Su Wei and Su Peng had gotten up early, but their eldest sister firmly held them back, forbidding them from going out to watch the commotion.
Something so big had happened at Su Changfu’s house, and no one knew how many gossip-hungry villagers were waiting to see how the siblings would react!
It was enough for the family to vent their own anger, there was no need to create fodder for everyone else’s gossip.
No matter how loud the chaos outside, the Su children went about their tasks at a steady pace.
Su Qiao lit both stoves. Under the kitchen hearths, she kept a small fire burning, assigning her brothers to watch it carefully, letting it roast slowly.
At the makeshift stove in the back, she started cooking the corn porridge for breakfast.
Yesterday she had been busy all day outside and hadn’t had time to buy food in the village. At home, there was only half a bag of sorghum flour and the corn grits her brothers had ground, enough for a single meal.
Once she got money later, she planned to exchange it for more food, trying to get as much fine grain as possible.
When it came to food, Su Qiao didn’t want her family to go without.
Once the porridge was ready, she woke up Xiao Lan, and the family ate breakfast together. Afterward, Su Qiao went straight to the village committee.
Passing by Su Changfu’s house, she deliberately glanced inside. By now, most people had left, and only Su Xiaojun’s wife, her face wrapped in a large scarf, was cleaning the yard.
Even from a considerable distance, Su Qiao could still smell the pungent stench wafting from their house.
She walked past their gate without looking away and went straight to see the old village secretary.
Jin Guiyou obviously knew she would come that morning and hadn’t gone to work. He was waiting for her in the village committee’s only large room.
Seeing her enter, he waved: “Xiao Qiao, you’re here? Come over. Liangzi went to the town yesterday to get the money back for you.”
Hearing this, the man called Liangzi also smiled at Su Qiao: “Here’s the money first. The coupons are issued monthly, you know we can’t give them early, right?”
Su Qiao quickly nodded: “Yes, I know. Thank you, Brother Liangzi.”
Apart from Su Qiao, Liangzi had the highest level of education in the village. He had once passed the county high school entrance exam.
But his luck was bad, just after he was admitted, classes were suspended, and his entire cohort returned to the village within days.
He never got another chance to return to school.
Liangzi had previously been the village scorekeeper, and now, since the village land was all contracted out, he worked as an accountant in the village committee.
Educated, reliable, and hardworking, Jin Guiyou had high hopes for him, grooming him as a successor.
Perhaps having suffered through school himself, Liangzi empathized easily. After hearing about how Su Qiao had been tricked by her aunt-in-law, he was visibly angry.
He didn’t talk much and didn’t show it outwardly, but yesterday, after receiving a call from the county saying that the funds for the second half of the year would be advanced to Su Qiao in one lump sum, he didn’t hesitate at all. Braving the blazing sun, he went straight to the town.
He went through the procedures and handled the paperwork, busy for most of the day, and finally managed to bring all the money back.
Without Liangzi, it wouldn’t have been nearly so easy for Su Qiao to get the money first thing this morning.
After hearing Secretary Jin’s explanation, Su Qiao felt deeply shaken inside.
In her previous life, after something happened to her younger brother, she had become like a hedgehog with all its spines raised, wary of everyone she saw, never once feeling any goodwill from the villagers.
As a result, when it came to the land that had given birth to her and raised her, all she had left were feelings of hatred and bleak memories.
But in this life, from the moment she was reborn until now, aside from the malice she had already been prepared for, Su Qiao had unexpectedly felt concern coming from people outside her family.
That took her by surprise.
After taking the money, Su Qiao said goodbye to the two of them, then went home to call her eldest younger brother, taking him with her to the granary to carry grain.
Because Jin Guiyou had given his approval for her to buy more refined grain, in addition to forty jin of cornmeal and twenty jin of sweet potato flour, she bought ten jin of white flour in one go!
You had to know that at this time, even city residents were only allotted two jin of refined grain per month, and that still depended on luck. If you were unlucky and the grain shop happened to be out of stock, you couldn’t even get those two jin.
Looking at the sack of flour his sister was holding in her arms, Su Wei rarely showed a childlike side of himself, walking as if he were bouncing with every step.
He excitedly leaned over to Su Qiao, walking backward as he spoke: “Sis, let’s steam white-flour mantou today, okay? It’s been such a long time since we last had white-flour buns!”
Su Qiao glanced at him. “What’s so good about white-flour buns? We’re eating [1]Tie bingzi is a type of flatbread made from cornmeal. It’s typically pan-cooked on a griddle or skillet, giving it a slightly crispy exterior while remaining soft inside. It’s a traditional … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1729871_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1729871_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });tie bingzi today.”
“Ah…” Su Wei’s face immediately fell.
His sister was clearly treating him like a kid and trying to fool him, did she think he was stupid?
What were tie bingzi anyway? Weren’t they still made of cornmeal? They’d already been eating corn grits porridge for two days, what was there to look forward to in cornmeal!
Seeing her brother’s dejected expression, Su Qiao didn’t explain much. Instead, she stretched out her foot and lightly kicked his calf. “Hurry up. Didn’t you agree to fix the fence with Brother Xiao today?”
“Oh, right!”
Only then did Su Wei remember. “Sis, later you’ll need to give Brother Xiao some money. We talked it over and decided to replace all the locks at home. He said he’d bring them back for us when he passes by the supply and marketing cooperative.”
After saying that, without waiting for his sister to reply, Su Wei quickened his pace. “Come on, let’s hurry. Don’t let him get there before we’re even home.”
When the siblings finally made it back home, panting under the weight of the grain sacks, Xiao Qifeng still hadn’t arrived.
