RGL – Chapter 28

Su Changfu still held a grudge over the fact that his two brothers had refused to lend him money to build a house before. Hearing that he had to go to the city to invite them back for the housewarming banquet, he was very reluctant. Li Yulan also grumbled a few words beside him, clearly just as unwilling.

Hearing them talk like this, Grandpa Su sighed and said, “No matter what, they are still your brothers. Even if bones are broken, the tendons are still connected. They didn’t help this time, but maybe they will in the future. Besides, if our Cancan goes to high school in the city later, won’t he still need his uncle to look after him?”

Grandma Su also chimed in, “That’s right, and the third daughter-in-law’s family might be able to offer help in many ways in the future too.”

“What about eldest brother’s side? After the big argument and the separation of the family, he left right after New Year’s,” Su Changfu said, immediately fuming when mentioning Su Changrong. Ever since his family split off, the villagers had been gossiping that they had bullied them into leaving. What nonsense! No one had forced them; they had wanted to leave themselves. Especially during that New Year’s when the eldest’s family left so early, people in the village gossiped for a long time, saying he couldn’t tolerate his own brother.

Not just Su Changfu— even Grandpa Su and Grandma Su weren’t fond of this son anymore.

Back then, although they said he was useless, not making money and unable to bear a son, at least he was honest, filial, and diligent at home, taking good care of the few acres of land. Now, for the sake of a girl, he simply left, leaving the old couple to handle the farmland themselves.

Grandpa Su took a few puffs from his dry tobacco pipe and said, “How about this—you go once to the third brother’s place and tell him about coming back for the housewarming banquet. As for Changrong’s side, you can just mention it to the third brother and see what he thinks.”

Li Yulan said, “What if they come back, see our spacious house in town, and want to move back?”

“He wouldn’t dare!” Grandma Su said loudly.

Hearing this, Li Yulan felt reassured. After all, in the entire Su family now, only her Cancan was the only heir. If the old couple wasn’t thinking of them, who else would they think of? If Su Changrong and his wife really tried to take advantage of them, the old couple would be even more anxious.

Even though he was unwilling, Su Changfu still gritted his teeth and went. Regardless of the eldest brother’s side, the third brother’s side had to be invited. Having a brother in the city could always be useful someday.

Su Changrong, meanwhile, had no idea that Su Changfu was coming to the city. These past few days, he had been thinking about how to transfer his household registration into the city.

Ever since they moved to the city, life had been getting better and better. With the child studying in the city and the shop running, he had absolutely no desire to return to the countryside. So he thought he might as well get the household registration transferred.

But transferring a rural household registration into the city was tough—unless an official city unit accepted you. And now, with so many factory workers laid off, even if the situation were as prosperous as before, they wouldn’t want rural people without skills or education.

While eating dinner that night, the couple talked about it again.

Sun Qiufang said, “Maybe we should go ask Changgui. He’s been living in the city for years—maybe he knows a way.”

Although she said this, Sun Qiufang still felt uneasy. After all, they had fallen out with the third brother’s family. Now having to go and ask for help was very humiliating.

“Forget it, let’s think of another way,” Sun Qiufang shook her head.

But Su Changrong wasn’t so sentimental. Saving face was important, but so was getting the household registration transferred! Not to mention the issue of buying a house—without city household registration, their daughter would have to return to her rural registration for her high school entrance exams, and that was rumored to seriously affect test scores. What if it ruined their daughter’s future?

“I’ll still go ask Changgui to see if it’s doable. No matter what, it’s worth trying.”

Hearing that they planned to ask their third uncle for help transferring the household registration, Su Min quickly said, “Dad, Mom, don’t go. My third uncle and third aunt definitely won’t help. My third uncle is just a primary school teacher—he can’t help. And even if my third aunt could help, she definitely wouldn’t.”

Su Changrong frowned, “Don’t say that. We’re relatives. Maybe they’ll at least give us an idea. And we won’t let them help for nothing. If they ever need anything, we’ll pay back the favor.”

“No way. I don’t want you guys to be humiliated. household registration isn’t important—it really isn’t important at all,” Su Min said firmly. In another decade or so, there would be plenty of rural people working in cities; who needed to transfer household registration then?

But Su Changrong was determined, “Let’s not talk about the future—let’s talk about now. Your mom and I are thinking of settling in the city. We need to buy a house, and you need to go to school. All of these are problems. Without household registration, we can’t do anything.”

