RGL – Chapter 112

Xue Mian’s mother couldn’t pull off the gentle and graceful style, so they had to go with a more dignified and grand route for her. Naturally, the colors needed to be deeper, and the patterns had to be more elaborate and substantial.

All afternoon, Su Min didn’t go anywhere. She stayed in her room flipping through ancient totem references and folk records, helping design embroidery patterns for the clothing.

It wasn’t until someone knocked on the door that Su Min finally got up to open it.

“Yanyan?” Su Min looked surprised to see Sun Yan standing outside. When she noticed Sun Qiang behind her, she was even more surprised. “Qiangzi?”

Sun Yan sniffled, her voice a little hoarse. “Minzi, is Auntie home? Can Qiangzi and I stay here for the night? It’s already late, and there are no more buses to the city.”

Su Min nodded and stepped aside, “Come in quickly.”

“Minzi, I’m planning to take Qiangzi to the city.”

Sun Yan spoke while wiping her tears.

Su Min poured them water and asked, “What happened? Weren’t you going back to talk to your parents about Qiangzi joining the army?”

“Don’t even mention it. My mom’s completely obsessed with money now.”

Sun Yan spoke through sobs and sniffles.

Sun Qiang sat silently beside her, head down. The atmosphere was tense. Seeing them like this, Su Min figured the talk must have gone badly. She asked, “How did your mom react?”

“What else? I tried every way to talk her into letting Qiangzi join the army, but my mom said it’s a waste of time. She thinks there’s no future in it and that it’s better for him to start working early to earn more. She even said she found him a job on a construction site, helping out with labor, and that it pays better than working at the inn. But think about it, how old is Qiangzi? And they want him doing such heavy work? What are they thinking?”

As she spoke, Sun Yan’s tone grew more agitated.

Su Min quickly handed her tissues. “Alright, don’t cry. Let’s talk things through calmly.”

Sun Yan wiped her tears hard. “Anyway, I told them—if they keep treating me and Qiangzi like this, we’ll stop seeing them as our parents.”

“What kind of talk is that?” Su Min shook her head. “No matter what, they’re still your parents. Let’s discuss things first. Even if it doesn’t work out, there’s no need to break ties.”

“I don’t care anymore. I’ve seen their true colors now.”

Sun Yan spoke angrily.

Sun Qiang added, “I don’t want to go back either. They’re always out working, and when they’re home, all they talk about is making money.”

Su Min figured they were just upset and didn’t take their words too seriously. As much as their parents might be in the wrong, they were still their parents. This was probably just emotional frustration talking.

Looks like her aunt really was obsessed with money now.

After helping them settle down and eat, Su Min went downstairs to find Sun Qiufang.

Seeing that Li Meng was also there, Su Min remembered that her mom once said their younger aunt still held a grudge over Doudou’s premature birth and had a barrier in her heart against Sun Yan and the others. So, she didn’t speak about this in front of Li Meng. She just said she needed to take Sun Qiufang back with her for something.

Once they were outside, she quietly told Sun Qiufang what had happened.

Hearing this, Sun Qiufang’s expression immediately changed, and she grabbed Su Min to head back inside.

“Aunt.”

Sun Yan had been discussing things with Sun Qiang when she heard the door open. She looked up and immediately grew a little nervous seeing Sun Qiufang walk in.

Sun Qiufang changed shoes and sat down with them on the sofa.

“I heard from Minzi. You and Qiangzi have really made up your minds?”

“Auntie, don’t try to talk us out of it. Qiangzi and I have decided. He’s coming to the city with me. We’ll find whatever job we can. We’re not going back anymore. Once we’ve made some money, maybe we’ll come back. No point in staying where we’re clearly unwelcome.”

“Listen to yourself.” Sun Qiufang sighed and shook her head. “I don’t like the way your mom acts either, but cutting ties with your family is not a good idea. No matter what, you and Qiangzi shouldn’t break things off with your family.”

Sun Yan lowered her head and stayed silent.

