Chapter 3: Be aware of your dependence on others!

The joy that hadn't yet fully blossomed on the faces of the mother, daughter, and Su Guohua froze on their lips.

"What else do you want to say?" His tone was tinged with impatience.

Su Yue completely ignored their emotions, leaning weakly against the headboard, even managing a sweet smile on her pale face.

"Dad, Mom, since you both think Hainan Island is great, then I'll go there."

She paused, looking with satisfaction at the relieved expressions on the mother and daughter's faces, then abruptly changed the subject and dropped a bombshell.

"However, I have one condition."

"I'm taking the valuables and map from the safe you just got with me."

What? !

The moment those words were spoken, the air in the entire room seemed to freeze.

Lin Xiuzhen and Lin Wan'er's eyes almost popped out of their sockets!

That was almost all of the Su family's liquid assets and banknotes! It was a mountain of gold and silver that the mother and daughter had been planning for so long and were about to get their hands on!

Now that little bitch Su Yue actually wants to take everything away?

dream!

"No!" Lin Xiuzhen blurted out without thinking, her voice sharp and piercing.

She realized she had lost her composure as soon as she finished shouting, quickly covered her mouth, looked at Su Guohua for help, her eyes reddening rapidly, and put on a look as if she had suffered a great injustice.

"Guohua, listen to what Yueyue is saying! Those things were left to the entire Su family by her maternal grandfather. How can we let her take them alone? It's so dangerous for a young girl to carry so much money on her!"

"Yes, sister!" Lin Wan'er exclaimed anxiously, quickly adding, "It's so chaotic outside right now. You're carrying so much stuff; what if bad guys target you? We're all doing this for your own good!"

They keep saying "it's for your own good," it's really disgusting to hear.

Su Yue rolled her eyes inwardly, but on the surface she still looked sickly, as if she hadn't said that shocking statement.

She didn't speak, but looked at Su Guohua with her big, watery eyes, her expression full of grievance.

Su Guohua's heart softened at her gaze, but he also felt that his daughter's request was indeed excessive, and he was caught in a dilemma.

He cleared his throat, trying to find a compromise.

"Yueyue, your mother and sister are right, don't flaunt your wealth. Those things are safest at home."

Seeing the disappointment in his daughter's eyes, a pang of guilt welled up in his heart again, so he quickly softened his tone and began to make empty promises.

"Here's what we'll do. Dad will give you two thousand yuan first, and then two hundred jin of national grain coupons. That'll be enough for you to live comfortably on Hainan Island. Go there and take good care of your health, okay?"

Two thousand yuan and two hundred jin of grain coupons!

In 1968, this was an absolute fortune!

That's enough for an average family to live a wealthy life for several years.

Su Guohua felt that he, as a father, had done everything he could.

Lin Xiuzhen's heart was bleeding as she listened. Two thousand yuan! But then she thought, as long as she could get rid of this plague, it would be worth it to exchange two thousand yuan for the wealth in that safe!

She immediately composed herself and echoed with a loving expression, "Yes, Yueyue, your father is right. Take this money and tickets with you first, just to relax. Once you've gotten along well with Commander Gu, we'll hold a wedding for you. At that time, Mom will definitely prepare the most lavish dowry for you, and you'll get all the gold and silver jewelry—you won't be shortchanged! You'll take it all with you!"

They talk a good game, but they sing a better game.

Anyone can make empty promises.

Su Yue sneered inwardly, but her face showed a hesitant expression of being persuaded.

She slowly began to calculate the accounts, counting on her fingers.

"Two thousand yuan...that sounds like a lot."

She looked up, her eyes innocent and naive.

"But Dad, Mom, have you forgotten who I am?"

"I am the eldest daughter of the Su family!"

“From childhood to adulthood, I’ve always worn clothes made from the latest materials from Shanghai department stores, eaten imported food, and used the most expensive face cream from Friendship Store. Now you’re sending me to some poor, remote place I’ve never even heard of, and you’re only giving me two thousand yuan?”

