6. 006 provides door-to-door support
"Xiao Yu, come out here." Su Changguo, accompanied by a meek and obedient son-in-law, walked straight to his youngest daughter's house without taking a break.
"What's wrong? Dad, what brings you here?" Su Yu glanced at her father and then stared at Ning Jin, asking, "Didn't you go to pick up Xiao Yuan? Where's the child?"
“Xiao Yuan, we’ll talk about it later. You’re coming with me to your in-laws’ house.” Su Changguo recalled what his son-in-law had told him and, feeling utterly disappointed, tapped the blockhead in front of him with his pipe. “Are you mute, legless, or without family? I’m marrying off my daughter, not selling you off as a child bride.”
"Father, it's my fault. I didn't take good care of Xiaoyu and didn't notice that her attitude was wrong." Ning Jin took the blame upon himself.
The old man ignored him, as if he hadn't heard him, and walked ahead by himself. The old man was sixty-seven years old, his back was a little hunched, but he moved quickly. In less than half an hour, he reached the Ning family's old house on the west side of the town. Most of the people living in this area were cannery workers.
After giving her job to her eldest daughter-in-law, Zhao Guixiang stayed home taking care of her grandson and cooking. In her spare time, she would make a few matchboxes to earn some money to buy candy. Before Su Changguo even reached her house, he saw her sewing shoe soles and chatting with someone. He glanced over and saw two old men smoking pipes in the shade.
The old woman facing the intersection saw the three people walking towards them first. Judging from the old man's expression, she knew they were there to cause trouble. She only had time to push the old woman next to her.
"Mother-in-law, is my father-in-law home?"
"Oh, what a rare guest! Brother Su is here. Xiao Wu's father isn't home. Some old brothers have asked him for help, but he's not in town. Does Brother Su need him for something?" She stopped sewing the shoe soles, looked up, and spoke without getting up.
Su Changguo hated women who put on airs and act high and mighty. Seeing that she was still putting on airs, he no longer cared about saving face for her. "How dare you go out when my father-in-law isn't even home? I see there are old men sitting outside too. Aren't you careful about appearances? Aren't you afraid of gossip? Or does my father-in-law know better?"
Zhao Guixiang was stunned for a moment before she understood what he meant. She wanted to curse back but didn't know how. Women always suffer in these kinds of things. The more she talked about it, the more people would laugh at her. Besides, she felt guilty. Judging from her son's face, she knew that her in-laws knew what she had done.
Ningjin saw his mother's face turn red, her mouth opening and closing without uttering a sound, and the uncles and aunts present were also listening intently, their eyes constantly scanning them. He swallowed hard and pleaded softly, "Dad, let's go inside and talk, it's hot outside."
Su Changguo glanced at the person who finally put down his shoe and stood up, snorted coldly, and turned to go into the house. Su Yu, like a treacherous minister who took advantage of the old man's power, followed closely behind and went in second.
"Little Wu, what's wrong with your father-in-law? Did you two have a disagreement?" An old woman asked with concern, her eyes gleaming with a sharp light.
"It's just a small problem, we can talk it out and it'll be fine, Mom, come inside." He followed his mother into the house. At this time, his brother and sister-in-law were both at work in the factory, and the children were all out playing and not at home.
“Mother-in-law, my daughter has only been married into your family for less than a year. What did she do wrong that made you slap her in the street?” Su Changguo asked bluntly as soon as the man entered the house.
Zhao Guixiang remained silent. She dared to hit Su Yu because she knew Su Yu's dull nature. She knew Su Yu's job was bought by her family and that she owed the Ning family. She knew Su Yu wouldn't dare to complain and cause trouble. Besides, Su Yu only had one brother and three sons. Who knew that the person who came was an old man older than her, and her husband wasn't even home.
