RGL – Chapter 43

Zhang Guihua sat off to the side with Grandma Sun. Watching them laugh and talk, she leaned over and asked quietly, “Mother, how much money did Qiufang give Sun Hai to open the store?”

Grandma Sun frowned. “She didn’t give him any. Sun Hai said it was all saved up by himself. He learned his cooking skills from a master at a restaurant.”

“No way she didn’t give him money. How much could Sun Hai have saved on his own?”

Zhang Guihua didn’t believe it.

Seeing she was still going on about it, Grandma Sun didn’t reply anymore.

After a while, the food was served, and the adults and kids all gathered around the table to eat. Su Changrong started reminiscing about the old days collecting recyclables. “You wouldn’t believe how hard those rural roads were. One time it rained, and Qiufang and I were in such a rush—the stuff on the cart was all worth money, and if it got soaked, it would be ruined. We quickly threw plastic over it, but ended up soaked ourselves. Qiufang even came down with a fever. Thinking back now, it was really tough. But life is getting better bit by bit, and the suffering back then doesn’t feel like such a big deal anymore.”

Sun Bing was touched and raised his small glass for a toast. “You two really went through a lot.”

Zhang Guihua smiled and said, “We’re not afraid of hardship either—it’s just that we’ve never gotten any results from it. Brother-in-law, you seem capable. If you could lend us a hand, Sun Bing and I could live much better too.” This time, she’d learned her lesson—not asking Qiufang directly, but going to Su Changrong instead.

It’s harder for a man to refuse when another man asks.

Would you like the next part translated as well?

Su Changrong was taken aback by her words and looked at Sun Bing. “Big Brother, are you guys thinking of moving to the city too?”

Sun Bing didn’t react right away. He had been troubled earlier, but after learning how Sun Hai and Su Changrong had built their life, he had let it go. Back then, Sun Hai and Su Changrong had no choice but to leave the village because they couldn’t make ends meet. But he was doing just fine in the village—he had a house to live in and fields to farm. Why should he come to the city and suffer?

“Guihua, drop it. That’s not what we meant.”

“What do you mean not what we meant? We’re not lazy people. Why can’t we live in the city too?” Zhang Guihua snapped. Why should Sun Qiufang and Sun Hai, who used to have it worse than her, now live comfortably, while she and Sun Bing stayed stuck at home? It wasn’t like she was crippled.

Sun Qiufang put down her bowl and chopsticks. “The city doesn’t belong to us. Of course anyone can come, but how you live once you’re here has nothing to do with us. Everyone has hands and feet—make a living on your own. Talking about helping out isn’t really the point.”

When Zhang Guihua heard Sun Qiufang reject her so directly, her face immediately changed. She put her chopsticks down with a clatter. “Qiufang, that’s not right. Xiao Hai is your brother, but your eldest brother isn’t?”

Sun Qiufang wasn’t having it either. She shook off Su Changrong’s hand and said to Zhang Guihua, “This is about you two—don’t drag Xiao Hai into it. He’s done a lot for the family these past years. Now that things are going well for him, you’re trying to latch onto him?”

“How am I latching on? I’m just stating facts. They’re both brothers, but you only brought Xiao Hai to the city, only helped him open a store. Clearly, you don’t see Sun Bing as your brother.”

Zhang Guihua said this and stood up angrily, pulling on Sun Bing. “Let’s go. They don’t see you as family anymore. Why stay here and be treated like a nuisance?”

Then she went to pull Sun Yan and Sun Qiang along.

“Enough! Stop arguing!” Sun Hai suddenly shouted.

Everyone went quiet and turned to look at him.

Sun Hai set down his chopsticks. “If Big Brother really wants to come to the city, I’ll help however I can. But Sister-in-law, don’t go bothering Second Sister—anything, come to me.”

“Xiao Hai!” Sun Qiufang glared at him. She knew Zhang Guihua had been making a scene on purpose—why was Xiao Hai giving in?

Zhang Guihua finally quieted down after hearing that. She looked at Sun Hai and said, “What kind of help can you give? Your store just opened.”

Su Min, furious at Zhang Guihua’s self-righteous attitude, snapped at her. “You know my uncle isn’t in a position to help, so why keep pressing? Just because he’s easygoing, you think you can bully him? My uncle started out collecting junk—why don’t you go try that?”

Zhang Guihua clenched her teeth in anger at Su Min’s words.

