RGL – Chapter 4

Grandma Su saw her eldest son hesitating and thought her words had gotten through, so she continued, “Changrong, now that you brothers all have daughters—your wife can’t have any more kids, and Changgui can only have one child because he works for the state—our Su family only has Cancan as a single male heir left. You can’t just walk away from that.”

She had never said this out loud before—not because she didn’t want to, but because she thought it was obvious. Isn’t the whole point of raising sons to have grandsons? If a son can’t give you a grandson, what’s the point?

She said all this righteously, with a face full of conviction, but Su Changrong just felt deeply uncomfortable.

They were all one family—brothers from the same parents—yet their parents played favorites just because he didn’t have a son.

Before, when Grandma didn’t say it outright, and they all lived together, he hadn’t thought it was so bad. But now that she made it so clear, he just couldn’t accept it anymore.

No matter what, what he earned should go to his own daughter. Otherwise, what would she eat? What would she wear? He and his wife worked the fields day in and day out, sun beating down on their backs, all so the family could eat and survive. And now in the end, his daughter didn’t even get food.

“Mom, I’m a grown man now, and my daughter’s growing up too. It’s only right that we move out. You say we didn’t have a son, fine—we won’t fight over the house. But if staying here means my child has to keep suffering, then I, as her father, just can’t accept that.” Once he’d made up his mind, Su Changrong wasn’t backing down. He valued family, but his daughter came first.

Grandma Su’s face turned green with anger. “Changrong, how can you be so ungrateful?”

“It’s not my dad who’s ungrateful,” Su Min cut in. “My dad works so hard, and now that he’s out of work, he still has to help out with Uncle’s family? Why should all the benefits go to Uncle? Grandma, why don’t you go ask my third uncle and aunt if they’d be willing to do the same?”

“You little brat, who asked you to speak?” Grandma Su glared at her but didn’t come over to hit her this time.

Sun Qiufang turned to Su Changrong. “Things have already blown up like this. If we stay, there’ll be even more drama. Changrong, you need to make a decision. If you won’t leave, then Minzi and I will go on our own.”

“This is outrageous. You’re all rebelling, trying to leave and make a spectacle of us?” Grandpa Su stomped his foot angrily.

Su Changfu quickly tried to calm Grandpa down, then turned to Su Changrong with a face full of pained emotion. “Big Brother, how can you be so short-sighted? We’re one family—why are you being so petty about it? You don’t even have a house to move into. If you leave, where will you live? People will think I forced you out! The whole family will become a laughingstock.”

Listening to her second uncle’s fake sympathy, Su Min sneered inwardly. In her past life, this same second uncle had taken the family’s savings to build a house in town, and when her father fell ill and needed money, he just put on a pitiful face and cried poverty. Someone so heartless and selfish—how could he act like this now?

She gave a sarcastic smile. “Second Uncle, you say it’s not about money now, but when Grandpa and Grandma pass away one day, will you still say that? The money they have, you already think of it as yours—will you share it with my dad?”

“Why are you cursing your grandparents now?” Su Changfu’s face changed.

It was noon, and many villagers had gathered to watch the commotion.

As they listened to Sun Qiufang crying and explaining everything, the old lady from next door tried to persuade Grandma Su. “Changrong’s family is grown up now, and his child’s older too. Living together like this just crowds everyone. Why not let them live on their own? It’s not like they’re leaving the village—they’ll still be close by and can take care of you when needed.”

Some of the village women chimed in, “Yeah, in this village, all big families split up when the sons grow up. Living together like this isn’t convenient. It might be better for them to move out, and when they build a big house later, they can move back.”

“That’s right. If Changrong wants to move out, let him. No need to make things so tense.”

Hearing everyone say this, Grandma Su felt embarrassed.

She knew their situation was a bit unusual in the village. Sure, other families also had daughters, but at least they still had the chance of having sons later. Her eldest daughter-in-law, on the other hand, would only ever have this one girl. If they split now, there’d be no one to carry on the family line—what a waste! And the benefits would all go to an outsider son-in-law—how worthless was that?

Of course, she couldn’t say any of that out loud in front of everyone, so she just kept her mouth shut, fuming.

It was Grandpa Su who cared about appearances. Seeing so many people watching and discussing their family business, he couldn’t keep the fight going. He reluctantly said, “If Changrong wants to leave, we won’t stop him. But we’re still family—if we run into trouble, you’ll have to help out.”

Su Changrong relaxed when he heard that, and agreed without hesitation, “Of course. We’re still brothers. I’m not cutting off ties with Changfu.”

Su Min, seeing the situation had finally turned in their favor, also noticed her dad had completely forgotten the actual details of splitting up. Worried they’d lose their chance once they went inside and the elders backtracked, she quickly said, “Dad, even if we don’t ask for the house, I still need money for school, and we need money to live. Do you have any? Didn’t all the money from selling our crops go to Grandpa and Grandma?”

