RGL – Chapter 20

That evening, Grandpa Su and Su Changfu came back.

When he heard that Su Changrong’s family had returned, Su Changfu was all smiles, acting very welcoming. Grandpa Su, on the other hand, was still holding a bit of a grudge, but given that it was the New Year, he didn’t say much. He just asked what Su Changrong was doing in the city, how life was going, and what plans he had for the future.

As the head of the family and Su Changrong’s father, Grandpa Su asked these questions seriously. Su Changrong thought it over and gave a half-truthful answer.

“Qiufang and I didn’t know how to do anything, and we didn’t have money either. When we got to the city, we rented a shack to live in. It was cramped, but at least we had a place to settle down. Then we started collecting scrap on the streets and selling it. It’s not much, but we get by.”

“Collecting scrap?”

Su Changfu, who was listening from the side, looked a bit uneasy. “Big brother, I really never meant to fight you over anything. There’s land at home, plenty of fields—why go to the city and do work like that? It’s embarrassing if people find out.”

Grandpa Su also thought collecting junk was a disgraceful job. His family had been poor peasants for three generations, and they had been labeled as ideologically sound back in the day. Because he had a loud voice and was considered upright, he’d managed to get a post at the commune. He had always thought doing business was shameful, let alone picking up scrap—that was even worse.

To him, if you wanted to live a respectable life, either you got a stable government job, or you stayed home and worked the land honestly.

“Changrong, I don’t think this job is very good either. There’s lots of land here, and Changfu can’t handle it all anyway. If you come back and help out, you could live a better life. No matter what, we’re family. If brothers don’t help each other, who else is going to?”

Hearing this line of reasoning again, Su Changrong started to feel irritated.

Even the most good-natured person would get tired of always being told to sacrifice themselves for others.

His expression stiffened. “Qiufang and I have already decided—we’re not coming back. If Changfu really can’t handle the land, then he can rent it out like we did.”

As soon as Grandpa Su heard this, his face changed. “Now that you mention it, I remember—how did you end up letting someone else farm our land in the first place?”

Just then, Sun Qiufang came in carrying a dish and overheard. She replied, “Didn’t Mom and Dad say at the time that Changfu had a job and couldn’t farm? If I gave the land to him, he couldn’t work it anyway, and we couldn’t just leave it lying fallow. So we let someone else farm it. A few days ago, Third Aunt even told me to pick up grain from their house. That’s our family’s grain for the year taken care of.”

She said this confidently, while Grandpa Su’s face turned green with anger. He slapped the table but couldn’t get a single curse word out.

It was the first time he realized that when his son and daughter-in-law stopped listening to him, no matter what he said, it was useless.

At dinner, nobody was in a great mood—except for Su Min, who ate happily. Many of the good dishes on the table were bought by Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang, and Su Min picked out the tastiest bits to eat. She was the youngest in the family and didn’t need to worry about being scolded for enjoying herself.

Grandma Su watched her eating big bites without offering any to Su Can and started nagging again.

Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang acted like they didn’t hear. Sun Qiufang even picked another piece of chicken for her daughter. “Minzi, eat more—you’ve gotten so skinny.”

Su Min grinned and took a big bite. It was delicious.

Grandma Su and Li Yulan were watching with sour expressions, and both quickly started piling food into Su Can’s bowl.

By the end of the meal, the two kids were stuffed, while the adults hardly ate anything—they were too full of resentment.

Back in their room, Su Changrong let out a long sigh. He truly couldn’t understand how their family had become like this. This reunion was more miserable than not reuniting at all.

On New Year’s Eve morning, Sun Qiufang was up early helping in the kitchen to prepare the feast.

Even though there’d been a fight the day before, she wasn’t the kind to just sit around and wait to be served. She wanted to prove a point, but she wasn’t going to ruin her reputation either—she didn’t want to be the subject of village gossip.

Su Min, meanwhile, was in the main room reading a storybook she had brought with her to kill time.

Grandma Su kept walking in and out, frowning, and finally snapped, “Lazing around all day not doing any work—lazy little brat!”

It was an ugly thing to say, especially calling a young girl a “brat.” Su Min raised her head and glared. “Grandma, are you going to make Wenwen help out too when she gets here?”

“How could you compare yourself to her?”

Su Min sneered, “Why not? Aren’t we both just girls, both so-called money-losing burdens? Or does Third Uncle’s daughter have more value than me?”

“Wenwen’s a city girl—of course she’s more valuable than a useless burden like you,” Grandma Su said, reaching out to poke Su Min’s forehead.

But Su Min nimbly dodged and said coldly, “What does it matter if she’s a city girl? You just like their family because they’ve got money. But does their money have anything to do with you? Have you seen even a single cent from them over the years? Hasn’t it been my mom and dad doing all the work to support you?”

