RGL – Chapter 155

Sun Qiufang resented her previous actions, so there was still a bit of distance between them. She was no longer as affectionate as before, though she still maintained a polite demeanor.

Sun Yan also sensed the change in Sun Qiufang’s attitude. That night, while lying in bed, she brought it up with Su Min.

“I know Aunt must think I’m bad, but I had no choice. I can’t just wait a few years to return home with Qiangzi, only to find our house has become someone else’s.”

Su Min felt a bit sympathetic toward Sun Yan, but she didn’t fully approve of her actions either. However, since what was done was done, there was no point in saying anything more—so she stayed silent.

On the eighth day of the New Year, Su Min received a call from William. He said the tickets were bought and they would be leaving in the afternoon.

When Sun Qiufang heard they were leaving so soon, she hurried to pack a bunch of things for her and even prepared a gift for Grandma Xue.

Thinking of Grandma Xue, Su Min also thought of Xue Mian.

Since that encounter at the mall entrance, she hadn’t seen him again. She didn’t know whether he was still angry or if things could ever go back to how they were.

The happiest person about going home for the New Year this time was William.

He was going back as the future son-in-law. On the road, Grandma Zhang briefly explained the situation—basically, this foreign friend had cleverly won over Zhang Qingqing’s grandmother.

Now that both Grandma and Grandma Zhang had agreed, naturally her parents were also won over.

With William, the foreign son-in-law, coming back home, many families in the village who had previously been waiting to see a joke ended up embarrassed. When Grandma Zhang talked about it, she looked visibly pleased and vindicated.

“Last time William came back, people were guessing whether they were dating. Many thought he was just playing around with our Qingqing. No one expected him to return again for the New Year. And now William has even discussed marriage with her parents. They’re planning to hold the wedding this year if everything goes smoothly.”

Grandma Zhang wasn’t just chatting casually—she was making a point. Now that the families had met, her granddaughter and William would naturally be spending more time together. Making the relationship official would prevent people from gossiping about Qingqing being frivolous.

Su Min hadn’t expected things to progress this far. In her past life, she had seen people being even more open, let alone Zhang Qingqing dating William.

And hearing that they were planning to get married made her genuinely happy. “You must invite me to the wedding banquet when the time comes!”

“Of course! You’re practically their matchmaker,” Grandma Zhang laughed happily.

She used to think William was totally unsuitable, but now she couldn’t be more satisfied. None of the local young men could compare to a capable son-in-law like him.

Being so pleased with William, Grandma Zhang was naturally even more grateful to Su Min for giving them the opportunity to meet.

When Su Min returned to her home in B City, she found that Zhaodi wasn’t there.

She had mentioned to Zhaodi that she’d be back around this time but hadn’t specified the exact date. She figured Zhaodi must have gone out to do some part-time work, so she didn’t overthink it. She tidied up the house a bit and made herself a bowl of noodles.

It wasn’t until it got dark that Zhaodi finally came back.

Su Min came out of her room and saw that Zhaodi looked exhausted. “Zhaodi, what happened to you?”

“It’s nothing, I just went to help out at the orphanage,” Zhaodi looked a bit uneasy and quickly changed the subject, “You haven’t eaten yet, right? I’ll make you something.”

“No need, I already had noodles. Have you eaten yet?”

“I-I’ve eaten too,” Zhaodi replied quickly, then added, “I ate at the orphanage.”

Su Min thought she was acting a little odd, but since Zhaodi didn’t say anything else, she didn’t press. Instead, she smiled and said, “I brought back a bunch of local specialties. Why don’t you sleep in my room tonight—we can snack and chat.”

“Okay, I’ll go boil some water first,” Zhaodi said and disappeared into the kitchen.

Su Min glanced at her suspiciously, feeling that something was off.

After washing up, the two of them curled up on the bed, eating homemade sunflower seeds, peanuts, and candies from the supermarket while chatting about the New Year.

Su Min talked about how her New Year went at home. When she noticed Zhaodi seemed absent-minded, she asked, “How did you spend your New Year?”

“I-I stayed at the orphanage. There were a lot of people there—it was lively. I even helped make dumplings. On the 28th, some kind-hearted people came and donated supplies and helped take care of the kids.”

As she spoke, a trace of emotion appeared on Zhaodi’s face. “I never knew before that there were such things you could do. These people—besides working—also organize volunteers to help out at the orphanage in their spare time.”

“We can help out too in the future. If we have time, we should go.”

“That’s what I was thinking too,” Zhaodi replied.

She leaned against the bed and said, “Su Min, do you think people who can love orphans can’t be bad at heart?”