Sun Qiufang nodded, “Your dad’s right. These are real issues. You’re still young, so don’t worry about these things. Just focus on your studies.”

“Mom, Dad, don’t go. I don’t want you guys to suffer,” Su Min said stubbornly, even refusing to eat.

Seeing her attitude, Sun Qiufang got angry too. Raising a child well was one thing, but spoiling her temper was another. “We’ve already told you—focus on your studies. Once we get the household registration and buy a house, we won’t have to worry about anything anymore.”

Seeing that the mother and daughter were about to argue, Sun Hai hurried to smooth things over, “Alright, this matter hasn’t been decided yet, no need to get worked up. Minzi, your top priority now is studying. Let your parents handle the rest.”

Su Min realized her attitude wasn’t right either and didn’t say anything more. She just buried her head and ate quietly.

It was clear that her parents were very fixated on the household registration issue. If it wasn’t resolved, the matter wouldn’t be over.

After returning to school, Su Min was still thinking about it. She thought for a long time and finally understood: the household registration issue really was a problem. No matter what happened in the future, for now, it was necessary to secure a city household registration. Plus, in a few years, when the real estate boom began and housing prices were still low, if they had money, they could buy property. If they had a city household registration by then, they could even speculate on real estate like others.

She didn’t have any extraordinary skills, but she did remember which areas in the county would appreciate in value.

But how to solve the household registration problem?

“Xiao Min, what are you thinking about?” Xue Mian asked, seeing that for once she wasn’t doing exercises but was lying on her rough draft paper, scribbling.

Su Min realized that the two of them had developed a very solid deskmate bond. When they were previously asked to change seats, neither of them was willing to leave their “base camp.” They had truly become “partners through thick and thin.”

Su Min sighed and said, “How can I transfer my rural household registration into the city?”

“Just get into college. Once you get into university, you can transfer it,” Xue Mian said casually.

“I know, but that’s still a long way off,” Su Min said, then realized she was being silly—talking about such things with a kid. She frowned and continued scribbling on the paper.

On the other side, Xue Mian suddenly got interested. “I know — if you can find a company willing to take you in, you can transfer your household registration to the city.”

Su Min squinted and said weakly, “If there was a company willing to take me, would I still be worrying here?”
If there were a unit to accept her, everything would be solved. The problem was — there wasn’t.

“You’re silly,” Xue Mian said. “Nowadays, with so many people laid off every day, you can find an acquaintance to get you registered temporarily with a company. Once the household registration transfer is done, even if you get laid off afterward, it doesn’t matter.”

Su Min sat up straight when she heard that. “That’s possible?” Her eyes lit up. She thought it over carefully and realized this was actually a feasible solution.

She couldn’t help but smack her forehead. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Xue Mian smiled smugly. “Because you’re dumb.”

This time, Su Min didn’t argue with him. Instead, she laughed and said, “Thanks! I’ll think about how to find a unit willing to take us in temporarily.”

Xue Mian opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but after his eyes darted around, he ended up swallowing his words.

While Su Min was focusing all her energy on how to help her family transfer the household registration, Su Changfu had already found Su Changgui’s home.

But both Su Changgui and his wife were at work. After waiting for quite a while without seeing anyone, he asked around and eventually found Su Changgui’s school.

Su Changgui was correcting papers in his office when he heard someone was looking for him. He hurried to the school gate and, seeing that it was Su Changfu, felt a bit complicated inside.

The last time he asked to borrow money, his wife Gao Hong and his mother-in-law had ridiculed him for quite a while. Now that his brother was here again, was he here to borrow money again?

Su Changfu waited outside for a moment. Seeing the city elementary school and thinking about how his younger brother worked here, he felt somewhat unbalanced. Both were sons of the old Su family. He, Su Changfu, had stayed behind to support the family, and yet he only worked at a supply and marketing cooperative in the town, while his younger brother lived in a building, had a proper job as a teacher, and even married a city girl.

The more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt. When he saw Su Changgui coming out of the school gate, he forced a smile. “Changgui, am I interrupting your work?”

Su Changgui said, “No worries. What brings you here all of a sudden? Something wrong at home?”

Su Changfu smiled. “Nothing much. We finished building our house in town, and we’re inviting you and Big Brother back for the housewarming banquet. It’s set for the eighth. You have time, right?”

