RGL – Chapter 85

She said to Su Changrong, “Let’s go to the hospital first and see what Changfu says. Our family can’t shoulder this whole matter. We’ll decide after we get there.”

Su Changrong had the same thought.

If the old lady had fallen ill or accidentally hurt herself, as her son, he would definitely have to pitch in financially. But this time it was Changfu’s son who caused it. Changfu had received so many benefits from the old lady, and now his son had hurt her. Even if they say they’ll pay for her medical expenses, if the old lady ends up paralyzed, the second son still has to take good care of her.

Seeing Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang get back into the car, Grandpa Su finally breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, they’d go to the hospital first.

When the three of them arrived at the hospital, Su Changfu and Su Changgui hadn’t shown up yet—only Li Yulan was there in the ward, watching over the old lady.

“Old woman, how are you doing?” Grandpa Su walked over and asked the old lady, who was lying on the bed.

The old lady let out a weak groan, unable to form any words.

Su Changrong asked, “Has the doctor seen her? What’s the situation?”

Li Yulan had been worried about this and quickly replied when she heard the question, “Yes, the doctor came. He said the bones inside are dislocated and that she’ll need surgery. That’ll cost quite a bit too.”

In the end, it all boiled down to money.

Sun Qiufang kept a stern face and didn’t say a word. As long as Su Changgui and Su Changfu hadn’t arrived, she and Su Changrong weren’t going to take any responsibility. Regardless of whether Changrong wanted to consider family feelings, she, Sun Qiufang, did not. It wasn’t just about anything else—she simply couldn’t swallow this resentment. Why should they be asked for money now when they never got any benefits before? Back when she and Changrong were struggling, no one came forward to lend a helping hand. It was her own brothers who gave up their savings to support them.

And if they hadn’t listened to Minzi back then and moved to the city, she and Changrong probably wouldn’t even have a proper place to live now. They’d still be in a thatched shack, and these people likely wouldn’t have even looked them in the eye if they’d shown up at their door. But now that she and Changrong had money, suddenly everyone came knocking. How could things be that convenient?

At that moment, Su Changrong was also feeling conflicted. Seeing that his wife remained silent, he didn’t feel like saying anything either. The couple just stood there in the hospital room, waiting.

Seeing the two of them unmoved, Grandpa Su quickly said, “Changrong, you go pay the hospital fees first. Your mother can’t wait. Back then, she raised you through thick and thin. No matter how biased she was, she still fed and clothed you. Have you forgotten how hard things were during the tough times? So many people starved to death, but your mom foraged for wild greens so you could survive.”

Su Changrong, hearing this, thought back to his childhood. Back then, the brothers still got along fairly well. They fought all the time, but when they went out together, no one dared mess with the three of them. Things only started to change after the youngest passed the college entrance exam and became an intellectual. He and the second brother got married and had kids—he had a daughter, the second brother had a son—and their lives started to drift apart.

Sun Qiufang noticed Su Changrong lowering his head in silence and knew that his father’s words had struck a chord. While she could understand Changrong’s emotions, she was not willing to suffer this loss.

Looking at Li Yulan standing nearby, she said, “Since Cancan pushed the old lady, you can’t just walk away from this. You’ve been running your business for years—don’t tell me you don’t have this bit of money?”

“We haven’t made much money at all. Business in town has been bad these past two years—just barely enough to cover the household,” Li Yulan replied. Neither she nor Changfu had jobs. They ran a small convenience store, and at first, Changfu would deliver goods to the countryside, but later he got obsessed with playing mahjong and was never home. Other families with shops also delivered to the village, but their own business kept declining.

Su Changrong frowned and said, “I’ll pay for the hospitalization, but that’s it. Qiufang and I won’t take care of anything after that. As for Cancan, you’d better discipline him. He’s already pushing his grandmother at this age—what’ll happen when he’s older? Will he start hitting people?”

“No! You can’t beat Cancan!” The old lady, who had been too weak to speak until now, suddenly spoke up from the bed.

Seeing that even in this condition the old lady was still defending Su Can, Su Changrong’s face darkened.

Sun Qiufang’s face turned cold. “Fine. Then you pay for the treatment yourselves. The old lady is injured, yes, but Changrong isn’t her only son. We’ll pay one-third—not a penny more. Don’t even think about asking for more.” She didn’t want to spend a single cent on this kind of old woman.

Even if Su Changrong argued with her, she wouldn’t give in. The money was in her hands now—no matter what he said, he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

Su Changrong was also furious at the old lady’s attitude. Cancan was already bold enough to push her now. If they didn’t handle this properly, wouldn’t all the trouble in the future fall on him and Qiufang again?

When the old lady heard Sun Qiufang say they’d only pay one-third, she immediately broke into tears.

“How did my life turn out so miserable? My sons look at me like this and still hold a grudge? I might as well die—what’s the point of living like this?”

She cried pitifully, drawing a small crowd from both inside and outside the room.

Su Changrong felt awful listening to her. Although the old lady had treated him poorly, she had still raised him. Holding a grudge at a time like this did feel like a betrayal of his conscience.

