111 Good Sprouts From Bad Roots

When the gossiping women heard her voice, they jerked their heads back to see who was talking. When they saw Zhao Chuchu, their faces turned completely pale.

“Since you dislike me so much, why don’t you come to me and say it right to my face? That way, I can listen to what you have to say and see if I can make any improvements!” Zhao Chuchu tilted her head slightly and looked at them as she said, “I may not be able to hear you if you speak behind my back.”

“We were just speaking nonsense because we had nothing better to do. So please don’t take it to heart, Chuchu.”

“Yeah, yeah, Chuchu, you’re such a capable person. Everything you do must be right!”

!!
“Oh crap, Chuchu, I just remembered that I haven’t fed the chickens and ducks at home. So I’ll go first.”

The moment Zhao Chuchu appeared, all these people scattered like birds in a forest.

“Cowards!” Zhao Chuchu sneered, then turned and walked toward Zhao Guitang’s place.

Zhao Guitang’s leg was much better now. Besides needing help from Madam He when showering, he was pretty much able to live normally on his own.

When Zhao Meilan saw Zhao Chuchu heading over, she walked forward and greeted her, “Chuchu, you’re here.”

“Mhm, how’s your dad doing today?”

“He’s doing pretty well. He was sunbathing on the wall just now. I think he has probably laid down inside the house now.”

Zhao Meilan accompanied Zhao Chuchu into the house.

“Chuchu, I heard that you and the village chief are farming with a new method.”

“Yeah, you heard about it too?”

“The whole village is talking about it. I heard about it while I was doing laundry by the river this morning. Those people are all just speaking nonsense. Ignore them. You’re so capable. I’m sure it’ll work.”

Zhao Chuchu looked toward Zhao Meilan and said, “I broke your dad’s leg. Don’t you hate me? Why are you helping me?”

Zhao Meilan lowered her head and said, “Although my dad was forced to do it, he did try to rob you. He deserves this punishment. Chuchu, at the start, it was impossible not to hate you. But now that my dad’s leg is almost healed, I started thinking. Perhaps this is that thing about luck being a coin?”

“Good luck and misfortune are two sides of the same coin?”

“Yeah. You know how my grandmother treated my family. My dad suffered, but he and the family were able to leave that clan. So we don’t need to endure their bullying anymore. This is actually a good thing.”

Good sprouts can grow from bad roots. It’s fortunate that Zhao Guitang’s family could be so upright in a clan like that.

They’re rather reasonable people.

“Don’t worry. Your dad’s leg will get better.”

“I know, and I believe you. Chuchu, thank you. My mom and my dad both told me not to hate you. Although life is a little tougher now, we finally have something to look forward to. We don’t need to hand up all of our earnings.”

Zhao Chuchu could tell that Zhao Meilan was being genuine.

She thought about it for a moment, then asked, “Meilan, if I were to show you a path, would you dare to walk it?”

Zhao Meilan halted for quite a while before asking, “What path?”

“Would you guys like to do some small business?”

“Business?”

“Yes, have you heard of tofu?”

Zhao Chuchu had been here for more than a month. Yet, she had neither eaten nor seen tofu.

The people here farm soybeans but haven’t discovered many uses for the crop.

Other than feeding the poultry and cattle, they simply fried the soybeans and boiled them to eat as snacks to go with alcohol.

Soybeans have so many uses… it’s a real pity if they don’t dig deeper into this crop.

However, Zhao Chuchu didn’t want to start a tofu business because she was lazy. She didn’t want to wake up before sunrise every day to make tofu!

She had seen Zhao Guitang’s family’s character with her own two eyes. So she wanted to teach them how to make tofu as compensation for breaking Zhao Guitang’s leg.

“What’s tofu?”

“It’s a food made from soybeans. I saw it in a book. I heard that it’s really good. Would you like to try it?”

“Are you going to teach me?”

“Yes, but I have a condition.”

“What?”

“When you make money from it, I want 30 percent of your profits.”

“If we can make money from it, I’ll give you half!”

