Village Belle Chapter 117
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 117: Milksop, I Like You So Much
Hearing this, Lin Sanzhu was stunned. She probably couldn’t understand what the Xie family was thinking. Who would buy food for other people’s children for no reason?
It wasn’t like Su Tao was a child bride.
Her eyes widened at that thought. She looked at Su Tao, then at Xie Yuntang, and quickly shook her head. The Xie family wasn’t blind and wouldn’t take a fancy to her wretched daughter.
It wasn’t that she disliked her own daughter, but Su Tao really didn’t look like a good match for the Xie family.
She gritted her teeth, feeling a little sad about the money to be spent. "No, I’ve made some money today, so I’ll treat you to a meal."
Since it was the first time her wretched daughter came to town, she would let her have noodles for once.
When they arrived at the noodle stall, Lin Sanzhu asked the man selling noodles, "How much is a bowl of noodles?"
"Same as usual, five coins for plain noodles, eight coins for noodles with meat," the man selling noodles replied with a smile.
"It's so expensive. How about giving us a discount? Six coins for noodles with meat. I’ll buy two bowls."
"That won't do. The meat costs almost as much as the price of plain noodles. Madam, our noodles are generous in portion, unlike other places that claim to be cheap but have less noodles."
At this time, Yuntang's soft voice interrupted, "Mister, we want three bowls of noodles with meat." After saying that, he paid the noodle seller twenty-four coins.
"Yuntang, no, no, no, I don't want to eat. You guys eat. Mister, don't take his money, I'll pay. We only want two bowls."
Lin Sanzhu took out the money and counted it reluctantly. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her, and Xie Yuntang said obediently, "Auntie Su, I’ve already paid. You don’t have to pay."
"This won’t do... no..."
Lin Sanzhu wanted to say something more. Su Tao came over, grabbed her, and said, "Mom, you can make him an extra pair of shoes when the time comes."
She was used to eating at Xie Yuntang's place, so she didn't feel embarrassed at all.
It was mainly because if she felt embarrassed, she would definitely not get anything to eat.
One had to be thick-skinned to have more food.
In the end, Lin Sanzhu had no choice but to eat with them. When the noodles arrived, she shared the meat with the two children, then lowered her head and took a big mouthful of noodles.
This was her first time eating noodles outside. It was really delicious, but it was too expensive.
Su Tao gave the meat back and said with disdain, "You eat it. I’ll feel sick if I eat too much."
Xie Yuntang gave the meat back as well, and then gave Su Tao two more pieces of meat. "Sister Taozi, eat more. If it's not enough, I'll order more."
Sister Taozi used to ask him to buy a lot of food, but this time when she came to town, she only asked for buns.
Sister Taozi must be starving.
Su Tao was indeed hungry, but with Lin Sanzhu here, she didn't dare to ask Xie Yuntang to buy food, for she would definitely get scolded.
But she wanted to eat the roast duck of the shop across from them. She leaned close to his ear and whispered in a voice that was only audible to them, "Buy me some roast duck later and say you want to eat it."
Xie Yuntang naturally satisfied her and nodded happily. "Okay."
Lin Sanzhu ate the noodles and even finished all the soup. Seeing that Su Tao hadn't finished her noodle soup yet, she glared at her and motioned her to drink it up.
Eight coins for a bowl of noodles, how expensive!
Su Tao, "..."
She really didn't like to drink the noodle soup. She couldn't finish it. With a miserable expression, she said, "Mom, I can't finish it."
"Why can't you finish it? It's so delicious. If your brother were here, you wouldn't even have any noodles left, let alone soup."
Seeing that Su Tao didn't drink up the soup, Lin Sanzhu glared at her unhappily, then took it and drank it up herself.
Xie Yuntang heard their conversation and looked down at the noodle soup in the bowl. He obediently picked it up and drank it up.
Su Tao glanced at him a few times. Milksop had never drunk noodle soup. She tugged at his sleeve and said, "If you don't want to drink it, forget it. She won't scold you."
