Su Jianwen's mouth twitched: "Third Sister, is this the place you're talking about for making money? Out here in the middle of nowhere, make money with what?"
Zhou Jianwu also made a face: "Third Sister, you can't be joking with us, right?"
Su Xiaoxiao unceremoniously knocked each of them on the forehead.
"I'm not joking with you two for no reason, I'm not idle with nothing better to do."
"But here there's nothing at all, how are we supposed to make money?"
The corners of the little brother's mouths, which had just turned up, drooped again.
Su Xiaoxiao pointed at the mountains covered in mugwort: "This is the money-making opportunity I was telling you about. I met an old doctor who's buying mugwort in large quantities. Once we sell the mugwort, we'll have money, won't we?"
Zhou Jianwu was doubtful: "This stuff is everywhere, is someone really going to buy it?"
"Don't look at how it's everywhere in our countryside, it's a rare thing in the city."
"Really?"
The little brothers' eyes sparked with hope again.
Su Xiaoxiao nodded confidently: "Don't worry, once we sell all this, not only can we buy milk candy, but we can also buy a lot of meat."
Upon hearing that there'd be meat and candy, the two immediately perked up.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry up."
They each grabbed a sack and eagerly went out to pick mugwort, their eyes glowing as if they'd seen a treasure.
Su Xiaoxiao had to admire the hardworking spirit of people in these times.
The two kids filled two large sacks with mugwort in less than half a day.
And she...well, let's not talk about it.
She figures she'll be a useless beauty for the rest of her life.
It's not her fault; few young people in modern times know how to do farm work, naturally not as quick as the little brothers.
The two efficiently packed their own sacks, then helped Su Xiaoxiao fill hers before reluctantly calling it a day.
Each carrying a sack as big as themselves, they eagerly ran up to Su Xiaoxiao to claim credit: "Third Sister, it's all done. Shall we go sell it now?"
Thinking about getting money, the two little brothers were so excited their faces turned red, wishing they could immediately go and turn the mugwort into cash.
Su Xiaoxiao was speechless: "They want dry mugwort; we have to go back and dry it, then pick off the leaves before we can sell it to them."
Upon hearing this, the little brothers' faces fell instantly.
Seeing their disappointment, Su Xiaoxiao felt a bit sorry.
She quickly bought two meat buns from the store, pretended to take them out from behind, and gave one to each: "Here, today's reward for you two."
Seeing the meat buns, the little brothers' eyes lit up immediately, forgetting their earlier unhappiness.
Each shouldered a sack and nibbled on a bun as they walked.
With the hot bun in their bellies, they licked their lips, wanting more.
Zhou Jianwu sighed: "Meat buns are really delicious."
Su Jianwen also licked his lips: "If I could eat meat buns every day, it'd be worth dying for."
Su Xiaoxiao looked at them with disdain: "Look at how little you aspire, when Third Sister earns money, we'll eat meat buns every day."
"Third Sister, we're not dumb. Even the chairman wouldn't dare think of eating meat buns every day."
They pouted, obviously not believing.
As they spoke, the three of them were nearing home, and as they got closer, they saw a crowd gathered at the door.
"What's happened at the Su Family? Why are the police called?"
"Look at that girl's belly, could it be that the second son of the Su Family did something disgraceful?"
"Ugh, like father like son, the elder acts immorally, and the younger ones look decent but turn out to be trash."
Su Xiaoxiao heard the surrounding gossip, and her heart sank. Could something have happened at home?
She hurriedly handed her sack to Su Jianwen and quickly squeezed through the crowd.
As soon as she entered, she saw two upright police officers standing in the yard.
Beside them was a young girl with a pregnant belly.
The girl looked about seventeen or eighteen, with a delicate face but overly thin, a pointy chin, and eyes that seemed unusually large.
She was silently shedding tears, her clear big eyes looking pitifully at Su Fusheng.
What was going on?
Just as Su Xiaoxiao was perplexed, Su Fusheng spoke up: "You've seen my family's situation, there's really no extra space for you to stay."
"Brother Fusheng, please let me stay. I don't need to sleep indoors, I can sleep on the ground in the yard."
"I have no family left. If you don't look after me, I really don't know what to do."
Xu Zhaodi was holding Su Fusheng's sleeve, pleading.
The people around looked at Su Fusheng with even more disdain upon hearing this.
"Just like his father, pretending to be decent but actually shameless!"
"Ugh, ditching responsibility now that her belly's big, scoundrel!"
Su Xiaoxiao frowned too. Though her second brother had been a bit unruly since childhood, he had a strong sense of justice and wouldn't do something so despicable.
Could there be some misunderstanding?
Thinking this, she squeezed through the crowd and went inside.
"Second Brother, who is this woman?"
She asked in confusion. The girl blushed immediately upon seeing her, loosened her grip, and nervously tugged at her dress.
Before Su Fusheng could answer, a disdainful snort came from the crowd: "Who else? Obviously your brother bullied the girl and doesn't want to take responsibility, so she came to confront him."
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhaodi immediately went pale: "Don't talk nonsense. Brother Fusheng isn't like that. My child has nothing to do with him."
"How could there be nothing? You're crying like that?"
"Girl, don't be afraid, there are so many of us here today. We'll make the Old Su Family answer for this."
Someone shouted indignantly.
"It's not like that, things aren't as you think."
Xu Zhaodi was red-faced and anxious.
But the onlookers didn't believe her explanation, glaring at Su Fusheng disdainfully.
"Ugh, just like his father, appearing decent but actually a scoundrel."
"Who knows what lies he's told the girl to make her speak for him."
"If the child isn't the Su kid's, why doesn't the girl say whose it is?"
Xu Zhaodi was so anxious she started crying again.
The two police officers standing nearby couldn't stand it anymore, and the elder one, Police Zhao, spoke first.
"Comrade Su Fusheng is a very outstanding comrade. He helped us catch three human traffickers this time, so don't slander him."
As soon as he finished, someone murmured in the crowd: "Ugh, who knows if it's true? Maybe he's in cahoots with the traffickers."
Police Zhao's forehead vein twitched, about to speak, when a trembling yet firm voice came from behind him.