RGL – Chapter 93

They ended up finding another girl sitting at the machine where Sun Yan usually worked, and Su Min looked around but couldn’t find her anywhere. It was the class monitor who overheard the team leader mentioning Su Min was coming, and specifically came over to tell her about Sun Yan.

“Sun Yan took leave yesterday. Said something happened at home—seems like something happened to her younger brother.”

Hearing that something had happened to Sun Qiang, Su Min felt worried and immediately went out to tell Sun Qiufang about it.

“Didn’t they say Qiangzi is going to school? What could possibly have happened? How does your aunt raise kids—she managed to mess up both of them.” Sun Qiufang was angry too after hearing it. “Let’s go check on them.”

Su Min also wanted to go. After spending time together over the past few occasions, she had gotten along well with Sun Yan and didn’t want to just stand by and do nothing when she was going through a tough time.

The mother and daughter pair found a motor-tricycle and headed straight to Sun Yan’s house.

When they arrived at Sun Bing’s house, the place was in chaos.

Before even entering, they could hear the sound of Sun Yan arguing with Zhang Guihua.

“In any case, I’m sending Qiangzi to school. Even if he doesn’t want to study, I’ll at least make sure he gets a diploma.”

“Middle school doesn’t matter. They already said it—if he joins now, it’s fine. But after they fill up the seats, they won’t accept kids his age anymore.”

“I don’t care. I’m not agreeing to it.”

Listening to the argument, Su Min had already guessed part of what was going on. She knocked on the door, and the argument inside suddenly stopped.

Moments later, the door opened, and Sun Bing appeared, looking troubled.

Seeing Sun Qiufang and Su Min, he looked surprised. “Qiufang, what are you two doing here?”

“We went to the factory looking for Yanyan, and they said something happened here. We were worried, so we came to take a look,” Sun Qiufang replied.

“Here to watch the drama, I bet,” Zhang Guihua sneered from inside.

That sarcastic remark made Sun Qiufang angry on the spot. She pushed the door open and pointed at Zhang Guihua. “Why are you like this? Can’t even appreciate concern from others. If it weren’t for the kids, do you think anyone would bother getting involved in your mess?”

“Hmph, since when did my kids become your concern?”

Zhang Guihua was in a foul mood and said whatever came to her mind. She felt particularly annoyed whenever she saw Sun Qiufang. She had originally come to the city hoping for a better life, determined to live better than Sun Qiufang, throwing herself into making money and barely having time to care for her children. But now her job was going downhill, wages weren’t increasing like in other places, and to make it worse, rent had gone up. Every month, the rent and food expenses gave her a headache. Even her previously obedient children now resented her, treating her like an enemy. She was starting to regret moving to the city in the first place.

And now, seeing Sun Qiufang dressed nicely and standing confidently in front of her only added fuel to her frustration.

Why did all the good things always fall into Sun Qiufang’s lap?

Although Sun Qiufang had long anticipated that this would be like “a dog biting Lü Dongbin” (a Chinese idiom meaning mistaking kindness for malice), hearing Zhang Guihua’s words still made her furious. She used to think that even if her sister-in-law was hard to get along with, at least they could maintain a superficial harmony. But ever since she moved to the city, her sister-in-law had become increasingly unreasonable.

“Zhang Guihua, what do you even gain from deliberately provoking me? I just don’t get it—what kind of mother are you? You’d rather send your kid to work than let him study?”

“Whether I do or not is none of your business. Get out of my house,” Zhang Guihua snapped. Now that the pretense was gone, she had no intention of keeping up appearances. She was already upset, so she just did whatever made her feel better.

Seeing that Zhang Guihua couldn’t be reasoned with, Sun Qiufang turned to Sun Bing. “Brother, are you just going to sit back and let her treat Qiangzi and Yanyan like this?”

Sun Bing said helplessly, “Qiufang, this is between me and Guihua. As their aunt, it’s better if you don’t interfere.”

Hearing such dismissive words from her brother made Sun Qiufang grind her teeth in anger. “Fine. If you won’t let me care, I won’t. But when your son and daughter start resenting you in the future, don’t come crying to me.”

With that, she grabbed Su Min and turned to leave.

Su Min glanced at Sun Yan, realizing it wasn’t the right time to say anything, so she simply followed Sun Qiufang out.

As the two left, Sun Yan shouted angrily at Zhang Guihua, “Mom! Why did you have to argue with Aunt?”

“What’s wrong, huh? You’re still siding with your aunt, are you? Then why don’t you go be her daughter instead!” Zhang Guihua shouted angrily.

Life was becoming increasingly difficult, and she was already feeling overwhelmed. Now her daughter was still helping Sun Qiufang—she suddenly felt like she had nothing left.

