RGL – Chapter 130

“He’s grown up now. It’s actually a good thing if he can be independent.”

Su Changrong didn’t really want to bring up anything about Su Can.

Ever since Su Can went to the city, he’d been worrying constantly. He often snuck off to the factory behind Qiufang’s back to check on Cancan, bringing him food and daily necessities. But what he found was that the brat hadn’t learned anything good—instead, he picked up smoking and drinking. The last few times he visited, Su Can even asked him for money. They ended up arguing over it, and after that, he stopped visiting altogether.

This New Year, he had been planning to talk to the old man and the second brother’s family about it, to see if they could bring Cancan back. Otherwise, the longer he stayed out there, the worse he’d become.

At the dinner table, for once, the atmosphere at home was surprisingly peaceful—no arguments this time.

After the meal, Su Changrong let out a long breath of relief. Every year during New Year’s dinner, they’d end up fighting, and it always ruined his appetite. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

After dinner, Su Changrong suggested going to visit Su Lan and her family.

“Why are you going now? I still have something to say to you.”

Grandma Su wiped her greasy hands on her apron, looking seriously at her son.

Grandpa Su, seeing this from the side, frowned and said, “Didn’t I already say? Since Changrong is back this year, we’re not bringing anything up. If you bring it up again, I’ll deal with you myself.”

Although Grandma Su was a bit afraid of him, she thought of her poor grandson—skinny and dark when he came back—and hardened her resolve.

“I’m not saying this for myself. You saw what Cancan looked like too. When he left, he still had some flesh on his bones, but when he came back, he didn’t even look human anymore.”

Sure enough, when the topic turned to Su Can, Su Changrong’s face darkened.

He had wanted to avoid causing trouble today since things were finally calm, so he hadn’t brought up the idea of bringing Su Can back. But unexpectedly, the old lady mentioned it first.

“Mom, say no more. I was just about to tell you—I’ve decided to have Cancan return to the town.”

“What?” Grandma Su stared at him. She hadn’t even gotten her words out yet, and her eldest son was already bringing this up?

She widened her eyes. “What’s the matter with you? Cancan is your nephew—the only heir of our Su family. Instead of helping him out, you’re dragging him back here? Changrong, you can’t just forget your kin.”

Grandpa Su saw her pulling this nonsense again and walked over to tug at her arm. He said to Su Changrong, “Don’t listen to her. Just go visit Lanzi’s family. As for Cancan, don’t get involved anymore.”

Regarding this matter with his grandson, he had never agreed with letting the eldest son’s family get involved. Last time, his wife and the second family had secretly taken the boy to the city. He didn’t have time to stop them even if he wanted to. At the time, he thought—if it worked out, fine. But now it looked like even the eldest son didn’t quite agree with how things had turned out.

He knew Changrong’s temper—not one to be overly tolerant—so Su Can must have done something really wrong.

Grandma Su saw her husband wasn’t on her side and shouted, “Old man, why are you pulling me? Cancan is our eldest grandson!”

Seeing them tussle, Su Changrong didn’t want to leave things muddled. He simply laid it all out:

“Mom, let me be clear. Cancan hasn’t been working properly in the city. The factory boss has talked to me multiple times, saying he can’t control him. And now he’s hanging out with all sorts of shady people and picking up bad habits. I’ve decided not to let him stay in the city anymore. He’ll stay here in town, where you all can keep an eye on him—so he doesn’t get worse.”

In his opinion, this nephew wasn’t someone he could expect to be successful—he’d settle for him just becoming a decent human being.

“Uncle, I really don’t like hearing you say that.”

Su Can came out from inside the house. Though still young, he had grown tall and strong. He walked up to Su Changrong, completely unafraid, and said bluntly, “Even if you don’t want to take care of me, you don’t have to speak so harshly. Uncle, I’m being respectful because you’re an elder—so I won’t argue with you today.”

“You won’t argue?” Su Changrong’s face filled with anger. His own parents could treat him however they liked, that was fine. But a junior like Su Can criticizing him—that he couldn’t tolerate. “I’m your uncle, your elder. What do you mean by that? Are you thinking of hitting me?”

As he spoke, he stepped closer to Su Can.

Su Can had always been spoiled and fearless. At the factory, everyone knew he’d been placed there by the boss, so they all coddled him. He wasn’t used to anyone talking down to him like this. Now, facing Su Changrong’s aggressive stance, he was instantly enraged and pushed him.

Su Changrong stumbled backward slightly, shocked at first. When he realized what had happened, his face turned dark. He reached out, grabbed Su Can’s hand, and tried to hit him.

“Stop it, stop it!” Grandma Su rushed forward when she saw her precious grandson being hit. She was afraid her eldest son might actually hurt him, so she quickly tried to pull him away.