Sun Qiang, however, looked hesitant. He was angry at home too, but the thought of never returning made him a bit sad. After all, his parents had been good to them before—it was only in the last couple of years that things had gotten bad.

“Sis, maybe we should go talk to Mom and Dad again?”

“If you want to go back, go alone. I’m not going.” Sun Yan wasn’t like Qiangzi. She had held a grudge ever since her parents made her drop out of school to work at a restaurant. Over the years, her feelings toward the family had soured completely. Especially this time—sending Qiangzi to a construction site? That was beyond her tolerance.

Those places were full of adults. Qiangzi was still a kid. If he went there, it’d ruin his health. Why couldn’t their parents consider that?

Seeing Sun Yan’s firm refusal, Sun Qiang lost confidence and stopped talking about going back.

Watching the two siblings, Sun Qiufang didn’t know what to do. Before, she might’ve asked her brother and sister-in-law to come and take the kids home. But now, her relationship with them was strained, and every meeting turned into a fight. She wasn’t about to humiliate herself by playing messenger.

She decided she would ask her own mother to talk to her brother’s family.

Meanwhile, Sun Bing was scolding Zhang Guihua over their children running away from home.

“I told you not to fight with them, didn’t I? But you just had to. And now they’re gone.”

He spoke while slumping in frustration.

They only had these two kids—Qiangzi was his only son. Of course he cared. He never wanted Qiangzi to work on a construction site. If his wife hadn’t insisted, he never would’ve agreed. And now, the kids were truly gone.

Zhang Guihua felt upset too.

Her daughter kept praising Sun Qiufang, which clearly meant she looked down on her own parents.

Especially Yanzi—she even said she was obsessed with money.

Didn’t they realize she worked so hard to make money for their sake? She and Sun Bing skimped and saved not for themselves, but to build a better life for the family. She didn’t spend lavishly. Yet now they were being accused of being selfish landlords.

Her own daughter treated her like an enemy while being close to her sworn rival. How could she accept that?

“That damn girl, always siding with outsiders.”

“How is it siding with outsiders? Isn’t Qiufang still part of the Sun family? Yanyan’s doing well thanks to Minzi and them. Can’t you acknowledge that?” Sun Bing snapped.

Zhang Guihua turned red with anger and jumped off the bed, pointing at him. “What, you’re looking down on me too? Fine! If you don’t respect me, then this marriage is over. No one in your Sun family is any good. I took care of your mom for all these years, and now she only cares about Sun Hai’s family, never about us.”

“What do you want my mom to do? Where would she stay if she came here?”

“She could’ve at least helped us talk to Qiufang’s family and let them help us build up our business. If they had helped us a bit back then, we wouldn’t be struggling like this now. Yanyan and Qiangzi wouldn’t be resenting us either. This is all because of them!”

Zhang Guihua cried as she ranted. Deep down, she knew they wouldn’t earn much as laborers. But it was too late for regret. She didn’t want to admit defeat and clung to her pride. If only Sun Qiufang had helped them out instead of being cold and indifferent, they wouldn’t have ended up like this. That’s why she’d been trying so hard to live better than Sun Qiufang.

But in the end, Sun Qiufang moved to the city, and Sun Hai expanded his business, while she and Sun Bing were still stuck at that shabby inn. Newcomers kept getting promoted through connections, while she and Sun Bing earned the same paltry wage.

She’d already argued about it a couple of times and got threatened with dismissal. She knew she lacked education and skills and couldn’t find another job, so she didn’t dare cause trouble again. These days she’d been bottling it up, and when her daughter finally snapped at her, she exploded too.

Sun Bing didn’t completely disagree with what she said, but now that everything was in ruins, he couldn’t believe his wife had been right.

“Guihua, why not just let Qiangzi go into the army? I think it’s a good path. Look at those who return from military service—aren’t they all respected?”

“What will he do after that? We need him earning now, or it’ll be too late.”

Zhang Guihua strongly disagreed. She believed she was acting in her son’s best interest. Sure, being a soldier was honorable, but what could he do afterward? No skills, no education, too old to start over.

