RGL – Chapter 3

After walking nearly an hour along the mountain road at noon, she finally arrived home.

The family was already eating, and there wasn’t much food left on the table.

Grandma Su shot her a glare and gave a cold snort but didn’t say anything. It was Su Can who lifted his chin and proudly showed off the egg in his hand, his round face full of smug satisfaction.

Looking at him like that, Su Min couldn’t help but think of the old saying: “Three years old shows the man.” The way Su Can acted now was exactly the same as how he would be in the future—beating up their grandparents so badly they’d have to hide. Weren’t the signs already showing?

When Sun Qiufang saw her come back, she quickly stood up and pulled her into the kitchen.

“Come on, I saved you some food. Eat quickly and get to school. Is your head still hurting today?”

After that mountain hike, Su Min was truly starving. She dropped her cloth shoulder bag on a chair and started eating in big bites.

“Oh, so that’s why she didn’t come to the table—our dear eldest sister-in-law has been hiding food,” said Li Yulan as she came in holding an empty bowl, her face full of irritation and sarcasm. “No wonder Can Can was just saying there wasn’t enough food today. Turns out it was all hidden away.”

Her shout brought Grandma Su over. When she saw the food in Su Min’s bowl, her expression darkened, and she turned to scold Sun Qiufang. “Why wasn’t this food brought to the table? No one else gets to eat, but you save it all for her?”

Sun Qiufang felt wronged. “Mom, I just took a little bit of each dish. Minzi works hard going to school—she comes home and should at least get some hot food.”

“If going to school is so hard, then she should quit.” Grandma Su snorted coldly. She had long believed that girls shouldn’t study. What was the point of learning to read? Doing housework was more practical. Once she grew up and got married, the girl would be someone else’s anyway. Raising a daughter was a waste.

“Why shouldn’t I go to school?” Su Min had gotten some strength back after eating a few bites. She would never have dared to talk back in the past, but today she had made up her mind to push back.

“My parents work themselves to death for this family and haven’t seen a cent. My schooling only costs a few yuan a year. Why can’t I study?”

“You little brat! You dare to talk back?” Grandma Su raised her hand to slap her.

Su Min quickly dodged and ran out of the kitchen yelling, “Dad! Help! Grandma’s trying to beat me to death!”

When she realized Grandma Su hadn’t chased her, she turned to look and saw her mom blocking the old lady while her second aunt Li Yulan was pulling at her mom. Su Min quickly rushed back to help her mom pull Li Yulan away. In an instant, the women were in a scuffle.

Hearing the commotion, everyone eating in the main room ran out. Su Changrong was the first. Seeing his wife and mom wrestling, with his sister-in-law also grabbing at his mom, and his daughter crying while pulling at people too—he immediately panicked.

“What’s going on? Let go! Stop fighting!” Su Changrong rushed to break it up.

Grandma Su, seeing him in her way, angrily slapped him across the face with a loud crack. “You little bastard! Got a backbone now, huh? Forgotten how hard it was for me to raise you? Now you even lay hands on me?”

Su Changrong was stunned by the slap.

“Changrong, are you okay?” Sun Qiufang, seeing her husband get hit, rushed to his side, heart aching as she checked his face.

Su Min also ran over anxiously. Seeing her dad in a daze, she was frightened. Originally, she had just wanted to stir up an argument and use the chance to convince her parents to leave this house—but she hadn’t expected it to escalate to a fight.

Sun Qiufang was crying in worry. “Changrong, what’s wrong?”

“I’m fine,” Su Changrong finally responded after a while. He’d been beaten before in his life, sure, but never like this—not with a slap in front of everyone. Seeing his wife and daughter so worried, and looking at his parents and brother clearly upset with him—it weighed heavy on his heart.

“Big brother, why’d you hit Mom like that? And big sis-in-law too—Minzi made a mistake, and it’s only right for Mom to discipline her. Why are you two spoiling the child like this?” Su Changfu tried to sound like he was being reasonable as he “advised” them.

Grandma Su, hearing this, wiped her nose dramatically and cried out, “What a bitter life I have! I raised him with such hardship, thinking he’d support me when I’m old. But what did I get? A son who only has a daughter and beats me for a little brat. What’s the point of living anymore?”

Grandpa Su was angry too. “Changrong, apologize to your mother. And Minzi—she needs proper discipline. Ever since she got sick, she’s been getting more and more out of hand.”

Hearing this one-sided blame fall on her parents, Su Min’s resentment from her past life couldn’t be held back anymore. She glared at them and shouted, “Why should we apologize? Why can’t I eat or go to school? It’s not like my parents don’t work for the family. Why do you treat us like this? Even landlords weren’t this harsh on their laborers! Do you still see us as part of the family?”

“You still dare talk back?!” Grandma Su lunged at her again.

Sun Qiufang immediately shielded Su Min with her body. She could put up with her own suffering, but she wouldn’t let her daughter get beaten in front of her.

Su Changrong also stepped in front of his wife and daughter.

Seeing them still protecting Su Min, Grandma Su was so furious she gritted her teeth. “Fine! You’ve all grown up and become ungrateful! Don’t know how to raise kids properly. If I’d known this would happen, I shouldn’t have given birth to you. Should’ve drowned you in the piss bucket when you were born!”

Su Changrong looked completely drained. He rubbed his face hard. “Mom, what exactly did Minzi do wrong that you always want to hit her?”

