Back to the 1980s: Transmigrated as the Bigshot's Pampered Wife-Chapter 91: Stir-fried River Snails

The dean of discipline saw that both sets of parents had arrived. "General Sheng, Manager Song," he asked, "will your two families handle this privately, or shall we go to the principal’s office?"

The eldest son of the Song family glanced at Mr. Sheng. "Old Sheng, what do you think?"

"Let’s go home and handle it ourselves." Mr. Sheng had never been so humiliated.

He had also heard what Jiaojiao said to his wife, but Jiaojiao hadn’t greeted him at all.

’She must still resent me for cruelly taking out a newspaper announcement to disown her!’

Mr. Sheng felt that he owed his biological daughter far too much. He’d thought that if he disowned Jiaojiao, his family would finally be able to rest easy.

His wife and son wouldn’t be so exhausted every day, and he told himself that the Sheng Family owed Jiaojiao nothing.

Besides, he had deliberately entrusted Jiaojiao to Su Shuochi, who was a very capable man.

Although he was disabled, his salary was higher than most people’s, and with his disability pension, it was more than enough for a family to live on.

Su Shuochi was a hero of their time and had been his most capable subordinate, while Jiaojiao was a gentle soul.

With one so strong and one so gentle, their life together would surely be anything but a chaotic mess.

That was why Mr. Sheng had decisively published the newspaper announcement disowning Jiaojiao. Unfortunately, even after he had cruelly given her up...

...his family life had not become harmonious. ’If only I had known...’

And now, Jiaojiao had saved his wife time and time again. This made the typically decisive Mr. Sheng regret his actions endlessly, his heart a tangle of complicated emotions.

The only thing that brought him comfort was that after Jiaojiao got married, the young couple was as sweet as honey. Even the disabled Su Shuochi seemed more full of life and spirit than ever before.

Jiaojiao, for her part, was serene and carefree, enjoying a leisurely life. She had turned her life into poetry, living in a way that was so interesting it made him and his sons incredibly envious.

Mr. Sheng glanced at the disheveled Song Zijin and Yueyue, a wave of bitterness washing over him.

He swung his leg over his 28-inch bicycle and rode off toward home without a backward glance. He was a very, very busy man.

Sheng Yueyue watched Mr. Sheng turn and leave without a shred of hesitation, her expression turning dark and sinister. No one knew what she was thinking.

"Yueyue, come home with Mom," Mrs. Sheng said wearily.

The group went to the Sheng Family’s home together.

Meanwhile, inside the space, Su Shuochi had just watched a great drama unfold alongside his wife. He felt very fortunate to be by her side.

Seeing his wife go back to class, he resumed pasting labels on the packaging he had picked out.

In the space’s warehouse, there was purified water, all kinds of drinks, and various snacks. He had curiously tried a few packages himself.

But none of them were as delicious as the ones his wife picked out for him. ’My wife is so good to me,’ he thought.

Gu Jiaojiao had wanted to find a moment to slip into the space and check on Su Shuochi, but she never got the chance.

She thought she could enter the space by going to the restroom, but who would have thought that the public restrooms of this era weren’t like the private stalls of later generations.

They were separated into individual pits, but the partitions were just waist-high concrete walls.

Even when squatting, you could see the tops of the heads of the people on either side. How was she supposed to disappear!

Thankfully, the students didn’t eat at school for lunch; they all went home instead.

As soon as Gu Jiaojiao walked out of the school gate, she found a secluded spot to let Su Shuochi out.

She pushed the wheelchair, and Su Shuochi’s lap was piled high with things they had prepared for Sheng Shijing.

"Su Shuochi, I’m sorry. I haven’t had a chance to go into the space to see you. Are you bored in there?"

"Not bored at all, Jiaojiao. Your space has plants and spiritual energy. Breathing it in for a while is incredibly refreshing."

"Really?"

"Wife, how could I possibly lie to you? I’ll stay in the space this afternoon. It’s not like I can move around easily or do any work out here anyway~"

Su Shuochi said pitifully. He didn’t know if his wife would agree, so he decided to play the pity card first.

