Village Belle Chapter 125
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 125: My Birthday Wish Was For Milksop To Come Back
Before Su Tao even counted to two, Su Zhi ran out, calling out timidly, "Sister, why did you call me?"
"What do you think? Have you finished the homework the teacher assigned?"
"No..."
"Go and finish it then!"
Su Tao's stern face startled Su Zhi, who hurriedly took out his homework to write. There wasn't much left; he only had four or five words left to write.
After finishing writing, he obediently showed it to Su Tao for inspection. Su Tao, upon seeing his handwriting, angrily smacked him on the head and snapped, "Was a ghost chasing you? Huh? Tell me how you pronounce this word!"
Su Zhi trembled for a long time, unable to say anything.
His sister was scarier than a ghost; he couldn't be blamed.
Thankfully, he didn't dare say that, otherwise he would’ve at least received a beating.
Lin Sanzhu looked at her daughter, who was like a tigress, and her son, who was like a little chick. Without saying anything, she lowered her head to weave the straw mat in her hands.
After a while, feeling that it was getting late, she clapped her hands. "You two come with me to the kitchen, and stop chattering!"
"Mom, he hasn't finished writing yet," Su Tao said with a droopy face.
"If he hasn't finished, he can finish writing after we eat. If he doesn't finish, he won't be sleeping tonight!" Lin Sanzhu waved her hand at the two of them, signaling them to hurry to the kitchen.
Su Tao, "..."
She had no choice but to go to the kitchen. Su Zhi didn't dare say anything, following behind her.
"Which of you is going to wash the vegetables?"
Lin Sanzhu poured water and washed the pot with great speed and efficiency, clearly someone who did this often.
Su Tao, feeling quite unapologetically, nudged Su Zhi and gave him a look. Su Zhi, looking aggrieved, went to wash the vegetables.
Sister was so mean; she was always bullying him.
Su Tao found an easy and cozy job—she started the fire. Every now and then, she would see Su Zhi shivering from the cold, and she almost couldn't help but laugh.
Served him right for not studying hard!
She rejoiced too soon. Lin Sanzhu told her to cook. "Wretched girl, come here. Let me tell you, it's very simple. Put in oil, put in salt, and then add the vegetables."
Su Tao, "..."
She tried to back out, saying, "Mom, I know how to cook this. You should let Su Zhi do it."
Lin Sanzhu knew perfectly well that she was trying to slack off, and wasn't buying it. "Wretched girl, come here right now!"
Su Tao reluctantly got up to cook. Lin Sanzhu tasted her cooking, and immediately spat several times. "Su Zhi! You rascal, how did you wash the vegetables? I ate a mouthful of sand!"
Then Lin Sanzhu started picking on Su Zhi, and Su Tao found an opportunity to slip out of the kitchen.
Just then, Su Fu returned carrying a bundle of firewood. Upon seeing her, he happily called out, "Taozi."
"Dad." Seeing him covered in sweat, Su Tao quickly went to get a handkerchief.
After wiping himself clean, Su Fu said honestly, "If I’d known you were home today, I would’ve asked your mother to buy some meat."
He glanced at the sky and said, "I'll go buy some now, but I don't know if they'll still have any lean meat."
"I don't want any, don't go."
Su Tao pulled him back, and said sweetly, "Dad, you're so good to me."
Su Fu loved it when she acted cute. He patted her head and said, "Why don't you want to eat it? I’ll go buy some. Wait at home for a while."
After saying that, he called out to the kitchen, "Dear, I'm taking some money out to buy meat."
Hearing this, Lin Sanzhu came out with a spatula, objecting to it. "The meat isn't fresh so late in the day. We’ll buy it first thing tomorrow morning. I'll go buy it."
"Since Taozi's back today, let's buy some to eat first." Su Fu didn't agree, thinking that since his daughter was back, she should eat something better.
"Okay then."
After he left, Lin Sanzhu looked at Su Tao and said, "Look how good your father is to you. He buys meat for you every time you come home."
"Dad is good, but it’d be better if you didn't ask me to cook." Su Tao grinned at her.
Lin Sanzhu, "..."
"Don’t even think about it. Come over here to keep an eye on things."
Su Tao, "..."
For several days in a row, Lin Sanzhu taught her how to cook, but not on her birthday. She just boiled two eggs for Su Tao early in the morning.
After the meal, she gave Su Tao two hair accessories.
Su Tao was initially touched by the two eggs, but after seeing the hair accessories, she couldn't feel touched at all. The two red accessories were so garish that even if she had hair, she wouldn't be able to wear them out.
They’d probably make her look like a clown.
"Mom, can they be changed to another color?"
"Why? Red is so pretty."
Lin Sanzhu glanced at Su Tao’s head. Her hair had grown a little bit.
She added, "Wearing red on your birthday brings good fortune, peace, and smooth sailing."
Upon hearing this, a complex emotion flashed in Su Tao's eyes. Oh, well, forget it. She’d settled for red. Anyway, it was Su Tao who looked ugly, not her.
She hugged Lin Sanzhu and said sweetly, "Thank you, Mom."
Lin Sanzhu was a little embarrassed and pretended to push her away, saying, "You're not young anymore. Why are you still acting like a child? In a few years, you'll be getting married."
Su Tao, "..."
It seemed like all she could think about was getting married.
"Mom, can you please stop talking about marriage? I'm only nine years old."
"Nine isn't young anymore. Besides, you're not a boy. Boys can get married at seventeen, eighteen, or twenty, but for girls, it's hard to get married after fifteen."
When Lin Sanzhu was five or six years old, her mother would constantly grumble and complain about marrying her off.
Her words were much harsher than what Lin Sanzhu was saying now.
Su Tao covered her ears, saying, "I can't hear you, I can't hear you, I can't hear you." Then she quickly ran away.
Lin Sanzhu chased after her to the door, shouting, "Come back here! I haven't finished talking yet!"
"Stop saying these things in front of Taozi. Let's wait a few more years." Su Fu was free this morning, so he stayed home doing chores and keeping them company.
"Look at her, she’s always so out of line. If we don't tell her beforehand, how will she change?"
Lin Sanzhu sighed, looked at Su Fu, and said, "I just want my children to have a good life in the future, not like us."
Su Fu patted her on the back. "Of course they will. When Taozi gets married, we'll give her a bigger dowry, so she'll have more say in her family."
"You can't manage on your own. Once I’m not that busy in the fields, I'll find some work to do too."
Lin Sanzhu wasn't afraid of hardship, but she was afraid of enduring it endlessly; as long as there was hope for the future, that was enough for her.
……
Studying without Milksop was bound to be boring because it meant there was no food to eat.
After studying all day, Su Tao felt completely exhausted. She felt that only the pancakes and pastries from Milksop’s home could save her.
These past few days, without Milksop around, she found that she simply couldn't live without him.
When would Milksop be back?
Please come back soon, she really missed him.
God, my birthday wish was for Milksop to come back tomorrow.
Milksop just finished his exams this morning, so it was obvious he wouldn't be coming back.
After returning home and having dinner, she went to bed. In her dream, she saw that Milksop had returned and bought a lot of food.
A sudden knocking sound woke her up.
She must be dreaming again.
Sigh, she was craving so much for food!
Habits were a bad thing.
The sound of a door opening came from outside, followed quickly by Su Fu's voice, "Who’s it?"
Then came a soft, slightly breathless voice, "Uncle Su, I'm looking for Sister Taozi."
It was Milksop!