“You little brat!” Grandma Su was furious. She stopped working, slammed the basin on the table, and went for the broom to hit her.

Seeing this, Su Min grabbed her book and ran outside.

“You dead girl, still running? I’ll teach you a lesson today!”

Grandma Su came charging after her, all wild and fuming.

Su Min looked back once, then ran even faster out of the courtyard. She wanted the whole village to see how this old lady was chasing her own granddaughter with a broom during the New Year—let them see what kind of person she really was. If Grandma Su had no shame, Su Min wasn’t going to protect her dignity either.

She had just reached the edge of the yard when she saw Su Changgui and his wife arriving with Su Wenwen.

Su Min’s eyes lit up. She ran straight toward her third uncle. “Uncle! Help! Grandma’s going to hit me!”

Su Changgui had just been talking with Gao Hong about staying at her family’s place after they returned to the city, when he heard Su Min’s cry. He looked up and his face fell—his own mother was chasing his niece with a broom. Nearby villagers had also come to watch the spectacle.

“Uncle!” Su Min hid behind him. “Grandma said I’m just a girl, a money-losing burden, and now she wants to hit me!”

She deliberately emphasized the words “money-losing burden,” then sneaked a glance at Gao Hong. Sure enough, her face looked awful, clearly holding back anger. Beside her, Su Wenwen tugged at her mother’s hand and asked, “Mom, what’s a money-losing burden?”

Before Gao Hong could answer, Grandma Su had already caught up. “You dead brat, get out here!”

Behind her, Su Changrong, Sun Qiufang, and Li Yulan had all come rushing over too.

Su Changgui saw the scene unfolding and felt utterly humiliated—not just in front of the villagers, but in front of his wife too. He frowned and said, “Mom, what are you doing? It’s New Year’s.”

Grandma Su, hearing her son’s voice, finally came to her senses. “Changgui, you’re back!”

Then she turned to Gao Hong with a completely different tone, “Oh, Gao Hong and Wenwen are back too—hurry in and rest.”

Her attitude shift was dramatic.

Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang had just arrived and saw her completely different demeanor. They both held back their anger. Sun Qiufang walked over and pulled Su Min close. “What’s going on here? Why is she always yelling at and hitting our Minzi?”

This was her daughter—her heart ached just thinking about it. What kind of grandmother treated her granddaughter like livestock, always chasing her with a broom? That woman was heartless.

Su Min said aggrievedly, “Grandma called me a money-losing burden. I talked back, and then she started chasing me.” Then she looked at Su Wenwen. “Wenwen’s lucky—living in the city, Grandma can’t see her, so she doesn’t get hit.”

Su Wenwen puffed up her cheeks unhappily and said, “Even my mom isn’t willing to hit me. If anyone dares hit me, I’ll smack them right back.”

Grandma Su was about to explain herself, but Su Min jumped in first, “Grandma said all girls are cheap and deserve to be beaten. We’re both girls—only Cancan is the son.”

Gao Hong’s face turned livid. She didn’t think Su Min was lying—after all, a kid, even a teenage one, wouldn’t make up something like that. On the other hand, the old woman really wasn’t very classy, just some bumpkin who couldn’t show her face in decent company, and yet she dared to look down on her daughter.

“If anyone dares to look down on my daughter, then we just won’t come back next year,” Gao Hong said coldly, not even sparing Grandma Su a glance as she pulled Wenwen along and walked off.

Su Changgui frowned. “Mom, I only come back once a year. Can’t you just behave for once?”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Third,” Grandma Su rushed to explain. “I just got mad because of that girl’s nonsense. In my heart, I really dote on Wenwen, you know that! You have to explain that to Gao Hong.”

As if that’d help. The damage was done, and everyone had taken note.

Su Changgui just waved her off and followed his wife into the house.

“Third…” Grandma Su called out her son’s childhood nickname, but no one answered her.

Sun Qiufang and Su Changrong also led Su Min back into the house. They’d heard everything clearly just now—Granny treasured Wenwen but treated their own daughter like livestock. That kind of favoritism was beyond unfair—it was downright heartless.

The Changgui family had only returned for New Year’s Eve, so they hadn’t brought much luggage. They just brought back two bottles of liquor for Grandpa Sug and some fruit. If they were in the city, this would’ve been considered a standard holiday gift between relatives.

Su Min glanced at the gifts and secretly laughed at Grandma Su. This old woman treated her third son like a treasure, but the guy clearly saw her as nothing more than a distant relative.

Even though their last meeting in the city had ended badly, Su Changrong wasn’t one to hold grudges. He didn’t give Su Changgui the cold shoulder, and since Changrong had already taken the initiative, Su Changgui didn’t stay upset either. They chatted and smoothed things over quickly. Even Su Changfu joined in, and the brothers started catching up about their year.

Before long, they ended up talking about building a new house in town.