Grandpa Su stood off to the side, not interfering. He was appalled. This grandson had actually dared to strike first—that was truly out of control. Remembering how he’d once injured his own grandmother, Grandpa Su felt a chill run down his spine.

Su Changgui and Shao Yun came downstairs after hearing the commotion. Seeing Su Changrong grabbing Su Can, they watched with a bit of amusement.

“What’s going on here?” Su Changfu and Li Yulan emerged from the kitchen. When they saw their son being grabbed, they rushed to pull Su Changrong away.

Su Changrong twisted Su Can’s hand twice before letting go. But seeing that Su Can still looked ready to fight, he raised his hand again. Before he could land another blow, Grandma Su got between them.

“You trying to beat him to death?”

“Mom, am I the one beating him? He was the one who tried to hit me! Can you believe it? A boy raising his hand at an elder—completely lawless!”

Su Changfu looked at his son and asked, “Is what your uncle said true?”

“He insulted me first—why shouldn’t I hit him?”

Su Can looked completely justified.

When Su Changfu heard that his son really had struck first, he gave him a light slap on the head. “So what if he criticized you? He’s your uncle, brat! How dare you raise your hand?”

Li Yulan quickly stepped in to stop him. “Enough. He already got hit—do you really need to hit him again?”

Su Changrong heard the blame in Li Yulan’s voice, as if he shouldn’t have hit Su Can earlier. He clenched his jaw and pointed at Su Can.

“You all saw it—he made the first move. I don’t need a nephew like this. From now on, I don’t acknowledge him. I won’t concern myself with anything about him anymore. You deal with it however you want.”

He grabbed his bag from the chair and made to leave.

Grandma Su quickly grabbed his arm. “Changrong, you can’t be like this!”

Seeing his mother still protecting that brat, Su Changrong was so furious he could hardly speak. He gritted his teeth and said:

“Mom, let me say this clearly—when this kid grows up, he won’t stop at hitting his elders. Sooner or later, he’ll even raise his hand at you and Changfu. Keep spoiling him all you like—but I’m done. Don’t expect anything from me anymore.”

After saying that, he angrily shook off Grandma Su’s hand and walked out with his bag.

Grandpa Su slumped into a chair, looking at the noisy scene at home with a lifeless expression on his face.

Su Changrong lost all interest after the commotion and, after sitting for a while at Su Lan’s house, went straight back to the city.

Sun Qiufang and Su Min had already prepared the ingredients for the New Year’s Eve dinner and were about to make dumplings when Su Changrong returned.

Seeing the dark look on Su Changrong’s face, Sun Qiufang was a little surprised.

Usually when he came back, although he might not be in a great mood, he was never this upset.

She quickly went over to help him with his slippers and sat with him on the sofa. “What’s wrong?”

“I got into a fight with Cancan.”

Su Changrong said with a stiff face. Thinking about what happened today, he still felt a bellyful of anger. Being shoved by a junior—it was hard for him to swallow that.

When Su Min heard that there had been a fight, she came over as well. “Dad, you hit Su Can?”

“I didn’t hit him. He laid hands on me first.” Su Changrong changed his shoes and simply explained what had happened that morning.

After hearing it, Sun Qiufang was furious. She slammed the table and said, “If they ever come looking for us again, don’t even let them in. That little brat dared to lay a hand on you? He must’ve grown some guts! Su Changfu raised that kind of son—what good could he possibly turn out to be?”

Seeing his wife getting angry, Su Changrong calmed down a bit and even started comforting her. “Don’t get too worked up. I’ve made it clear—I’m not getting involved in Su Can’s affairs anymore. No matter who comes, we won’t get involved. I don’t even want to go back next New Year.”

Year after year, he was tired of it all.

Seeing her husband finally come to his senses, Sun Qiufang agreed, “I think we shouldn’t go back either. From now on, we’ll just live our own life. So what if we don’t go back to the old place? What’s there worth returning to? From now on, it’s just the three of us, and Xiao Hai’s family—we’ll live well on our own.”

“Mm.” Su Changrong nodded with pursed lips, though he still felt uneasy inside.

He was upset when he first came back, but after being comforted by Sun Qiufang and Su Min, his mood gradually improved. After all, he had come to terms with it—he’d just live his own life. Su Can wasn’t his son anyway, and whether he got into fights in the future wasn’t his concern. He was done meddling in family matters.

That night, the family of three had a warm, lively New Year’s Eve dinner. After the Spring Festival Gala started, Sun Qiufang brought out the dough she had kneaded and began rolling dumpling wrappers. She also brought out the meat filling. The three of them sat in the living room watching TV and making dumplings together.

Su Changrong was chuckling at a comedy skit when he suddenly thought of Wang Mingsong.

“Wonder how Wang Mingsong is doing.”