Gu Jiaojiao glanced at her husband. As if she couldn’t see through his little scheme. "We grant your request~"

"Your humble servant~ thanks you for your immense grace. My wife is the best."

"Haha... The feeling’s mutual. It’s great having you around, too. I’ll make you some stir-fried river snails when we get back."

Gu Jiaojiao hadn’t even realized it herself, but whenever she was with Su Shuochi, she would laugh happily. This was a kind of joy she had never experienced in her previous life.

Her smile was like a spring breeze, making even the sweltering summer day feel less oppressive.

Passersby on the road looked at the couple with envy, especially at the sight of the things on Su Shuochi’s lap, which made them burn with envy.

But everyone was wary of Su Shuochi, so no one dared to ask anything. Acquaintances would simply nod a greeting to Su Shuochi or Gu Jiaojiao before hurrying away, while strangers didn’t even dare to meet his gaze.

Once the two of them were far enough away, the chattering would start. "Tsk tsk, so what if Su Tuan is disabled? He can still come pick up his wife from class."

"Yeah, and Su Tuan bought so many things again. Can they even finish it all?"

"I heard Gu Jiaojiao’s family is all living at the Su family’s place. Of course they can finish it."

"The Gu Family members are all sickly. So Gu Jiaojiao must have inherited her poor health from them."

"What nonsense are you spouting? There’s nothing wrong with the Gu Family. I heard their problems are from starvation."

"How do you know so much? You’re not even their neighbor."

"Hah, you wouldn’t know. My cousin’s cousin is married to Su Tuan’s neighbor."

"Those country folk really suffered, but the Gu Family still raised Sheng Yueyue to be fair and plump. In the end, though, that girl refuses to even acknowledge them."

The passersby didn’t yet know that Sheng Yueyue and Song Zijin had made a fool of themselves in the woods behind the school.

Otherwise, they would have had much more to talk about. But it wouldn’t be long before they found out.

At the very least, those with children attending the school would find out when they came home for lunch. By the afternoon, the gossip would be flying everywhere.

Gu Jiaojiao and Su Shuochi could actually hear what everyone was saying, but they couldn’t be bothered to argue.

When Gu Jiaojiao got home, Sheng Shijing was already there, snipping the tips off the river snails. He had already finished a whole bucket of them.

’Has the matter been resolved already?’ Gu Jiaojiao wondered. Since Sheng Shijing didn’t say anything, she was too embarrassed to ask.

After coming back last night, Gu Jiaojiao had put the small river snails in a wooden bucket with fresh water, a little salt, and a few drops of oil.

She had told Mrs. Gu to let the snails soak for 12 hours until they crawled up the sides of the bucket, having purged all the sand and grit.

Then, they were to be washed clean, their tips snipped off with scissors, rinsed again to remove any shell fragments, and drained, waiting for her to come back and stir-fry them.

Mr. Su and the others hadn’t returned from selling liangpi yet. Gu Jiaojiao put on an apron and went into the kitchen to stir-fry the snails.

Mrs. Gu and Su Qinchun went to help. Mrs. Gu tended the fire, Su Qinchun chopped the vegetables, and Gu Jiaojiao manned the wok.

She heated oil in the wok, stir-fried scallions and ginger until fragrant, then tossed in the river snails, stir-frying until the little caps on their openings fell off.

She added Shaoxing wine, white sugar, salt, soy sauce, MSG, and a little boiling water, then covered and simmered for about 10 minutes before finishing with a sprinkle of pepper.

Gu Jiaojiao stir-fried a huge potful, and the fragrant aroma wafted out, making the mouths of the people talking in the living room water.

It turned out that Sheng Shijing didn’t yet know his sister had made a fool of herself. Sheng Yueyue had said something hurtful to him during breakfast.

After Sheng Yueyue left, he saw that his parents had finished eating, so he announced he was going to pack his bags and head to Zhang Weishan’s house to leave together.

He hadn’t told his parents that he was going to Gu Jiaojiao’s house to pick something up.