Su Qiao took five yuan out of her pocket and stuffed it into her brother’s hand. “Go see who has one and trade for a chicken. Then take a basket and trade for some eggs too. If there’s anything else, trade for that as well. We’re having di guo chicken with tie bingzi for lunch!”
[2]“Di guo chicken” refers to a rustic-style chicken dish cooked in a heavy, usually flat-bottomed pan or clay pot. The chicken is often braised or stewed with seasonings, sometimes along with … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1729871_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1729871_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Di guo chicken?
Su Wei didn’t know what this “di guo chicken” was, but just hearing the name, he already knew it had to be delicious!
He couldn’t help but swallow.
“Alright!” he answered, then shouted into the house, “Xiao Peng, come out with Xiao Lan! I’m taking you guys out to play!”
Hearing that they were going out to play, the two kids came running out, squealing with excitement.
Seeing their sister, they both lunged forward and hugged her legs. Su Peng’s eyes sparkled as he asked eagerly, “Sis, where are you taking us this time?”
From his attitude, it was clear he was still thinking about that bowl of douhua noodles from before.
Looking at her adorable little siblings, Su Qiao felt her heart melt, as if it were soaked in honey.
She reached out and pinched each of their cheeks, just about to speak, when Su Wei stretched out his hands, one for each child, and pulled the two little ones over to him.
Not only that, he even pinched Su Peng’s ear with a look of mock annoyance. “What are these ears for, just decoration? I called you, didn’t I? I called!”
“Ah!” Su Peng cried, immediately letting go of his sister and turning to hug his older brother, rubbing against him like a little puppy. His face lit up with delight as he asked, “Bro, where are you taking me?”
Xiao Lan was only three years old and couldn’t speak very well yet, but her little brain was sharp.
Hearing her second brother ask where he was taking them, she immediately panicked. She hugged his leg and tried to climb onto him, calling out as she went: “Xiao Lan! Xiao Lan!”
She wanted to remind her big brother, in her own way, that she was there too, he couldn’t forget her.
Watching her three little siblings making a ruckus together, Su Qiao couldn’t help but smile.
She gave them a quick instruction: “Go on, be careful and come back early. Don’t let Xiao Lan fall.”
Then she carried the sack of grain into the kitchen herself.
Looking at the stove, Su Qiao saw that it was almost done roasting. She figured that after letting it cool a bit today, it would be ready for use tomorrow, which made her feel a little relieved.
After putting the grain away, she grabbed a bamboo basket from the cupboard and went to the backyard.
In the backyard near the well, there was a small vegetable patch, now at the best point of growth for the year. Tender green chives, bright red chili peppers, glossy green garlic sprouts, and golden pumpkins, all of it was a joy to look at.
These vegetables were grown by Wang Lanxiang. Despite her malicious nature, her skill at gardening was impressive.
The vegetables in this carefully tended plot were among the best in the entire village.
Su Qiao knew that Wang Lanxiang’s mischief at their house was largely motivated by this vegetable patch.
Because Su Qiao’s family had suddenly decided to become independent, Wang Lanxiang hadn’t had time to prepare or defend against it.
Since the people helping them move were led by Secretary Jin, Wang Lanxiang didn’t have any chance to hide anything.
So everything that Su Qiao and the others had brought from their own home to Su Changfu’s house was all returned, nothing was missing.
And when Su Xiaowu was moving things back, with Su Qiao and her siblings watching, he couldn’t take anything extra beyond his own belongings.
Over the past year, Su Xiaowu had been living in the house, and naturally Wang Lanxiang, as the mother, treated it like her own home, fixing and patching things, cleaning regularly, tidying up.
She even cleared some land in the backyard and planted crops.
But after falling out with Su Qiao and her siblings, in the end she gained nothing.
A situation like this, [3]“Losing both the wife and the soldiers” is a Chinese idiom that describes a situation where someone suffers a double loss—both their loved ones (or family) and their resources or helpers. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1729871_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1729871_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });losing both the wife and the soldiers, would be impossible for Wang Lanxiang to swallow quietly.
So she resorted to disgusting tricks, like pouring water into Su Qiao’s stove.
Yet Su Qiao didn’t feel that she and her siblings owed Su Changfu’s family anything.
Over the past year and a half, all the money from Xiao Wei and Xiao Peng had gone to their uncle’s household, enough to cover the income of their entire family!
Now, although the land was contracted, the remaining grain after paying the state quota was just enough to feed one family. Without her brothers’ money, how would they have given gifts to their second daughter, Su Xiaona, so she could find work in town?
Without their brothers’ money, how could they have afforded a bicycle?
Leaving a small vegetable patch behind was nothing; Su Qiao felt her siblings had eaten in peace and with a clear conscience.
She picked a handful of green beans, dug up a few potatoes, grabbed five or six green peppers, and cut some garlic sprouts… carrying a basket full of vegetables, she walked back from the backyard.
Just as she reached the front yard, she heard the sound of a vehicle bell outside.
Su Qiao quickly set down the basket and went to the door. From a distance, she saw Xiao Qifeng riding a tricycle, loaded with dozens of bamboo poles.
The bamboo was thick, long, and well-dried, definitely not freshly cut from the mountains.
Su Qiao didn’t expect him to bring so much bamboo. She hurriedly opened the gate and helped Xiao Qifeng push the tricycle inside.
Once inside, she asked, “Big Brother Xiao, where did you get all this bamboo? That must have cost a lot, right?”
“No cost at all. My mother had saved it before. There was some leftover from repairing the fence at home, so I brought it all here,” Xiao Qifeng replied casually.
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