Chapter 4 Those are your rules, not mine…
Su Ruyi brought the luggage in, smiled at the people outside, and then closed the door, shutting out all the chaos outside.
These days, people in houses like theirs don't close their doors during the day to ensure ventilation; they're all left open. It's quite rare to see someone like Su Ruyi.
Wang Huizhen stood blankly at the door, holding the chicken, still unable to process what had just happened.
She was a few steps too late and got blocked by someone, so she watched helplessly as her grandmother and cousin flew from one end to the other. It's no exaggeration! They really flew through the air, at least a meter or more above the ground!
"What are you standing there for? Come inside," Su Ruyi called out to her.
"Ah, oh oh."
Wang Huizhen walked in blankly, carrying the chicken. When she entered the house and saw the mess, she was immediately startled, and her eyes reddened instantly.
The scene must have been horrific; the house was turned into this mess!
Their home isn't big, about 20 square meters, with one bedroom and one living room, and a bunk bed in the living room.
During the day, the blankets on the lower bunk are put away on the upper bunk, and the bed is used as a sofa.
There was a low cabinet next to the bed, and a row of stools and a folded table near the door.
The desk is usually folded up and only opened when you need to do homework or eat.
Although the house was very clean, there were too many things, and the walls were filled with them.
Everything is a mess now; even the only thermos in the house is broken.
The house was alright, but her mother and two younger sisters were in a terrible state. Even the eldest sister, who loved beauty the most, had her hair pulled into a mess, her face scratched several times, and her clothes covered in footprints.
"chicken!"
Tong Yunyun was overjoyed to see the chicken. She opened her mouth, which was full of blood, and smiled, completely unconcerned about the injuries on her face and body, as if she had long been used to them.
"What are they doing! This is outrageous!"
Wang Huizhen could no longer hold back her tears and didn't know what to do.
Her stepfather's family had always treated them badly, constantly looking down on her mother and the sisters. Especially after her mother and stepfather had a younger sister, Tong Yunyun, they became even more hostile.
Grandma Zhang Cuihua kept cursing her mother for causing her stepfather to have no descendants, saying that the mother and daughter were both jinxes. Later, she even wanted to adopt her eldest uncle's youngest son, Tong Guangyao, into her stepfather's name.
To be precise, it was to let Tong Guangyao inherit their family's property in the future. After his stepfather passed away, he would break a basin for his stepfather, but he would still be his uncle's son in daily life.
Her stepfather didn't agree, but Zhang Cuihua was determined on her own and often brought Tong Guangyao over to freeload.
Now that her stepfather is gone, and his fate is still uncertain, they come over and cause trouble, calling them jinxes.
Later, when the factory started issuing pensions, he would come to their home every few days to cause trouble, trying to take all the pensions and also take over the job the factory had given him.
She and her younger sister T are indeed not members of the Tong family, but Tong Yunyun is her stepfather's biological child, and her mother has worked hard for this family for many years. Even if she has not made any great contributions, she has certainly put in a lot of effort.
Moreover, her stepfather was able to become a permanent employee at the furniture factory because her mother gave him up.
But because there's no man in the house, it seems like everything in the house no longer belongs to them.
Su Ruyi: "Alright, stop crying. Hurry up and pack up, I'm hungry."
Li Mei, who was initially at a loss, immediately perked up upon hearing this:
"You must be Ruyi. I'm your Aunt Li Mei, this is your younger sister Wang Huizhen, and this is Tong Yunyun. We'll get ready right away and cook for you in a bit. Do you have any dietary restrictions?"
"I'm fine with anything." Su Ruyi paused after saying that, "Cook more rice, I have a big appetite."
The side effect of gaining this ability was that Su Ruyi's appetite became enormous. After eating a lot of food on the train, she could barely finish two boxes of rice.
In the past, this amount of food wouldn't have mattered much. Landladys who did nothing but still had to pay taxes every year could easily eat their fill of delicacies every day, and could even make money by running a food vlog account.
But given the current conditions, such a large appetite is a bit of a problem. Once she settles down, she'll have to find a way to start earning money, otherwise she'll eat herself into poverty.
"Okay, okay. The living room is a mess. You've been running around all day. Go to your room and rest first."
