Chapter 28 Chapter 28 They can't even handle it
Chapter Twenty-Eight: They Can't Be Dealt With
Lin Su gazed at the familiar yet unfamiliar red brick buildings in the residential area, where people occasionally came and went. On the other side of the road was the Dongfeng Machinery Factory, a large machinery factory that designed and manufactured various machine parts.
She pointed to a building in the distance: "My home is in that building."
Zhou Yunqi said, "I'll take you inside."
"No need, it's just a few steps."
"Then I'll come over again at 10 a.m. tomorrow. See you at Grandpa Gu's house."
Lin Su looked up at him and nodded.
Zhou Yunqi sighed and patted her head: "I'm worried about you coming back to this house. Remember not to get into any conflicts with them. If you don't eat well, don't be sad, just eat out. Remember to keep the money I gave you safe..."
Lin Su looked into those gentle eyes and smiled softly: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing and I know how to handle it."
He straightened the collar of her black wool coat for her: "The way you say it with such certainty is exactly what worries me."
"..."
Just then, a few meters behind them, Deng Jinfeng returned from visiting relatives with her daughter, Gu Xinjuan.
Gu Xinjuan said, "Mom, all the daughters of my third uncle's neighbors have gone back to the city. Will Susu go back to the city too?"
Deng Jinfeng snorted coldly: "No news for half a year, maybe he died there."
Gu Xinjuan said, "If I die, the farm will at least give me some news, right?"
“Even if she’s still alive, she’d probably be skin and bones. Didn’t she write home saying she was often sick and malnourished? That’s why other educated youth sent money home, but she never sent a single penny back. What could she do if she came back?” Deng Jinfeng said. “Besides, now that your brother’s here, she won’t even have a place to sleep if she comes back. I’d rather she got married there. Aren’t quite a few educated youths marrying into local rural families?”
Gu Xinjuan: "But I've also heard that some educated youth who got married in the local area abandoned their children in order to return to the city."
Deng Jinfeng said, "Never mind all that, hurry up and find a partner. Last time Aunt Jiang introduced you to her nephew, and I thought the boy was alright, but you insisted he wasn't good enough."
"Mom, I don't like that kind of person. Besides, they're not good-looking and they don't know how to sweet-talk people."
"You're such a picky child. You're just too spoiled. I think you should go to the countryside and get some experience."
Gu Xinjuan smiled and took her mother's arm, saying sweetly, "Mom, how could you bear to let me go to the countryside? Didn't you send Susu to the countryside in my place?"
Deng Jinfeng corrected: "What do you mean by 'substitute'? There's no such thing. You're already working at the factory. If she doesn't go to the countryside, does she expect to just sit at home and live off her savings? You're so naive. You should talk less about family matters to others. Otherwise, outsiders will think I'm being biased."
Gu Xinjuan: "I didn't tell anyone."
Looking up, she saw two people standing in front of her. The girl was truly beautiful, with fair and radiant skin and stunning features. What was even more striking was that the man next to her was not only tall but also very handsome, with an extraordinary air about him.
Gu Xinjuan stared wide-eyed, but the more she looked, the more something seemed amiss. Deng Jinfeng suddenly pulled her daughter to hide behind a large sycamore tree.
"Is that Susu?" Deng Jinfeng asked.
"Mom, you think it looks like it too?"
"How can she be so beautiful?"
"No, she was pretty too." Gu Xinjuan's attention remained on the man. "Is that man her boyfriend?"
He patted her head, and his eyes were full of tenderness when he looked at her. The two of them were wearing matching coats, which seemed out of place with their surroundings.
Watching the man get into the jeep, Lin Su walked forward carrying two bags, seemingly heading home.
Deng Jinfeng couldn't believe her eyes: "That brat, how did she become such a different person?"
"You're asking me? How would I know?"
I wasn't asking you.
Gu Xinjuan couldn't accept it and angrily shouted, "How could she find such a good partner? This is not fair!"
Deng Jinfeng grabbed her daughter's arm and said, "Go back quickly."