Zhang Guihua’s eyes turned red with fury. “I raised you two little brats for nothing, you’re both ungrateful wolves.”

Seeing her like this, completely unreasonable, Sun Yan couldn’t argue with her. And remembering what Su Min had said earlier about going to the city, she realized they must have come to talk about that now. She quickly grabbed her backpack and chased after them.

No matter what, she was going to earn money so Qiangzi could finish high school—and save enough to support herself too.

Sun Qiufang and Su Min had just reached the entrance of the housing complex when they heard Sun Yan calling out behind them.

They turned to look and, sure enough, saw Sun Yan running toward them, panting.

Sun Qiufang said in surprise, “Yanyan, why did you come out?”

Sun Yan caught her breath and said between gasps, “Auntie, don’t be mad about what my mom said just now. She’s been in a bad mood lately.”

Sun Qiufang replied, “It’s fine. That’s adult business—you don’t have to worry about it.” But how could she not be angry? Every time she saw Zhang Guihua, it was like lighting a firecracker—she exploded instantly. Her heart wasn’t big enough to stomach it anymore. Seeing how nervous Sun Yan looked, she asked, “But what did you argue with her about? Was it because of Qiangzi?”

Sun Yan nodded. “Qiangzi got into a fight at school this time, so my mom thinks he’s not good at studying and doesn’t want to waste time letting him stay in school. She even asked about a job for him at a hotel. When I heard about it from Qiangzi, I disagreed. No matter how well or poorly he does in school, he’s still young—he at least has to finish junior high. That’s why we argued.”

Hearing about Zhang Guihua’s plans, Sun Qiufang sighed. “Your mom’s vision is just that narrow. Back then we told her to set up a stall, and she refused, thinking her job was more respectable. Then she didn’t want you and Qiangzi to study either… Forget it. I’m done talking about her. From now on, I won’t get involved in her business anymore.”

Sun Qiufang had made up her mind not to concern herself with Zhang Guihua and Sun Bing anymore. Everyone lives their own life, and as a younger sister, she didn’t want to meddle too much. Otherwise, she’d just get scolded again.

Hearing Sun Qiufang say she wouldn’t get involved anymore, Sun Yan grew anxious and turned to Su Min. “Minzi, did you come to talk to me about opening the shop?”

After asking, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Su Min understood she was worried the argument between her aunt and mom might have ruined things, so she smiled and said, “That’s exactly it. I didn’t say anything just now because Auntie was there. I’ve already placed the order for stock for the shop—it’s opening soon. At the latest, it’ll open next week. Can you make arrangements on your side?”

“I can,” Sun Yan said, feeling relieved at Su Min’s words.

Su Min continued, “Alright then, we’re relatives, so I won’t be formal about it. I have to go to class normally, so I don’t have time to watch the shop. If you go, you’ll have to handle sales. I don’t just open the shop blindly either—once the initial costs are covered, we’ll split the profits. You get forty, I get sixty. How does that sound?”

“That much?” Sun Yan was surprised and a little excited.

Worried that Sun Yan might be getting her hopes up too much and end up disappointed, Su Min quickly added, “We don’t know yet if it’ll be a lot. If we end up losing money, you might not get anything at all. So you have to think this through. Business isn’t guaranteed—if we make money, that’s great, but if we lose, we both have to bear it. Of course, if we make a lot, we’ll split according to that same ratio. If it’s less, we both lose.”

After hearing Su Min’s breakdown, Sun Yan’s initial excitement faded a little, and she started seriously considering the pros and cons.

Seeing her thinking it over, Su Min said, “Take your time to decide. If you’re in, give me a call at home next Saturday.” As she spoke, she pulled a slip of paper from her bag and handed Sun Yan her home phone number.

Sun Yan took the number and nodded. She had to take care of Qiangzi, so she needed to consider things carefully.

After talking to Sun Yan about the matter, Su Min followed her mother to her uncle’s house.

On the way, Sun Qiufang said, “If your aunt hears about this, who knows if she’ll start another fight with us.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like we’re taking advantage of them. I made everything clear. If Yanzi still chooses to go ahead, Auntie can’t blame us. And if she’s really that unreasonable and tries to blame us, Yanzi can handle it herself.” Su Min felt that although this deal might not seem entirely fair to Sun Yan, it still had plenty of upsides. The store already had a source of goods and the setup was complete. If Sun Yan had some capability, the store could definitely make money. It would be much better than working in a factory. She’d even be considered half a boss when she went out in public, which could benefit her in finding a partner later.

Though her thinking was practical, the current situation demanded practicality.

