RGL – Chapter 32

Life had gotten better, and the couple began to appreciate the joys of life more.

Su Changfu’s plan had fallen through, and he was feeling a bit frustrated. The smile on his face had faded, “If I can’t try it on, forget it. I just wanted to see how it looked.”

Grandpa Su, knowing his son’s thoughts well, understood that things were different now. His eldest son was likely earning more than even the third son’s family. Back in the day, he had been unfair to this eldest son. Now, seeing the relationship still intact, he wasn’t in a hurry to push things. “What’s the point of taking off clothes in the middle of winter? What if you catch a cold? Let’s try it later.” He then turned to Su Changrong, “Stay a few more days this time.”

Su Changrong was surprised to hear his father speak up for him, but he smiled and said, “The family is busy. This year, Qiufang didn’t even have time to come back. I need to head back tomorrow to help.”

Su Changfu, feeling a little sour, said, “Business is busy, huh? Must be making quite a lot of money. Unlike us, we just get a salary all year, and have to worry about when we’ll be laid off.”

If anyone else had said this, Su Changrong wouldn’t have thought much of it. But hearing it from Su Changfu, it sounded unpleasant. This job should have been his back then, but due to the parents’ favoritism, it had gone to Su Changfu instead. He had no choice but to go to the city to make a living, and now that he was doing well, Su Changfu was acting this way. It seemed like he was trying to make things uncomfortable.

Not giving him any face, Su Changrong directly replied, “If you really think your job is bad, then figure out a way to make money. Back when Qiufang and I were in the city, we collected scrap and lived in a wooden shack, but we still made it through. With arms and legs, what’s there to worry about making money?”

“Big Brother, what do you mean by that?” Su Changfu stood up in anger.

Grandpa Su quickly grabbed him, “Sit down. Don’t make a scene in front of your own brothers.”

Reluctantly, Su Changfu sat back down.

Since Su Changrong hadn’t brought back any meat dishes, Li Yulan had been expecting him to bring them from the city, so she hadn’t prepared any meat. Unexpectedly, he didn’t bring any back. Now, they couldn’t make a proper New Year’s feast, and had to hurriedly go out to buy some vegetables.

By the time the New Year’s dinner was on the table, it was already afternoon.

The family sat around the table eating, but none of them had smiles on their faces.

During the meal, Grandma Su tried to speak a few times, but was glared back into silence by Grandpa Su. Grandpa Su himself asked Su Changrong about the situation in the city. When he heard that the family business was doing well and the store had expanded, he nodded in satisfaction.

When they had nearly finished eating, Grandpa Su said, “Now we have a house in town. Changfu and I are thinking of opening a shop in town. Since it’s our own house, even if we can’t sell it, we won’t lose much.”

Su Min, hearing this, remembered in her past life that after her second uncle lost his job at the supply and marketing cooperative, he did indeed open a small convenience store in town. His life was relatively prosperous, and he did quite well compared to others in the town. The only problem was that his son, Su Can, was badly raised and became a local thug. He even beat up Grandma Su.

Su Changrong replied, “Business sounds good. There aren’t many people doing business in town right now.”

Grandpa Su nodded and his smile became even more kind, “But Changfu and I don’t often go to the city, so we don’t know how to source goods. Since you’re in this business, you should know some ways. When the time comes, I’ll need you to help Changfu with sourcing the goods.”

Su Changrong immediately understood why his father had been so polite to him earlier. He realized this was what his father had been building up to. It was a lie to say there were no hard feelings. They were all from the Su family, but it was clear that his parents favored the second son’s family. It was hard for him to understand.

But, in the end, they were family, so he’d still help out. “When Changfu wants to source goods, he can come to the city to find me, and I’ll take him around. Honestly, there are stores selling things in the countryside now. If Changfu can get them to come to the house to wholesale, he could make quite a bit of money.”

When Grandpa Su heard this idea, he couldn’t help but look at his eldest son with renewed respect. “People who go out to do business are indeed different. Changfu and I thought for a long time, but we never came up with such a money-making idea.”

