RGL – Chapter 59

There were only a few days left until the final exams, so everyone was working hard. When Su Min arrived at school, many students were already seated in the classroom. Wen Heping had also arrived early.

He smiled and greeted Su Min.

Su Min smiled in return and replied, “Good morning,” as she took out her handkerchief to wipe her desk. After wiping a few times, she noticed the desk and chair were already very clean.

Wen Heping said, “I wiped your desk clean when I was cleaning mine just now.”

Hearing this, Su Min paused slightly, then smiled and thanked him.

“Winter break is about to start. Do you have any plans?” Just as Su Min had finished arranging her books from her backpack, Wen Heping put down his book, turned his head, and smiled at her.

Su Min thought he was just trying to make conversation and replied with a slight smile, “I plan to stay home and study. There’s only one semester left before the high school entrance exam, so I need to review properly.”

“Are you aiming for the city’s top high school?” Wen Heping looked at her.

Although Su Min hadn’t talked about it publicly, she hadn’t intended to hide it either. Seeing that Wen Heping had asked, she nodded. “That’s the plan, though I’m not sure if I’ll get in.”

“I also want to get into the city’s top high school. If we both pass, we can be companions,” Wen Heping said with a gentle smile.

Su Min smiled politely but didn’t continue the conversation.

Wen Heping looked at Su Min’s delicate profile, pressed his lips together shyly, and turned back to his book.

The two remained silent for a while.

Su Min glanced at him and suddenly remembered what Xue Mian had written to her in that letter, mentioning things about emotions. How could she have forgotten that boys and girls at this age were just beginning to experience their first stirrings of affection? This behavior from Wen Heping—could it be that he liked her?

Su Min silently swallowed and thought to herself, I really hope I’m overthinking it. Otherwise, this would be so awkward. I’m mentally a grown woman and getting liked by a teenage boy? Isn’t that like a tender calf nibbling an old cow?

Of course, to avoid misunderstandings later, Su Min deliberately kept her distance from Wen Heping. When he asked her something, she used studying as an excuse not to talk much.

Maybe noticing Su Min had become cold toward him, Wen Heping didn’t talk to her again.

It wasn’t until school was out in the afternoon that Wen Heping suddenly seemed like he wanted to say something to Su Min. When he saw her getting ready to leave, he hesitated and tried to stop her to talk.

But Su Min had been thinking about Sun Yan all day and, on top of that, suspected that this boy might have a crush on her, so she ran off faster than a rabbit, leaving in a hurry.

After leaving the school, Su Min hailed a car and headed straight to the restaurant where Sun Yan worked.

When Sun Yan came out and saw Su Min, she looked surprised.

“Su Min? Why are you here?”

“I came to see you.” Su Min smiled and took her hand. “Do you have time right now? Let’s talk for a bit—I’ll leave afterward.”

Sun Yan was a bit resistant when it came to adults, but with someone her age like Su Min, she didn’t feel that same resistance. Hearing Su Min say she wanted to talk, she nodded and led her to a nearby spot to sit on the steps and chat.

Sun Yan didn’t seem eager to speak, so Su Min had to initiate the conversation. “Yanyan, how’s your job here?”

Sun Yan nodded. “Pretty good. I earn money and even managed to start saving.”

“Have you decided not to go back to school?”

Sun Yan hesitated for a moment before nodding. “…Yeah.”

Su Min looked at her and said, “At your age, it’s the best time to learn something. Even if you’re not going back to school, you can still learn a skill. How about working at a garment factory? You could learn tailoring.”

Sun Yan’s face fell the moment she realized Su Min was trying to persuade her to leave. “I’m not going. I’m not going anywhere—I’m staying here.”

“I know why you want to stay here. Yanyan, we’re the same age. I get how you feel. But we can’t treat ourselves this way. No matter how angry or resentful we are, we have to be responsible for ourselves. To put it bluntly, how many more years do you think your mom will be around? You still have your whole life ahead of you. When she’s gone, no one else will care how your life turns out—it’ll all be on you. If I were you, I wouldn’t follow my mom’s path. If she wants me to work here, I’d prove to her that I can live a better life without relying on her. Yanyan, your mom is too busy with her own life right now. She doesn’t care about you. Even if things go badly for you, do you think she’d care? In the end, it’s still you who will suffer.”

Sun Yan remained silent. She really did resent her mom. Why wasn’t she allowed to go to school? Why did her mom, just out of spite, drag her and Qiangzi to the city and deny them both an education?

When they first came to the city, she and Qiangzi stayed at home all day hoping they’d get a chance to go to school. They didn’t know anyone and were scared to go out. They stayed locked indoors, and when their mom came home, they’d even get scolded. After all that waiting, all they got was being placed at this restaurant to work. She knew then—she really wasn’t going back to school. At that time, she thought that if her mom wouldn’t let her live well, then she’d live badly on purpose and make her mom regret it.

