RGL – Chapter 42

Li Meng came back early in the afternoon. There were already some customers in the shop. As soon as she got back, she changed her coat and helped Sun Hai with the chores, chatting about the clothes she had bought that day.

After listening for a while, Sun Hai said, “Let’s not open the shop tomorrow morning. Let’s go to the mall.”

Hearing this, Li Meng opened her mouth in surprise. “You want to go shopping with me?”

“Yeah. I heard city folks always buy jewelry when they get married. We should go buy some too. It won’t take up too much time anyway.”

Just hearing that Sun Hai wanted to go shopping with her was surprising enough, but when he said they were going to buy jewelry, Li Meng was completely stunned.

What could be better than having the person you like buy jewelry for you? Still, she responded modestly, “Why waste money on that? I don’t even have time to wear it.”

“If others have it, you should too. What we can’t afford now, we’ll definitely be able to in the future,” Sun Hai said, like making a promise.

Hearing this, Li Meng was deeply moved. Regardless of anything else, Sun Hai promising that she would have whatever other women had—that sentiment alone was rare and precious. Whether or not he would actually be able to do it in the future, her heart was already satisfied.

Blushing, she nodded and turned away to get back to work.

Sun Hai watched her back and smiled.

Ever since Sun Hai announced he was getting married, Sun Bing had been thinking about going to the city for the wedding banquet. No matter what, Sun Hai was his only brother, and now that his brother was finally getting married, as the elder brother, of course he had to be there to celebrate.

A few days before the New Year, Sun Bing started urging Zhang Guihua to head to the city early to help out. This time of year, there wasn’t much urgent farm work, so going to the city wouldn’t affect anything.

Zhang Guihua didn’t object. She also wanted to see what kind of life Sun Hai was really living in the city. Was it really better than in the village? Back when he was home, he couldn’t even get a wife. So how come now, in the city, he had found one? And apparently a young girl, too.

Thinking about Sun Hai’s leg, Zhang Guihua still found it a bit hard to believe.

“Why don’t we just stay a few days? Didn’t they say Qiufang is also in the city? She should have space for us. We can take the kids too and let them have some fun.”

Seeing Zhang Guihua so supportive this time, Sun Bing felt relieved and happily said, “No problem at all, we’ll stay at Qiufang’s. Come to think of it, our family never had any relatives in the city before. Now we do. We can even visit from time to time.” Thinking about it that way, Sun Bing felt proud.

Sun Yanyan and Sun Qiang hadn’t started winter break yet, but Zhang Guihua simply had them take three days off, tidied up the house, locked the door, and brought the kids to the city.

Previously, Sun Hai had given Sun Bing the address where Sun Qiufang lived. Although neither of them knew the way, they asked around at the station and walked for nearly two hours before finally spotting the signboard for Rongfang Supermarket, just like Sun Hai had said.

Grandma Sun was sitting in her wheelchair at the entrance, holding a hand warmer while watching over the stall outside. Sun Qiufang was inside packing wedding candy. Even though there would be no big banquet, candies for the neighbors were a must. Once Sun Hai moved into the rental house, they would also need to hand out candies to the neighbors there to build good relations.

“Mom.”

Sun Bing stepped closer, and upon seeing his mother, called out emotionally.

He had been worrying about her lately and feeling guilty. Seeing that she was okay now eased his worries.

Zhang Guihua also saw Grandma Sun. When she noticed the old woman’s new padded jacket, the wheelchair she sat in, and the leather boots on her feet, she knew Grandma Sun was living a good life in the city. Then she looked up and saw Sun Qiufang coming out from the store, and her eyes widened.

Wow, this store really belonged to Sun Qiufang.

Sun Qiufang, hearing the commotion, came out and her face immediately dropped when she saw Sun Bing and Zhang Guihua. Her mother had been mistreated back at home, and even though she hadn’t spoken about it much, that didn’t mean she’d forgotten.

Grandma Sun was quite happy to see her son. “Bingzi, you’re here for Haizi’s wedding, right? Has everything been arranged at home? How’s it going?”