-
Lin Su carried her bag home to the family compound, and as she walked, people stared at her curiously.
As darkness fell, some people didn't recognize her, while others turned around to look after walking several steps, and then whispered in doubt, "Is this Susu?"
Lin Su went up to the second floor, walked along the corridor, and came to the door of a certain room.
Inside the room were two men, one about twenty years old and the other about ten. They were both staring in astonishment at Lin Su at the door.
The older man looked like a thug. He asked, "Who are you looking for?"
The younger boy recognized her and called out, "Sister."
Lin Su looked down at her half-brother and replied, "Yes, Xinxin."
"Is this your sister?" the man asked.
"Yes, it's Sister Susu."
He smiled and said, "Oh, it's you. I didn't recognize you. I'm Gu Xinping."
Lin Su sized up the other person. Was this Gu Xinjuan's lazy and good-for-nothing older brother who had come here for a visit during the Chinese New Year?
But then, Gu Xinping said with a smirk, "My grandfather is gone, and now I can only live with my mother."
In other words, there is now one more person in her family.
This also means that the living space is smaller and more crowded.
Lin Su couldn't help but ask, "So how do you sleep?"
“My sister shares a room with my mom, and I share a room with Xinxin.”
As expected, Lin Su knew that she had nowhere to stay here.
"Why didn't you send a message when you came back?" Gu Xinping kept looking at her and said with a smile, "We didn't even know."
Just as Lin Su was about to answer, two people came in from behind. Her stepmother said, "Oh, Su Su is back. I just heard the aunt downstairs talking about it, but I didn't believe it."
Lin Su turned around and saw that this was her hypocritical stepmother, who had sent her to the countryside under the pretense of doing it for her own good. Next to her was her narcissistic, spoiled, and dim-witted stepsister, who thought she had all the good things in the world. And now there was her lazy and good-for-nothing stepsister...
Very well, your whole family is awful and has completely taken advantage of the Lin family.
Lin Su didn't want to exchange pleasantries, and simply asked, "With so many people, where am I going to sleep?"
The stepmother was taken aback for a moment and said, "This... we weren't prepared for your sudden return. Xinping's grandfather passed away, and he and your brother have been living in the same room for half a year. Why don't you just make do on the sofa tonight?"
Lin Su said, "It's not convenient for a young woman like me to sleep in the living room, especially since your son is here too."
"What do you mean 'my son'? This is your brother too."
Lin Su: "We are not related by blood."
The stepmother had no idea that the girl, who had never dared to disobey in the slightest and was usually mild-mannered, now had a plan and was quite confident. No wonder they hadn't been in contact for the past six months. She couldn't retort for a moment.
The stepsister couldn't help but chime in, "The house is only so big, and there are only two bedrooms. Where do you want to stay?"
Lin Su said, "Of course I'll stay in my room and let the two of them sleep on the sofa. Anyway, it's a movable sofa, and it can be unfolded into a bed."
The stepmother said, "That won't do. Your younger brother is still small and is used to sleeping in his bed."
Lin Su: "I've gotten used to sleeping in a bed too."
At that moment, the younger brother whispered, "I can sleep on the sofa."
"Xinxin, be good." Lin Su forced a smile at her stepmother, then carried her luggage into the room and started making the bed. She rolled up the blankets and mattresses they had slept in and rummaged through the closet for new ones.
My stepmother always speaks well of me in front of others, which makes outsiders think she's a good person, but she actually likes to play dirty tricks behind my back. She stood at the door of the room, holding her breath: "You just got back and you're already kicking your brother and younger brother out of the room. That's not right. Let them stay in the living room for a couple of days, and then we'll discuss it."
Lin Su turned to look at her stepmother and said very seriously, "What's wrong with it? I think it's fine. This room has always been mine. I've lived here since I was a child, except for a few years when I lived with Juanjuan. You can't expect me to make concessions in every way just because my father is gone and no one cares about me."
