RGL – Chapter 12

Su Changgui’s family lived in a dorm for teachers and staff. According to her dad, they used to live in a shared building with communal bathrooms, but thanks to recent benefits, they’d been reassigned a new place. Now they had two bedrooms and a small living room.

Su Min had been to Su Changgui’s place before, but that was back when he had just moved into a bigger apartment. She had never been to this staff dorm he was living in now.

Once they entered the residential compound, they couldn’t help but feel a tinge of envy as they looked around at the warmly lit windows of the multi-story buildings.

Living in a place like this—that’s what it meant to have really settled down in the city.

Su Changgui’s home was on the third floor. When they got to the door, Su Changrong knocked several times before a voice finally answered from inside.

After a moment, the door opened. Standing there was a girl around eleven or twelve years old.

Su Min recognized her immediately—her younger cousin, Su Wenwen, her third uncle’s daughter, who had always been pampered like a little princess.

Su Wenwen looked a lot like her mother, Gao Hong. She had big eyes, but instead of being clear and bright, they held a hint of arrogance. Just like now—she opened the door, gave the visitors a quick glance, and without saying a word, turned around and walked back inside.

Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang felt a little awkward but stepped inside anyway.

Gao Hong came out from the kitchen and greeted them with a smile. “You finally made it. We’ve been waiting for a while.”

Sun Qiufang smiled back. “We stopped to pick up a few things, so that delayed us.” As she spoke, she handed over the items. “Just a little something, hope it’s not too shabby.”

“Oh, no need to be so polite,” Gao Hong said while taking the items and placing them on the nearby table. “We already have all of this at home. The fridge is full—we can’t even finish it all. You went and bought more? That’s just a waste of money. Next time, don’t bother.”

While speaking, she brought out a few pairs of house slippers for them to change into.

Once they had swapped shoes, Su Changgui also came out from the kitchen and invited everyone to the dining room for dinner.

There were quite a few dishes on the table, and it all looked quite hearty. Seeing this spread, Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang were finally able to let go of the earlier awkwardness.

With all the food laid out, Su Changgui didn’t dawdle. He came out with bowls and chopsticks, saying with a smile, “Everything today was cooked by Gao Hong. Try her cooking.”

Su Changrong smiled and took the utensils, but he still felt a bit stiff. Even though this was his brother’s house, the bright and clean apartment made him feel slightly out of place.

He noticed Su Wenwen hadn’t come out to eat and asked with a smile, “Why isn’t Wenwen joining us for dinner?”

Gao Hong casually picked at a few bites and replied, “I’ll make something separately for her later.”

“You’re making another meal? That’s so much trouble. These dishes are great—just have her come out and eat with us,” Sun Qiufang said quickly, trying to smooth things over. She still felt a bit inferior in front of her sister-in-law. Even though both of them had daughters, no one in the Su family ever dared say a bad word about Gao Hong. After all, she had a proper job and was a native city woman. She rarely returned to the countryside, but whenever she did, their mother treated her and her daughter like precious treasures.

Thinking of this made her sigh inwardly. If only she, as a mother, were more capable, maybe her daughter Minzi wouldn’t have to suffer so much.

Gao Hong pursed her lips. “Taking care of kids—how can that ever be too much trouble? If she wants something, of course I’ll give it to her. That’s how we raise kids in the city these days—with care and indulgence.”

Hearing this, Sun Qiufang’s face grew a bit awkward. She forced a smile. “Oh? I didn’t know that.”

Su Changgui realized his wife’s words had thorns and quickly changed the subject. “Big Brother, Sister-in-law, when are you planning to go back?”

“Go back? Go back where?” Su Changrong looked confused.

“Back to the village, of course.” Su Changgui set down his chopsticks and spoke seriously. “Life in the city isn’t easy. You don’t have jobs here—how are you planning to get by long-term? Gao Hong and I can help out once in a while, but not much. In the end, you’ll have to rely on yourselves. You’ve got land and fields back home—why not go back and farm? That’s a solid way to live.”

Gao Hong’s smile disappeared too. She spoke sternly, “Changgui and I talked about helping you find jobs. It’s not that we don’t want to, but you know how precious jobs in the city are. Those with work had their positions arranged long ago—by and for city folks. People without any skills, like you, they’re just not hiring.”

“What are you two even saying?” Su Changrong was stunned. “When did I ever ask you to help me find a job? I’ve got my hands and feet—I’m perfectly capable of earning my own keep. Why do I have to go back to the village?”

As he spoke, he set his bowl and chopsticks down on the table. The good mood he’d had earlier completely vanished. He had come to his brother’s home for a family visit, not to be insulted.