By the time they reached Sun Hai’s place, lunch hour had already passed. But Sun Hai had just finished working and was eating with his family in the store. At a nearby table, a few workers were also having their meal.

Seeing Sun Qiufang arrive, Sun Hai happily put down his bowl and chopsticks and stood up. “Sister, Minzi, you’re back.”

Grandma Sun also smiled at her daughter. Ever since her daughter moved to the city, they hadn’t seen each other in a long time. “Qiufang, has Changrong come back too?”

Sun Qiufang sat down at the table with a smile. “Not yet. Minzi and I came back to take care of something. We’ll be heading back later.”

“You haven’t eaten yet, right? Eat with us,” Li Meng stood up to serve them food and told Sun Hai to add another dish.

Sun Qiufang quickly stopped her. “It’s fine. There’s already so much food. We won’t be able to finish it. Don’t go to all that trouble—we’re not outsiders, no need to be so formal.”

Only then did Sun Hai sit down and eat with them, asking about how things had been in the city.

“Your brother-in-law found a place for the store and is working on setting it up. You don’t know how troublesome it is to open a store in the city—it’s way more complicated than in the county. We ran around a lot to get all the paperwork done. Good storefronts are hard to find too, and the rent for good ones is several times what it costs in the county. Since we’re just starting out, we didn’t dare to invest too much and just found a decent place to begin with.”

Hearing that their city store was about to open, Sun Hai said, “You and my brother-in-law are really capable.”

Sun Qiufang smiled. “Capable? We’re just doing this for our kids. Otherwise, Changrong and I wouldn’t be going through all this trouble.”

Li Meng said, “Daughters really are more considerate. Sun Hai doesn’t dote on Doudou like this. I’ve said before that the education in the city is better and wanted to move there, but he never agreed.”

Hearing this, Sun Hai replied helplessly, “You’re always jumping to conclusions. Doudou’s still so young. Isn’t it too early to think about all this?”

Li Meng disagreed. “It’s not early. We could move there and be with Sister and her family. Besides, I heard kindergartens in the city are better. Doudou will start kindergarten the year after next—getting settled earlier would be better.”

Seeing that the couple was about to argue, Sun Qiufang quickly interjected, “There’s no rush. Let’s wait until our store opens and see how things go. You two should think it through before making any decisions.”

Grandma Sun also chimed in, “Yes, we haven’t even found staff for the store yet. Let’s take things one step at a time.”

Li Meng said, “I’m not saying we should move immediately. I just want him to keep it in mind and start planning.”

“Sun Hai’s thinking about it, right?” Sun Qiufang shot him a look.

Sun Hai nodded helplessly. He was thinking about it—he just didn’t know how to go about it yet.

Li Meng could tell Sun Hai was brushing her off, but since Qiufang had spoken up, she didn’t want to push the matter and just forced a smile before continuing to eat.

After persuading Sun Hai, Sun Qiufang went to the supermarket to check on how things were going.

Li Meng was busy directing the staff to arrange goods.

Sun Qiufang noticed that the store looked well-organized—no worse than when she and Su Changrong used to run it. It was clear Li Meng had put real effort into it.

“Sis, how do you think I’ve done?” Li Meng greeted her with a smile.

Sun Qiufang smiled back. “It looks great. You’re managing it all on your own even better than we did.”

Li Meng was pleased by the compliment and said, “I just followed the way you and Brother-in-law used to do things.”

Sun Qiufang looked around the supermarket and then said with a smile, “If you and Sun Hai move to the city later, I’ll have to find someone new to take over.”

“He doesn’t want to move to the city. It’s no use if only I’m in a rush. I still have to follow his lead.” Li Meng’s tone held a touch of helplessness. Although Sun Hai usually treated her well, he was the one who made the big decisions, and she had no say. Sometimes she thought that if she didn’t care about Sun Hai so much, maybe she could fight for more of a say in the household. But because she cared too much, she didn’t even dare to think about talking back.

Being a woman herself, Sun Qiufang could naturally see how Li Meng felt about Sun Hai. Even before they got married, Li Meng had feelings for him, and now that they were married, she cared about him even more. So while she was concerned about the emotional distance between them, she wasn’t worried that Li Meng would stray. Hearing the disappointment in her voice, Sun Qiufang said, “Xiao Hai has always been quiet since he was a child, but he has a good heart. Since he married you, he’ll be devoted. If there’s something you want to know, ask him directly. Don’t bottle things up. Men and women are different—men think about things outside the home and don’t understand what’s in a woman’s heart. Xiao Hai keeps things even more to himself than most men. If you keep burying things in your heart, you’ll only make yourself sad.”