Chapter 147 A Feast for the Taste Buds

**Chapter 147: A Tasty Treat Ahead**

"Nice one, Fourth Sister! Ting Hua, Su He, catch!"

At Fu Yanju’s call, a large durian fell from the tree and landed neatly in the net held by Su He and Fu Ting Hua.

"Good job, Fourth Sister! This one will be ready to eat in a few days. Look for any more yellow durians on the tree—don’t pick the ones that are too green," Su He called up to Fu Yanju on the durian tree.

Overly green durians won’t ripen right—even if left out for a long time. They’re just not ripe yet.

Fu Yanju looked up at the high-hanging fruit, then used a long blade-tipped pole to cut one from its stem.

The other teams did the same, switching off to climb the trees as needed.

Within an hour or so, Su He’s group had already picked over thirty durians.

Why? Su He was lightning-fast—definitely faster than when she worked alone.

Eyeing the sun low in the sky, Su He turned to Fu Ting Hua beside her. "Time to go home and cook the chicken."

Fu Ting Hua looked up at Fu Yanju still in the tree. "Hey Sis, come on down. You're joining us for dinner tonight—let's head back together and cook."

Fu Yanju quickly agreed.

By the time she climbed down, Su He had tallied up the durians.

"Thirty-five total. Grab a few each for the trip down."

Su He pulled out the large burlap sacks she had prepared earlier—sturdy sacks from her [hidden] stash. Perfect for carrying durians.

After explaining things to the others and leaving some sacks behind, they headed down.

The other groups worked hard too, though not quite as fast as Su He’s team—they’d only gathered about twenty durians in the same time.

Su He said fifty or sixty per group was plenty for now.

No telling if they’d all sell in town yet, so she didn’t want to pick too many too soon.

Sure, she could stash them secretly—but Fu Ting Hua was still around.

Until she fully understood him and built a deeper bond, she wasn’t ready to reveal her secret.

Fu Yanju trailed them down, dumping the durians in the Fus’ living room.

The orchard wasn’t near Su He’s place, so hauling them there was too much work.

She rounded up the kids to tag along, bringing Wu Yanhua with them to Su He’s house.

Fu Dajun stayed behind to guard the house—in case the Chens came back swinging.

When Fu Yanju arrived at Su He’s home, she was surprised by the old mud-brick house.

The place was rundown, but Su He kept it spotless. Inside, it looked anything but shabby.

The pots, pans, bowls, and dishes at home, along with the tables and stools, were all polished to a shine, easy on the eyes.

When she went to the backyard, she was surprised to see vegetables planted there.

Right then, Fu Yanju couldn’t help but feel envious of Su He.

This old house had once been their home when they were children.

But back then, it had never been as clean and tidy as Su He had made it now.

This sister-in-law of hers was truly an impressive person.

Wu Yanhua had already told Fu Yanju how Su He had turned things around since coming to the village and improved their family’s life.

She felt she needed that same kind of courage to make her own way. She couldn’t possibly stay with her brothers and sisters-in-law in the Fu household forever, could she?

But for now, she had no good solution. After all, things were still too messy—her divorce wasn’t finalized, and her daughter was still with her in-laws.

Speaking of her daughter, she wondered if that awful grandmother was scolding or beating her.

Were they taking out their grudges from the Fu family on her daughter?

Noticing Fu Yanju’s sudden change in expression, Su He asked with concern, “Fourth Sister, what’s wrong?”

Fu Yanju lifted her thin, sallow face and managed a weak smile. “It’s nothing,” she said.

Seeing this, Su He didn’t push it.

“Come help us do the chickens, or pick and wash some vegetables from the garden?”

Maybe giving her something to do might help.

Honestly, Su He felt deep sympathy for Fu Yanju. She still remembered how pitiful Fu Yanju looked when they first met on the street—stuck in a bad marriage.

“Oh, I’ll do the chickens,” Fu Yanju said, automatically volunteering for the dirty and tiring work.

The moment Wu Yanhua heard them mention killing chickens, she jumped up.

“Kill chickens? What chickens? Didn’t we just have chicken yesterday?”

Who could keep that up—eating chicken every day?

“Mom, with so many people sharing one chicken yesterday, no one got more than a piece or two. We still have two left, and they’re nice and fat. Let’s do them both,” Su He said with a smile.

“Oh dear, there’s no need to kill both! Take them to the city and raise them there.”

“Mom, we’re moving to the city to stay this time. Let the family have a good meal before we leave—don’t stop us,” Fu Tinghua added as he stepped out of the kitchen.

Seeing her youngest son speak up, Wu Yanhua knew they were determined and didn’t argue further.

Still, watching both chickens being slaughtered at once made her heart ache.

“Ting Hua and I will take care of dinner. Mom, Sister, you can just rest.”

Su He thought it would be a waste to let folks these days cook such plump chickens. They were stingy with oil and salt, so any flavor came all thanks to the chicken itself, she thought.

Wu Yanhua knew Su He was a good cook, so she didn't say anything.

After the chickens were prepared and the vegetables washed, she made room for her youngest son and daughter-in-law to take over the kitchen.

As a mother-in-law, she kept to her rule of not meddling in her children's lives.

"How do you want to cook these chickens?" Fu Tinghua asked beside her.

Su He thought for a moment. "One can be poached chicken, and the other can be stir-fried with mushrooms. Zai Zai and Niu Niu love those dishes, and I'm sure the other kids will too."

By the time Fu Guoqing and the others returned from durian picking on the mountain, it was already around six o'clock.

They rested at home for a while, and when it was time, they followed Fu Dajun to Su He's home.

As soon as they approached Su He's home, the aroma of food filled the air.

At that moment, everyone's stomachs growled all at once.

"What a treat we have today—we get to enjoy Su He's cooking again!"

"Yeah, I wonder who taught our sister-in-law to cook like this. Wait, actually, everything she makes is just so delicious."

"With such an amazing smell, it's lucky there aren't many neighbors nearby, or they'd be dying of envy."

Laughing and chatting, the whole family walked into the kitchen.

The sight of the various dishes laid out on the table made their eyes light up immediately.