Su Changgui hadn’t expected his suggestion would be met with such strong resistance from his older brother. He suddenly felt a wave of frustration—like they were simply talking past each other.

Just as he was about to speak again, his sister-in-law, Sun Qiufang, chimed in. “Exactly. This job collecting recyclables is working out fine for us. Why are you two making a fuss? If things were so great back in the village, Changrong and I wouldn’t have come out here. Life here has actually been good for us.”

“What’s good about it? You think collecting garbage is something to be proud of? What if you run into someone you know—how could you hold your head up? Just thinking about it makes me feel embarrassed for you,” Su Changgui said, his face flushed with agitation. If word got out that his own older brother was collecting trash, how could he even show his face at school?

Su Min couldn’t listen any longer. “Third Uncle, what’s there to be embarrassed about? We’re not stealing or robbing anyone. We’re earning money through honest work—what’s shameful about that? You’re an educated man—how can you be so narrow-minded?”

“Minzi, I’m talking to your parents. What are you butting in for?” Su Changgui, who was used to being the sole authority figure in front of students at school, instantly lost his temper when his niece talked back to him.

“I may be a kid, but what I said makes sense. Even adults should listen when something makes sense,” Su Min shot back, unafraid.

“You really don’t know your place,” Su Changgui said, glaring at her, before turning back to Su Changrong. “Big Brother, listen to me—if things were manageable back in the village, no one would come to the city and do this kind of work. Didn’t you used to live quite well in the village? Why come here to suffer like this? Sure, collecting recyclables isn’t stealing or robbing—but what about begging? That’s not stealing or robbing either, but how many people actually respect beggars?”

Hearing his brother compare him to a beggar, Su Changrong’s anger surged, and his face turned bright red. “Begging? So now you’re comparing me to a beggar?”

“Big Brother, I was just making a point. But look—you can’t even respect beggars who don’t steal or rob. So how can you think collecting trash is something dignified?”

At that moment, Su Changgui felt like there was just no getting through to his brother. The gap in their way of thinking was simply too wide.

Su Min, seeing that her parents were staying quiet, worried that they might actually be swayed by this and decide to go back. She stood up abruptly, angry. “Third Uncle, I thought you wanted us to live a better life. But now I see—you’re just worried we’ll embarrass you. We’re making good money collecting recyclables. If we go back, we’ll have to deal with Grandma and Auntie’s faces again. Can’t you think about things from our perspective for once? Do you even know how hard my mom and dad have had it all these years?”

Her words left Su Changgui red in the face. He had never been scolded by a kid before. He glared at Su Min. “How can you be so rude?”

But Sun Qiufang also spoke up, her voice heavy with emotion. “Minzi is right. You two weren’t home—you don’t know what life was really like there. Father gave the job that was supposed to go to Changrong to Changfu instead. We worked the land all these years, but we’ve never seen a single penny from the harvest. During the property split, all we got was a little over a hundred yuan. You tell me—how are we supposed to live on that?”

Su Changgui hadn’t known any of this. He had assumed his brother and sister-in-law came to the city simply chasing a better life. But now, hearing this, he also thought of how kind their parents had always been—at least toward him. Every time they saw him, they greeted him with smiles. How could they treat their eldest son so differently?

He sighed. “Mom and Dad are getting old… You should try to understand them. The job went to Second Brother, but working the fields is still decent, isn’t it?”

“Changgui, that’s enough,” Su Changrong stood up, his voice tight with frustration. “I shouldn’t have come today. We were brothers getting along just fine, and now look at this mess. I may not be as educated as you, but I know perfectly well what kind of work this is and whether I should be ashamed of it.”

He had come today genuinely happy to visit his brother. But now he saw—his brother had only wanted to convince him to go back. He had already been hurt by his second brother’s family in the village, and now in the city, his third brother couldn’t even accept him. Every word they said carried the same message—they were ashamed of him picking through garbage. No one really had his best interests at heart.

He finally understood—he couldn’t rely on his brothers. If he wanted to live, he’d have to rely on himself.

“Big Brother, why are you being so unreasonable?” Su Changgui said, looking utterly helpless.

Gao Hong, seeing that the family was unwilling to listen and still acting this way, dropped her pretense and spoke coldly, “Changgui, don’t bother trying anymore. They’ve made up their minds. No point getting involved—you’ll just end up the bad guy.”

“Hmph, fine. I won’t care anymore,” Su Changgui muttered, his face stormy as he sat back down.

Seeing how his brother and sister-in-law were acting, Su Changrong felt awful and no longer wanted to stay. “Forget the meal. We’re heading back. Got work tomorrow anyway.”

He stood up, walked toward the door, and began changing his shoes.

