124. 124 Safely confessing to the relationship
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Su Yu went back to her parents' home. Her parents were at her third sister's house, so Su Yu's family went there. Her eldest and second sisters had married daughters to entertain, so they didn't come over. They only rode over after lunch, after seeing their daughters and sons-in-law off, to chat and arrange for Su Yu to come to their house on the third or fourth day of the Lunar New Year.
From the moment Su Yu entered the room and saw the old lady, she gave her a cold snort, her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes wide with disdain. She called out to everyone from the oldest old man to the youngest, Xiao Ya, but she completely missed her.
Yu Anxiu knew from Lao Yao's expression that Xiao Yuan had shown her the bracelet. She kept her eyes downcast and wouldn't look at her. She was secretly glad she had returned immediately, otherwise she would have faced a lot of teasing. And she didn't leave empty-handed; she sat in the crowd, not giving Lao Yao a chance to speak to her alone.
"What's wrong? Are you angry with Mom? Or did she upset you?" Su He asked the younger sister who was sitting in front of the stove tending the fire. "She was supposed to go back with you for the New Year, but Xiao Yuan brought her back before she even stayed overnight. When I asked her, she wouldn't say anything, but she didn't seem angry."
"I secretly slipped money to Xiaoyuan and told her not to tell me. When I caught her, she felt guilty. I guess she was afraid I would scold her and she wouldn't live with me anymore." Su Yu had already come up with an excuse. She said irritably, "This was really not a good thing to do. I'm not Xiaoyuan's stepmother. She's afraid I'll mistreat her grandson. Ningjin and Ping'an found out. Both children call her 'Grandma.' It's hard not to feel good about it if one of them gives her money and the other doesn't."
"She's so biased. Xiaoxing grows up right in front of her, and every time she comes back she buys food and drinks for her grandparents, but I've never seen her give Xiaoxing any money." Su He clicked her tongue: "It's true that distance makes the heart grow fonder."
Su Yu glanced at her, "What do you mean by 'familiarity breeds contempt'? If you change your son's surname, whether it's Su or Yu, she definitely won't give Xiao Yuan money anymore."
Su He smiled and shook her head without saying anything. It was because Xiao Yuan was outstanding, good-looking, and cultured, and his biological father had died. He had lived with the old couple for a while when he was young, which was why the old lady was so fond of Xiao Yuan. If we're just talking about those with the surname Su, she has several grandsons with the surname Su, and she's never seen secretly giving them money or bribes.
"Forget it, she's getting on in years, don't argue with her. How much money does she have? Let her do as she pleases, give it to whomever she wants, anyway, she saved the money herself." There's nothing that can be done about it. With so many grandchildren, you can't expect her to split the money equally. Even with children, there's favoritism, let alone with grandchildren.
Su Yu pursed her lips and glanced at her third sister. A mutton fat jade bracelet wasn't worth three or five yuan, or even tens or hundreds of yuan, but there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't possibly break the bracelet that the old lady had given to her granddaughter-in-law and divide it among the others. It could only be said that Xiao Yuan was lucky, as everything pleased his grandmother.
The topic was dropped, and Su Yu stopped being angry. She still called her mother as usual, but behind her back, she referred to her as an old lady who favored sons over daughters.
They visited each of the three older sisters to wish them a Happy New Year, and then treated them to a meal on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. For Su Yu's family, the New Year celebrations were considered over. But since it wasn't easy for them to come back, they weren't in a hurry to leave and planned to stay for another three or four days.
"Ping An, sending another letter?" Ning Jin asked, puzzled as he watched his eldest son shuffle out of the house. "You're so busy with school, aren't you? I don't think you had a peaceful New Year either, with one letter after another."
Su Yu leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, watching the father and son with a playful expression, waiting for Ping An's reaction. Xiao Yuan, who also seemed to know the inside story, suppressed a laugh and teased, "Dad, you're mistaken. He can only have peace of mind for the New Year after receiving the letter."
Ning Jin frowned instantly, a thought forming in his mind, but he hadn't seen any signs of it before. He couldn't believe it and turned to Xiao Yuan, asking, "What do you mean?"
"Go ahead and ask about his safety."
Ping An felt three pairs of eyes staring at him, so he pulled his foot back from outside the door. He glared at Xiao Yuan, looking both ashamed and annoyed. "You scumbag, just you wait. He'll get his comeuppance sooner or later. You'll have to pay for this sooner or later."
