Chapter 466 Back to Normal

Chapter 466: Back to How Things Were

But fortunately, Su He has changed now.

Otherwise, Wu Yanhua would have truly carried this bitterness for the rest of her life.

"Mom, thank you," Fu Tinghua said, looking at Wu Yanhua with clearly visible emotion in his eyes.

He hadn't expected that, despite knowing he wasn't their biological son, both Fu Dajun and Wu Yanhua had still cared for him so devotedly.

In the entire family, he was the only one who could get an education because the family had no money back then.

In fact, his Third Brother, Fu Derong, had also had decent grades.

Although not as strong as Fu Tinghua, his results were such that in other families, they would've moved heaven and earth to keep him in school.

But money was tight, so there was no choice.

Even Fu Derong himself had given up on continuing his studies, saying that since his Fifth Brother was such a strong student, his education would be more useful and would surely lead to great achievements in the future.

The whole family had poured so much into Fu Tinghua, and he was fully aware of it.

"Alright, as long as you understand, that's enough. Don’t tell your dad or brothers—they don’t know about this. I’m telling you this because I want you to know that whether you’re my biological son or not, you’re still my son, and I’m proud of you," Wu Yanhua said with a smile, patting Fu Tinghua on the shoulder.

"Yes. Thank you, Mom." Fu Tinghua’s throat tightened before he also smiled.

When the mother and son came back in, the whole family could feel that the atmosphere between them had returned to how it was before—clearly, they had resolved their issues.

To enjoy the spicy hot pot, Su He specially brought out her dual-pot.

Looking at the broth filled with red chili peppers, Aunt Lan couldn’t help but swallow.

"Su He, this looks way too spicy, doesn’t it?" Even Chen Sufen, who has the highest spice tolerance in the family, couldn’t help but comment.

"Third Sister-in-law, it only looks spicy—it’s actually very delicious. But if you can’t handle spice, go with the clear soup and don’t force yourself," Su He said with a smile.

She was telling the truth—if someone used to mild food suddenly eats something spicy, it can really affect their stomach.

He Fangfang looked at the simmering spicy pot and couldn’t help but swallow.

It really looked appetizing.

Even if she couldn’t handle spice, she was determined to give it a try anyway.

Fu Dajun came over at this point, and the whole family gathered around the fire pit, chatting and warming themselves as if it were the New Year.

"Su He, will you and Tinghua come back for New Year’s this year? Tinghua doesn’t have to work overtime, right?" Fu Dajun asked, trying to make conversation.

Wu Yanhua gave him an exasperated look and said, "They already said they’d come back for New Year’s a long time ago. You just don’t listen at all—you’ve brought this up several times already."

Fu Dajun looked embarrassed. He hadn’t known what else to talk about, so he’d asked the same question again.

Just then, Fu Derong and Fu Ziyao returned, shouting, "Come on, come on, have some sugar oranges—freshly picked from the tree."

"Oh, you went to the mountains?" Wu Yanhua asked.

"We did. We just picked a few and came back down. It’s too cold up there—we didn't stay long," Fu Ziyao said with a laugh.

"Yeah, there are still plenty of sugar oranges up there, but many have already rotted." Thinking about it, Fu Derong felt a twinge of regret.

The snowstorm hit hard, but the sugar orange trees were completely fine, still hanging perfectly on the trees, not a single one frozen or damaged.

It's a shame, though—the conditions up on the mountain are too rough, and they don’t dare ask anyone to go up and pick the fruit anymore.

If anything were to happen, the villagers would likely go from thanking us to blaming us.

Since ancient times, people have always been like that.

"Come on, come on, I’ll take these to rinse off—the fruit is covered in ice," Wu Yanhua muttered as she took a few to clean.

When she returned, she first handed the sugar oranges to Aunt Lan.

"Miss Lan, come try these sugar oranges—they were grown by our Su He. You have no idea how amazing she is. Even agricultural experts have come to study her durian sugar oranges. She’s incredible."

Wu Yanhua laughed as she pressed the sugar oranges into Aunt Lan’s hands, launching into full praise mode for Su He.

Aunt Lan accepted them, flattered, and said with a smile, "Thank you."

"Oh, don’t mention it! From now on, we’re all one family," Wu Yanhua replied cheerfully before sliding right next to Aunt Lan.

Everyone shared a look at the scene, and soon they were all smiling.

Jumping in, Su He added, "Mom, this time I’ve also brought this year’s earnings from the sugar oranges to distribute a share of the profits to everyone."

Hearing this, the Fu family instantly couldn’t stay calm.

Share of the profits again?

The sugar oranges had been selling for over two months, and not once had they handed out a single payment.

Su He hadn’t brought it up, and the Fu family hadn’t rushed her—no one had pressed the issue.

But now that Su He mentioned distributing the money, everyone was all smiles.

"So soon?" even Fu Dajun couldn’t help asking.

"Yeah, gotta keep everyone happy, right?"

Su He had originally planned to distribute the dividends during the New Year, but given what had just happened, she and Fu Tinghua discussed it and decided to hand out the sugar orange money early to lift everyone’s spirits. This way, everyone would have money to shop for New Year’s goods and more.

"Su He, about how much is it?" asked the curious Chen Sufen, unable to hold back once dividends were mentioned.

Su He glanced at her and replied with a smile, "Don’t worry—it’s even more than what we made from the durians."

Everyone’s eyes lit up at once.

The income from the durians those few months had already far exceeded what they could make in a year doing backbreaking work at construction sites.

And now, even before all the sugar oranges were sold, the profits had surpassed the durians? This was the best news ever.

"However," Su He continued, "with the severe weather, we likely won’t be able to sell the remaining sugar oranges. But don’t get discouraged—some things are out of our control. And we’ve already made a good profit this time. That’s what matters."

Su He’s point was to discourage the Fu family from taking a risk just to get more by going up the mountain to harvest the remaining sugar oranges for sale.

They had already made good money, and under such unfavorable conditions, Su He didn’t want the family taking any risks.

Fu Dajun caught her meaning and quickly added, "Hey, don’t you worry. Recently, some villagers asked me when we’d be going up to pick sugar oranges again, saying they’d work even in bad weather. Can you believe it? I wouldn’t dare send anyone up there. If something happened, who would take the blame?"

At this point, Fu Dajun couldn't help but sigh.

In such harsh conditions, people still wanted to go up the mountain to work, just to earn two or three yuan a day.

There's just no way around it—farmers get zero income during the winter.

Moreover, in this era, there's no shortage of laborers; just having work is a blessing.

"Hmm, there probably aren't many sugar oranges left on the mountain, right?" Su He asked again.

"Ah, there are—there’s still plenty on the back slope. That area doesn’t get as much sunlight, you know, so the fruit ripens more slowly. That’s why we picked from this side first, and there’s still a lot left over there. The sugar oranges we just picked were actually from the back slope," Fu Derong jumped in.