Chapter 7: Commotion
Finding the teacher to complete the stamp was indeed true, and she wasn’t afraid that Xu Zixin would make a comeback to question and confront her.
The most important thing was that there were only four days left until her coming of age birthday. Even to avoid unnecessary complications, even if he had doubts, he would hold back.
And this was exactly what she wanted.
After performing a scene of deep father-daughter affection, the physically and mentally exhausted Su Ning returned to her room and buried her face in the soft silk quilt.
The job matter and the treasures of the old house had all been resolved. Now, there was only planning the space and basic construction left, and four days’ time would be more than enough.
China’s land had just gone through a natural disaster, a time when supplies were scarce, with food, clothing, and medicine all in short supply.
There were still two years until that great turmoil. By then, gold and silver would be useless, and even with money and coupons, one couldn’t buy necessities. Since she had this magical space, she naturally had to make full use of it now.
She didn’t need to use it to get rich, but at least ensure that she and the people she cared about most could live without worry about food and clothing.
Two hilltops: the taller one could be used to grow fruit, and the shorter one to raise livestock.
The small stream could be used to raise some aquatic products. The black soil, divided into three parts by it, with the two larger plots for planting rice, wheat, sorghum, corn, and other staple foods, and the small one for various vegetables and melons…
If the space could really be built according to this plan, it would truly live up to its name, a Peach Blossom Spring belonging solely to her!
As she thought about it, a full smile unconsciously appeared on her face. Su Ning, harboring infinite beautiful expectations for the space, fell sweetly asleep.
……
A streak of fish-belly white appeared on the horizon, and the sun, blushing red, gradually broke free from the embrace of the dark clouds.
After a good night’s dream, Su Ning, with her mouth corners upturned, got up and stretched a big lazy waist.
She chose a shirt with small floral patterns, paired it with a plain skirt that reached her ankles, and braided her long hair into two braids.
She clipped back the fine bangs with a crystal clip, revealing her full forehead, which made her starry eyes shine even brighter.
She took a slightly larger leather shoulder bag from the wardrobe on the left, then picked up the canvas bag she had used yesterday and walked to the bed.
“Swish swish~”
She dumped everything out of the canvas bag all at once, and colorful money and ration coupons immediately scattered over half the bed.
The graduation certificate had been put into the space by her last night, since the room in the small courtyard there was the safest.
She gathered her skirt and sat down. Su Ning began to sort through the money and ration coupons she hadn’t had time to examine closely yesterday.
Her own six hundred plus in change, after deducting what she spent buying things for Grandpa Fu, left exactly six hundred twenty.
In the iron box in Xu Zixin and the other’s room were the household’s daily expenses for the next few months. The money wasn’t much, only two hundred thirty-two yuan and eighty cents, but there were quite a lot of various coupons.
The two of them: one was the deputy factory director of the steel factory, the other the director physician at the Second Hospital. Their salaries, benefits, and treatment were naturally very good.
Besides grain oil coupons, sugar coupons, industrial coupons, and other daily life coupons, there were also coupons for big items that were hard to get, like bicycles, sewing machines, watches, etc.
She sorted the money and ration coupons by category, put them into the leather bag, then Su Ning got up and opened the room door. Suddenly, a deafening roar exploded—
“Xu Shanshan!”
Early in the morning, for the usually gentle and virtuous Qian Huiru to lose control like this and explode in rage…
Tsk~ it must be that she discovered the money and ration coupons that had vanished from the iron box.
With a calm expression, Su Ning came to the living room. As if she hadn’t seen Qian Huiru with fire-spitting eyes, the sullen-faced Xu Zixin, and Xu Shanshan who was glaring in disbelief, puffed up like a pufferfish, she still greeted them obediently as usual.
“Dad, Aunt Qian, Shanshan, good morning~”
“Yesterday it wasn’t just me there. Su Ning left even later than me. Why are you only suspecting me?!”