Sun Qiufang quickly pulled Su Min along and followed him.

Su Min glanced back at Su Changgui. She hadn’t originally wanted to fall out with her third uncle—especially since he truly had helped them out of sincerity back then. But now that she had a second chance at life, she didn’t want her family to ever again wrong themselves just to accommodate others.

After Su Changgui and his wife watched the family leave without trying to stop them, only after the door was shut did Gao Hong stand up in annoyance. “This is all your fault—you never manage to do anything right. Had to drag them back for a meal, had to go on and on trying to persuade them. What’s there to persuade? If we run into them on the street, just pretend we don’t know them. Picking up junk, seriously… your whole family really will do any kind of work.”

“I don’t want to be relatives with people who scavenge trash,” Su Wenwen suddenly emerged from her room, her round face filled with disgust. “Didn’t you see the patches on their clothes? I really don’t know what Uncle’s family is thinking.”

“Whatever they’re thinking is their business. As long as you pretend not to know them when you see them, that’s enough,” Gao Hong said. She didn’t want people knowing she had relatives who picked up trash. Back when they were farming in the countryside, at least they could still claim to be poor peasants—pure and proper roots, somewhat acceptable. But scavenging? What kind of respectable life was that?

“Enough, you two stop talking. They’re still my elder brother and sister-in-law—am I really supposed to ignore them?” Su Changgui scolded angrily.

But Gao Hong wasn’t one to back down. She raised her chin and glared at him. “Oh, now you can yell at me, huh? How come you weren’t like this when we first got married? If it weren’t for my dad pulling strings, you think you could’ve gotten into the central elementary school? Now that you’ve got some status, you don’t see me as a person anymore? I haven’t even mentioned how your brother and sister-in-law behaved just now—bringing fruit we don’t even eat in our house!”

Su Changgui had long gotten used to being dominated by Gao Hong. Now that her temper was flaring, he felt nothing but irritation. “Fine, fine, I didn’t say anything, okay? I’m going to get back to work.”

With that, he stood up and walked into the room. Gao Hong sat in the dining room, fuming. Marrying a man had brought her a whole pile of trouble—if she’d known earlier, she’d never have married a farmer.

Outside, Su Changrong and his family had left in low spirits.

Su Changrong said, “Changgui used to treat me pretty well. How did things come to this?”

Su Min said, “Dad, Third Uncle’s been living in the city all these years—people change. You don’t see him often, so how could you know what he’s thinking? He just looks down on us now because we pick up junk. But once we actually achieve something, he’ll realize his mindset is wrong.”

Sun Qiufang was also fired up. “Exactly. We just have to work hard and build something up. When we’ve made money and bought a house in the city, let’s see who still dares to look down on us!”

Su Changrong nodded. “You’re right. The more your third uncle looks down on us, the more we have to make something of ourselves. Scavenging isn’t shameful—we can earn money doing it.”

He spoke with a face full of determination.

Su Min watched from the side and felt secretly relieved. She hadn’t expected that her third uncle’s hurtful words would backfire—not only had they failed to dissuade her parents, they’d actually strengthened their resolve. Truly a blessing in disguise.

Over the following days, Su Changgui really didn’t contact them again, nor did he try to persuade them to return home.

A couple of times, when Sun Qiufang spotted Gao Hong on the street and tried to greet her, Gao Hong acted like she didn’t even see her and just walked away. That’s when Sun Qiufang realized her sister-in-law didn’t want anything to do with them. So after that, whenever they saw each other, both sides pretended not to notice.

Two months later, the weather started to turn cold.

But after two months of hard work, the family’s savings had also grown. Including the money they brought from the village, the amount Sun Hai had given them, and what they’d earned, they had over 600 yuan saved.

Worried about keeping that much cash at home, Su Min had Sun Qiufang take 500 yuan to the bank to deposit it, leaving just over 100 yuan as emergency funds.

Although earning money made them happy, more and more people were now scavenging, and their income wasn’t as high as it had been at first.

One evening, while tallying the day’s earnings, both Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang looked a little down.

“Starting this month, we’re not going to scavenge anymore,” Su Min said as she closed the ledger. “We’re going to start collecting recyclables instead.”

She’d already been planning this for a while. Scavenging could bring in money, but it was slow, and what you found was mostly based on luck. Collecting recyclables was different—not only was it less exhausting, but the amount they’d get each day would be more stable. Earning the margin from collecting would definitely be just as profitable as scavenging.

Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang were both a bit confused.

Sun Qiufang asked, “Minzi, what do you mean by ‘collecting recyclables’?”

Su Changrong was also curious. Ever since he followed his daughter’s advice to move to the city and found a better life, he’d come to trust her instincts more and more.