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear and resonant.

"How am I supposed to live?"

"Should I buy a new set of clothes that I've worn from spring to winter? The weather on Hainan Island is very humid, and I'm not very healthy, so I need to buy a few nice cashmere sweaters to have on hand."

"Also, military family compound, it sounds nice, but who knows what it's like inside? We'll have to buy furniture, right? Beds, cabinets, tables, chairs, can we make do with these things? I can't stand sleeping on a hard bed."

"I need a bicycle, right? Otherwise, how am I supposed to get around? Am I supposed to walk everywhere?"

"We need to buy a radio too, otherwise it'll be so boring staying here all day!"

"besides……"

With each sentence Su Yue spoke, Lin Xiuzhen and Lin Wan'er's faces paled a little more.

Su Guohua's brows furrowed even more deeply.

He hadn't expected his daughter to make so many demands.

In this day and age, which of these things isn't a rare luxury?

"Sister! How can you be so inconsiderate!" Lin Wan'er finally couldn't hold back anymore. She stepped forward and accused her with a pained expression, "Do you know what the situation is like at home? Dad's business isn't doing well either! And you still have to spend so much money. Have you ever thought about the family?"

Her words sounded righteous and selfless, with every sentence seemingly for Su Guohua's benefit, but in reality, she was trying to sow discord between Su Yue and Su Guohua, portraying her as a spoiled, extravagant, and inconsiderate spendthrift daughter who didn't understand her parents.

What a beautiful, pure white lotus flower in this prosperous age!

Su Yue had been waiting for these words.

She suddenly raised her head, her previously sickly eyes instantly turning sharp as knives, shooting straight at Lin Wan'er.

Who do you think you are? Do you dare to lecture me?

Su Yue's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a compelling aura, causing Lin Wan'er to instinctively take a step back.

"What's the situation at home? Let me tell you about my family!"

"How much dowry did my mother bring when she married my father? The Su family owes half of its success to my maternal grandfather's family! Every penny in this family belongs to my mother, which means it's half mine!"

"It's my right to spend my own money!"

"And you?" Su Yue looked Lin Wan'er up and down, a hint of undisguised sarcasm curling at the corner of her lips.

"Your surname is Lin, and mine is Su. This is the Su family, not your Lin family. You eat our food, live in our house, and spend our money. Now, you're turning around and lecturing me, the proper young lady of the Su family, on how to spend money?"

"Who gave you the audacity?!"

"Lin Wan'er, I advise you to know your place! If you're living under someone else's roof, you should be aware of that! Stop thinking about things that don't belong to you!"

The string of words was like a series of poisoned knives, each one stabbing into Lin Wan'er's heart.

They laid bare her hidden thoughts, exposing them to the light of day.

Lin Wan'er's face turned deathly pale in an instant, her lips trembled, and she couldn't utter a single word.

She never expected that Su Yue, whom she had always manipulated, would become so sharp-tongued and so... terrifying today!

"You...you're talking nonsense!" After stammering for a long time, she could only manage to squeeze out this weak rebuttal before tears streamed down her face. She turned and rushed to Lin Xiuzhen, "Mom...look at her..."

"Enough!" Lin Xiuzhen felt sorry for her daughter and quickly shielded her behind her, glaring at Su Yue. "Su Yue! How can you talk to your sister like that? Wan'er is doing this for the good of the family!"

"For the good of this family?" Su Yue laughed as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world.

"Mom, I think you're really getting senile. Don't you have any idea whether she's doing this for the good of the family or for her own good?"

Su Yue was too lazy to waste any more words with them, so she directly addressed the core of the problem.

"What right does a mother who can't even teach her own daughter have to talk to me?"

After she finished speaking, she stopped looking at the mother and daughter who were so angry that their faces turned blue, and instead slowly turned her gaze to Su Guohua, who had been silent from beginning to end.

"dad."

"Who's really in charge of this family now?"