Chapter 29 029 The Old Su Family
As soon as the workday ended, Qin Xiaoxiao immediately stood up, grabbed her small stool, and rushed towards the Qin family home.
At that moment, the man opposite also stood up and rushed out of the wheat field with incredible speed, running towards the village as if being chased by dogs.
Qin Xiaoxiao, who was a step behind, snorted coldly, raised her chin arrogantly, and glared at the man's back.
Su Lu rushed into the house first, shouting even before he entered.
"Mom, I'm hungry. What's good to eat today?"
No sooner had Su Lu finished speaking than a middle-aged woman rushed out wielding a kitchen knife. "Eat, eat, all you know is eating! Are you a reincarnated starving ghost? All the work I made you do today... Oh my, my dear child, what are you doing..."
Wan Guihua was about to give her youngest son a good talking-to, but when she saw his face, all she wanted to do was feel sorry for him.
Wan Guihua quickened her pace, came to Su Lu's side, and touched his face with a look of heartache.
"Why are you so sunburnt? You only spent the morning in the field, is it really necessary?"
It's also my fault, I was only thinking about silencing your eight sisters-in-law, I forgot about your face..."
Su Lu's fair skin was now completely red, like a freshly boiled shrimp; one might mistake him for someone who had been scalded by hot water.
Su Lu took the opportunity to hug Wan Guihua's arm and act coquettishly, "Mom, I'm exhausted after staying in the field all morning. Look at my face. I told you I couldn't do it, but you insisted on making me go. Don't you feel sorry for me after I've gotten like this?"
Mom, I don't want to go this afternoon. If I get any sun, my skin will peel off, and I won't be able to leave the house.
Besides, don't you want me to get married? Don't you know what I look like? I'm counting on this face to find a wife. If this face is ruined, you might never be able to hold your adorable granddaughter in your lifetime.
Just as Wan Guihua was about to agree, she heard a cold snort from outside, "I have a granddaughter, it doesn't matter if you give birth to one."
Wan Guihua looked outside and saw that her husband had returned. "What are you saying? You have a granddaughter, but can she be the same as the one born to your youngest son? Do you want your youngest son to be a bachelor for the rest of his life?"
Su Zhiyuan glared at his wife, annoyed. "You just spoil him. Look at him, he's so old, how many work points has he earned for the family? And look at the eldest and second eldest sons, they work in the fields every day, when do they ever get a day off? I understand you feel sorry for the youngest and the oldest, but you can't be so biased, can you? Aren't they your sons too?"
Wan Guihua rolled her eyes. "I am biased towards the youngest son, but that's because he's filial to me. He may not have earned many work points, but every month he sends money home. If it weren't for the ten yuan he sends every month, would your meager salary be enough to support this whole family? Besides, every time he comes home, he brings meat. Does all that meat go to the dogs?"
When his wife asked him that, Su Zhiyuan fell silent.
He was the brigade secretary and received a salary, but not much—only sixteen yuan, less than the brigade leader Qin Feng.
Although a dozen or so yuan is enough for a rural person to live on, his family is large, and they haven't separated their households. He still lives with his brothers and sisters, and the whole family has thirty or forty people. So, that amount of money is not easy to come by.
Therefore, even if he handed over all the money he earned, his family was still more difficult than other families in the village. They could forget about eating meat. If it weren't for his youngest son, they probably wouldn't be able to smell meat until the end of the year.
As soon as Wan Guihua finished speaking, an old woman with bound feet came out of the house, glared at Wan Guihua, and then turned her gaze to Su Lu.
"Let Grandma take a look, how's his face? I told you not to let him get out of bed, but you wouldn't listen. Are you satisfied with this?"
Wan Guihua lowered her head sheepishly. "Well, I was thinking that since only the youngest and oldest in our family don't earn work points, I was afraid the family would start to worry about it if it went on for too long, so... Mother, I forced him to work in the fields for the sake of family harmony."
This is my own son, and I feel sorry for him too!
Wan Guihua felt wronged.
Grandma Su knew this all too well, but she couldn't do anything about it. With such a large family living together, there were many places where money needed to be spent. Only Su Zhiyuan earned cash. If the family were to separate, what would happen to the other sons?
They all toil in the fields for a living; how much money can they earn? Although Qinjiagou is richer than the other brigades, each person only receives three to five yuan more after the autumn harvest.
Of course, we shouldn't underestimate these three or five yuan. If each person gets three or five yuan, a family of thirty or forty people can get a hundred or so yuan.
Even with a lot of money, it can't keep up with the large number of people. With so many people, there isn't enough place to live, so houses have to be built. Now the Su family has no place to build a house, which shows that almost all the money they've earned over the years has been used to build houses.
Thinking about her old friend, Grandma Qin, who lives such a comfortable life, perhaps she should learn from her old friend.
With something on her mind, Old Mrs. Su couldn't care less about Wan Guihua and Su Lu. She hurriedly went inside to discuss it with her husband.
Grandpa Su heard everything from inside the house and understood his wife's meaning, but he had more concerns.
The third son is the Party Secretary and is also educated. With him in the family, the grandchildren will benefit from his influence in the future. Even if the grandchildren don't benefit, there will always be a great-grandchild who can find a job in the city by virtue of his influence.
As long as even one member of the Su family gets out of the family, the Su family will rise again sooner or later.
But if the family splits up, will the third son still be able to help his sons?
Once the family is divided, people's hearts will be scattered. He was afraid that the third brother would only care about his own small family and would no longer remember his other brothers.
Grandpa Su remained silent, puffing on his pipe, while Grandma Su paced around anxiously, urging, "Say something!"
Seeing that Grandpa Su remained silent, Grandma Su sighed, her expression dejected.
“I know what you’re thinking. I also want the whole family to be well, but if we keep living together like this, will the third son still wholeheartedly help the family in the long run? Can you guarantee that he won’t have any selfish motives? Can you really drag this out like this?”
The third son is also a member of the Su family. If his branch of the family rises to power, wouldn't it be the same?
Grandpa Su tapped his pipe. "Let me think about it some more."
Grandma Su was not satisfied with the old man's answer, but he wouldn't budge, so there was nothing she could do.
After Grandma Su left, Wan Guihua and Su Zhiyuan lost their temper and went back to their rooms.
After the two left, Su Lu took the opportunity to return to his room. He glanced at the two sets of bedding next to him and couldn't help but sigh.
Su Lu lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), his head resting on his hands, gazing at the ceiling, and couldn't help but think about the current state of the Su family.
His father was the third child in his family, with two older brothers, three older sisters, one younger brother, and one younger sister.
After getting married, Uncle Su had two sons, both of whom are now married.
My second uncle had three sons and one daughter after marriage, all of whom are now married with children.
Besides him, he has three older brothers and one older sister, all of whom are married.
I revised the first chapter to clarify the time. It's 1974 now. I forgot the exact date, even though I wrote it down in my notebook. How embarrassing!
(End of this chapter)
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