“I suppose that’s true. After all, if they’re willing to care for these kids, they must have kind hearts. But… why did you suddenly ask that?”

Zhaodi looked uneasy and turned to her side. “It just came to me. I’m going to sleep now.”

She turned over, pulled the blanket over herself, and didn’t speak again.

Su Min called her twice, but when she didn’t respond, she just pulled up her own blanket and went to sleep too.

Still, she couldn’t help but feel that Zhaodi was acting strange. Before the New Year, she wasn’t like this. It had only been a few days—what could’ve happened to make her so preoccupied?

The next morning, neither of them went out. After lunch, Su Min went to the shop to check on how Sun Yan was doing.

Since they had already announced the reopening and order-taking schedule, there were customers on the first day.

By the time Su Min arrived, three orders had already been placed.

Sun Yan was overjoyed. “We just opened for business and already have orders. That’s a good sign for the whole year!”

“Since we’ve got orders already, let’s get started right away. William still needs stock too—we can’t finish that much all at once.”

Sun Yan smiled, “Grandma Zhang said she could recruit a few more people. We just need to find the right ones to train in embroidery. Then we’ll have enough hands and can make as many clothes as we want.”

Speaking of recruitment, Su Min also remembered that she wanted to expand and take in a few more embroidery apprentices this year.

She had planned to do it before the New Year, but with the holidays, it wasn’t convenient. Now that the year had started, she intended to finalize the candidates before school started.

Last time, Zhang Ning had helped her select people. But now that she was in B City herself, she didn’t want to trouble Zhang Ning again. Luckily, she was already familiar with the orphanage and could go directly.

“Zhaodi, let’s go to the orphanage together to pick some candidates. You’re more familiar with them than I am—you can give me some advice.”

“I’d rather not go… I still have some things to take care of,” Zhaodi said awkwardly, rubbing her hands.

Su Min hadn’t even had the chance to ask what was going on when she heard Sun Yan say, “If Zhaodi isn’t free, I’ll go instead. I’ve been wanting to take a look anyway. There’s nothing much going on this afternoon anyway.”

Since Sun Yan had spoken up, Su Min glanced at Zhaodi and saw her trying to avoid eye contact. Left with little choice, she nodded. “Alright then.”

The orphanage wasn’t located in a remote part of City B, but the environment was very quiet. It was said that when Zhang Ning founded the orphanage, she had put a lot of effort into it. Over the past few years, the orphanage had taken in quite a number of children, of all ages.

Before heading to the orphanage, Su Min had already called Zhang Ning, who in turn informed the staff there. So, when Su Min mentioned her name, the elderly director of the orphanage warmly welcomed her.

The children were thrilled to see a new big sister visiting. A few bolder ones even came over to play with them.

Su Min asked Sun Yan to distribute the candy they had brought.

With candy in their mouths, the children’s smiles grew even brighter, their joy bubbling over.

“Do you know Sister Zhaodi?”

The speaker was a little girl around seven or eight years old, with two pigtails and big eyes. She looked a bit like Zhaodi did when she was younger. Su Min felt a sense of familiarity and smiled. “She’s my best friend. We live together.”

The little girl gave a look of sudden realization. “Then why didn’t she come today? She left last night without even eating dinner. I saved an egg for her.”

Upon hearing that, Su Min was certain—Zhaodi had lied yesterday. She had claimed to have eaten at the orphanage, but this little girl clearly said she hadn’t.

“She had work to do today, so she couldn’t come,” Su Min explained.

“Oh. Then big sister, can you ask her to come tomorrow? Brother Shitou asked me to tell her he didn’t mean to make her angry.”

Brother Shitou?

Where did he come from?

Su Min quietly wondered if Zhaodi didn’t come today because of this mysterious “Brother Shitou.” Judging from her demeanor, it seemed very likely.

She took a piece of candy out of her pocket. “Little sister, who is this Brother Shitou?”

“He’s just Brother Shitou! He’s really nice to us. He even took me tree climbing once!”

From her answer, Su Min knew she wouldn’t be able to get anything more useful.

By now, Sun Yan had finished distributing the candy and came over to Su Min. “The director said the older kids are in class out back. They’ll be out in a few minutes and we can take a look at them then.”

Su Min stood up and nodded. “Alright.”

There were quite a few young girls at the orphanage. Last time, Zhang Ning had only selected a few, but later on, many more girls expressed interest in learning embroidery. They saw that the three girls who had learned previously not only found jobs, but could also help supplement the orphanage’s expenses. So, more of them wanted to learn.