Li Yulan, hearing this, felt embarrassed. “Dad, how can Changfu and I do business? We still haven’t paid off our debts. Where would we get the capital from?”

“How could you say that? Let Changrong help with the advance. It’s no big deal,” Grandma Su replied with an air of certainty.

Su Changrong’s face immediately darkened when he heard this. He had already been kind enough to offer suggestions without holding grudges, but now they were expecting him to lend money for his brothers to start a business. How come he never got such a good deal?

He coldly took a sip of his wine, not saying a word.

Seeing him remain silent, Grandma Su called out, “Changrong, speak up!”

Su Changrong took another sip of wine, then said with a serious face, “Do as much as you can. If you don’t have the ability, then don’t do it. Qiufang and I didn’t get our money by windfall. Back then, we had a few thousand yuan at home. Why didn’t anyone suggest we use it for business? Now that you’ve built the house, suddenly there’s no money for business?”

“Changrong, how can you say such heartless things?” Grandma Su slammed her chopsticks down, pointing at Su Changrong and scolding him.

Su Changfu also chimed in, “If you don’t want to lend, then just say so. No need to mock your own brother like that.”

Su Changgui, who had been watching the situation unfold, felt a wave of frustration. Why was it that every year during the New Year, the family had to be this restless? Frowning, he said, “Can we wait until after dinner to talk?”

Grandpa Su, with a dark expression, replied, “Let’s eat first. We’ll talk after.”

Once Grandpa Su spoke, Grandma Su didn’t dare to argue and quietly ate her meal. She was already planning to scold her eldest son as soon as the meal was over.

After dinner, Su Changrong didn’t give anyone a chance to speak. He took Su Min with him and went to Su Lan’s house to visit her.

The reason Su Changrong’s attitude was so firm this time had something to do with Su Lan. He was the eldest son and had seen the hardships Su Lan had faced growing up. Initially, they were all happy that his little sister had married into the town, but unexpectedly, their mother had gone to Su Lan’s in-laws’ home and caused trouble, resulting in her losing the child she was carrying.

This incident deeply disappointed Su Changrong. All the children were the same, yet their mother had caused trouble for one child’s family in favor of the second. This wasn’t something a mother should be doing.

Su Lan’s family had already finished their New Year’s meal and was busy with other things at home.

Five-year-old Li Hao was playing with toys by the door. When he saw Su Changrong and Su Min enter, he called out, “Mom, my uncle is here!”

“Wow, what a good boy!” Su Changrong happily picked up Li Hao and lifted him up.

Li Hao looked very much like Su Lan. Although a boy, he had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and looked quite delicate and handsome. When Su Changrong rubbed his face with his beard, Li Hao scrunched up his little face in discomfort.

“Big Brother’s here, come in and sit down,” Li Qiang came out from the room. Seeing that it was indeed Su Changrong, he quickly invited them inside.

Su Changrong carried Li Hao into the house. Li Hao’s grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Li, came out to greet their guests, bringing sunflower seeds and peanuts, and offering hot tea.

“Uncle and Aunt, there’s no need to be so polite. I just came out from home, I’m not thirsty.”

“It’s your sister’s family, how can we not offer you a cup of hot water?” Mr. Li said warmly.

Su Changrong smiled and thanked them. He then took out a red envelope from his pocket and handed it to Li Hao, “Here, take this to buy some candy.”

Although Li Hao was only five, he knew that the red paper wrapped something with money inside. He eagerly reached in and pulled out five yuan.

“Grandma, Grandpa, I have money now!”

Seeing the amount, Mr. and Mrs. Li quickly tried to take it, “It’s for the child, why give him so much? This isn’t right.”

They tried to give the money back to Su Changrong.

Su Changrong smiled, “This is the only time of the year for something like this. Let’s just treat it as me buying him toys as his uncle.”

Li Hao snatched the money back, “This is from my uncle, I’m going to buy candy.”

Saying this, he ran out.