That reminder made all four adults—Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle and Aunt—look uncomfortable.

Grandma Su spat on the ground. “You nosy little girl, stay out of grown-up business.”

Sun Qiufang said, “Minzi’s right. We’re not fighting over the house, but we can’t just walk away from what’s ours. Otherwise, how will we survive?”

They all knew how much money the family had.

Li Yulan snapped, “Sister-in-law, our parents are still alive, and you’re already going after their retirement money? Isn’t that a bit much?”

“Li Yulan, don’t talk nonsense!” Sun Qiufang said angrily. “Mom and Dad are still working and don’t need the money right now. But if Changrong and I don’t get our share, we won’t even have enough to eat a hot meal later. What’s ours, we have to take.”

“Changrong, is this how you feel too?” Grandma Su asked her son, ignoring her daughter-in-law.

Su Changrong did want to take what was rightfully his, but thinking it might hurt family feelings, he finally said, “Just give us a year’s worth of living expenses. The rest—we’ll count that as our filial support for you.”

Sun Qiufang stared wide-eyed at him, bit her lip, but didn’t say anything.

Su Min wasn’t happy either. She hadn’t expected her side to back down again. But her dad hadn’t yet gone through everything from their past life—he still couldn’t harden his heart.

Even if Grandma and Grandpa weren’t thrilled, now that Su Changrong had backed off, they couldn’t refuse. Otherwise, the village would gossip, and her grandson’s reputation would suffer.

Grandpa Su said, “Let’s go inside and talk.”

Li Yulan pouted and pulled at Su Changfu’s sleeve, whispering, “What’s this supposed to mean?”

Su Changfu took a deep breath. “Let’s go inside.” He’d been planning to work in town and build a house this year, but now with this mess, he wasn’t sure they’d have enough money. If they missed this chance, there might not be any good land left later.

Thinking about that made his heart ache.

Once inside, both sides looked sour.

Sun Qiufang told Su Min to go to school, but she shook her head. “Mom, I can’t focus on studying with this hanging over us. If we split, it’ll affect school too. Let me stay and keep watch, please. Otherwise, I’ll just be anxious at school.”

Seeing her daughter on the verge of tears, she relented. “Fine, you can stay.”

Grandpa Su had always kept meticulous records—he knew exactly how much the family had each year. But this time, when it came to dividing things, he didn’t bring out the account book.

“Your family of three doesn’t spend that much. We haven’t saved a lot over the years. I’ll give you 120 yuan, ten yuan a month. You can take your used basins and buckets, and a few bowls and chopsticks. You can have the old cooking pot too.”

Su Min clenched her fists at hearing the numbers. She knew her second uncle had spent over 3,000 yuan building a house in town. And now they were only offering 120 yuan for her whole family?

She looked at her parents. “Dad, Mom, is 120 a lot? I remember Grandma saying we had several thousand saved. Isn’t that a lot?”

Sun Qiufang also knew exactly how much they’d saved over the years. Just selling crops brought in several hundred a year. They were frugal too—not several thousand, but at least over a thousand for sure. Now they were only getting 120? Of course she wasn’t okay with that.

“How are we supposed to survive on 120? We might not be greedy, but this isn’t fair.”

“Then no split!” Grandma Su cut in harshly.

Su Changrong’s face fell, heart turning cold. But since he’d already agreed to just a year’s worth of living expenses, 120 wasn’t much—but with frugal living and their own farming, they could make it.

After such a big commotion today, the atmosphere at home was already tense. If things kept escalating, the whole family would fall apart.

He took a deep breath and said, “Just 120 yuan then. We’ll go out tomorrow and look for a place.”

“Changrong…” Sun Qiufang frowned as she looked at him.

Su Changrong said, “We both can work. As long as we have hands and feet, we won’t starve.”

Hearing him say that, Sun Qiufang could only swallow her anger.

Su Min, although still indignant, knew that she was too young now and her words didn’t carry much weight. If she kept arguing, everyone would just think she was a kid throwing a tantrum. At most, she’d get another scolding—it wouldn’t change anything.

After taking the money from Su Laotou, Su Changrong and his wife didn’t go to the fields anymore. Instead, they started packing up their belongings in the room.

Su Min followed them in and closed the door behind her. Outside, Grandma Su and Li Yulan’s voices could still be heard complaining, mixed with the clanging of pots and pans.

Su Min listened as she packed her own things, eyes growing a little hot with emotion.

No matter what, at least they were finally splitting off from the family this time around. As long as they moved out, they wouldn’t walk down the same path as in the previous life. She couldn’t let her parents stay in the village and keep suffering. They had to get to the city—because right now, the opportunities there were far greater than in the countryside.