"I heard it was because she greeted an old classmate on the street that you accused her of cheating and slapped her twice?" Su Changguo became angrier the more he thought about it. He slammed his hand, which had been farming for decades, on the table like a brick and questioned in a deep voice: "I just saw you sitting with an old man. In the past few decades, you have smiled with many men besides the one surnamed Ning, but I have never heard of you slapping yourself."
“Brother Su, I’m calling you ‘brother’ out of consideration for our in-law relationship. But you’re an old man, so watch your words.” Zhao Guixiang’s lips trembled with anger.
"Hey, don't be angry, I didn't hit you." He leaned against the table. "We farmers are not like you town folk, doing the things of a shrew and still wanting to hear nice things."
Ning Jin stood by helplessly. His father-in-law was arguing with his mother, and as a junior, he couldn't get a word in edgewise, especially since his mother had done something wrong. But he felt uncomfortable just standing there listening to his mother being indirectly scolded, and it wouldn't be right to advise either of them.
"I heard you also have two daughters, both married in town, right? You've had a tough time raising them as proper young ladies, and now they're out in public again after marriage. I'll go and see if they ever joke around with men. Xiaoyu, you should go and learn from your sisters-in-law how they can joke around with men without getting slapped by their mothers-in-law."
“Okay, I’ll go tomorrow,” Su Yu immediately agreed.
"Do you know where your two aunts live? If not, ask the old neighbors when you go out later," Su Changguo continued, his eyes scanning the furnishings of the room.
"Then I'll go ask now, they'll be going back to cook soon." She had a blank face, like a stubborn blockhead who couldn't see the situation clearly, and looked up at her father for his opinion.
"Okay, I'll go now. Anyway, we don't need you inside."
Su Yu nodded and started to walk out. Ning Jin glanced at the father and daughter, but didn't say anything to stop them or make any move. He looked down at the uneven ground. He knew that if his mother didn't give him an answer, this matter wouldn't end well.
"Stop!" Zhao Guixiang shouted sharply, grabbing Su Yu's arm to stop her from walking any further, refusing to let go no matter how she moved. "Alright, it was wrong of me to hit Su Yu. I won't interfere with her if she's more careful in the future. My youngest son is away from home for ten days or half a month at a time, so I definitely have to keep an eye on him."
"I remember your eldest son-in-law also drives a sports car and is rarely home, even for ten days or half a month at a time. Is that how you keep an eye on your daughter?"
“She lives with her in-laws, and I’ve told her to go home as soon as she gets off work,” Zhao Guixiang said, somewhat agitated.
"Oh, so you told your daughter to follow my daughter." Su Changguo realized he couldn't reason with this old woman. She felt guilty because she knew she had gone too far, but she wasn't flustered because she knew he couldn't do anything to her. He couldn't very well beat her up in front of her son.
“You remember to tell your eldest daughter three times a day not to joke around with men and get caught. It would be bad if someone reported her to the Revolutionary Committee for being indecent. Also, if you dare to hit my daughter again, I’ll make sure your family has a hard time.” He turned around, picked up the table he was leaning against, and smashed it on the ground. The table fell apart.
“Ningjin, I think you need to reconsider your relationship with Su Yu. If things don’t work out before you have a child, you should divorce as soon as possible. That way, you can remarry her and she can remarry. I’ll take her back with me for now.” He pointed to the broken wood on the ground. “When your father comes back tonight, tell him that I came and that you’ve explained things to me.”
After saying that, it pulled Su Yu out. When they got outside, there were even more people under the tree. He walked over and asked, "Big sister, is Sister Ningjin married to the second son of the Tong family in Hongqi Lane?"
"Yes, her husband also drives a sports car. Why are you asking about that? Why didn't you ask Ning Jin?" She peeked at the Ning family's gate and smiled at Granny Zhao when she came out.
"I only remembered this after I got out. Okay, you guys continue chatting, I have to go back first."
After the two had disappeared from sight, Zhao Guixiang, having finished beating her son, ran out and asked Granny Ding, "Do you know my in-laws? Why are you two chatting?"