“It’s all set, Mom. How’s your leg?” Sun Bing bent down to check her legs. He remembered how badly swollen they had been before. Lifting the blanket, he saw that they were still in a cast.

“No need to look. The doctor said it’s been delayed too long—it’ll take at least half a year to heal.”

Sun Qiufang came over to cover Grandma Sun’s legs. “Since you’re here, let’s head home and rest. I was just about to go cook. Minzi will be home soon and will need to eat.”

With that, she started putting away the stall items and planned to reopen in the afternoon.

Hearing Sun Qiufang’s words, Sun Bing felt guilty and didn’t dare say a word. When the old woman got hurt, Guihua had said that going to town would cost dozens of yuan, so they didn’t go. Instead, they got a wandering village doctor to rub in some medicinal wine, which only made it worse.

Thinking that his delay had caused his mother to need half a year to recover, Sun Bing felt terrible inside.

Once the stall was packed up, Sun Qiufang locked the door, pushed Grandma Sun, and led Sun Bing and his family home.

“Qiufang, your store looks great! You must be making good money every day,” Zhang Guihua said with a smile. She now realized just how well her sister-in-law was doing. That big store and all the goods inside must be worth a lot.

“It’s alright, we earn what we work for,” Sun Qiufang replied vaguely. It wasn’t that she was afraid Zhang Guihua would find out how much she made, she just didn’t want to talk to her. This sister-in-law was the scheming type—if she saw someone doing well, who knew what she’d start plotting.

The shop wasn’t far from the house, so they arrived after a short walk.

Along the way, Sun Bing and Zhang Guihua looked around curiously like everything was new to them. It was Sun Qiang and Sun Yanyan’s first time in the city, and they were full of wonder and excitement about this place they had only heard about.

Entering the home, Sun Bing looked around the spacious house and asked, “Qiufang, you live here?”

“The place belongs to someone else. Changrong and I are just renting.”

Sun Qiufang poured water for everyone and brought out snacks for Sun Qiang and Sun Yan. Since they ran a business selling these things, snacks were in no short supply.

Sun Bing carefully inspected the house and even looked into the rooms. “This is really nice.”

After checking out the rooms where Sun Qiufang and Su Changrong lived, he also looked at the ones used by Sun Hai and Grandma Sun. Compared to their own old house in the village, these rooms were clean and bright, and he was filled with envy.

“These rooms are really beautiful.”

Sun Yanyan pushed open Su Min’s room and was amazed by the floral bedsheets, the colorful paper decorations on the wall, and the hanging origami cranes from the ceiling. But what impressed her most was the neat rows of bookshelves—just by looking, she could tell there were lots of books.

Sun Yanyan did fairly well in school, so seeing all those books made her quite fond of them.

Zhang Guihua, seeing the look on her daughter’s face, immediately felt embarrassed. She pulled her over with a stern expression. “Sit properly. This isn’t your room. What are you staring like that for? Isn’t it shameful?”

Sun Qiufang, who was picking vegetables, overheard the sharp tone and felt a little unhappy. Her sister-in-law had always been like this—when she was upset, she liked to say things with a barb to hurt others. Whether others caught it or not didn’t matter, as long as she got her satisfaction.

Grandma Sun sighed but didn’t say anything. She simply pulled Sun Yanyan over to her side and handed her some snacks.

Sun Bing asked, “Where’s Xiao Hai? I want to go see him.”

“He’s still busy at the store. His business won’t slow down until after two in the afternoon.”

Sun Bing was surprised. “Xiao Hai has a store?”

Zhang Guihua also looked over, eyes wide and staring at Sun Qiufang. Sun Hai opened a store? How was that even possible? Where did the money come from? Even robbing a bank wouldn’t get money that fast.

Sun Qiufang didn’t even look up. “He only opened it a few months ago—just got it stabilized. It’s a bit of a walk from here. You don’t know the way, so just wait till after lunch. I’ll take you over to see it.”

After hearing Sun Qiufang’s confident reply, both Sun Bing and Zhang Guihua had complicated feelings.