But now, after hearing Su Min’s words, she felt uncertain again.

Yeah… if her mom’s not around in the future, who would care if she turned out bad? The one who would suffer would still be herself. Why should she live just to spite her mother?

Seeing that Sun Yan didn’t respond, Su Min knew she was still thinking it over and didn’t press her further. She stayed with her for a bit longer and then got up to leave as it was getting late.

As Su Min got ready to leave, Sun Yan dusted off her clothes and lowered her head. “Su Min… the job you mentioned at the factory… Can I really go? I heard some places won’t take people our age.”

Hearing this, Su Min knew she was considering it. She smiled and said, “It’s an apprentice position. The pay isn’t much, but you’ll definitely learn something.”

The main thing was that the factory environment was simpler. If Sun Yan went there, she wouldn’t fall in with bad influences.

Sun Yan lowered her head, bit her lip, and tugged at her clothes several times before finally mustering the courage to say, “Su Min, thank you, and thank you to Aunt as well. Even though my mom targets her like that, you both are still willing to think of me.” She just couldn’t understand why—her aunt was clearly such a good person, so why did her mom always have to fight with her?

Su Min smiled and said, “When you have time, you should go visit Grandma. The one who misses you the most at home is her.”

When Su Min mentioned Grandma Sun, Sun Yan felt a pang of sadness. Grandma had come to visit her yesterday, and although she really wanted to talk to her, she couldn’t hold back the resentment in her heart and ended up showing her a cold face.

By the time she got home, Sun Qiufang was already there. These days, she only needed to manage the accounts at the family store, which was actually easier than before.

When she saw Su Min returning late, she knew she must have gone to see Sun Yan and casually asked about her situation.

“She’s willing to go, but since the New Year is coming up, even if she starts now, she won’t be able to work for long. So she plans to quit before the holiday and officially join the factory after the New Year. I was just thinking I should inform Director Ye about it too.”

Hearing that Sun Yan was willing to work in the factory, Sun Qiufang let out a sigh of relief.

“At least she’s more reasonable than her mother.”

Just as Sun Qiufang finished making dinner, Su Changrong came home. As soon as he arrived, he shared something that had happened today.

It turned out he had seen Su Changgui while at the mall shop. The county wasn’t very big, and there were only a few busy areas. What was strange, though, was that Su Changgui had been with a middle-aged woman—and he seemed to care about her quite a bit.

Being a man himself, Su Changrong could tell what kind of look a man gives a woman out of politeness and what kind indicates something more.

Sun Qiufang was surprised when she heard this. “Changgui might be up to something fishy.”

“Hard to say. They weren’t being overly close, but he might be interested. It hasn’t developed into anything yet,” Su Changrong speculated.

Sun Qiufang replied, “Whatever. It’s not our business anyway.”

“I’m just puzzled. Changgui never used to have the guts. He was always terrified of Gao Hong. How could he be brazenly walking around with another woman like that?”

As they ate, Su Min said, “I heard that Third Aunt’s father got into trouble—he was arrested and sent to prison.”

“Really?” Both Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang were shocked. They knew Gao Hong’s family was powerful—how did something like this happen?

“Yeah, he was investigated,” Su Min replied.

If he was investigated, it definitely meant he’d done something illegal. No wonder Changgui dared to get involved with another woman—Gao Hong no longer had anyone backing her. But even so, what Changgui was doing wasn’t right. No matter how Gao Hong was, they were still husband and wife. Secretly getting close to another woman behind her back was still immoral.

And he was supposed to be an educated man—yet he was doing things worse than those of them who hadn’t had much schooling.

Although they looked down on what Su Changgui was doing, neither of them had a good impression of Gao Hong anyway, so they weren’t particularly concerned for her. They discussed it briefly and didn’t plan to get involved.

After dinner, Su Changrong brought up plans for the New Year.

This year, he planned to have Sun Qiufang and Su Min stay at home, while he would go back to visit his parents, drop off some things, and return quickly.

Sun Qiufang didn’t object. She wasn’t planning to return to her in-laws’ place for New Year anyway, but she wouldn’t stop her husband from going back. As long as she and her daughter were staying put, it was fine.

Meanwhile, over at Su Changgui’s house, Gao Hong was having a row with him.

“What’s going on between you and that woman? Someone saw you two shopping together—are you going to explain what’s between you and her?” Gao Hong stood with one hand on her hip and the other pointing at Su Changgui, who was seated at the dining table.

Su Changgui calmly ate a few bites, then said as he saw her getting worked up, “It’s not like you don’t know Shao Yun. Is there really a need to get this agitated?”

The moment she heard Shao Yun’s name, Gao Hong became even more agitated. “So it’s her! You’re still in contact with her?”

“You’re the one imagining things. Don’t blame me for it. Shao Yun and I are clean. Honestly, if you hadn’t gotten in the way back then, she and I would’ve been married by now.”