Sun Bing sighed. “Guihua, Qiangzi’s still young. If he serves a few years, he’ll be ready to work when he’s back. If he starts now, he’ll just be toiling. He’s our son. We’ve been working so hard for him. I don’t care if he lives better than others, but when other kids are in school and ours is working, I just feel terrible inside.”

“I don’t care. If you let him go and he ends up with nothing, I’ll blame you. And don’t tell me this was Yanyan’s idea—she’s not that clever. It must’ve been that scheming Sun Qiufang. She can’t have her own son, so now she’s got her eyes on my son.”

“You’re being unreasonable!” Sun Bing was furious and shaking with frustration.

After a while, he said, “I’m going back to the countryside. If you don’t want to come, stay here alone. I’m done with city life.”

He’d finally realized that good times required capability. If he didn’t have it, he should stop pushing himself. He admitted he was just an ordinary man. He’d go back to the village and live a simple life. At least there, his family had once been happy.

In all their years of marriage, this was the first time Sun Bing had openly defied Zhang Guihua. In the past, he’d always done whatever she said. He hadn’t even wanted to move to the city, but he’d followed her.

Even matters involving the children were handled according to her wishes.

But these last few years hadn’t been good for him in the city.

He wasn’t smart, wasn’t eloquent, and couldn’t endure hardship like others.

He was often bullied by coworkers at the inn. When he told Zhang Guihua, she’d just go argue with them, which only made things worse.

Now even his children didn’t want to acknowledge him as their father. He was left wondering what all his efforts had been for.

“Guihua, please just listen to me for once and come back to the village with me.”

“If you want to go, go by yourself. Why are you so useless? Look at other men—they know how to make money. And you? Nothing but dead air.”

She pointed at him with a face full of disdain.

Sun Bing’s expression grew darker.

He wasn’t going to argue. After all these years together, he knew her best—she was too stubborn.

“Fine. I’ll go back and start farming. If you ever want to return, at least there’ll be a home waiting.”

Seeing that he really intended to leave, Zhang Guihua turned red with anger and stomped her foot. “How did I end up with a man like you?”

Sun Bing didn’t say a word.

That evening, Sun Qiufang told their grandmother about Sun Yan and Sun Qiang.

Grandma sighed. “Ai, Guihua’s like someone possessed. As a mother, she can’t just make all the decisions herself. She should ask the kids.”

Sun Qiufang replied, “Mom, you know I don’t get along with Guihua. I’m not about to go begging her. I’ll support whatever Yanyan and Qiangzi decide, but I won’t talk to Big Brother.”

“Tomorrow, help me take care of Doudou. I’ll go talk to your brother myself.”

“Okay. Just don’t bother with Guihua. She’s unreasonable.”

They were still discussing it when Sun Bing showed up right after dinner.

Sun Qiufang opened the door, saw him, and without a word, turned around and went back inside.

Sun Bing followed awkwardly. When he saw Sun Yan and Sun Qiang, he smiled, “Yanyan, Qiangzi.”

The siblings immediately got up to leave.

“Hey, don’t go!” Sun Bing rushed to stop them and grabbed them both. Sun Yan struggled and glared at him. “Why are you here? We’re not going back, and we’re not listening to Mom.”

Grandma and Sun Hai came upstairs after hearing the commotion. They were surprised to see Sun Bing, especially Sun Hai, who didn’t even know his niece and nephew were there. He was completely confused.

“Big Brother, when did you get here?”

“Just now,” Sun Bing replied awkwardly, especially after remembering how he and Guihua nearly caused Li Meng to have a miscarriage during New Year two years ago. He hadn’t dared visit since. He hadn’t even wanted to bother Sun Hai this time.

Sun Hai didn’t know what he was thinking, just looked at the siblings’ expressions and guessed there was trouble again.

“Sis, what’s going on?” he asked.

Sun Qiufang sighed. “Isn’t it Big Sis-in-law’s fault? Qiangzi just graduated middle school, and she wants him doing heavy labor on a construction site. Do you think that’s suitable for a kid like him? Yanyan and Qiangzi disagreed, they argued, and now they’re here.”