"Whose letter is it? Not to a classmate?" Ning Jin waited with a smile for the answer in his heart.
"Yes, we're from the same school." Ping An could tell from the expressions of the three people opposite him that he couldn't hide it anymore. Thinking that it wasn't anything shameful, he took a deep breath and confessed, "I have a girlfriend, and the letter was written to her."
"Good lad." Ning Jin clapped his hands excitedly. "I've been waiting for this for so long. My son is tall and handsome, highly educated, and from a good family. He's about to graduate with a master's degree, but he's never dated a girl before. I thought there was something wrong with you."
He walked over, patted his son on the shoulder, and scolded him with a smile: "Young man, it's a good thing to be in a relationship, what's there to be ashamed of? Be more outgoing, you're not a little girl."
"Where is that girl from? What's her major?" Su Yu asked.
“She goes to the same school as me, studying medicine. Both her parents are doctors. She’s two years younger than me, a senior this year, and her family is from Harbin. She’s a local.”
"Tsk tsk, junior sister." Xiao Yuan exclaimed slyly, "I didn't know you had this skill. You've been keeping it well hidden."
Ningjin saw that his son's ears were red, so he stopped asking and told him to hurry up and go out to mail the letter. He also asked if they should send some of their things to the girl.
"No need to send it, I'll bring it to her when school starts. Besides, we don't have much good food around here." Ping An looked at his mother, pleading with her to send him more good food later.
Su Yu refused, saying, "Are you planning to get married after graduation or bring her back to meet us this year? If you don't have that plan yet, I won't send her things as her mother-in-law. She's just dating you, so there's no need for her to bear the pressure of her family. Right now, you need to make her satisfied with you, and she's willing to come back with you and is interested in marriage before she starts to get to know your family. But I will send you more things, and you can share them with her as her boyfriend."
In Su Yu's view, dating is a matter between two people. No girl would willingly want to have contact with the family of a completely unfamiliar man during the dating stage; it would be an extra burden.
"Okay then, I was thinking that if you two contacted each other before meeting, your relationship would be better later."
“You’ll have decades to spend together, so a little bit more won’t make a difference.” Su Yu teased him, “Don’t expect me to help you maintain the relationship. If you want to turn your girlfriend into your wife, you can only do it yourself. You have to satisfy her first.”
Ning Jin was completely clueless about marriage. He had been thinking about sending some gifts to the girl's parents to build rapport, but Su Yu's words calmed him down. Ping An needed to pass the girl's parents' evaluation before the two sets of parents could meet.
"Then let's pretend we don't know?" he asked.
“Why pretend you don’t know? We’re not against it, so why hide it? If you want to show your support, give your son some money and let him buy something for the girl. What’s the girl’s name?” she asked Ping An.
"Cui Qizi, whose nickname is Xiao Qi."
"If Xiaoqi takes you to her parents' house after the New Year, be polite and send us a telegram in advance so we can send you some things to take with you. If they ask about your family situation, just tell them the truth. Don't hide anything or give them a hard time." She instructed him. Neither of the children were very willing to mention that they were a blended family. Now almost everyone thought they were brothers with the same father and mother but different surnames.
"Xiao Yuan, you should follow the same steps when you have a girlfriend in the future. When you want to get married, bring your girl home to meet your parents."
Ping An twitched his finger and nodded in agreement, and Xiao Yuan nodded as well.
"You should tell your girlfriend the truth first, so that she and her parents don't find out you have a stepmother. You'll be in trouble then, and you might ruin things. There's nothing shameful about our family situation, so just be open about it," she advised him.
After Ping An left, Ning Jin sighed deeply: "You women have so many tricks and fusses, you're too particular."
"You're not particular? If you weren't particular, would you have waited until Ping An was eight years old to find him a stepmother?" Su Yu pulled his ear and said through gritted teeth, "Who doesn't take marriage seriously? You, a man, would have been picky for seven years if you didn't have a clear idea."
Ningjin begged for mercy, saying that he had spoken carelessly and misspoke. He turned to his youngest son for help, but the one who knew how to read the situation had already slipped away.