Li Mei quickly helped Wang Huizhen and Wang Huiting tidy up. She became very efficient as soon as she started working, and even though she was limping from the beating, it didn't stop her from doing her job.
Su Ruyi hadn't been able to shower for three days on the train. Although the sleeper berth was a bit better and less crowded, and she could use a towel to wipe herself in the bathroom at night, she was still filthy from not showering in the sweltering heat.
She didn't plan to go into the bedroom, but instead took a stool and sat in the hallway.
Zhang Cuihua was still cursing outside, but she didn't dare to come over again. Su Ruyi's move just now had still frightened her.
It's unfair that she suffered such a huge loss and just left like that.
He was swearing venomously, using all sorts of offensive language against women, such as saying things like "a thousand men ride on her, ten thousand men sleep with her."
Su Ruyi opened the door, tossed the stool in her hand, and looked over coldly.
Zhang Cuihua felt as if her neck had been grabbed; she thought about how she had just been tossed into the air.
She quickly pulled Tong Guangyao back, and shouted in a bluffing manner:
"You, you just wait! When my son arrives, let's see how arrogant you lowly sluts will still be!"
Su Ruyi chuckled, and after watching the person walk away, she closed the door again to prevent others from peeping.
Fortunately, this room is on the far side, providing a private space; otherwise, there would be no privacy at all.
Tong Yunyun walked over, her dark eyes staring intently at Su Ruyi.
Su Ruyi looked at her and realized that the little one looked a bit like her.
"You're my eldest sister?"
Su Ruyi frowned as soon as she saw her speak, pointing to the water tank on the balcony:
"Go rinse your mouth first, you don't even mind the smell of blood on your face."
Tong Yunyun glanced at her, but in the end did as she was told. Just as she was about to spit the mouthwash on the ground, Su Ruyi pinched her mouth shut.
"Isn't that disgusting? Spitting in a spittoon."
Tong Yunyun blinked to indicate that she understood, and Su Ruyi then let go of her hand.
Tong Yunyun went into the room, pulled out a spittoon from under the bed, and spat the bloody water into it.
After cleaning his mouth, he came out of the house again.
Su Ruyi watched Li Mei and her two daughters busy inside, and she raised her chin: "Aren't you going to help?"
Tong Yunyun stood with her hands on her hips and her head held high:
"I'm the man of the house, and men don't do such trivial things!"
Su Ruyi scoffed: "Who taught you that?"
"No need to teach me, I'm a man, I was born knowing this!"
"Ha! So you're saying your dad, Tong Aihua, isn't a man?"
Tong Yunyun glared at him: "You're not allowed to talk about my dad!"
“Didn’t you say yourself that men don’t do such trivial things? Tong Aihua does all sorts of things in my house.”
Tong Yunyun's eyes widened even more: "Impossible! My dad would never do such a thing. He doesn't have to do anything when he gets home. You're lying!"
"That's because he wouldn't do it at your house, since your mom and sister do it for him. At my house, these are all his chores."
Tong Yunyun was stunned, unable to imagine what it would be like for her father to do these chores.
"If you don't like doing it, just say so. Don't say it's not a man's job. Besides, are you even a man?"
“I am, why wouldn’t I be? I’m more capable than boys. I can jump higher and farther than them, I can climb trees better than them, and I’m smarter than them. I am a boy!” Tong Yunyun said angrily.
“My mom won first place in a national competition, outshining all the men. Even high-ranking leaders praised her. She’s still a strong and independent woman. At such a young age, she already looks down on women.”
"But women can't break the basin."
Su Ruyi rolled her eyes: "Smashing a basin isn't like moving a mountain, what can't be done? We don't have the custom of smashing basins at burials in my hometown, so what, does that mean we can't live?"
“But I’m a girl, so my dad has no descendants.”
"Come on, who says girls aren't bloodline? When you get married and have children, can you guarantee they're your family's bloodline? But when a man gets married and has children, the children might not be his."
"But then our child can't have the surname Tong."
"Why not? I just took my mom's surname. If you find someone like our dad, your child can have the surname Tong, or even take your mom's surname Li."
Tong Yunyun was young, and soon she was confused by Su Ruyi's words. She felt that none of these words were right, but she couldn't argue with her.