Hearing it wasn’t about borrowing money, Su Changgui secretly sighed in relief. But then he remembered he had promised his mother-in-law to visit on that weekend. Whether he could go back or not would depend on what Gao Hong said. He replied vaguely, “Oh, I’ll have to check if the school has any arrangements. If I have time, I’ll go.”

Hearing this evasive answer, Su Changfu’s anger boiled up. Originally, they had picked the sixth as an auspicious day, but specifically chose the eighth so that the third brother could come back. And now he might not even come?

Suppressing his temper, he said stiffly, “Whether you come back or not, that’s up to you. Also, about Big Brother, you help pass the message. If he can come, great. If not, we won’t force it.”

Su Changgui knew his brother was angry and felt a bit guilty. But when he heard he would have to deliver the message to Su Changrong, he immediately became reluctant — remembering the awkwardness from the last gathering at the restaurant.

“You’re already here, so you should just go find them yourself. I have class soon, can’t leave. They’re renting a place near Minzheng Street, in the workers’ housing of the Tempered Glass Factory. You can find them there,” he said hurriedly before quickly walking away.

Su Changfu watched him disappear back into the school building and spat in anger.

If the whole family hadn’t helped repay debts and support him with grain back then, how would the third brother have been able to study in the city? And now he treated his family like this — truly heartless.

Seeing there was still time and knowing there wouldn’t be any buses yet if he went to the station, he decided to head over to find Su Changrong.

Since he was already in the city, he might as well see for himself how they were living.

After asking for directions along the way, Su Changfu finally reached the workers’ housing of the Tempered Glass Factory, only to find no one there.

Aunt Chen, who had helped Su Changrong’s family rent the place, saw him poking around and thought he was looking for a place to rent. When she asked, and found out he was Su Changrong’s brother, she kindly told him their new address.

When Su Changfu heard they had moved, he stormed off toward the new location, grumbling internally. They claimed life was good in the city, but they kept moving — what was so good about that?

Thinking about his own newly built two-story house back in town, and comparing it to his big brother’s situation, he suddenly felt better.

Feeling smug along the way, he finally arrived at the new place — and was completely stunned.

Looking at the spacious single-story house in front of him, he couldn’t help but be amazed. “Big Brother’s family is living in such a nice house?”

Although it wasn’t a two-story house like his own, considering the city location, even a single-story house here was far better than his in the town.

He grew increasingly suspicious.

Weren’t they supposed to be scavenging for a living in the city? How could they afford to rent such a good place? The rent alone must be sky-high — maybe even higher than his salary at the supply and marketing cooperative.

The Su family’s door was locked, but in this neighborhood, the Su family was fairly well-known.  After asking around a little, he found out that Su Changrong and his wife had opened a shop in town.

“Dammit,” Su Changfu cursed under his breath.

“When it’s time to borrow money, they all claim they’re dirt poor. But here they are, opening shops.”

Clenching his fists, he hurried towards their shop.

Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang never expected Su Changfu would suddenly show up in the city — and even track them down. They hadn’t even left an address when they left home. How did he find them?

Su Changfu stood outside the shop, face black with anger, staring at the wide storefront packed with goods — and customers coming in and out.

Seeing all the merchandise, and the customers casually spending a few yuan here and there, he could hardly believe his eyes.

Clearly, his big brother’s family wasn’t just living in a nice house but also running a big store.  Looking at the money flowing in, he realized they must be making a lot every day.

“Changfu? What brings you here?” Su Changrong asked when he saw his brother’s grim face.

He felt uncomfortable. We don’t owe you anything. Why act like we do?

Frowning, he said, “What’s wrong?”

Su Changfu spat on the ground and said coldly, “Big Brother, you opened such a big shop, why didn’t you tell the family? If I hadn’t come to the city, you probably weren’t planning to tell us at all.”

Truthfully — no, they weren’t planning to.

Su Changrong thought silently. But on the surface, he said, “Tell you what? Home is so far away. It’s tiring to go back and forth. Besides, opening a shop was something Qiufang and I discussed and decided together. Even if we told you, what use would it be?”

“What are you saying? Opening a shop is a big deal for our old Su family. If Mom and Dad find out, they’ll be furious again.”

Thinking about how the money almost became his own, Su Changfu felt an itch in his heart. The eldest brother’s family only had a daughter anyway — what did they need so much money for? Wouldn’t it eventually belong to his own son?

