Koukou Cried

"That had better be the case."

The Police Officer lectured the couple a few more times before they shamefacedly cleaned up Xu Han's yard and left.

Before leaving, though, Luo Yangxiu shot Xu Han a vicious glare, as if saying: Just you wait.

Xu Han was not afraid. If soldiers came, she would send generals to block them; if water came, she would use earth to dam it. She had nothing to fear from them.

Watching their fleeing backs, Xu Han gave a mocking smile. Seriously, if everyone could reason things out, what would they need the police for?

Author's Note:

I originally wanted to write a scene of trashy relatives tearing into each other, but then I looked up at the sweet little story I'd labeled this as and quietly changed it.

Koukou Cried

With an extra plot of land, Xu Han had more space to grow vegetables.

But vegetable gardens were easily raided by chickens and the like, so she needed to put up a fence. The bamboo for fencing could be bought. There was plenty of bamboo in the mountains here, and buyers occasionally came to purchase it for people in the city to fence off villas and such.

Some villagers specifically cut bamboo to sell, at twenty cents apiece. Xu Han asked Auntie Li, whom she knew fairly well, to order three large bundles for her.

What delighted her most was that the out-of-season vegetables she had planted had actually started bearing fruit despite not being grown in a greenhouse: delicate, adorable tomatoes, fresh and juicy cucumbers, and tender, fragrant snow peas. In a few more days, they would probably be ready to harvest.

And the vegetables in their garden did not get bugs!

It turned out Koukou's urine not only promoted growth, but also repelled pests...

So there was no need for pesticides at all—completely green, pollution-free vegetables.

Having just turned down one million in child support, the penniless Xu Han seemed to see money waving at her. Every day, she stared at her vegetable garden with shining eyes.

When the vegetables were finally ready to harvest, Xu Han first picked a handful of snow peas, took a piece of pork belly from the refrigerator, and prepared to make stir-fried pork belly with snow peas.

Pork belly from home-raised pigs did not need any vegetable oil; it rendered plenty of lard on its own. Once the pork belly had curled up and turned golden brown, she tossed in the snow peas, stir-fried them over high heat, added some salt and a little water to dissolve the salt and let the flavor seep in, then added a little chicken seasoning to enhance the taste. A plate of bright green snow peas studded with golden-brown pork belly was ready.

Xu Han did not even bother getting chopsticks. She impatiently picked up a snow pea with her fingers and popped it into her mouth. It was a little hot, so she blew on it twice before biting down.

Though she had been prepared to be amazed, Xu Han's eyes still lit up the moment she tasted it.

The snow peas were crisp and refreshing, with a delicate, sweet fragrance. They were coated in a layer of sauce rich with the aroma of meat, savory, crisp, and tender, with an exceptional texture—so delicious she practically wanted to swallow her tongue.

For lunch, Xu Han and Grandma Qiao ate a bowl of stir-fried snow peas. Meals in the village were fairly simple, usually just one or two dishes; even three dishes counted as "lavish."

Yet even such a simple dish went better with rice than the standard three dishes and soup they had eaten in the city before, and it tasted even better.

After lunch, Xu Han fed Koukou until he was full, had Grandma Qiao take him for a nap, then grabbed a bag and went to the fields. She picked quite a few newly grown vegetables and headed to the village elementary school.

Xu Han and Grandma Qiao took turns delivering vegetables, and the school guard knew her well. He smiled and chatted with her for a couple of sentences before letting her in.

Xu Han strolled to the school cafeteria, where Auntie Zhu and several other women who cooked were washing dishes. Seeing her approach, Auntie Zhu dried her hands and came over, asking with a smile, "How come you have time to come by at this hour today?"

Xu Han lifted the bag in her hand. "The vegetables at home are ready to eat, so I brought some over for your cafeteria."

Aunt Zhu looked at the bag in her hand, which was packed full of various vegetables, and quickly took it from her. "It's so kind of you to think of us. That's a lot—wasn't it heavy?"

"Not at all." Xu Han smiled at her, then, seeing that no one else was nearby, lowered her voice. "Aunt Zhu, is there someone connected to the vegetable supplier here?"

Aunt Zhu immediately understood what she meant. She and Xu Han were fairly familiar with each other, so she did not hide it. "It was brought in by one of our grade directors, probably a relative. Honestly, I don't like their vegetables either. They take advantage of the fact that there aren't many suppliers in the village and give us all the bad stuff. They used to deliver twice a week, but now they deliver early every Monday. Some of the vegetables aren't fresh anymore after sitting for a week."

"I see." Xu Han had an idea. "I have quite a lot of vegetables at home, and I can supply fresh produce every day. If I wanted to become a supplier, who would be the best person to discuss it with?"

"Our cafeteria is managed by the vice principal, but..." Aunt Zhu said quietly, "he's probably taking some benefits from them. If you want to... you may have to prepare something too."

Xu Han could only marvel that someone would even take benefits over such a small vegetable supply deal. After thinking it over, she said to Auntie Zhu, "Auntie Zhu, help me with something. Here's what we'll do..."

The principal of Dongyang Elementary School was surnamed Qiu. He was no longer young and had spent his entire life as an educator. He cared deeply about his students, devoted himself wholeheartedly to them, and had taught countless successful pupils. Because he had diligently given so much to his students over the years, he had even appeared on provincial television.

That day at noon, after class ended, he went to the school cafeteria for lunch as usual—they had a teachers' cafeteria, though it was really just a round table... everyone gathered around it to eat lunch.

There were only ten faculty and staff members at the school, and they could all squeeze in.

That day's lunch consisted of stir-fried green peppers with sliced meat, stir-fried beef with snow peas, braised meat, smashed cucumber salad, and a soup that had not yet been served. Perhaps Principal Qiu's old eyes were playing tricks on him, but he felt that today's dishes looked better than usual.

The other teachers waited until he sat down before picking up their chopsticks.

"Wow, did the cafeteria get a new cook today? Why is the food so good?"

"Let me try it. Mm, really, this is the best smashed cucumber salad I've ever had."

"I hate green peppers the most, but today their aroma tempted me into taking a bite. It feels like a door to a whole new world has been opened! So good."

Rankings

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Transmigration into a Novel

Sweet Romance

Sweetness Is Justice