“Su Changgui, you ungrateful man! If it weren’t for me, you’d have been assigned to some remote county ages ago. You think you’d still be here?”

Su Changgui snorted coldly, “Didn’t I marry you anyway? What now, you want to settle old scores?”

It was the first time Gao Hong had seen Su Changgui look so indifferent. In the past, when they fought, he’d always be the one to apologize sincerely and coax her. This time, he remained completely unfazed, calmly eating his meal the entire time.

Her eyes turned red with anger as she pointed at him. “Su Changgui, what do you mean by this? Are you trying to rekindle an old flame with Shao Yun?”

“I’m not as dirty-minded as you are,” he said, standing up and preparing to return to his room.

Seeing this, Gao Hong tried to grab his arm.

Su Changgui flung her off, and she fell onto the sofa. Su Wenwen rushed over to her mom. “Mom, are you okay?” she cried, then turned to yell at her dad, “Dad, how could you hit her?”

Su Changgui adjusted his sleeve and said coldly, “Your mom hit me first.” He then gave Gao Hong a cold look. “You’re always scheming instead of living properly. You and your daughter are two of a kind. And now, you’ve ruined your dad, and you want to ruin me too? Gao Hong, I’m telling you—if you don’t want this marriage anymore, we can file for divorce anytime. I’ve had enough of a woman like you.”

“Su Changgui!” Gao Hong screamed in rage.

Divorce—he actually wanted a divorce. Gao Hong was so furious she stood up, grabbed her purse from the sofa, and shouted, “I’m going back to my parents’ home!”

She reached out to take Su Wenwen with her.

Su Changgui curled his lips into a cold smile and went into the room without even saying a word to stop her. It was as if he didn’t care whether she left or stayed.

Seeing him like that, the fire in Gao Hong’s chest suddenly fizzled out. She collapsed onto the sofa.

Su Wenwen hugged her and cried, “Mom, what’s wrong?”

Gao Hong also started crying and held Su Wenwen tightly in her arms. “Wenwen, your dad has changed.”

After the final exams, Su Min visited Sanye Garment Factory and told Director Ye about Sun Yan.

It was a minor matter, and with the factory doing well lately and needing new hires, taking on an apprentice would be helpful.

Besides, Su Min had brought a lot of benefits to the factory, and he was even thinking about keeping her long-term. So of course, he’d do her this favor.

Director Ye immediately agreed and said Sun Yan could come anytime.

Once Su Min had the confirmation, she went to the restaurant to tell Sun Yan.

Sun Yan quit her job that very day and went home that night with her luggage.

“You quit? What do you mean you quit?” At the Sun household, Zhang Guihua exploded when she saw her daughter return with luggage.

Pointing at Sun Yan sitting on the bed, she shouted, “Why’d you come back? Wasn’t the restaurant job going well? Why quit and come back?”

Sun Yan bit her lip and said nothing, her face full of stubbornness. After a while, she finally said stiffly, “I don’t want to do that job anymore. I want to work at a garment factory and learn a skill.”

“Learn what skill? How much do you think a factory will pay you a month? Who would even hire someone your age?”

“I’m going to learn tailoring. Minzi helped me find the job. Mom, please stop targeting Aunt and her family. They’re really good people. Why can’t you accept them?”

Zhang Guihua was already furious over her daughter quitting. Now hearing this made her face turn red with rage. “You actually asked Su Min for help? Have you no shame? She’s about your age, and you went begging her for a job? Why can’t you be better than her?”

“What’s so shameful about that? I’m not in school at my age, working as a waitress at a restaurant—that’s shameful.”

“At least we rely on ourselves! Your aunt’s family are not good people. We asked them for help before and they refused. Now they’re trying to act all kind after moving to the city? I’m not buying it. You’re not allowed to go to the factory. Go back to the restaurant.”

“I’m not going!”

Sun Yan sat stubbornly on the bed, making it clear she had no intention of going back.

“Fine. If you’re not going, then get out of this house. I raised you all these years, and this is how you repay me? Other people’s kids are so obedient. Look at Su Min—though I don’t like her, at least she’s earning money at her age. You think you’re better than her? You’ve completely disgraced me.”

Hearing Zhang Guihua’s angry scolding and constant belittling, Sun Yan’s resentment only grew.

Her mother cared only about her pride and never about her or Qiangzi.

“Fine, I’ll leave. I don’t acknowledge you as my mother anymore.” With red eyes, Sun Yan picked up her luggage and walked out.

Zhang Guihua tried to chase after her, but by the time she reached the stairwell, Sun Yan had already disappeared.

“You little brat!” Zhang Guihua shouted angrily.

Neighbors peeked out at the noise. Embarrassed, Zhang Guihua could only stew in her anger as she returned inside. Still fuming, she shifted the blame onto Sun Qiufang—surely it was her meddling that caused her daughter to turn against her.