Hearing this, Su Changrong couldn’t keep the smile on his face anymore. His expression cooled as he said, “Why are you so upset? My wife and I are earning money, how is that bothering anyone?” Was there no end to this? They had already moved so far away into the city, staying out of everyone’s way. Who exactly were they offending that they had to be dragged into nonsense like this?

Sun Qiufang, having finished dealing with a customer, also came to the door. “Changfu, what exactly do you want? Your brother and I are busy.”

Su Changfu could tell that his brother and sister-in-law had changed. In the past, both of them were the quiet type, but now they talked back and pulled faces. This only made him feel more uncomfortable.

What was so great about earning a little money anyway? They still didn’t have a son — in the end, wouldn’t all the money still benefit the Su family?

Pressing his lips together, he said, “The house in the town has been built. Mom and Dad sent me to invite you and the third brother back for the housewarming feast. It’s on the eighth of this month. Try to make some time and come back for a meal.”

In his heart, he was scheming: this would be the perfect opportunity to have the old man and old woman talk to the eldest brother and see how much money he still had left. After all, there were still debts from building his house.

Hearing that Su Changfu had actually finished building the house in town, Su Changrong felt a pang in his chest. It seemed the old couple really had handed over the entire family savings to the second brother’s family for that house.

Thinking about how all the money he and his wife had saved up over the years was now gone, he felt deeply suffocated. Even though he didn’t care much about the money anymore, the way his parents handled things still left him feeling bitter.

Su Changrong said, “I’ll see if I have time. My wife and I are busy with the shop right now; it’s not easy for us to leave. If we can, we’ll come.”

“Big brother, how can you brush me off like that? I made a special trip here — if you don’t come, you’ll really be breaking my heart,” Su Changfu insisted. At first, he thought it didn’t matter if only the third brother came back. But now, seeing how well the eldest brother was doing, he felt it was even more important for him to go back.

Although Su Changrong felt stifled, he still had to consider the family’s reputation. No matter how annoying the parents were, they were still his parents; and no matter how upsetting the family home was, it was still his roots. His brother had built a house and had come all this way to invite him personally — if he didn’t go, it would really be hard to justify.

He sighed quietly in his heart and said, “Alright then. My wife and I will find a way to go back.”

Hearing him agree, Su Changfu’s mood immediately brightened, and a smug smile spread across his face. “Good, it’s settled then. You must come back.”

Su Changfu stayed at the shop for a little while longer, ate some snacks, and kept eyeing the shelves full of goodies.

Seeing him constantly staring at the shelves, Su Changrong stood up and grabbed a few packs of snacks. “Take these back for Cancan to try.”

Su Changfu had actually wanted to grab a few more, but seeing that Su Changrong only picked out things suitable for a child, he immediately thought his big brother was too stingy.

Sun Qiufang, unable to stand his expression, said coldly, “Changrong, go fetch some water. We’ll need it tonight to wash things.”

Then she turned to Su Changfu and said, “It’s getting late. You better hurry and catch the bus. If you miss it, Mom and Dad will worry.”

Hearing her clearly hinting for him to leave, Su Changfu gritted his teeth, his face dark, grabbed the snacks, and left angrily.

After he left, Sun Qiufang went over to check the shelf where Su Changrong had grabbed the snacks, confirming that not much had been taken, and finally calmed down a bit. “Did you see that look he gave us? Not a single nice word seeing us open a shop, just pulling a long face as if someone owed him. You gave him those snacks, and he still thought it wasn’t enough! Acting like we owe him!”

Although Su Changrong had complaints about his brother, he didn’t want to say anything too harsh. Hearing Sun Qiufang rant, he couldn’t help but say, “Forget it, he’s still my blood brother. We didn’t give away much anyway.”

“Hmph. He sure dares to take. After all, they already took so much of our money to build their house. What more do they want? Don’t bother going back for the feast. Seeing how greedy he looked when he saw our shop, who knows what he’s scheming now.”

“I already agreed. Besides, no matter what they say, if I don’t agree to anything, what can they do?”

Su Changrong felt stuck. No matter how bad the family was, blood was still blood — he couldn’t just completely cut ties.

Sun Qiufang, who was always reasonable, thought about it and finally said, “Fine. You stay and watch the shop. I’ll go back for the feast.”

Seeing the cold look on his wife’s face, Su Changrong didn’t dare to argue. Either way, as long as someone from their family went back, no one could say they were unfilial.