Sun Hai had only been out in the city for a short time, yet he already had this kind of foundation. Meanwhile, they had worked themselves to the bone in the countryside, yet still didn’t see any money.

Zhang Guihua thought, it must be Sun Qiufang who helped him out. Otherwise, where would Sun Hai have gotten the money to open a store?

At noon, Su Min came running home with her backpack. Only then did she notice her uncle and aunt sitting stiffly like statues in their chairs, while Grandma was shelling peanuts beside them.

Though she wasn’t too fond of her uncle and aunt, Su Min still politely greeted them.

Sun Yanyan and Sun Qiang saw her come in and noticed the school uniform she was wearing—their eyes lit up.

“Mom, why is Minzi wearing that outfit?” Sun Qiang asked, pointing at Su Min’s school uniform.

Zhang Guihua had already been in a bad mood. Hearing Sun Qiang ask such a tactless question, she immediately pinched him. “What’s wrong with your eyes? Just because she’s wearing something nice, you want it too? Do you have no self-respect?”

Sun Qiang’s eyes reddened with grievance.

Su Min didn’t pay them any mind. She brought over a stool and sat next to Grandma, helping her shell peanuts while chatting.

She knew her aunt was probably upset. That woman just couldn’t stand seeing others doing better than her. If someone else was doing well, she would find ways to make it hers. Now that her mom and little uncle were doing well in the city, of course her aunt wouldn’t be happy.

At lunch, Sun Qiufang made several meat dishes and steamed buns. As everyone sat down to eat, Sun Bing asked, “Where’s Changrong?”

While serving food to Grandma, Sun Qiufang replied, “He’s busy with store renovations. He’ll eat later at Sun Hai’s place.”

Zhang Guihua immediately lost her appetite. “Renovating a store? You guys have another shop?”

Sun Qiufang pursed her lips. “It hasn’t opened yet.”

It hadn’t opened yet, but clearly it was about to. That meant they had the money to do it. Zhang Guihua hadn’t expected her sister-in-law to not only have one shop, but two.

And then there was Sun Hai—no wonder he found a wife so quickly. He had a shop in the city. If he were still in the village, girls wouldn’t even consider him.

Why was it that her sister-in-law and Sun Hai could live such good lives in the city, while she and Sun Bing were still suffering in the countryside?

The more she thought about it, the more upset Zhang Guihua became. If others could make money, there was no reason she couldn’t. She refused to believe she’d do worse once she came to the city.

After lunch, while the kids went off to play in Su Min’s room and Grandma and Sun Qiufang were cleaning up in the kitchen, Zhang Guihua took the chance to share her plan with Sun Bing: she wanted to open a shop in the city too.

“We don’t have that kind of money,” Sun Bing said, shaking his head. They barely had enough to get by, let alone open a store. Even though they both worked hard all year, their savings were slim after raising two kids and covering their schooling expenses.

Zhang Guihua glared at him. “Don’t say that. How much money could Sun Hai have had? Didn’t he still open a shop? Qiufang and them definitely helped him. We’ll borrow from them. Once we make money, we’ll pay them back. They’re family—why should Sun Hai get all the help while you get nothing? Are you stupid?”

Sun Bing had no words to argue with.

Yeah, why could Sun Hai open a store, and he couldn’t?

“Su Min, how’s school in the city? What’s it like?” Sun Yanyan asked her in the bedroom.

Though they weren’t that close, kids warmed up quickly, especially since Sun Yanyan was both curious and envious of Su Min’s life, so she made the first move.

Su Min hadn’t intended to get close to her cousins, but since Sun Yanyan was being kind, she didn’t reject her. She let her and Sun Qiang browse the books in her room. When asked about the city schools, she smiled and replied, “Schools are the same everywhere. City schools are just prettier and have more rules. We always have to wear uniforms.”

“You mean that outfit you’re wearing? It looks nice,” Sun Qiang said, still eyeing her school uniform.

Su Min nodded with a smile. “Yup. We wear different ones for each season. But really, it doesn’t matter what we wear—we’re there to study, not for fashion.”

“I wish I could live in the city too,” Sun Qiang said enviously. “Then I could go to school here, wear nice clothes, and have endless snacks.”

