Chapter 66: Flexible Mind

Chapter 66: Quick-Witted

Though the food tasted bad, the two children dared not show it, forcing it down.

After all, their grandmother Wu Yanhua was watching.

They couldn’t risk Grandma disliking them again—Mom had just started getting along better with Grandma.

“Is it good?” Wu Yanhua asked with a smile.

“Yes,” the two children lied through their teeth.

“Zai Zai, what did you have for breakfast this morning?” Zhuang Zhuang asked curiously. Auntie’s cooking must be amazing.

“Mom made noodles,” Zai Zai answered.

Noodles? Meh, he’d had those before. Zhuang Zhuang thought.

But what Zhuang Zhuang didn’t know was that Aunt Su He’s noodles were nothing like the ones at his own house.

Thankfully, all the kids loved the mung bean and kelp porridge Su He made yesterday, so she hadn’t cooked the backup noodles. Otherwise, he’d be begging for Auntie’s noodles daily.

After breakfast, Wu Yanhua let the kids play outside while she washed dishes and swept the floor.

Zai Zai and Niu Niu followed their older siblings, whispering to each other.

“Brother, why is Grandma’s breakfast so gross?” Niu Niu asked quietly.

“Only our mom gets up early every day to make us fancy breakfasts. Zhuang Zhuang and the others usually just have plain buns or sweet potatoes,” Zai Zai replied thoughtfully.

“Wait, so we’re the only ones who get fancy breakfasts? And milk—Zhuang Zhuang and the others don’t even get milk,” Niu Niu muttered.

“Shh, don’t say that. We’re different from others. Don’t blab in front of the others,” Zai Zai said sternly to his sister.

Ever since Mom woke up that day, everything changed at home.

Their meals became crazy good. Before, Zai Zai had thought their lack of food was because Mom had gambled it all away.

So when Su He kept pulling out milk, eggs, pork ribs, lean meat, and other things, the two children, though amazed at how lucky they were, never realized how different they were from others.

But after seeing what the Fu family ate for breakfast this morning, compared to what Su He prepared for them, it was worlds apart.

Mom had given them steamed buns before, but they were nothing like Grandma’s.

Grandma’s buns were stale and crumbly, while Mom’s were pillowy soft.

Even though he knew Mom was different, Zai Zai decided to keep his mouth shut and never bring it up.

No matter what weird stuff Mom pulled out, he would accept it calmly.

He feared that asking might make Mom leave them—afraid she’d get found out, afraid she’d abandon them.

And compared to other families in the village, the Fu family was already pretty easy on their kids.

Most kids were doing chores by four or five, but the Fu children didn’t—they were sent to school when the time came.

But it had to be admitted that compared to the Fu family’s doting, Su He spoiled Zai Zai and Niu Niu rotten.

He’d never let Mom leave again. He would protect her secret. Zai Zai silently vowed in his heart.

Meanwhile, Su He headed up the mountain with her sisters-in-law.

When they saw the durian trees scattered all over the ground, the sisters-in-law looked at Su He in amazement.

"Su He, why didn’t you wait for us to help carry these trees up?" Zhang Xiaohua asked awkwardly.

That must've been exhausting for Su He to carry so many trees alone.

"It's fine, the delivery guy helped me carry them up," Su He quickly explained.

"You've been working so hard. No wonder you’ve lost so much weight recently—have you been pushing yourself too hard?" Chen Sufen asked with concern.

"Really? Have I lost weight? We don't even have a full-length mirror at home, so I can’t tell."

Who wouldn’t love being told they’ve slimmed down? Su He was grinning from ear to ear.

"It’s true. Compared to before, you’ve lost quite a bit," Chen Sufen sighed.

Hearing their conversation, the other two sisters-in-law chimed in as they worked.

"With so many trees, the plots we’ve staked out—both our family’s and Aunt Niu’s side—will probably be fully planted," Zhang Xiaohua observed, looking over the hillside.

"That's about right. We’ll start with this many for now," Su He replied with a smile.

"When the fruits grow, are you really planning to sell them at such a high price? Even if city people are wealthy, will anyone actually spend that much money on them?" He Fangfang asked doubtfully.

"Honestly, I’m not 100% sure, but I have faith."

Su He truly wasn’t sure, but she had already thought it through—if durians really weren’t popular in this era, she could always sell them in her space instead.

She hadn't traded many durians in her space before because they cost a fortune there too.

She could sell the durians in the space for points, then use those points to buy other goods that were popular in this era to sell. Either way, she’d make money.

This was why Su He was so clever—she always planned ten steps ahead, and everything she did was positive, proactive, and confident.

She had this energy about her that rubbed off on everyone around her.

Still, she preferred selling durians in the real world rather than relying too much on the space.

The space was just a platform for exchanging goods—it didn’t truly belong to her.

It was better to have everything under her own control, so Su He still hoped to sell the durians in reality.

She could already foresee the challenges ahead, but she refused to undersell the durians.

"Just let us know if you need any help," He Fangfang said.

For them, it wasn't a big deal—the sisters-in-law had only contributed some labor to the durian project.

Truthfully, they felt kind of bad taking a 10% share each from Su He.

After all, Su He had provided everything. If she just gave them a little something for their hard work after selling the fruits, that would’ve been enough.

Right now, the men in their Fu family only made a few bucks doing manual labor at construction sites.

This just showed what a good person Su He was. By treating her sisters-in-law so well, no matter how big her business grew in the future, they'd never hold it against her.

After all, it was all her own doing, and even before making a fortune, she had already shared such a large portion of the profits with them. They were more than willing to work for her.

"Su He, it’ll probably take two days to plant all these trees. You should go back and check on the kids—we can handle things here," Zhang Xiaohua said apologetically, seeing Su He sweating buckets.

Su He was a city girl, and the durian tree business was her brainchild. It didn't seem right to make her do farm work with them.