Mrs. Li quickly chased after him, “You little rascal, just take the change, don’t take so much money, what if you lose it?”

As soon as Mrs. Li left, Su Lan also came out of the kitchen. Perhaps it was because of what Sun Qiufang had said in the hospital last time, Su Lan didn’t seem cold when she saw Su Changrong this time. “Why are you here today? Have you had your meal?”

“I’ve eaten. I had the New Year’s meal and came over after that. I have to go back to the city soon. There’s only one bus today, and I need to leave soon.”

Su Lan was surprised, “Aren’t you staying at home for New Year’s Eve?”

Su Changrong shook his head. “Your sister-in-law is still in the city taking care of the shop. Minzi and I are going back to spend New Year’s Eve with her.”

Although he said that, Su Lan could tell from the helpless look on his face that things at home were not going well with the eldest brother again.

Not to mention others, just her own mother was not a good person.

After chatting for a while, Su Lan mentioned that they would be building a house after the New Year and that they would invite Su Changrong back to celebrate the housewarming.

“Building a house is good. Have you saved up enough money? Is there anything you need help with?”

Li Qiang laughed. “Lanzi and I have saved up money. I work in a construction team, so the labor costs will be cheaper. Everything is going well. The only problem was that Lanzi was always reluctant to spend, worried that we’d have no income later and would run out of money. I told her to take it step by step. Our family has elders and children, and this house needs to be more spacious. Besides, we’re going to have another child next year, so the house definitely needs to be built well.”

When Su Changrong heard the last part, he paused and looked at Su Lan.

“Lanzi is…?”

“She’s pregnant,” Li Qiang smiled and rubbed his head. “We’re lacking a daughter at home, so we hope this time it’ll be a girl, and we’ll have a good pair with Haohao.”

Su Changrong was happy to hear this. “That’s wonderful! When the baby is born, make sure to let us know. Your sister-in-law and I will definitely come back to celebrate the housewarming.”

“We’ll definitely let you know.” Su Lan smiled and nodded. She hoped that this time it would be a girl, so that her daughter would have a better life, unlike the hardships she had faced before.

Su Min, watching her father and aunt talking happily, felt genuinely joyful from the bottom of her heart.

In this life, everything was different, everything was heading in a better direction.

Since he had to catch the bus, Su Changrong didn’t stay long. Before leaving, he reminded Li Qiang that if they needed any help, to feel free to ask. As the elder brother, he would certainly help as much as he could.

Li Qiang smiled and nodded seriously. Whether Su Changrong was just being polite or not, the thought itself was already very considerate.

After leaving the Li family’s house, Su Changrong went straight to Su Changfu’s house to inform them that he was going back to the city.

However, when he returned, everyone’s faces looked bad, especially Gao Hong, whose eyes were fixed on Su Min with hostility.

Su Changrong noticed something was wrong and furrowed his brows. “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on? You should ask Minzi what she’s done!” Su Changgui glared at Su Min and asked sharply, “Minzi, you’d better explain yourself. Did you go upstairs today?”

Su Min nodded in response. She had indeed gone upstairs to take a casual look.

“Well, since you admit it, then tell me, did you take your third aunt’s wallet and steal twenty yuan from it?”

“Dad, don’t ask anymore. I saw her come out of the room where we keep our things,” Su Wenwen said, staring firmly at Su Min.

At this point, Su Min finally understood what was going on—everyone thought she had stolen Gao Hong’s money. She smiled and looked at Su Wenwen. “I did go upstairs, but I only went to the balcony to look at the town, I didn’t go into any room. But let me ask you, when did you see me go into the room?”

Su Wenwen was stunned for a moment, then stiffened her neck and said, “Stop lying. I saw you go into the room and take it. You were sneaky. I knew you were a thief. What good could someone who picks up scrap metal be? You must have seen my mom’s wallet and taken money from it.”

Grandma Su also chimed in, “I knew you weren’t a good one. At such a young age, you’re already stealing. Hurry up and give it back. Otherwise, I’ll break your legs!” She reached for the broom.