“You can give Ping An money, but not too much. A maximum of thirty a month. If it’s not enough, let him earn it himself or save some. Don’t let him develop a spendthrift habit before he even starts earning money.” She warned him, and after seeing him nod listlessly, she pinched his ear again before letting go.
Sigh, he was two years older than her. From twenty-nine to forty-four, no matter how much he studied, he seemed to be no match for her in handling things. Fortunately, she was his wife. Thinking this, he felt a surge of pride.
On the eighth day of the lunar new year, Su Yu bought two cans of milk powder and several sets of clothes to change into. She then took Xiao Yuan to visit the elderly couple again and sorted through their clothes, picking out and throwing away any that were not elastic, had many patches, or were stained.
"I'm leaving tomorrow."
"I can tell." Old Man Su was initially quite upset, thinking that he wouldn't see her for a long time, but when she came and threw away a bunch of clothes, his heart ached. They were all made of good material, and she threw them away before she even wore them for a year. What a spendthrift woman!
"Hurry up and leave. If you wait any longer, you might as well just throw us two old bones out too." He glared at her. "Don't send me and your mother any more clothes and shoes. We can wear these in the house until we die."
"Change your clothes twice a day and wash them twice a day. I don't believe your clothes won't wear out. If you change them more often, you won't smell and people won't dislike you." Since she was his own daughter, she didn't need to be subtle or avoid the topic, saying that this was all for his own good.
"Don't you need electricity? I change my clothes every day. Which old man in the village smells as good as me? Your mother is also the cleanest old woman in the village."
"Compare yourself to young people, they'll definitely look down on you. What's the point of comparing yourself to an old person? Why are you hitting me? Hey, you little old man, you won't listen to advice and you're even hitting people." Su Yu jumped up and dodged her father's cane.
"Get out of here, I'm annoyed by you."
"I'm leaving, but don't miss me."
"Who misses you? Don't flatter yourself. You're not good-looking at your age. I'd rather miss Xiao Yuan. He has fair skin, tender flesh, and a sweet mouth. He's not annoying when he talks."
Xiao Yuan watched the show with amusement, not saying a word even as the fire started burning him. He wasn't as eloquent as his mother. If she had said something comforting, his grandfather might have started crying the moment he left.
Su Yu felt stifled. She held her face up to him and then to her mother, saying, "My skin is still taut. How am I not good-looking? I don't like hearing that." She picked up the clothes she was about to throw away and said she was leaving.
"Go, hurry up and go." He wasted his breath, and all that talking didn't make her forget the clothes she was supposed to throw away.
The elderly couple saw their daughter and grandson off at the door, and only called out after they had gone a short distance: "Come back when you have time, buy less clothes and send more letters."
"Okay, let's go in."
"Third brother, I'm leaving now. Write if you need anything. Thank you for your help with Mom and Dad," Su Yu said to her third brother-in-law, who was playing cards by the roadside.
"It's no trouble at all, it's all what I should do, so you can go to work without worry."
After Su Yu walked away, the people playing cards with her turned their attention to the card table. "Old Wu, your father-in-law still prefers this little girl who looks like a city girl."
"Stop stirring up trouble for me. If your daughter only comes back once or twice a year, wouldn't you cherish the meeting?" He didn't spend much money, and even got a lot more from his parents. He didn't even have the audacity to change his son's surname. He was already lucky to be treated this way. His own parents didn't even treat their father-in-law like this.
Ping An Xiao Yuan went to the Northwest with his parents first. Before they started work, Su Yu and Ning Jin took them to some fun places to visit. It wasn't until after the Lantern Festival that the two of them left with bags and bags of things.
"Time flies, they're already at the age where they can start their own families." Ning Jin felt a little reluctant. He knew best that once children get married, they would drift further and further away from their parents.
"Hurry up and get married. Once they're married, they'll be taken care of. They can each visit their own mother-in-law during the New Year, and I'll finally have some peace and quiet." Su Yu was looking forward to her two sons getting married and separating the family.
Ning Jin looked at her coldly, not wanting her to be pleased, "Now that your son is married, he'll have grandchildren. You've sent the older one away, so you have to take care of the younger one."
"Bullshit, whoever's child it is, they should take care of them. I'll even pay for it." She covered his mouth to stop him from mentioning it again. "You can take care of them if you want. Anyway, there are only two at most, one on the left leg and one on the right leg. They'll learn to walk and run after a little bit of coaxing."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
