zai’s head.

"Yippee! Then Dad can spend more time with Mom, and our family can be together often!" Niu Niu exclaimed excitedly.

Su He: "......" Thanks, but no thanks. She didn’t want to spend more time with Fu Tinghua.

But the three of them were caught up in their happy family moment, completely oblivious to Su He’s inner thoughts.

After breakfast, they decided to go up the mountain to collect firewood and see how the durian tree was coming along.

Su He carried a basket on her back, while Fu Tinghua, from somewhere, put on a very worn-out jacket over his clothes.

Though the clothes were old, they couldn’t hide his refined air about him.

Watching Fu Tinghua’s back, Su He couldn’t help but wonder—had Fu Tinghua really grown up in the countryside? He didn’t seem like a rural person at all.

Once they reached the mountain, Su He and Fu Tinghua got to work, cutting firewood along the way.

Meanwhile, the two kids played around, looking for mushrooms to pick.

Back when they found mushrooms, Mom would always get so excited.

Su He looked at the large pile of wood Fu Tinghua had chopped and couldn’t help asking, "Isn't this plenty? We two can't haul all this down by ourselves."

Fu Tinghua didn’t even lift his head, continuing to work diligently as he replied, "It’s fine. I’ll make a few extra trips later. Firewood gets used up too quickly in the countryside. If I chop more now, you’ll have enough to last longer next time."

He seems thoughtful, but...

Poor original soul.

Looking at Fu Tinghua like this, he didn’t seem like the kind of scumbag who would turn cold and abusive after marriage.

She combed through the memories, trying to dig up more information, but there were very few recollections of interactions with Fu Tinghua.

After marrying the original soul, Fu Tinghua had been genuinely busy—either traveling to study surgical techniques or staying at the hospital to perform surgeries.

He'd literally just gotten back from the border.

"What’s wrong?" Fu Tinghua suddenly asked when he noticed Su He standing there in a daze.

"Nothing. I’ll gather more firewood then," Su He said with a small smile.

"No need. I'll handle the firewood. Go keep an eye on Zai Zai and Niu Niu instead. Plus there's all sorts of bugs and snakes—it’s not safe."

Su He had to admit he had a point.

Looking around, she noticed the two kids had wandered off somewhere.

Starting to worry, she quickly said to Fu Tinghua, "Then I’ll go check on them."

Fu Tinghua just hummed in response, and Su He went to look for the children.

Seeing Su He walk off without so much as a backward glance, Fu Tinghua felt a little dazed before resuming his work.

"Zai Zai, Niu Niu." After walking for a while without spotting the kids, Su He couldn’t help calling out.

"Mom, we’re here!" Suddenly, Niu Niu stood up and waved at Su He.

So that's where they'd been hiding—no wonder she couldn’t see them.

Su He joined them, crouching in the grass. "What are you two doing?"

"Mom, look at this flower—it’s so pretty!" Niu Niu pointed excitedly at something in front of her.

Su He followed her finger and immediately sensed that this flower was anything but ordinary.

The flower had red-and-white striped petals, and its shape somewhat resembled a tulip, yet it wasn’t one.

How was she supposed to get this flower into her space? If she plucked it now, would it just die?

"This is such a pretty flower. Why don't you kids go scout around and see if there are any other pretty flowers nearby? But don’t wander too far." Su He wanted to distract the kids.

"Okay!"

Both children loved helping their mom, so they scampered off without a second thought.

Quickly taking advantage of the moment, Su He checked with the system about transferring the flower to her space.

The system advised her she could pot it for transfer.

Su He had no choice but to get another flowerpot from her space. When no one was looking, she quickly transplanted the flower from the ground into the pot and took it into her space.

"Mom! Mom! We can't find that kind of flower anymore!" Zai Zai ran up to Su He and said.

Then he noticed the spot where the flower had been was now bare—even the dirt was gone.

"Lots of plants are super rare, so finding even one is really cool!" Su He praised.

Just then, Niu Niu suddenly exclaimed, "Mom! Mom! I found mushrooms!"

Hearing this, Su He grabbed Zai Zai’s hand and rushed over to Niu Niu.

"Wow, Niu Niu, you’re awesome! There are so many mushrooms here!" Su He praised as she looked at the mushrooms hidden beneath the grass.