Just as she was about to speak, Su Changrong said, “My father and brothers came to me several times, asking me to help them start a business, and I refused every time. I said from the start—whoever wants to do something has to rely on their own abilities. The most I can do is point you in the right direction so you don’t run into the same walls I did. So I’ll say this now—if Big Brother wants to start a business, I can offer some guidance, but that’s it. As for money, neither I nor Qiufang can help. I didn’t give a cent to my own brothers, so if I give anything here, I won’t be able to face my family.”

In short, if I didn’t help my own family, I’m certainly not giving money to yours.

Zhang Guihua had thought Su Changrong would be the easy one to persuade. She hadn’t expected him to draw such a clear line—his words left her no room to argue. Her own brother wouldn’t help, and now her sister-in-law’s husband wouldn’t either. How was that fair?

Sun Qiufang added, “Xiao Hai’s store just opened, he hasn’t even made his investment back, and he just got married. If he ignores his own home to help you, how is he supposed to live? It’s fine to want a better life, but you shouldn’t be so shameless about it.”

Sun Bing was so ashamed he couldn’t lift his head. Ignoring the look Zhang Guihua gave him, he sat quietly off to the side, head down.

When Zhang Guihua saw that everyone was speaking against her and even Sun Bing didn’t come to her defense, she started to feel overwhelmed and didn’t keep arguing. She had only wanted to make a scene—if things really escalated and they stormed out in the middle of the night, she wouldn’t be happy about it either.

Over the next two days, Sun Bing spoke little and often just sat alone in silence. Zhang Guihua also became much more subdued. She asked Sun Bing several times to go back to the countryside with her, but when he didn’t agree, there wasn’t much she could do.

On New Year’s Day, in the house Sun Hai had rented, Sun Qiufang and Su Changrong prepared a table full of dishes and invited Zhu Qiang’s family over. Everyone gathered to celebrate the wedding with a lively, cheerful meal.

Though it wasn’t a big event, Sun Qiufang still decorated the place like a newlywed’s home—red “Double Happiness” characters were posted on the walls, and colorful streamers hung from the ceiling, giving the space a very festive look.

Su Changrong was the most spirited of them all, pulling Sun Hai aside to drink non-stop. Sun Qiufang had to kick him under the table several times before he finally settled down. Su Changrong said, “I just wanted to celebrate a bit. Little Hai’s a married man now!”

Sun Qiufang replied, “It’s his big day—you better take it easy and not get drunk.”

Su Changrong quickly waved his hand. “Alright, alright, I get it.” Then he turned to Sun Hai and said, “See? Your sister’s got me completely under control. You better not follow in my footsteps.”

Sun Hai laughed. “If being under control means living like you do, then I’d be happy to be controlled too.”

Li Meng, dressed in a bright red coat, gave him a playful sideways glance and smiled.

Seeing the young couple like this, Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang also laughed. Grandma Sun beamed with joy. She didn’t care who had the upper hand in the relationship—as long as the couple lived happily, that was enough for her.

Only Zhang Guihua sat off to the side, forcing a stiff smile without saying a word. Because of what had happened earlier, Sun Bing also didn’t feel comfortable joining in the conversation.

Since no one in the group was the type to party hard, after the meal they all helped clean up and returned to their own homes.

Before leaving, Grandma Sun reminded the couple to live well together, talk things through when problems arose, and never fight. Li Meng nodded sweetly and responded with all the right, pleasant words, making Grandma Sun beam with happiness.

Zhang Guihua watched from the side and gritted her teeth.

After leaving Sun Hai’s place, she dragged Sun Bing back to the countryside. Sun Bing had no choice—he gave a brief farewell to Sun Qiufang and took his wife and children to the station.

“Big Brother’s really spineless, letting Zhang Guihua boss him around like that.”

Grandma Sun sighed and shook her head. “He knows he’s not capable. What else can he do but endure it? It’s better that they’ve gone back—it’ll save you and Changrong some peace.”

Meanwhile, after arriving at the station, Zhang Guihua and Sun Bing boarded a bus heading back to the village.

As soon as they got on, Zhang Guihua pinched Sun Bing a few times. Seeing him grimace, she said, “I wanted you to speak up for me, and you just sat there letting your family bully me. Are you even a man?”

“They weren’t wrong,” Sun Bing mumbled.

“Oh, so I’m wrong now? Everything I do is for this family!” Zhang Guihua snapped.

Seeing how angry she was, Sun Bing didn’t dare say another word.

Sun Yanyan and Sun Qiang also kept quiet, sitting silently in the corner.