“He’s still at the police station,” Su Min said with a smile. “Mom and I went near there today and casually asked around. We heard he got arrested in the middle of the night yesterday and is still in the station. Looks like he’s going to celebrate the New Year in there.”

Finally hearing some good news, Su Changrong cheered up. “Let him stay in there a few days. Just wish we could lock him up for good.”

“Dad, we can. I already have a plan,” Su Min said confidently. She had been thinking about it these past few days.

Wang Mingsong had to be dealt with soon. This couldn’t be delayed any longer.

But the previous incident had been handled too cleanly by him. It would be very hard to get him jailed based on that alone. So, if they wanted to put him behind bars, they had to make him commit another crime—and it couldn’t be a light one.

After much thought, she remembered someone. There had once been a high-profile economic case, and she figured she could draw Wang Mingsong into something similar. She wasn’t worried he wouldn’t take the bait. People like Wang Mingsong, who thought they were clever and would do anything for profit, were the easiest to tempt with such lures.

On the third day of the New Year, Sun Hai’s family also returned.

Since they had eaten New Year’s Eve dinner at Sun Qiufang’s house on the 29th, this time, after Li Meng and Sun Hai came back, they invited Sun Qiufang and Su Changrong’s family over for a New Year’s meal.

Early in the morning, Su Changrong opened up the supermarket, while Sun Qiufang and Su Min went ahead to Sun Hai’s place.

“Doudou, did you miss your big sister?” Su Min teased Doudou with a handful of candy.

Doudou saw the prettily wrapped candies in her hand and immediately reached out to grab them.

Grandma Sun watched the child play from the side but couldn’t bring herself to smile.

“Qiufang, things aren’t going well with your eldest brother and sister-in-law.”

Sun Qiufang had been watching her daughter play with Doudou and turned in surprise when she heard this. “What happened?”

“I don’t know what’s gotten into your sister-in-law. She didn’t even come home for the New Year. She only returned on the second day and immediately brought up getting a divorce.”

“What? Divorce? At their age, what’s the point of getting divorced now?”

Su Min was happily playing with Doudou when she overheard this and was shocked.

Her eldest uncle’s family had finally been on the right track—why were they suddenly talking about divorce? They had been together so many years and had two kids. What was her aunt thinking?

Grandma Sun said, “Sigh, I don’t know either. They’re still arguing about it at home. Your sister-in-law’s family even came over and said they support her decision.”

“What’s the Zhang family doing meddling? Divorce isn’t exactly something to be proud of. And they’re supporting it?” Sun Qiufang said angrily. She had been upset with her brother before, but she couldn’t stand him being bullied like this.

“Exactly. But your brother… I don’t know what’s gotten into him. After thinking it over, he agreed to it. If Xiao Hai hadn’t pulled me away, I wouldn’t feel at ease about it.”

“There’s nothing you can do about that. I’ll ask Sun Hai later—maybe big brother told him something.”

Sun Qiufang felt that for her brother to agree to a divorce, something major must have happened.

As she was consoling her mother, Li Meng peeked her head out from the kitchen and gave her a look.

Sun Qiufang said a quick word to the old lady and went to help in the kitchen.

Once inside, she immediately asked, “What’s going on? Why are they suddenly talking about divorce?”

Li Meng carefully glanced outside the kitchen door before turning back and lowering her voice. “It’s because of what I told you before. Big sister-in-law met someone from out of town. He runs a small business in the city. He’s a widower with just one daughter.”

Sun Qiufang was surprised she knew so much. “How do you know all this?”

“When the Zhang family came over to stir things up, I secretly asked one of the kids on their side. They all know very well. That man runs a business in the city and probably makes money, so they’re fine with the divorce. And big sister-in-law herself cursed big brother at home, saying he’s useless and that she wasted her life with him. She said she can’t stand the countryside life anymore and wants to live in the city for the rest of her life.”

“She’s completely lost her mind.”

Hearing that Zhang Guihua had cheated on her brother, Sun Qiufang was fuming. “Does big brother know?”

“Seems like he does. At first, he didn’t agree, but after spending a night with her, he agreed the next day. They said they’ll handle the divorce paperwork after the New Year. Yanyan cried for days about it. Qiangzi is still in the army and doesn’t even know yet.”

“What a mess. The kids are all grown, and they’re still making a scene over divorce.” Sun Qiufang sighed angrily. “It’s all my big brother’s fault—he’s spoiled her all these years, always giving in to her. Now she’s gotten bold enough to do anything.”

Li Meng said, “Second sister, it’s not that we don’t want to step in—it’s just that we can’t. Big brother has already made up his mind. There’s no point in trying to talk him out of it. Besides, she spent the New Year with that man and only came back afterward—there’s no saving face now.”

“She really dares to do such shameless things…”