“Dad, how can you blindly accuse people? I know what kind of person Minzi is. I’m her father, I know very well. My child would never steal.” Su Changrong looked angrily at the family.

Grandma Su said, “Then where did Gao Hong’s money go? Did it sprout wings and fly away? Hurry up and take it out!”

Gao Hong also looked at Su Min with contempt. “She’s from the countryside, what kind of morals or ethics would she have? I knew she was no good.” She had been harboring resentment over how Su Min had bullied her daughter earlier, and now she had found an opportunity to teach her a lesson.

Su Changrong was about to speak, but Su Min held him back. She could tell from the looks on their faces that no one was going to believe her now, even though she knew Su Wenwen had slandered her.

She smiled and said, “Take it out? Fine, I’ll show you.” She pulled out a small wallet from her bag. When she opened it, several bills were visible, at least two hundred yuan.

“My pocket money is usually more than twenty yuan. Do you think I would care about your twenty yuan? I’m not that shallow.”

With this move, everyone in the room was left speechless.

It was possible for a child to steal twenty yuan, but if this child already had over two hundred yuan, it seemed unlikely she would steal twenty yuan.

Su Changfu started to feel uncomfortable again. A girl, with over two hundred yuan in pocket money—this was almost as much as his half-year’s salary. The eldest family clearly had money, yet they would rather spend it on a girl than give anything to him, the brother. When they were gone, wouldn’t it be his own daughter who would burn incense for them every year?

Grandma Su was also speechless, staring at the girl she looked down on, holding over two hundred yuan and saying she didn’t care about twenty yuan. She was furious. Her oldest grandson hadn’t even held two yuan in his hand.

Su Min ignored the awkward expressions of the others, put the money back into her pocket, and looked at Su Wenwen. “You say I stole money, but I didn’t. So either you’re lying, or third aunt is lying.”

Su Wenwen didn’t expect things to develop this way. She swallowed and stubbornly said, “Who knows if you’re greedy and stole the money?”

Su Min sneered, “A child who lies isn’t a good one. I saw you take money from your mom’s purse and put it into your own pocket. Why don’t you take it out yourself? Or should I get it out for you?”

“Impossible. You couldn’t have seen that,” Su Wenwen said instinctively. Then she quickly covered her mouth.

Su Changgui, hearing his daughter’s words, was suddenly stunned. His daughter had just said that, so now he understood what was going on. He had been thinking he might have an opportunity to teach Minzi a lesson, but it turned out it was his own daughter at fault. He felt his face burning, wishing he could dig a hole to hide in. He looked at Su Wenwen. “Wenwen, how could you do this?”

It was Gao Hong who reacted first, her face cold as she said, “I just remembered. I gave Wenwen that ten yuan. I forgot about it.”

“Sister-in-law really has a strange memory. If it weren’t for our Minzi seeing it, she probably wouldn’t even remember,” Su Changrong said, his face dark with anger as he looked at Gao Hong.

Grandpa Su, trying to prevent the brothers from quarrelling over this trivial matter, tried to smooth things over. “Let it go, it’s just kids messing around. Why take it seriously as adults?”

Su Changrong retorted angrily, “Dad, this isn’t me taking it seriously. You saw what happened just now, how my mother and Changgui treated Minzi. I’ve realized it, this whole family looks down on our side of the house. Every year they make trouble for us. If that’s the case, I won’t come back for New Year anymore.” After saying this, he turned to Su Min. “Minzi, let’s go, let’s take a bus back to the city.”

“Changrong, stop right there!” Grandpa Su yelled loudly.

Su Changrong ignored him and continued striding out. If they bullied him, he could bear it, but they were bullying his daughter—what kind of logic was that? Since his relatives didn’t treat him like family, he didn’t need to maintain any affection for them.

Seeing Su Changrong and Su Min leave, Grandma Su started wailing again in the house.