The old director strongly supported this endeavor as well.

Although the orphanage was backed by Zhang Ning, it still cost money to feed, clothe, and educate so many children. The director had done the math—it wasn’t a small sum annually. And she didn’t think it was right for Zhang Ning to shoulder all of it alone.

The children at the orphanage were different from those raised by their own families. Their path forward would be harder than most. If they became too dependent on Zhang Ning now, how would they compete in society later on, against those with family support?

The director also wanted to save some funds for future children, instead of spending everything now. So finding a sustainable path like embroidery, which both eased the orphanage’s financial burden and gave the children skills, made her very happy.

With the director’s full support, Su Min was even more at ease. After observing a few children, she quietly noted several with good character. She didn’t mention them to the director yet—she would wait for Granny Zhang to come and then select the most suitable ones for embroidery from among them.

After saying goodbye to the director, Su Min and Sun Yan headed back to the shop to discuss selecting candidates with Granny Zhang.

Sun Yan said, “These kids are so pitiful. We have to help them more.”

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. All we can really do is provide more opportunities. Beyond that, we just don’t have the resources.”

Though Su Min also sympathized with the children, she knew her own limitations.

By the time they returned to the shop, it was already late, and the store was about to close for the day.

Granny Zhang and a few apprentices were packing up their embroidery tools. When she saw Su Min return, she immediately came over and asked, “Su Min, how did it go? Xiao Tian and the others are ready to graduate—I can take on more people now. You can bring in as many as you like this time.”

She was deeply grateful to Su Min now, and wanted to do as much as she could to help. But at her age, she feared she might not have much time left, so she was even more eager than Su Min about training apprentices.

Seeing how anxious she was, Su Min smiled and said, “Granny, I’ve already picked out a few potential ones. Come with me to the orphanage tomorrow. We’ll see which kids are suitable and make the final decision.”

“You want me to pick? Can I really do that?” Granny Zhang was a bit unsure. Selecting new trainees was an important task—was she up to it?

“Of course you can,” Su Min said. “You’ve got sharp eyes—you can tell at a glance who’s suited for this work.”

Flattered, Granny Zhang chuckled. “Well, I’m not one to boast, but back when I worked in the embroidery house, even the masters said I had a natural gift for it. I remember saying that Qingqing was more suitable than Panpan—and look, now Qingqing is making a living off embroidery!”

“Exactly! So tomorrow, we’ll rely on your expertise to find new talent for the shop.”

After closing up for the night, Su Min went home with Zhaodi.

Seeing the streets still bustling, Su Min pulled Zhaodi over to eat some hot noodle soup from a street vendor. Watching Zhaodi quietly pick at the noodles strand by strand, Su Min asked, “Zhaodi, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Liao Zhaodi’s face showed a hint of sadness.

“I went to the orphanage today. A little girl named Xiao Cao asked me to give you a message. She said Brother Shitou wanted her to tell you he didn’t mean to upset you.”

Hearing this, Zhaodi looked up, visibly embarrassed.

Su Min smiled. “We’ve been friends for so many years—like sisters. If something’s bothering you, talk to me. If it’s something private, I won’t pry.”

Zhaodi silently picked at her noodles, then finally looked up and said, “I met someone at the orphanage during New Year’s, on the 28th. He came with a group to donate supplies. His name is Han Lei. He’s a soldier. Everyone calls him Brother Shitou.”

“He bullied you?”

“No.” Zhaodi shook her head. “I was just too sensitive. He only joked with me, but I took it seriously. Looking back now, I realize I was being foolish. Someone like me… and someone like him… We’re worlds apart. I was just deluding myself.”

After hearing that, Su Min understood. Zhaodi had feelings for him, but he had only been teasing, not serious. That had hurt her pride and made her feel inferior.

“Zhaodi, whatever happens between you two, don’t look down on yourself. You’re already better than most people. We can’t choose our background, but we can choose to be better than others through our own efforts. If someone judges us for our background, then we don’t need to care for their narrow-mindedness either.”

Zhaodi’s eyes turned slightly red. She took a deep breath and said, “It’s really nothing. I just thought he was a good person and started to develop feelings. But now I’ve come to terms with reality. I’m over it. I was just in a bit of a slump the past few days. Talking to you now makes me feel a lot better.”

Su Min held her hand. “Zhaodi, I’m really glad you trust me. We’re sisters. No matter what difficulties we face, we can support each other. As for love, let’s go with the flow. When fate arrives, it’ll come naturally. And even if it doesn’t work out the first time, don’t lose heart, and never doubt your worth.”