RGL – Chapter 17

In Sun Village, the atmosphere of the New Year was in full swing. Every household was busy with preparations. When Sun Qiufang led Su Changrong and Su Min into her family’s courtyard, they could already hear the sound of someone chopping fish and meat in the kitchen.

“Mom, I’m home!” she called out toward the house.

“Qiufang’s back?” came her mother’s voice from the kitchen. A moment later, Grandma Sun emerged, her face lighting up with surprise and joy the moment she saw them. “It really is you, Qiufang! I thought I misheard. What brings you back so suddenly?”

As soon as she saw her own mother, Sun Qiufang visibly relaxed. She smiled and said, “I haven’t been back all year. It’s the New Year—I couldn’t not come.”

“Mom.”

“Grandma.”

Su Changrong and Su Min greeted her in turn. Grandma Sun beamed with delight. “Ah, our little Minzi has gotten taller—and fairer too. Life in the city really is different. She even looks like a city kid now.”

She turned to Sun Qiufang. “How’s life in the city? Are you facing any difficulties?”

“No, everything’s going well,” Qiufang replied with a smile. She glanced around the courtyard. “Where are Big Brother and Xiaohai?”

“Your brother and sister-in-law went to town to buy things. Xiaohai went out to check the fields. Even though it’s the New Year, we can’t completely neglect the work in the fields. Come in and sit down,” Grandma Sun said, ushering her daughter and son-in-law into the house.

They had just entered when two kids around Su Min’s age came running in from outside.

Su Min recognized them as her eldest uncle’s children: the older boy was Sun Qiangqiang and the younger girl, Sun Yanyan. She hadn’t spent much time with them growing up, so there wasn’t much of a bond between them.

Sun Qiangqiang and Sun Yanyan came in and greeted, “Auntie.” Then they turned to Su Changrong and added, “Uncle.”

“Hey there,” Sun Qiufang responded warmly and reached into one of the bags they brought, pulling out some candy. “Here, have some sweets.”

The kids quickly rushed over to take the candy, unwrapping it and popping it into their mouths. Their eyes lit up when they saw the colorful wrappers. After glancing at the bag with more candy, they didn’t even say anything—just grabbed another handful, stuffed it in their pockets, and ran off happily.

“Ai, these two kids are getting wild,” Grandma Sun said with a helpless smile. “They’re spoiled by their parents. They’re not as calm and sensible as Minzi.”

Sun Qiufang didn’t mind at all. She chuckled and said, “They’re just kids—it’s fine. I bought the candy for them anyway.” Even though she didn’t get along with her sister-in-law, she genuinely loved her nieces and nephews.

With her daughter and son-in-law back, Grandma Sun wanted to prepare a proper meal, a warm and lively family gathering. The whole family was always busy throughout the year, and it was rare to get everyone together like this. Plus, tomorrow was New Year’s Eve—her daughter and son-in-law probably wouldn’t be staying much longer.

Sun Qiufang quickly went to help with the cooking.

Su Min, meanwhile, pulled over a small stool and sat in the courtyard.

She noticed that the door to her uncle Sun Hai’s room wasn’t closed and felt a sudden urge to go in. The room was neat and tidy—not as filled with furniture or items as her older uncle’s house, but the cleanliness gave it a sense of order and simplicity.

On the table in the main room, there was an open book. Su Min walked over and saw that it was a high school textbook—an old edition, clearly not the current version.

She looked at the name written on the cover: Sun Hai.

Su Min remembered her mother once saying that her younger brother was a good student. If it hadn’t been for the family’s troubles after her grandfather died—and the cancellation of the college entrance exams due to national policies—he might’ve made it into university.

Since then, her uncle had spent his life working in the fields. He tried his hand at labor jobs, but people disliked that he had issues with his legs. He finally got a job at a construction site… and that was where his life ended.

“Minzi, there you are.” Sun Hai walked in carrying a hoe over his shoulder.

Su Min had just been thinking about her uncle’s fate in his past life. Seeing him standing there healthy and whole brought a sudden wave of emotion—she felt like crying.

“Why are your eyes red?” Sun Hai put his tools down, noticed the book on the table, and smiled. “Were you thinking about school, Minzi?” He knew his sister and brother-in-law had moved to the city, but schooling was tough for migrant kids. She probably hadn’t been able to attend. “Why don’t you come back here? You can live with your uncle, and I’ll make sure you get to keep studying.”

Su Min took a deep breath, steadied her emotions, and smiled. “I’ll be going back to school this September.”

“In the city?” Sun Hai wiped his face with a towel, then wrung it out and hung it neatly. He turned to her. “That’s great. The schools in the city are much better. Out here, we don’t get any good resources. If you can study there, you mustn’t take it for granted.”

“I know, Uncle. I’ll definitely study hard and make you proud.” Su Min smiled as she spoke. In truth, she was already a few years older than her uncle now, so she didn’t feel much like a junior in this conversation.