“I suffered so much in the countryside, I almost died there, and I barely escaped with my life. I deserve to move back into my own room.” Lin Su continued, “Don’t forget, Juanjuan’s job was originally left to me by my father. I was ignorant back then and listened to you, so I went to the countryside in her place. Now that I’m back, it’s not too much to ask for a room, is it?”
Everyone was stunned.
Is this the same Lin Su who was so eloquent and prone to tears before? Is she coming back to turn the house upside down?
Lin Su realized that the key to competing with these people was to firmly grasp the initiative, catch them off guard, and render them helpless.
She most likely won't stay in this house for long, and may even be planning to go to a boarding high school. She's doing all this for no other reason than to vent her anger and let them know that she's not the easy Susu to bully.
She looked at her stunned stepmother and smiled slightly: "I'm hungry, go and cook."
Deng Jinfeng was completely dumbfounded, feeling like the whole world had changed. She grumbled and prepared to go to the communal kitchen to cook, while her stepsister couldn't stand it any longer and whine to her mother, "Mom, how come she can sleep in a room by herself? I want to sleep in a room by myself too."
Deng Jinfeng had been holding back her anger, and now she vented it all on her daughter, seemingly making veiled accusations: "If you want a room, why don't you go and fight for it yourself? Do you expect me to perform a magic trick to give you one? Or should I kick your own mother out of the room and make her sleep in the living room too?"
Lin Su pretended not to hear, took out some flower cakes and milk candies and put them on the table, smiling as she said to her younger brother, whom she could get along with, "Xinxin, come and eat some cakes."
...
Zhou Yunqi didn't sleep well all night and rushed over at nine o'clock the next day.
Lin Su had just bought a lock at a convenience store. As she passed by with the lock, she saw Zhou Yunqi and was surprised: "Why are you here so early?"
Zhou Yunqi looked at her and said, "I'm afraid something might happen to you."
"I'm fine, I'm perfectly fine," she said nonchalantly.
Last night, Lin Su thoroughly enjoyed being pampered; no one dared to say anything to her. During dinner, her stepmother tried to ask about her plans, but Lin Su said, "Don't ask so many questions yet, just eat."
The stepmother was so angry that she said, "I'm just concerned about you."
Lin Su smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern. Please don't bother me for the next few days. Let me have some peace and quiet."
Based on her behavior last night, she probably looks like a wicked woman in their eyes.
Zhou Yunqi was worried all night, never expecting that she hadn't suffered any loss at all, and had even upset some people.
Seeing his listless complexion, Lin Su asked, "Where did you stay last night? Did you stay at your uncle's house?"
He nodded: "We'll go to Grandpa Gu's house first, then Xu Yaodong's house, and finally go back to the compound."
"Okay, wait for me a moment."
Lin Su ran back into the house, and her stepsister immediately asked, "Who is that man downstairs? Is he your boyfriend?"
My stepbrother frowned: "You have a boyfriend?"
Lin Su went straight into the room and said, "Why are you asking so many questions?"
She took out the several packs of cigarettes and some flower cakes from the closet. Her stepsister was extremely surprised when she saw them: "You actually brought back so many cigarettes! And they're Hongtashan!"
As soon as my stepbrother heard about cigarettes, he came over and said with a smile, "Shushu, why don't you get a couple of packs to smoke?"
Lin Su put them into a small canvas bag: "They're not mine, I'm carrying them for someone else, and now I'm giving them to them."
The stepsister pressed, "Is it that man downstairs?"
Lin Su said, "I don't want to waste my breath here. Get out of here."
She chased the person away and locked the door.
Actually, there wasn't much valuable in the room; the important things were all in the exquisite leather bag she always carried. Zhou Yunqi had bought this bag for her when they went shopping in the county town on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Lin Su said cheerfully, "I'm here."
Zhou Yunqi looked back and said, "At least I'm not carrying a primary school student's backpack anymore."
Lin Su: "Actually, I think elementary school students' schoolbags are more practical."
"Promising."
...
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Author's Note: Well, I won't be writing much about extreme family drama, although I could write quite a bit if I wanted to~~~~ This story mainly focuses on their relationship~~~~
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