Zhao Meilan didn’t even think about the offer.

“Sure, we’ll discuss it next time. Let me see how your dad’s doing first.”

“Okay.”

Zhao Meilan nodded.

“Oh right, have you eaten? I’m going to make some egg pancakes. Would you like to have a try?”

“How’s your cooking? I’ll try some if it’s good.”

Zhao Meilan laughed and said, “I think it’s pretty good. I didn’t know you’re such a picky eater!”

“Yup, now you know.”

“Hold on. I’ll get some for you.

The He family sent the eggs over. They were meant for Zhao Guitang to aid his recovery.

Zhao Meilan didn’t want to cook pancakes initially, but Zhao Chuchu just said that she would teach them to make tofu and earn money. She felt that she should do something for Zhao Chuchu in return. She had the impression that Zhao Chuchu really liked good food, so she decided to make some egg pancakes for her.

Zhao Guitang overheard their conversation as well.

After Zhao Chuchu entered the house, he asked her cautiously, “Chuchu, are you really going to teach Meilan how to make tofu?”

“Yeah, but I can’t guarantee that it’s going to work.”

“I’m sure it’ll work. Chuchu, you’re such a capable person. Thank you.”

“Thank me? For what? For breaking your leg?”

Zhao Guitang’s face turned red as he said, “I deserved it for doing something stupid. Besides, you’ve cured my leg now, isn’t it?”

“Are you guys still going to listen to them for everything you do in the future?”

“No, after this incident, I finally saw who they really are. So, Chuchu, don’t worry. When you’re really teaching Meilan how to make tofu, I’ll tell them that you were the one who gave us the tofu. That way, they wouldn’t dare snatch it from us. It’s just that I don’t know if you’re alright with that?”

“Of course, go ahead.”

Zhao Guitang heaved a sigh of relief.

Zhao Chuchu left after changing medication for Zhao Guitang.

The scent of pancakes from the kitchen lured her away.

Zhao Meilan was squatting beside the stove and carefully laying out the pancakes.

“It smells pretty good. You’re a lot better at this than you seem!” Zhao Chuchu complimented her. She felt a little defeated when she thought about how she couldn’t cook anything but plain porridge.

“Try it.”

Zhao Meilan passed the cooked pancakes to Zhao Chuchu.

Although they weren’t as good as Xie Heng’s cooking, they were definitely leaps and bounds ahead of Zhao Chuchu’s cooking.

Zhao Meilan took the opportunity to ask her about tofu.

Zhao Chuchu explained it to her briefly.

When Zhao Meilan heard about the amount of soybeans they needed and the stone mill, she thought about how much money it would cost and started feeling rather anxious.

They had almost no money left at all. So right now, almost all their food comes from the He clan.

Zhao Chuchu could tell what Zhao Meilan was feeling troubled about. So she said, “I can loan the money to you, but you’ll have to write me a statement and promise that you’ll return the money, alright?”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“If that’s the case, how about we work for you and take 30 percent of the profits, and you can have the rest?”

Zhao Meilan was a quick thinker.

“Are you sure? Are you sure you won’t regret this arrangement?”

“Nope, you helped us. We’re not ungrateful people!”

Zhao Chuchu took a good look at Zhao Meilan.

Zhao Meilan was being genuine.

Zhao Zhizhi was inferior to Zhao Meilan in every possible way.

“I respect that. Alright then, we’ll go with that arrangement. I’ll get someone to settle the stone mill for you. It’ll be set up in no time.”

“What do I need to do?”

“Empty out a room for the stone mill.”

“Okay!” Zhao Meilan answered exuberantly.

She didn’t even think about whether this would actually work.

She had absolute faith in Zhao Chuchu right now.

She felt that everything Zhao Chuchu did must be right.

When Zhao Chuchu came out of Zhao Guitang’s house, she ran into Madam Qian.

Madam Qian frantically ran away as though she had just run into a ghost. She was afraid of being beaten up by Zhao Chuchu again.

Zhao Chuchu was speechless.

Her beating was pretty effective!