"He came to ask your eldest daughter what's wrong? Why didn't your in-laws stay for a meal when they came? Why is your youngest daughter-in-law still at home after her father left?" She couldn't help but ask all the questions, and the others also looked at Granny Zhao.
"You told him?" Zhao Guixiang didn't expect that he wasn't just saying it.
"What did you say? Oh, your eldest daughter? He knows Chunhong's man is Tong Lao Er, he just came to ask why Old Man Su came to your house. We thought we heard something smashing inside. What, did he fight with Xiao Wuzi?" She continued gossiping.
"It's nothing, it's nothing. I just sat on a broken chair and fell." After saying that, she ran in and saw her youngest son cleaning up the broken table. She lowered her voice and scolded him, "I've never been scolded like this in my life. Are you even my son? Listening to your mother being scolded behind your back, you're like a coward, not daring to say a word."
She got angrier and angrier as she spoke. Seeing Ning Jin still fiddling with the broken table, she walked over and kicked it away. "I don't need you to do it. You didn't even stop me when I was smashing it. Now you don't need to pretend."
Ning Jin was also angered by the scolding. He turned around, slammed the things in his hand on the ground, and asked with a dark face, "Who told you to hit Su Yu? You hit someone and you still think you're right? Why are you so angry? It looked like your mouth was sawed off just now. Why are you taking it out on me? Do you want to break up my family so you'll be happy?"
"Me...who am I doing this for? If I wasn't afraid you'd cheat on me, would I be stalking you like a thief? So what if the family falls apart? You still have sons. Just get your job back and marry them off. You can marry even a young, unmarried woman."
No wonder, no wonder his mother dared to treat Su Yu like this. She only thought about the family's good conditions, but she didn't really consider him or Ping An. Su Yu has a good personality and is a stubborn and honest person. He has treated Ping An well in the past six months, and his mother couldn't find any fault with him. Otherwise, it would have caused a huge uproar long ago. She is not satisfied with such a suitable daughter-in-law. She insists on bringing back a woman who beats up his son and makes him a cuckold.
If you divorce him and then marry him again, he'll be a man who's been married three times and has a child. Good girls aren't blind.
"Mom, don't worry about what's going on in my room, and especially don't worry about Su Yu. I'd accept being a cuckold even if she made me." He spat three times in his heart as he said the last sentence, thinking, "Don't take this seriously, Guanyin Bodhisattva. I'm just talking nonsense."
"If you need anything in the future, just come to me. If I'm not home, go to my older brothers. Don't go looking for Su Yu anymore. If you anger her, my older sisters won't have an easy time either." I didn't expect him to use his father-in-law's words to threaten his mother. But there was nothing he could do. She was his mother. If he spoke too softly, it wouldn't work. If he spoke too harshly, it wouldn't be appropriate.
"Fine, you already think I'm meddling, so I'm too lazy to bother you anymore. Get lost, and don't blame me if you grow green hair in your hair later." Su Yu's father scolded her, but she still held her temper. She never expected that in the end, her son would also complain that she was trying to break up his family. Who was she doing all this to be disliked?
She sat under the eaves, covering her face. Once the panic and helplessness subsided, she looked up and saw that the bastard was still in the yard. "Didn't you hear me tell you to get out?"
"I'm going to wait for my dad to come back." He guessed that his dad didn't know that his mom had hit Su Yu. Su Yu hadn't even told her own family that she had been hit, so why would she come to her husband's family to complain? If she didn't mention it, his mom certainly wouldn't either.
"You really are your father-in-law's own son; you have to listen to every fart he lets out."
Ning Jin feigned surprise, "My dad isn't my dad? Mom, whose son am I? I'll wait for my dad to come back and ask him clearly."
"Get out, you idiot!" Zhao Guixiang picked up a table leg from the ground and chased this unreliable person out, but she was still so angry that her chest hurt. This is not raising a son, but raising an enemy, an idiot who turns his back on his family!
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