He looked at Sun Qiufang and said, “Qiufang, how about we just pay for the old lady’s surgery first?”

“If we do it this time, what if she gets beaten up by Cancan again next time? Will it still be us? It’s not that I can’t bear to part with the money—I just don’t want to be a sucker.” She didn’t have any deep feelings of gratitude like Su Changrong did, having been raised by the old lady. All she remembered was how the old lady had belittled her all these years since she married into the family. Later, when they moved away from their hometown, no one cared about them. Every year when they returned, there was trouble. Now that something had happened, they came running to them. Why should they?

“Qiufang, I’m begging you,” Su Changrong said sadly. He understood the resentment in his wife’s heart, but he also couldn’t bring himself to ignore his mother entirely. If he truly couldn’t afford it, that would be one thing. But now that he could afford it, if he didn’t step up, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

Sun Qiufang bit her lip and said nothing.

The old lady saw this and started crying even harder.

Grandpa Su said, “Changrong, Qiufang, no matter what, she’s still your mother. How can you just stand by like this?”

Sun Qiufang looked at the situation, then at the crowd gathered at the door. She knew that if they didn’t resolve this today, they wouldn’t be able to leave. She said, “I’ll pay for the old lady’s surgery, but this money doesn’t come with no strings. I won’t give another cent after this. In the future, if she gets sick again or when she passes away, Changrong and I will contribute our fair share—not a cent less—but don’t expect anything beyond that. And if something like today happens again, whoever caused the harm should be the one to pay. Also, if anything happens in the family again, don’t come looking for me or Changrong. We work hard for our money—it doesn’t fall from the sky. You should all ask yourselves honestly how you’ve treated me and Changrong. If you had treated us like family back then, we wouldn’t be standing here saying we won’t help. You know exactly what you did. Just because Minzi ate an egg or had a bit of vegetables, you treated us like enemies. Tell me—does that sound like family to you?”

Her words made Grandpa Su blush with shame. Back then, he had pinned all his hopes on the second son’s family for support and to carry on the family line, so he gave them all his attention. The eldest son and his wife were honest folk who just farmed and didn’t have much promise—and it was a daughter anyway. He hadn’t wanted to waste any effort on them. He never expected things would turn out like this.

After speaking, Sun Qiufang turned to Su Changrong and said, “Do you agree with what I just said or not? If not, I’ll give the money back to you, and we’ll go our separate ways. I work hard for my money for my daughter, not to let others trample on it.”

Hearing this, Su Changrong looked at Grandpa Su. “Dad, I agree with everything Qiufang said. You’d better take it to heart from now on.”

Although Grandpa Su was reluctant to accept it, his wife still needed money for surgery, so he nodded unwillingly in agreement.

Li Yulan watched anxiously from the side—if Dad nodded like this, wouldn’t that cut off Cancan’s future reliance on Changrong?

Seeing that Grandpa Su had nodded, Sun Qiufang led Su Changrong to go pay the bill.

By the time Su Changfu and Su Changgui finally showed up, Grandma Su was already about to be wheeled into the operating room.

Seeing them arrive, Sun Qiufang sneered, “You sons really have good timing. You show up right after everything’s been taken care of. You must’ve known that Changrong and I would take care of it, right?”

“Big sis-in-law, didn’t Changgui just get delayed a bit?” Su Changfu gave a sheepish smile.

Su Changgui didn’t say anything. He was still hung up on how Sun Qiufang had come to their house demanding an IOU—that was a humiliating episode. Shao Yun, who came along, did put on a concerned face and asked about Grandma Su’s condition.

“How’s Mom doing? Changgui and I were busy at home and ended up running late.”

“Busy with what? It’s Sunday—school’s out. What big urgent thing did you have going on at home?” Sun Qiufang gave them no face.

Shao Yun was immediately silenced and could only smile awkwardly.

Sun Qiufang’s expression remained cold. “Changrong and I already paid the money. The old lady will be going into surgery soon.” Seeing the look of relief on Shao Yun and Su Changfu’s faces, she sneered again. “So you two still call yourselves a son and daughter-in-law? Something happens to the old lady, and you both hide faster than anyone. Just counting on me and Changrong, right? Well, this time we paid. Next time, if anyone starts wailing again, we won’t lift a finger. Don’t come looking for us for anything in the future. If the old lady gets hurt again, don’t come crying to us. If you do, we’ll call the police and let them handle it. Whoever does the hitting can take responsibility.”

“Big sis-in-law, Cancan didn’t do it on purpose,” Su Changfu said softly. He was anxious too. How did a decent kid like his son end up this out of control?

“I don’t care whether he did it on purpose or not. Anyway, as for taking care of her afterward, you all figure it out yourselves. Changrong and I have already done everything we could. Dad agreed to it too. If anything happens to the old lady again, we won’t give a single cent. If she gets sick or passes away, Changrong and I will only pay our share. She has several sons—why should we be the only ones paying? You people really have some nerve.”