Li Yulan stepped forward and sneered, “Big brother, maybe you should ask big sis-in-law that. We barely had enough food, yet she saved a separate meal just for Minzi. Your kid’s studying is tiring? What, the rest of us working hard isn’t? Mom said a few words and Minzi started yelling at her.”

Sun Qiufang’s eyes turned red with anger. “Li Yulan, stop twisting the truth! You ate more than your share of food too. Why can your kid eat and mine can’t? Can Can even got a boiled egg—why aren’t you talking about that?”

“She can compare to Can-can?” Grandma Su sneered, spitting to the side. “She’s just a worthless girl and still wants to eat eggs? Even going to the doctor the other day was unnecessary—girl’s lives are cheap, they get better on their own, no need to waste money. If you’ve got the ability, birth a son too, and I’ll let your son eat eggs.”

“Mom, that’s enough!” Su Changrong covered his face in anguish from the side. He’d heard these words so many times over the years, and each time they stung worse than the last.

Sun Qiufang’s face had gone pale with rage, and tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes. She cried out, “Don’t even talk about having a son. In this lifetime, I only have Minzi as my daughter, even if I could have a son, I wouldn’t!”

“You won’t have one? Then stop comparing yourself to the second son’s family!” Grandma Su spat viciously on the ground.

Su Min looked at her in that moment, heart full of hatred. She took a deep breath and forced herself to stay calm. “Granny, you say girls’ lives are worthless—aren’t you a girl too? Are you worthless? You look down on girls, but why don’t you look down on yourself?”

“You dead girl! I’ll beat you to death!” Grandma Su’s face twisted, and she lunged at her with a broom in hand.

Su Changrong didn’t dare stop her this time. He could only shield his wife and daughter with his body, silently enduring blow after blow.

Su Min was tightly held in her parents’ arms and couldn’t move. She struggled desperately, trying to crawl out and fight back. She couldn’t live like this anymore—she’d rather die than live like she did in her past life again. Why did everyone else get to live well, while her family suffered in misery?

Grandma Su hit them over and over until Su Changfu finally pulled her away.

Only when she left did Su Changrong release his wife and daughter.

Su Min crawled out of Sun Qiufang’s arms and grabbed onto Su Changrong, sobbing. “Dad, I’m begging you—let’s move out. We can go beg if we have to. I don’t want to live like this anymore.”

Sun Qiufang’s heart ached watching her daughter like this. She walked over, wrapped her arms around her, and said, “Changrong, I’ll take our girl back to my parents’ place for a few days.”

Grandpa Su’s voice boomed, furious: “It’s the busiest farming season! What are you going back for? There’s no one left to do the work at home!”

Sun Qiufang was furious herself, but she looked toward her husband who still hadn’t said a word, then down at her daughter’s eyes full of despair. Her heart felt like it was being sliced to pieces. Could they really keep living in this house?

Just as she hesitated, Su Min grabbed her sleeve.

“Mom, let’s go, okay? If Dad won’t go, we’ll go ourselves. What if Granny really beats me to death next time?” She couldn’t bear to watch her mother suffer in sickness and poverty anymore.

Su Changrong’s heart clenched at her words. He reached out and held his daughter’s hand. “We’ll move out as a family.”

Su Min was stunned. She looked at Su Changrong. “Dad… do you mean it?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

He could endure hardship—but not his child.

“Changrong, what do you mean by this?” Grandpa Su glared at his eldest son, eyes blazing.

Grandma Su snapped, “Exactly! We’re living just fine—why are you moving out? There’s no room for you outside this house!”

Su Changrong knew that moving out meant losing everything. But with how his wife and daughter had been treated, if he didn’t leave now, he would be failing them completely. “I’ll build a rough shelter and live there.”

“What about the land? Changfu’s going to work in town, I can’t handle it all alone,” Grandma Su immediately said.

Su Min instantly realized what she was really after—free labor. Afraid her father might be fooled again, she quickly said, “Of course each family does their own now. We’re a family of three, we get land for three people. You work your own, what, you expect my parents to keep supporting you?”

She laid it out bluntly, and Li Yulan suddenly looked sheepish. She had originally planned for the eldest son’s family to move out while still helping with the fieldwork. That way she’d have more space without losing the benefits. But this sharp-tongued girl had laid it all out in the open.

Su Changrong used to think it didn’t matter who worked the land—as long as the family had food, that was enough. But after hearing what his daughter said, he realized continuing like this wasn’t right. Changfu had his own family now—why should he and his wife keep supporting them?

Sun Qiufang was even more unwilling. All these years, she’d swallowed her anger because she hadn’t given birth to a son—and now couldn’t anymore—so she always felt she had no standing. But once they moved out, whether she had a son or not had nothing to do with anyone else. Why should she still help support them?

She said firmly, “If we’re moving out, we want our share of land too. Each family lives their own life—good or bad, we’ll take care of ourselves.”

“That won’t work!” Grandma Su protested. “Yulan can’t handle it all alone—then where will we get a harvest from in the future?” She was already calculating. If the eldest son’s family left and stopped contributing, and the second son’s family couldn’t manage the fields, there’d be no harvest. Then how would they save money? The grandson needed to study and get married—that all cost money.

Each word and sentence from the old couple was all about the second son’s family, and the more Su Changrong listened, the more stifled he felt. He hadn’t noticed before when they all lived together—he’d brushed it off as favoritism toward the grandson. But now that the idea of splitting the family came up, he realized just how precisely the old woman could calculate things.