Zhang Qiang looked up alertly.
"Someone's coming! Go back quickly!"
He pushed her towards the wall.
"Remember, see you tomorrow night. If you dare to stand me up..."
His eyes suddenly turned dangerous.
"I'll just pretend you never loved me."
These words pierced Su Yuzhen's heart like a knife.
She nodded hurriedly, stepped on Zhang Qiang's outstretched hand, and climbed over the wall.
When she turned around one last time, she saw Zhang Qiang standing in the moonlight, making a heart shape with his hands and a roguish smile on his lips.
Back in her room, Su Yuzhen tiptoed into bed, her heart still pounding.
The eldest sister and her two children were fast asleep when the moonlight outside the window was gradually obscured by dark clouds.
She stared at the ceiling, two voices arguing in her head.
"Elopement is too risky..."
"But Brother Qiang will protect me..."
"If I get caught, I'm finished..."
"Am I going to be locked up at home for the rest of my life?"
"I want freedom."
In the end, she made her choice. She believed in her brother Qiang, and she believed that he loved her.
"Brother Qiang will definitely take me away from this cage."
...
The next morning.
Su Jianguo slept in late, which was rare for him.
Until the sunlight shone through the window and onto his face.
Su Jianguo frowned, turned over, and wanted to continue sleeping.
But she was gently awakened by a pair of rough, warm hands.
"Master, it's time to get up."
Wang Xiulan's voice rang in his ears.
"The food is ready."
Su Jianguo suddenly opened his eyes and realized that he had slept until the sun was high in the sky.
He sat up with a jolt, his back cracking under the strain.
"What time is it?"
He rubbed his temples and asked his wife.
"It's almost 7:30."
Wang Xiulan stood by the bed, holding his clean shirt in her hand.
"The third child has already finished memorizing the vocabulary."
Su Jianguo then noticed the buzzing sound of Su Mingfu reciting English coming from the courtyard.
He took the shirt, then suddenly remembered that Wu Ermaitai was still in the hospital; he had come back and gone straight to sleep without saying anything.
"What about Brother Wu's side..."
"Yu Fen went there early this morning."
Wang Xiulan knew what he was going to ask.
"I brought bone broth."
Su Jianguo nodded, finally relaxing.
I got dressed and quickly washed up.
Breakfast was already laid out on the table.
A bowl of steaming white steamed buns, golden and smooth egg custard, and pickled cucumbers seasoned with sesame oil and minced garlic.
Su Mingfu sat properly at the table, his English textbook open in front of him.
"dad."
Upon seeing Su Jianguo enter, the third brother immediately closed his textbook and stood up.
"Please sit down."
Su Jianguo waved his hand, his gaze sweeping across the table.
"Where's Yuzhen? Isn't she going to eat?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the door to the west wing creaked open.
Su Yuzhen walked out with her head down.
Wang Xiulan was so surprised that the chopsticks in her hand fell to the table with a "clatter".
"Yuzhen? You..."
She opened her mouth, knowing her child was shy, and immediately spoke directly.
"Are you hungry? Sit down and eat."
Su Jianguo squinted, scrutinizing his youngest daughter who had been on a hunger strike just yesterday.
"Do you know you were wrong?"
Su Jianguo asked in a deliberately cold voice, tapping his fingers on the table.
Su Yuzhen's shoulders twitched almost imperceptibly, but she quickly regained her composure.
She slowly raised her head, but her eyes weren't on her father; instead, they were fixed on the steamed egg custard on the table.
"Um."
Wang Xiulan had already filled a bowl with steamed egg custard and pushed it in front of her daughter, then grabbed a steamed bun and stuffed it into her hand.
"Eat more, you've lost weight."
Wang Xiulan's voice was choked with sobs.
"Mom specially added sugar to the noodles, try some..."
Su Jianguo coughed lightly, interrupting his wife's rambling.
He turned to Su Mingfu.
"Third brother, how's your studies going lately?"
Su Mingfu's eyes lit up, and he straightened his back even more.
"Dad, I got first place in my class on last week's mock exam. Teacher Li said that if this trend continues, I'll be a strong contender in next year's college entrance exam..."
"good!"
Su Jianguo slammed his fist on the table.
"That's more like my son, Su Jianguo's son!"
Afterwards, Su Jianguo wanted to say a few more words to Su Yuzhen.
However, Su Yuzhen didn't even look at him, which left Su Jianguo speechless for a moment.
An eerie silence fell over the dinner table, broken only by the crisp sound of chopsticks touching the bowls and plates.
Wang Xiulan glanced uneasily at her husband and then at her daughter. Realizing that this stalemate wasn't working, she decisively changed the subject.
"Honey, I went to the market this morning, and cucumbers are up to 35 cents a pound now!"
She gestured exaggeratedly.
"It was only 12 cents last month!"
Su Jianguo's hand, which was holding a pickled vegetable, froze in mid-air.
"So expensive?"
"Absolutely!"
Seeing that the topic was effective, Wang Xiulan immediately perked up.
"Old Zhao, who sells vegetables, said that there's been too much rain lately, and the cucumbers in the fields are all rotting at the roots. Not only cucumbers, but eggplants and green beans are also getting more expensive..."
Su Jianguo's eyes gradually brightened.
He put down his chopsticks, his fingers unconsciously drawing circles on the table.
"There's a lot of rain..."
He muttered to himself.
"Then that means all the vegetables must have been affected..."
A bold idea took shape in his mind.
The conversation at the dinner table continued, with Wang Xiulan rambling on about the rising vegetable prices, when Su Jianguo suddenly stopped eating.
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