Su Chanfu and Su Changgui were scolded like little grandsons, but they had no way to talk back. Their faces were dark with anger.

Sun Qiufang pulled Su Changrong to leave, and before walking out, she told Grandpa Su not to come to them anymore about such family matters. Everyone had already split households; each should mind their own.

Su Changrong didn’t want to deal with this mess either. His two brothers were struggling, and he didn’t mind chipping in a bit more, but their attitude was unbearable. To shirk responsibility, they didn’t even show up and only came after everything was handled. That was too disgusting.

He thought it’d be better to move to the city and just live quietly with his wife and daughter.

Seeing that Sun Qiufang and Su Changrong had left, Shao Yun was worried she’d be expected to keep taking care of the old lady, so she didn’t want to stick around and wanted to leave soon.

After all, the old lady wasn’t even her real mother-in-law, and she didn’t have the time to serve her.

“Dad, Changgui and I have things to do too. Haohao’s home alone, and I’m not at ease. Since Mom is getting surgery, we’ll head back now.”

“What, you’re leaving too?” Li Yulan was immediately displeased. She couldn’t say anything when Sun Qiufang left after scolding everyone—Qiufang had money and acted like a boss. But who did Shao Yun think she was? She married in later and still dared to act so arrogantly.

Shao Yun smiled and said, “Second Sister-in-law, honestly, this whole thing was caused by your CanCan. Shouldn’t you and Second Brother be the ones handling it?”

Li Yulan had already been scolded over this by Sun Qiufang earlier. Now seeing Shao Yun bringing it up too, her face turned red with anger. “Changgui is also Mom’s son. Why should we be the only ones responsible? If you want to leave, fine—leave money for medicine and nourishment. Otherwise, stay here and take care of Mom.”

Hearing she had to pay, Shao Yun’s smile faded. “Eldest Sister-in-law was right—you’ve got some nerve. Your son beat up the old lady, and now you want us to pay for her medicine?”

Unable to out-argue Shao Yun, Li Yulan turned to Grandpa Su. “Dad, how can you just stay quiet? Changfu and I don’t even live here. Even if we’re supposed to take care of Mom, shouldn’t someone at least bring her soup and water? What will she eat after surgery?”

Looking at the current situation, Grandpa Su was full of worry.

He rubbed his face with his hands and sighed deeply. He had three sons and one daughter. Now, the daughter had turned against them, and the three sons—his eldest held grudges, while the younger two always pushed responsibility onto each other. His wife was only just hospitalized, and already there was this much fighting. What would happen when they were really old and bedridden? Would no one care for them?

If he’d known it would come to this, he would’ve treated the eldest’s family better back then. At least they could’ve lived together now.

Changrong was an honest man. If this had happened on his watch, he wouldn’t have avoided responsibility. Honestly, he and his wife were the ones who’d messed things up in the first place.

So what if Cancan was the one to carry on the family name? They wanted to control the next generation but hadn’t even managed their own generation properly. And Cancan was already so out of control at this age—what would become of him later?

Thinking about all this made Grandpa Su’s chest ache with worry.

Seeing him silent for so long, Li Yulan said urgently, “Dad, you know how tough life is for Changfu and me. We really don’t have extra money.”

Su Changfu added, “Whatever Cancan did, that’s for Mom to discipline. But now that she’s hospitalized, Third Brother is also her son—why can’t he help out? Back then, Mom made sure he had decent clothes so he could go to university. Big Brother and I didn’t even get proper clothes.”

Su Changgui didn’t have much money, but he was prideful. He couldn’t stand being blamed by Su Changfu. He turned to Shao Yun and said, “Give Dad twenty yuan for Mom’s recovery.”

“We still have debts to repay,” Shao Yun whispered anxiously. Thinking of the debts made her even more resentful toward Su Changgui. If he had listened to her back then, they could’ve muddled through it without repaying. But now they had signed a formal IOU, and they had to save money to repay it every month. Sure, they lived in a new house, but life was tight. She couldn’t even afford a new outfit.

She had just seen Sun Qiufang’s gold earrings and ring and couldn’t understand it—weren’t they all brothers? Changgui even went to college. How come they were worse off than Su Changrong?

What Su Changgui hated hearing most now was anything about repaying money. It made him feel inferior. Whenever he saw Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang, he couldn’t lift his head. That’s why he didn’t even talk back when Sun Qiufang scolded him earlier. If it hadn’t been for this, he would’ve had a few things to say to them.

Now that Shao Yun brought it up again, it only fueled his anger. He glared at her and said, “Are you giving it or not? I let you manage the money, not hoard it all for yourself. If I say give it, then give it.”

Being yelled at like that by Su Changgui, Shao Yun felt wronged. She glanced at the gloating Li Yulan and was furious and bitter.

Unwillingly, she took twenty yuan from her wallet and handed it to Grandpa Su. “This is all the living money Changgui and I have left. We’ll have to eat porridge the rest of the month.”

Hearing her say that, Su Changgui felt completely humiliated. “Enough, I told you to give money. Why are you complaining? If you’re so annoyed, just go home first.”