Chapter 32: Broken Relatives
Su Heng was full of questions. Wasn’t Lu Mingchuan’s mother an only child?
Where are you from, brother?
Besides, in the original owner's memory, she didn't see him when she got married.
Su Heng didn't want to acknowledge this relative who showed up out of nowhere. Although the other party looked enthusiastic, the smile on his dark face looked fake.
Then he said, "I'm sorry, I haven't heard of it."
The man's smile froze for a moment, then he became tolerant like a good-tempered elder.
"It's okay. It's normal that you don't know since you just arrived. Is Mingchuan in good health? His grandma is also very worried about him and keeps talking about going to see him."
Su Heng didn't know how another grandma appeared.
But this looks like a large group, so how hard could it be to go and see them? They didn't even go to the wedding, so probably their relationship isn't that good.
So he deliberately shook his head, sighed and said, "Not very good. The injury on his leg hasn't healed completely, and he needs to take medicine all the time..."
The man was about to say more, but Secretary Chen interrupted him: "Alright, if you really care, come over someday and bring some information. You can't tell me anything here."
The branch secretary spoke bluntly, but the man didn't get angry and seemed to be in a good mood.
He also replied, "That's right. I'll take his grandmother to see the child someday."
Su Heng curled the corners of her mouth, feeling that this person was up to no good.
Which relative is this that suddenly wants to come over?
The Party Secretary also noticed this and said to Su Heng, "Go with your aunt to get some beans. She has been saving them for you."
Su Heng agreed with a smile and went to the kitchen at the back with Aunt He. Sure enough, there was a pile of crispy and tender cowpeas spread on the large winnowing basket on the ground.
He Xiu enthusiastically helped her make room for the bok choy and filled a basket with cowpeas, with one section still hanging outside. Su Heng quickly said that was enough.
Fortunately, she was carrying a small basket with some eggplants in it to take up space.
Otherwise, there would be so many bean sticks, and she and Lu Mingchuan would not be able to finish them even if they ate them every day.
Seeing that Secretary Chen in the main room was still frowning and talking to that person, Su Heng asked in a low voice: "Auntie, who is that person? Lu...Does my mother-in-law have any brothers?"
Seeing her ask, He Xiu simply said, "That's not the case. He is a brother of your grandfather Mingchuan's generation. They are relatives, but they have long been separated."
Su Heng was puzzled: "Broken off the relationship?"
In rural areas, blood ties are the most important thing. If there is no huge hatred, how could one break off the relationship with his brothers?
He Xiu sighed. It was not easy to talk about such family matters, but everyone in the team knew about it.
As a grown man, Lu Mingchuan probably wouldn't talk about the gossips of his elders, so it would be okay for her to talk to Su Heng about it. So she told Su Heng everything in detail.
Grandpa Lu Mingchuan used to be the second child in the family. He had brothers above and below him, so he was naturally the least favored one.
The old man and woman in his family are extremely partial to each other. Grandpa Lu Mingchuan always eats the least and does the most work at home.
His family didn't even have enough money to help him get married. Later, he met Grandma Lu Mingchuan who had fled here. The grandma took pity on him and gave him a piece of bread. Then they got married.
As a result, after marriage, the two suffered together, working like farmhands for the Lu family every day until his mother became pregnant.
His grandfather couldn't bear to see his wife being treated like a nobody. She had to wash clothes for her sister-in-law with a big belly and couldn't even drink hot water, so he was determined to divide the family.
The Lu family was really capable of doing this. They didn't give him anything, saying that it was fine if he wanted to share, and the house would be left to the eldest brother for their retirement. If there was no money, he would have to leave the house with nothing if he wanted to share.
So, Lu Lao Er held his breath and left the house with his pregnant wife, only taking a quilt with him. He asked his clan members to witness that he had severed his relationship with the Lu family.
The current Lu family was built up bit by bit by Grandpa Lu Mingchuan.
His grandfather had accumulated some good karma and learned carpentry from others. With this, he built his own house and supported his wife and children.
When they were trying to find a son-in-law for Lu's mother, the two old men made a scene and said some unpleasant things.
Later, the two old people passed away, and his grandfather's brothers and sisters also passed away one after another. It was many years since they had last visited each other.
Although it was the two old people who did the evil, Su Heng felt that no one in the family was innocent after hearing it. They were all beneficiaries of the exploitation of Lu Mingchuan's grandparents.
I hope they don’t come up to me again.
If you have nothing to offer, you should be diligent. If you are not a traitor, you are a thief.
After packing the dishes, Su Heng said goodbye to Aunt He and left through the back door.
When he returned home and told Lu Mingchuan about this, his eyes turned cold and he said to Su Heng, "If they really come, just kick them out."
Su Heng nodded: "Don't worry, I'll chase them away with a broom."
The coldness in Lu Mingchuan's eyes melted a little, and he asked, "Don't you think I'm too extreme?"
Su Heng: "I don't think so. We've already severed our relationship."
Lu Mingchuan smiled and explained, "My so-called great-grandmother once wanted to adopt her son to my grandfather, but was kicked out."
Su Heng was truly astonished. She had not expected there would be this further incident. This family was truly extremely shameless.
Are you trying to wipe out the entire family because Grandpa Lu Mingchuan has no son?
There is probably nothing good happening on Tieba right now.
"What a bunch of accomplices! If you ignore them, they are actually quite distant relatives in your generation."
Lu Mingchuan nodded, not wanting to talk about it anymore. He looked at the basket full of vegetables and asked, "What are you cooking tonight?"
Su Heng thought about it and decided that the pea tips couldn’t be left behind and had to be eaten quickly.
So he said, "Let's make some cold pea salad and braised eggplant."
Lu Mingchuan helped her wash the vegetables.
The pea tips are very tender and only need to be blanched in water for a while, then mixed with Su Heng’s secret sauce to make them very delicious.
The main problem with roasting eggplant is that it consumes a lot of oil. The eggplant will only taste good after being soaked in water and fully absorbed by the soup.
Supplies are in short supply now, and every household is using oil sparingly. Most of the dishes are boiled in water, and there are very few people who are as extravagant as Su Heng.
I simply fried two dishes, both of which went very well with rice. Although Su Heng was full, she still missed the taste of meat.
She asked Lu Mingchuan, "I think the wild ducks by the river have gotten fatter. Have you noticed?"
Lu Mingchuan glanced at her and said, "If you want to eat, go get it."
"Okay."
While the afterglow of the setting sun was still there, the two of them came to the river again in the evening breeze, sharpening their knives to hunt the wild ducks.
It hasn't rained for a while, and the water level in the river has dropped visibly.
Before, Su Heng was standing on the stone slabs for washing clothes, but now it is difficult to reach the water surface even if she squats there, and the roots of the reeds on the shore are also exposed.
Su Heng frowned, looked towards the mountains and forests upstream, and said, "The water level has dropped so much?"
Is the water level dropping too fast?
Lu Mingchuan also felt something was wrong and looked a little solemn. He had heard his comrades talk about the drought in his hometown.
Since the beginning of spring that year, there has been little rain, and then in summer there was no rain at all. There was not even water for people to drink, so they were forced to flee from the famine.
Their village is fine. It rained in the spring, and there is a small river flowing down from the mountain. Although no one knows where the source is, it has never stopped flowing for many years.
But if it really doesn't rain, there is no guarantee that the river will not dry up.
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