Sun Hai laughed, a look of yearning in his eyes. “Minzi, you kids have such great opportunities now. You really must cherish them.”

“But what about you, Uncle? You’re not that old. You could still go back to school and maybe even take the college entrance exams,” Su Min said earnestly. Someone like her uncle, who truly loved learning, would be a terrible loss if left to wither in obscurity.

Sun Hai smiled and shook his head. “Adults have their own ways of thinking. You kids wouldn’t understand. Alright, I’m going to go chat with your dad for a bit. You go on and play.” With that, he got up and headed outside.

Su Min watched Sun Hai’s limping figure and felt a strong surge of determination in her heart. She wanted to help her uncle—not let him live out a life as bitter and difficult as he had in his past life. But when she looked down at her own small, tender hands and thought about her current age and situation, that determination turned into a heavy sense of helplessness.

Right now, she didn’t have any real ability. The only advantage she had was over a decade of life experience. But even those experiences weren’t anything grand or powerful. If she wanted to change her circumstances, she could only take it one slow step at a time.

At noon, once the food was ready, her eldest uncle and aunt returned from the town. They’d brought back lots of meat and vegetables.

In the village, the quality of a family’s New Year celebration was measured by the variety and richness of their meat dishes.

Zhang Guihua was a frugal and capable woman, so she was meticulous about these things. She’d already bought some meat and vegetables earlier, but worried they might not stay fresh, she went to get more today. Unfortunately, prices were higher now, which made her feel a bit of a sting.

When the two entered and saw that Sun Qiufang’s family had arrived, eldest uncle Sun Bing’s face lit up with joy. “Little sis, brother-in-law, you’re here!”

Zhang Guihua also greeted them warmly, showing no hint of awkwardness despite the unpleasantness from their last meeting.

Since they were being friendly, and this time Sun Qiufang had come specifically to visit for the New Year, she naturally didn’t show any coldness either. She exchanged cheerful greetings, and the back-and-forth between them seemed harmonious and friendly—just like a close-knit family should be.

Grandma Sun had already started serving the dishes. As she set the plates down on the table, she said, “These were all brought over by Qiufang. There’s still plenty more in the house. I told her it was too much—why bring so much just to visit her mother’s home?” As she spoke, she glanced a few times at her daughter-in-law.

Sure enough, Zhang Guihua’s smile brightened even more when she saw how generous Qiufang had been.

“You must be earning money in the city now, huh? What kind of work are you doing?” Zhang Guihua asked during the meal.

She knew very well what kind of background her sister-in-law’s family had. They’d never been this generous before—if they were buying this much stuff after moving to the city, they must’ve made money.

Sun Qiufang knew exactly what Zhang Guihua was thinking and smiled. “Just enough to get by. It’s about the same as farming here. But now that we don’t have to hand over our earnings to the elders anymore, we get to keep the money ourselves, which means we can afford to buy some things.”

Hearing this, Zhang Guihua was somewhat convinced. After all, before the family had split up, all the money Sun Qiufang made had to go to the Su family elders. Now that she knew Sun Qiufang hadn’t made a fortune, the smile on her face faded slightly. “Let’s hurry up and eat. There’s still work to do afterward.”

Sun Bing raised his glass and invited his brother-in-law to drink. He only had one brother and one sister, so naturally he felt a deep bond with his younger sister. “Remember to come back more often during the holidays. Everyone here misses you.”

Su Changrong smiled and replied, “Of course. Whenever we have the time, we’ll come back.”

Then Sun Bing asked, “Is Minzi in school now? If she can’t study in the city, let her stay here. She can go to school with Yanyan and Qiangqiang.”

Before he could finish, he felt a sharp kick under the table from Zhang Guihua beside him. He winced in pain, startled. The others at the table, of course, noticed this exchange, and their expressions turned a little complicated.

Sun Qiufang said, “Minzi’s getting ready to start school again. Changrong and I are planning to send her to a city middle school next year. We’ve already looked into it—as long as we pay a little extra, she can get in.”

“In the city? That must cost quite a bit,” Grandma Sun said worriedly.

Sun Qiufang responded firmly, “For the sake of our child, even if Changrong and I have to scrimp and save, we’ll make sure she gets to study.”

Sun Hai smiled. “Studying in the city is a good thing. The quality of education is better there. Minzi, you need to study hard and get into college.”

“If she really could go to college, that’d be wonderful,” Grandma Sun said. “Her third uncle went to college and now he’s a teacher in the city—that’s real success. Maybe Minzi can be like him, build a life in the city someday.”

Hearing that, Sun Qiangqiang grew curious. “Mom, are city middle schools really that good? I want to go study in the city too!”

Sun Yanyan chimed in as well, “If Minzi can go, why can’t we?”

The children had never been to the city before and were full of wild, colorful dreams about it.