Chapter 369 We are family

"They were both her children, why is she favoring one over the other?! She's just biased, she's just taking advantage of me because I'm still young and can't do anything!"

Su Hongmei, her eyes red, roared defiantly.

"idiot!"

Su Xiaosi cursed, "You didn't listen to a single useful word of all the insults he gave you. You deserve to be left behind in school."

Su Hongmei stomped her feet and called out to Fourth Brother.

"You're like this too, you're all like this, what did I do wrong?! Should I not have been born at all...?"

Su Xiaosi rolled her eyes, pulled the blanket up tighter, and continued reading, too lazy to pay any more attention to her.

Su Hongmei plopped down on the doorstep, buried her head in her lap, and sobbed.

Three or five neighbors who had just returned from watching the fireworks passed by and exclaimed "Oh!" as they called out to her.

"Hongmei, what's wrong? I think I just saw your mother come, but she wasn't here to pick you up, was she?"

Su Hongmei cried even louder.

He shouted, "My mom doesn't want me anymore, and I don't want her either!"

The neighbor frowned in disgust and said, "This child, how come he still holds a grudge against his own mother?"

What do you know?

Su Hongmei wiped away her tears and yelled at the man, "She won't even give me tuition and living expenses. I can't go to high school anymore. I can't study anymore."

"Hey, what you're saying..."

Another neighbor asked curiously, "Your parents divorced, and you chose your dad, right? Why don't you ask your dad for money when you're in school, but instead ask your mom? Just because your mom has money, does that mean she should support all of you? Why should she?!"

"that is."

The neighbor clicked his tongue. "Su Youfu only has a couple hundred yuan a month, it's not like he can't afford to raise his daughter. Could he have gone to see that slut He Taohua again?"

Su Hongmei seemed not to hear her.

He continued shouting, "She's so rich, what's wrong with giving me a few? My dad doesn't earn as much as she does in a month!"

"Ouch."

The neighbor took a step back in fright. "Are you crazy, girl? Why are you yelling at me? Your dad earns less because he's incompetent. His not supporting your education has nothing to do with how much money he makes; he just doesn't want to! You don't blame your dad, but you blame your mom. Honestly, does your mom owe you anything for giving birth to you and raising you? How old are you? You don't even understand right from wrong. I think your mom wasted her life raising you..."

After saying that, he glanced at Su Xiaosi, who hadn't even raised her head.

He muttered, "Two ingrates."

Su Xiaosi suddenly looked up and asked the woman with a forced smile, "Aunt Xu, what are you saying?"

The woman gave two dry laughs.

"Studying, Xiao Si? Studying is good. Your parents are so proud to have such a good student like you. Keep studying, keep studying..."

After saying that, he walked away, groaning.

Seeing this, the others followed suit.

Even after walking quite a distance, you could still hear a few people complaining, "My God, did you see that? Su Xiaosi's eyes looked like she wanted to eat someone alive..."

"Who told you to call someone an ingrate? Who can stand being insulted like that?"

"I didn't say anything wrong about them. Wasn't Li Banxia good to them? Look at them, they'd rather stay with scum like Su Youfu than their own mother after getting divorced. Aren't they ungrateful wretches!"

"That's true. None of the kids in my hometown village could do something like this, let alone someone who's educated. Most of their education has gone to waste..."

"Hahaha, right?"

"Hey, what do you think Li Banxia is doing here? I saw her head straight for He Taohua's courtyard. Aren't they living there now?"

"Who knows? They're so aggressive, you might as well be like Su Xiaosi, ready to eat someone alive..."

"How about we go back and take a look? We don't have anything to do at home right now anyway?"

"Then... let's go?"

"Walk!"

The group turned around and came back this way. Su Xiaosi closed her eyes impatiently.

Su Hongmei wiped away her tears, ran to the kitchen, grabbed a cleaver, and left.

Su Xiaosi, "..."

"Su Hongmei, what are you doing with that knife?"

Su Hongmei walked out with her head down.

Su Xiaosi cursed, put the quilt back on the bed, put the book back on the table, closed the door and the courtyard gate, and followed her at a distance to He Taohua's courtyard.

Li Banxia arrived at He Taohua's courtyard a step ahead of them. The gate was closed, with bright red Spring Festival couplets pasted on it. The courtyard was bustling with activity, and there was the sound of firecrackers that had just stopped, along with a strong smell of gunpowder.

Old Mrs. Su complained loudly to Su Youfu, "Why did you insist on divorcing Li Banxia? Her health spa is making a lot of money now, and the third son, who used to look like a lazy, good-for-nothing, is now able to open so many shops!"

"...I specifically went to inquire, and they say that grocery store makes at least several thousand a day! You don't like your perfectly good wife, but you like a widow! What's so good about He Taohua that she's so infatuated with you! That jinx has ruined our family, and she's even in jail now, and you're still thinking about her..."

Grandma Su was so disappointed in her son that she spat at him, repeatedly saying, "You're so rude!"

"...If you two weren't divorced, all the money they earn would be yours. What's yours is mine. Why would I be stuck in this little courtyard eating chaff and wild vegetables with you!"

"Alright, Mom."

Su Youfu frowned and retorted impatiently, "When did I ever tell you to eat coarse food? Don't compare that bitch Li Banxia to Tao Hua, she doesn't deserve her! No matter how rich Li Banxia is, she's still a piece of trash I've slept with. In my eyes, Tao Hua is a thousand times better than her. I like Tao Hua, love Tao Hua, and I want to marry Tao Hua. I just can't stand Li Banxia!"

The three Su brothers outside the door looked increasingly grim.

“He Taohua has been married and had children, and is even more wretched than Li Banxia.”

"mom!"

Seeing her son was angry, Old Mrs. Su patted him and said, "You don't listen to me. I mean, if you two hadn't divorced, we could spend all that money, so Tao Hua and Jie Fang could spend it too, right?"

Su Laosan was furious, his fists clenched as if he wanted to kick the door, but Li Banxia stopped him with a look.

"...Once the others bring Li Banxia's eldest grandson here, Mom, you take the children and go back to the countryside. If they can't find him, they'll have to listen to us!"

Su Youfu seemed to have taken his mother's words to heart, his voice tinged with excitement, "Mom, how about I give Tao Hua and the others ten thousand or eight thousand? Jiefang's wife is so useless. Jiefang told her to beg her aunt, but she ran away after being threatened a couple of times. What a useless thing! Luckily, she introduced us to that child thief..."

Grandma Su spat.

He grumbled, "We paid for that ourselves, a hundred yuan! That's more than half a month's salary for you."

"It's just half a month's salary, what's there to be afraid of?"

Su Youfu arrogantly said, "Once the child is in our hands, we'll just get this money back from Li Banxia. If she wants a grandson, she has to give us money. If she doesn't give us money, we won't give it to her!"

“Yes! Calling the police won't do any good. You're the child's grandfather, we're family. How can a grandfather seeing his grandson be considered illegal…”