Sun Yanyan felt the same but didn’t dare say it aloud. She’d already been scolded once by her mother and didn’t want to provoke her again.

Su Min replied, “As long as you’re willing to work hard, you can live a good life anywhere.”

She wasn’t especially eager to convince her uncle’s family to move to the city.

She remembered that in her previous life, her uncle’s family had done okay. While not rich, they lived decently—the kids married and started families, and the household had stable days. Of course, if they could live even better this time around, that would be nice too. But that would depend entirely on her uncle and aunt’s efforts.

That afternoon, Sun Qiufang took Sun Bing and Zhang Guihua to visit Sun Hai at his store.

It was a quiet time with few customers. Seeing Sun Bing arrive, Sun Hai felt a bit of resentment but didn’t say anything. After all, he hadn’t exactly been a dutiful son either—he’d focused on building his own life in the city and hadn’t taken care of his mother much. He didn’t really have the right to criticize others.

“Li Meng, this is my big brother and sister-in-law.”

Li Meng had already guessed they were relatives when she saw Sun Qiufang bringing people over. Once she heard they were Sun Hai’s brother and sister-in-law, she quickly stepped forward to greet them.

Sun Bing didn’t say anything. As long as Sun Hai liked his wife, that was enough. But Zhang Guihua couldn’t help sizing her up a few more times. Unlike her sister-in-law Sun Qiufang, this girl named Li Meng was going to be a part of the Sun family now—there would be plenty of chances for friction down the road, so she had to see what kind of person she was dealing with. After her assessment, she turned to Grandma Sun and said, “There are quite a few nice girls from my side of the family who haven’t married yet. If Sun Hai hadn’t acted so fast, we could’ve made a good match in the family.”

Li Meng heard this and immediately understood that this sister-in-law was not easy to get along with. Though she was upset, she wasn’t officially part of the family yet, so she just swallowed her displeasure and busied herself elsewhere.

Zhang Guihua watched Li Meng walk off and leaned toward Grandma Sun. “Mother are those gold earrings she’s wearing?”

She spoke like she was just making casual conversation, but Sun Qiufang could hear the undertone—Zhang Guihua was trying to compare herself to Li Meng.

“That’s the gold jewelry Sun Hai bought her. People these days care about appearances. It’s not like before, when a few quilts made you feel like you were really somebody.” In other words, her husband bought it for her—no need to be envious.

Zhang Guihua, quick-witted as ever, picked up on the hint and smiled. “Sun Hai really is doing well for himself. Got a wife, opened a shop, and even has money to buy gold jewelry. Unlike me and Sun Bing, still struggling in the village. Today, when Yan Yan and Qiang Zi saw Minzi’s school uniform, their eyes practically lit up. As a mother, it really hurt to see that.”

Grandma Sun knew her daughter-in-law too well. When she brought up Sun Hai’s store again, it was clear she had something on her mind. Grandma sighed and didn’t respond. Sun Qiufang also acted like she hadn’t heard anything, pushing Grandma outside for a walk.

Meanwhile, Sun Bing and Sun Hai had finished catching up. After hearing about how Sun Hai built his life, Sun Bing was genuinely impressed. He hadn’t expected his quiet little brother to have gone to restaurants to secretly learn cooking skills, or to have picked through recyclables, hauled a pole to sell goods near schools, and then set up a food stall. No wonder he was making money—he’d done so many things. Not making money would’ve been the strange part.

Now, while Sun Bing was envious, he wasn’t resentful.

He knew his own capabilities. What Sun Hai could do, he probably couldn’t.

Since Sun Bing and Zhang Guihua had come to visit, Sun Hai closed up shop early that evening. After taking Li Meng back to her place, he returned home to spend time with his brother and sister-in-law. Su Changrong also came home that night. The new store was almost fully renovated, the shelves were up, and once Sun Hai’s wedding matters were settled, they could start stocking up.

When he saw his brother-in-law, Su Changrong quickly bought some liquor and asked Sun Qiufang to cook a few meat dishes for the drinks.

The men sat around the table, chatting about their time in the city.