The mother and her two daughters didn't dare to make a sound inside the house, tidying up while listening to Su Ruyi's rambling.
When Tong Yunyun was five years old, she took it upon herself to shave her head and insisted that she was a boy.
If people hadn't stopped her, she would have gone to the men's restroom. Now she doesn't insist on using the men's restroom anymore, but she also doesn't use the women's restroom. She finds a place in the open to relieve herself, or she uses a spittoon.
She always compares herself to boys in everything she does, and she often gets into fights with them. She's become the leader of the kids in the neighborhood.
She wasn't very tall and was quite thin, but she fought recklessly and without fear of death. She wasn't afraid of being beaten up and would fight to the death with anyone. Even the most mischievous boys were afraid of her.
People don't call her by her name anymore; they call her Iron Donkey because she's stubborn and has the temper of a donkey, always charging around recklessly.
Tong Aihua and Li Min couldn't do anything about her, so they could only let her go.
Tong Aihua also mentioned it in her letter, but she didn't go into detail with Su Ruyi. She just said that she had a younger sister who looked like a boy.
Who would have thought it would be so serious?
From Su Ruyi's current perspective, Tong Yunyun doesn't seem to have gender identity disorder. Rather, she feels that being a boy is better, and that her family and her mother wouldn't be bullied if they had a boy. That's why she consciously tries to become like that.
When Tong Aihua was at their home, she did not show any preference for sons over daughters, and this has not been observed in their interactions over the years.
However, this might also be due to her mother, Ms. Su Ying, who was not lying when she told Tong Yunyun earlier.
In their family, the man stays at home while the woman works outside. Ms. Su Ying makes the decisions on important family matters, while Ms. Tong Aihua handles the minor ones.
She didn't change her surname after the divorce; she had the same surname as Ms. Su Ying when she was born. When Tong Aihua was in the countryside, he was essentially a son-in-law who moved in with his wife's family.
Ms. Su Ying did not discriminate against girls, and Tong Aihua listened to her, so she did not have that tendency either.
In Su Ruyi's memory, her family's situation was the opposite of that in the village.
The villagers said that after Su Ruyi's parents divorced, her father would definitely not keep his promise. It's rare for a man to take responsibility after he runs away, especially since he was a son-in-law who had married into the family.
Sons-in-law who marry into the wife's family are most likely to fall out with their wives, fearing that they will recall their past 'humiliating' experiences.
The result was quite unexpected. Su Ruyi felt that this was because Tong Aihua had a conscience, and also very importantly, Ms. Su Ying had Tong Aihua completely under her control.
Although this is a county town, and the environment is more open than in the countryside, the phenomenon of valuing sons over daughters still exists.
That's just how things are these days. It's not necessarily that people favor girls, but they generally prefer boys and feel that having a son is essential for a fulfilling life.
Many families still have second or third children after the one-child policy was implemented, hoping to have a boy. They use all sorts of tricks to circumvent the one-child policy, which is nothing new.
Everyone has a need for it, so generally no one will report it, and some will even help cover it up.
People can be different in front of different people. Comrade Tong Aihua may have two faces, otherwise how could she have driven her child to this state?
"Anyway, it's better to be a boy."
Tong Yunyun gave her final concluding remarks.
Su Ruyi didn't argue with the little brat, and simply said:
"That's a good idea of yours. The food I brought this time is only for the girls. Since you're a guy, you won't get any, which saves us a portion, so we can eat more."
Tong Yunyun's ears perked up, and she tilted her head back: "You're from the countryside, what kind of food could you have brought?"
"There's really nothing special about it. It's just common things like sausages, cured meat, salted fish, mangoes, pineapples, longans, guavas, bananas, and the like. They're very common and nothing special. What good things could we possibly have in our poor, remote mountain area? They don't exist."
Tong Yunyun immediately started swallowing hard; she had only ever seen some of these fruits in her textbooks!
These are all southern fruits; they're hard to find here.
"I want to eat it too."
"As I just said, the food I brought is only for the women; the men don't get any."
"But, aren't the best dishes always reserved for the men?"
Su Ruyi shrugged: "That's your rule, not mine. My rule is, ladies first, gentlemen step aside."
Tong Yunyun's face immediately scrunched up. She really wanted to eat, but she also really wanted to be a boy.
A note from the author:
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