Sure enough, as soon as she spoke, the firepower was smoothly drawn to her.
Xu Shanshan was so angry her small chest heaved up and down, her fingertip trembling as she pointed at her. “Why not ask if it was her!”
“Shanshan.”
A single soft sentence made the fuming Xu Shanshan shudder unconsciously, as if she had just realized she had touched some switch in her memory. The fingertip pointing at her abruptly retracted.
With a smile on her face but no warmth in her eyes, Su Ning looked at her meaningfully until she hid her entire hand behind her back, then shifted her gaze.
A person raised with a thousand indulgences wouldn’t have the spoiled and domineering temperament of a young lady, but she absolutely wasn’t as harmless and well-behaved as she always appeared in front of family, elders, and outsiders.
Besides her closest maternal grandfather, only Xu Shanshan, who had suffered a big loss, had glimpsed a bit of her true temper.
No way around it; she had always been favored by the elders and drawn close by peers and juniors. Even if there were a very few who didn’t like her, it wouldn’t lead to real resentment.
Except for Xu Shanshan. Again and again, she kept making clever little moves. When tolerance ran out, there was no need to tolerate anymore—just one time was enough to teach her a thorough lesson.
“I… I didn’t say anything wrong!”
Just thinking about it made her fingertip ache dully. Xu Shanshan pinched her fingertip hard, but her voice dropped several degrees as her head hung low.
—Why, why hadn’t she really killed her that day?!
Deep malice and vicious thoughts surged repeatedly in Xu Shanshan’s increasingly bloodshot eyes.
“Shanshan, you’ve disappointed us too much.”
Xu Zixin looked at his nominal stepdaughter, who was still quibbling with her head down, his tone full of disappointment. In his heart, he silently sighed: selfish, self-righteous.
This daughter was ruined. Sure enough, one not raised by his side just wouldn’t do.
“Hurry up. I’m saying it one last time: hand over everything you haven’t spent!”
Struggling to control the impulse to beat her, Qian Huiru kept reminding herself: she’s my own flesh and blood, my own!
Even if greedy, stupid, and troublesome, she was still her own flesh and blood!!
She couldn’t even come up with an excuse without using her brain. Would Su Ning take a fancy to that bit of money and ration coupons? Even if she did, would she need to steal them?
It wasn’t that she was belittling her own daughter; in terms of character and virtue, Su Ning was leagues ahead!
A mother knows her daughter best. Yesterday at home, it was just these few people. Who else could it be but her with a ‘prior record’ and habitual ‘petty theft’?
“I said I didn’t! I didn’t, and even if you beat me to death, I didn’t!!”
Shouting even louder than her, Xu Shanshan, tears streaming in grievance, grabbed her schoolbag from the chair back and dashed out the door.
“This wretched girl was born to torment me!”
Patting her nearly exploding chest, Qian Huiru’s well-maintained face alternated between pale and green, showing a rare ferocity.
“Dad, Aunt Qian?”
With just the right amount of puzzled confusion in her eyes, Su Ning looked back and forth between the two for a moment before speaking again. “Did something happen? To Shanshan?”
“It’s nothing, Ning Ning. You don’t need to worry about it.”
Qian Huiru smiled somewhat stiffly and waved her hand to indicate.
Xu Zixin beside her also nodded in agreement, glancing at the watch on his wrist: forget it, looks like no breakfast.
“Ning Ning, are you going out today?”
“Yes, Dad. In a few days, after filling out the volunteer forms, everyone will go their separate ways. Taking advantage of these two holiday days, we all want to get together one last time properly.”
“Alright, then don’t come back too late. Do you have enough money and ration coupons?”
“Mm, enough.”
Xu Zixin, in a hurry, stopped asking after a brief understanding, and left for work one after the other with Qian Huiru.
Su Ning, having enjoyed the good show, in a great mood, also quickly followed the two out the door.