After a while, Zhang Guihua turned and said, “We’re moving to the city too. Once we get home, we’ll get everything ready, clean up the house, and head to the city. I refuse to believe we can’t live better than Sun Hai and Sun Qiufang.”

“But what about the kids’ schooling? They’re still in middle school. Going to school in the city costs a lot of money.”

Zhang Guihua quickly made a decision. “They’ll stop studying for now, just like Minzi. Once we earn enough money, they can go back.”

Sun Yanyan and Sun Qiang had been excited about the chance to study in the city—only to realize they wouldn’t even get to go to school. They were instantly filled with disappointment. Seeing their mother’s angry face, they didn’t dare protest.

In their household, their father had no say—only their mother’s word counted.

Ever since Sun Hai’s wedding, Su Min had one less wish on her heart.

Her parents were living a healthy and peaceful life, Grandma was still with them, and her uncle had started his own family. Now she had just two goals left: one was to get into college and fulfill her dream, and the other was to work hard and earn enough money so her parents wouldn’t have to worry about making a living in their old age.

Of course, there was still one small wish—for the house in the county to be completed soon, so they could finally live in a place of their own.

Would you like a summary of this whole section, or should I keep translating the next part?

Now that an official notice had come down from the county, Xue Mian no longer had as many reservations. Sometimes after school, the two of them would walk together at the back of the group and chat about the apartment construction project.

This residential project in the county was actually one of the first of its kind in the entire province.

It was only after hearing from Xue Mian that Su Min realized just how much County Head Zhao had gone through to get this building project approved. He had pushed through numerous obstacles to get the necessary documentation signed off, and even took out a loan from the bank to start construction. The plan was to sell the apartments once they were completed and repay the loan with the proceeds.

Su Min thought about it and could imagine how difficult it must have been. Policies usually flowed from the top down—that was much easier. But trying to push something from the bottom up meant having to win over all the people above.

Still, it also reflected Head Zhao’s true capabilities. Being able to get higher-level officials on board in such a short time showed he was no ordinary leader.

The day before final exams, instead of staying home to study, Su Min and Xue Mian went to visit the construction site in the eastern part of town. When Su Min saw the building already reaching the fourth floor, her eyes went red with emotion.

“My uncle said these apartments are specifically designed for large families, so each unit has two or three rooms. The largest ones even have four rooms. But apparently some people in the government are worried they won’t be able to sell them. If that happens, the costs won’t be recovered and the county’s finances won’t be able to cover the gap.”

Su Min said, “How could they not sell? I bet people will be fighting over them. Once people have money, who wants to keep cramming an entire family into a tiny space?”

Xue Mian shook his head. “You don’t know. My uncle actually conducted a survey before this. A lot of older workers don’t want to buy. They feel like living in the factory dorms doesn’t cost anything. It’s the younger folks who want to buy, but they don’t have the money.”

“Then why’s your uncle still in such a hurry to build them?”

“My uncle said, if there’s a problem, you solve it step by step. If you don’t even take the first step, you won’t even have a direction to work toward. If the county town is going to grow, it has to expand. Building housing is a must.”

Hearing this, Su Min thought of the massive changes the county would undergo in the future—how its economic development would even surpass that of some prefecture-level cities—and she couldn’t help but admire County Head Zhao’s foresight and boldness.

After finals, the students—pent up for over a month—burst out like wild horses and eagerly made plans with friends for winter break. As usual, Xue Mian was heading back to B City.

But before he left, he asked Su Min to come by his aunt’s house one more time. He didn’t have many close friends around here—Su Min was the only one, really. Zhao County Head and Xue Nian also had a good impression of her, so they readily agreed when Xue Mian asked.

Still, hearing she’d be visiting County Head Zhao’s home again, Su Min felt a bit uneasy.

After breakfast and working on some homework, she saw it was already past nine. She put on a new long cotton coat, wrapped a thick scarf around her neck, and packed some smoked pork that Sun Qiufang had prepared into her backpack. Then she headed to the community where the Zhao family lived.

Just as she reached the entrance, she saw Xue Mian waiting there.

“What are you doing out here?”

Su Min stamped her feet and rubbed her hands, breathing out a puff of white mist.

Xue Mian was clearly cold too—his hands were red from the chill. He grabbed one of Su Min’s gloves and put it on, then held her wrist with his other hand. Feeling the warmth, he sighed in relief, “There are people in the house. I didn’t want to stay there alone.”

Su Min tried to shake him off, but he wouldn’t let go. Honestly—putting his freezing hand on someone else in winter? How inconsiderate.