She scolded Su Wenwen, but when she saw Gao Hong’s grim face, she couldn’t bring herself to speak. All she could do was complain that Su Changrong was unfilial.

Grandpa Su, too, was extremely irritated. He had hoped to use the New Year’s opportunity to mend his relationship with his eldest son and get more support for the family in the future, but now, after this incident, it would be even harder to bring it up.

Li Yulan, as if watching a comedy, pulled Su Changfu into the kitchen.

“Don’t mind them. It’s so funny, I’m dying of laughter. What did your sister-in-law just say? That rural kids are like this? As if she’s so great. Isn’t she just raising a girl, and a troublemaker at that?”

Su Changfu also had a strong dislike for Su Changgui’s family. He had already planned with his father to have a good talk with his eldest brother during the New Year’s Eve vigil, hoping that they could support the family. But now, with everything messed up, he wasn’t sure if the help they had planned for buying goods would still go through.

He couldn’t help but mutter, “She’s a university student, how did she raise such a child?”

Su Changrong and Su Min took the afternoon bus back to the city.

Sun Qiufang was guarding the shop. Although there weren’t many customers buying things on New Year’s Eve, there were still a few transactions. She was thinking about how she would spend the night alone on New Year’s Eve when she saw her husband and daughter come back.

“Why are you back today?”

“My dad said he’d come back to spend New Year’s Eve with you,” Su Min said, smiling as she walked over. “Mom, how’s the business today?”

Sun Qiufang didn’t continue the conversation about business, instead smiling and saying, “It’s fine, we’ve made a little.”

Su Min smiled and said, “If it’s not too busy, let my dad take care of the shop. Let’s go to the market and buy some vegetables. Tonight, we’ll have a family reunion dinner at home. How about that? I want to eat dumplings, it’s been so long since I had them. We can make some tonight.”

Sun Qiufang had thought she’d be spending New Year’s Eve alone, but now that her husband and daughter were back, hearing her daughter talk about wanting to eat this and that, she was incredibly happy. “Alright, whatever you want to eat, we’ll go buy the ingredients.”

After handing the shop over to Su Changrong, the mother and daughter went to the market together.

On the way, Sun Qiufang asked, “I saw your dad wasn’t happy. What happened?”

“He was upset,” Su Min said, pursing her lips, and then she told her mother everything that had happened at home.

When Sun Qiufang heard this, she immediately rolled up her sleeves. “How dare they wrong my daughter! That Gao Hong woman thinks I’m afraid of her. If I had been there, I would’ve hit her mouth off.”

“Mom, don’t get angry. She’s already ashamed. Raising a daughter like Su Wenwen, she’ll have enough to deal with in the future. Just don’t tell Dad about this when we get back. Let’s pretend like nothing happened and have a happy New Year together, alright?”

Sun Qiufang looked at her obedient and sensible daughter and felt that Gao Hong was nothing compared to herself. She smiled and said, “Alright, I won’t argue with your dad. But next time, if your dad helps out his family again, I’ll make him lose face.”

This was the first time the family spent New Year’s Eve in the city, and it was just the three of them, with no other bothersome matters. Sun Qiufang was in a good mood and cooked a lot of dishes. After the family of three had a warm reunion dinner, they started making dumplings, preparing for the vigil to fill their stomachs again.

Su Min was thinking about the dumplings, but as soon as they were ready and just put in the pot, she collapsed onto the bed and fell fast asleep.

Sun Qiufang wrapped a carrot in garlic and placed it under Su Min’s pillow. She gently touched her daughter’s face, smiled, and covered her with a blanket before leaving the room.

Apart from having a meal at Zhu Qiang’s house on the third day of the New Year, Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang didn’t go anywhere else. They stayed at the shop, while Su Min went out with Liao Zhaodi to wander around the county. Since it was New Year’s, every household had food, so they didn’t set up a stall to sell skewers.

On the fifth day, Sun Hai finally brought Grandma Sun to the city.

Grandma Sun was amazed to see how big the shop was that her daughter and son-in-law had opened.