Xie Yuntang drank it up anyway.
All three bowls of noodle soup were finished to the last drop.
Lin Sanzhu looked at Xie Yuntang's bowl, thinking that this child was so well-behaved. The more she looked at him, the more she liked him.
When they passed by the roast duck shop, Xie Yuntang stopped and said softly, "Auntie Su, Sister Taozi, wait for me. I'll go buy some roast duck."
Lin Sanzhu subconsciously wanted to tell him not to buy it because roast duck was expensive, but she held the words back at the tip of her tongue. "You go ahead. We'll wait for you here."
She didn't offer to buy him roast duck. A roast duck cost fifty to sixty coins.
She couldn't afford it.
"I'll go with you." Su Tao happily pulled Xie Yuntang into the shop.
Three ducks were already roasted, and the roasted duck skin was glistening with oil. Xie Yuntang looked at Su Tao. "Sister Taozi, which one do you want?"
"The biggest one." Su Tao smiled with her eyes curved.
Xie Yuntang shared in her delight. "Mister, I want the biggest one."
The man looked at them, and his gaze finally stopped on Xie Yuntang's clothes. He quickly took out the largest roast duck and weighed it. "Three pounds and one ounce, sixty-two coins. I’ll round down to sixty coins. Do you want it cut into pieces?"
"Yes, cut the duck legs for me."
Xie Yuntang paid the money, and after the man cut the duck legs for him, he handed them to Su Tao. "Sister Taozi, you can have them."
Su Tao was kind enough to ask for only one. "You should have the rest." After saying that, she bit into the duck leg, which was much more delicious than the noodles.
Xie Yuntang didn't eat any, but wrapped them in paper and kept it. After the man finished cutting the rest, he took them.
After they were out of the door, he unwrapped the paper. "Auntie Su, you should have one piece."
Who wouldn't want to eat delicious food? Lin Sanzhu gulped, but waved her hand. "I don't want to eat it. You go ahead."
Su Tao grabbed a piece for Lin Sanzhu, stuffed it into her mouth, and said with a smile, "Mom, it's delicious."
Of course Lin Sanzhu knew it was delicious. How could meat not be delicious? She would have to give her wretched daughter a good scolding when she got home.
How could she eat something bought by Yuntang?
She bit into the duck meat, and it was really delicious.
When she saved up some money, she would buy a duck during the Chinese New Year.
Along the way, Su Tao looked left and right, but saw no money-making opportunities. It was true that a loser like her couldn't make a fortune.
She could only rely on Milksop for a living.
……
It was already late when they returned home. Su Fu was still waiting for them in the yard. He only went to the kitchen to serve the dishes after seeing them return. His cooking was much worse than Lin Sanzhu's.
When Su Tao saw the meat that was as thick as her finger, and charred spots on it, she lost all appetite. But fortunately, there was the roast duck that Xie Yuntang had bought.
Su Zhi's eyes widened, and he grabbed two pieces of duck meat to chew on as soon as the meal started.
Seeing that Lin Sanzhu and Su Fu weren’t eating, Su Tao picked up two pieces for each of them, and then picked up some for Xie Yuntang.
She acted as though she had bought the roast duck.
The roast duck was gone after eating just a few pieces. Su Tao felt that she wasn’t full, and was afraid of being hungry at night. Hence, she forced herself to eat another half bowl of rice.
After eating and washing up, Su Tao yawned and closed the door.
At this time, Xie Yuntang took out the duck legs wrapped in paper and gave them to her, whispering, "Sister Taozi, these are for you."
Sister Taozi loved to eat duck legs the most, so of course he saved them for her.
He wouldn’t give them to others.
Su Tao forgot that there were still duck legs. Her eyes lit up immediately. She felt an urge to give Milksop a few kisses, but she managed to hold herself back.
"Milksop, I like you so much."
Xie Yuntang's cheeks flushed all the way to his neck at her words, but he was elated. He also liked Sister Taozi.
He liked her very much.
