The Chen Residence,
Chen Yaozu ladled hot water over himself again and again, washing off the feces and urine that had frozen to his body. He gagged as he washed.
“Damn bitch!”
If Su Nian hadn’t been kept in the dark, he would have almost thought she did it on purpose!
How could it be such a coincidence? An entire bucket of filth had been poured squarely on him, not a single drop missed!
After seven or eight kettles of hot water, the water finally ran clear of yellow.
Forcibly suppressing the discomfort in his stomach, Chen Yaozu rushed into the west room, shivering.
“No wonder I couldn’t find the Gold Bars no matter how much I searched. So there was a secret in the chest all along!”
He mimicked Su Nian’s actions, turning the chest upside down and hooking the decorative copper chain. With a tug, the hidden layer at the bottom of the chest popped out.
Seeing the corner of a Great Unity banknote peeking out from the compartment, the greed in his eyes nearly materialized and overflowed.
“Hahaha… there really is money hidden here! Gold Bars! My Gold Bars!”
Rip—
The entire Secret Compartment was pulled out. Aside from a stack of small change and a bundle of Great Unity banknotes, there was nothing else of value. Chen Yaozu was instantly dumbfounded.
“Where are my Gold Bars?”
Refusing to believe it, he flipped the Rosewood Chest over several times.
Forget Gold Bars, he couldn’t even find a single piece of gold jewelry.
Besides the Chen family, only Wang Chunhua knew about this plan. Chen Yaozu was certain Su Nian wouldn’t have moved the Gold Bars in advance.
Either the news about Su Nian hiding a large quantity of Gold Bars was false, or Su Nian was a deep schemer who hadn’t brought the Gold Bars into the Chen house but had hidden them somewhere else!
No matter which was the truth, he couldn’t accept it.
Furious, Chen Yaozu slammed the secret box in his hand against the earthen wall, clenching his fists and roaring, “Bitch! Black-hearted capitalist! You deserved to be struggled against and sent down!”
After his fit of throwing things, Chen Yaozu calmed down and began to tidy the room with a dark expression.
He hadn’t found the Gold Bars yet, so he couldn’t have a complete falling out with Su Nian. More importantly, he couldn’t let her know he had been searching the place where she hid her money, which would make her vigilant and finding the Gold Bars even harder.
Fortunately, he had prepared a two-pronged approach from the start.
He refused to believe that Su Nian could escape by a fluke this time!
Chen Yaozu picked up the scattered money, stacking the bills one by one. When he tried to put them back as they were, he found that the compartment box wouldn’t fit back in, no matter how he tried. He broke out in a sweat from anxiety.
Seeing that the time to meet up with Chen Pozi was fast approaching, he gritted his teeth, stuffed the money into his pocket, and messed up the room again to create the false impression of a burglary before hurrying toward town.
By this time, the tractor carrying Su Nian and the others had already completed half its journey.
The cold wind howled, scraping like a steel blade.
Su Nian and the others wore Dogskin Hats made by hunters and were wrapped in Military Overcoats. With two more cotton quilts laid over them, they sat with their backs to the wind and didn’t feel cold at all.
The Women’s Director sat between Su Nian and Chen Pozi, looking at Fubao’s rosy little round face with immense fondness.
“Other people’s newborns are all wrinkled like little old men, but your girl is different. She’s already filled out just two days after birth. She looks exactly like the lucky doll in a New Year’s painting. So pretty.”
[Baby is the prettiest.]
The moment Fubao heard the Women’s Director praise her, she giggled while sucking on her fingers.
Watching her, Su Nian laughed as well. “Look at our Fubao, unable to take a compliment. Isn’t she just adorable?”
“Of course. The little girl really knows how to grow. She didn’t inherit Chen Yaozu’s flat nose and wide face. Look at this high nose bridge and melon-seed face, so beautiful.”
The Women’s Director tapped the tip of Fubao’s nose with her finger and tilted her head to study her. “Her eyes and mouth look like yours, but the rest…”
Hearing this, the smile on Su Nian’s lips froze.
The Women’s Director was truly observant. In the Chen family, it wasn’t just Chen Yaozu; everyone, young and old, had a flat nose!
Her own nose bridge wasn’t high either. They say daughters resemble their fathers, so Fubao’s conspicuously high nose bridge was likely inherited from her biological father.
Su Nian’s hands holding Fubao tightened, and she quickly braced herself to salvage the situation.
“It’s probably a generational inheritance. My father’s nose bridge is quite high. Fubao must take after her maternal grandfather.”
“Tch!”
As soon as she finished speaking, a derisive and ambiguous scoff came from her left. “A worthless baby girl, and you call her Fubao? More like a money-losing good-for-nothing. If you ask this old woman, you must have been fooling around with another man to give birth to a Little Bastard with a high nose bridge.”
“No one will think you’re mute if you don’t speak.”
The decision not to unblock Chen Pozi’s acupoint was the right one.
With that foul mouth of hers, Chen Pozi deserved to be in pain until she died!
Su Nian leaned over and met Chen Pozi’s sinister gaze, her own eyes turning cold.
“Chen Pozi, from now on, for every time you slander Fubao, I’ll stick you with a needle. If I can’t kill you, I’ll make you suffer. We’ll see if your mouth is tougher or my needle is harder!”
“Chen Pozi, I’m making it clear today. If you cause any more trouble and bully Comrade Su and her daughter, I’ll lock you in the Confinement Room when we get back to the village. You can come out when you’ve properly reflected on your actions!”
The Women’s Director shot a warning look at the flushed Chen Pozi. “As the Women’s Director of the Red Star Brigade, I still have the authority to discipline you!”
Chen Pozi was only brave within her own home. The moment she faced the Women’s Director, she immediately fell silent.
She shrank her neck and pulled the quilt up until only her eyes were showing, then said weakly, “You won’t even let people talk. This is authoritarianism.”
The Women’s Director rolled her eyes and helped Su Nian tuck in her quilt. “It’s not worth risking your future for an old woman who already has one foot in the grave.”
“Ignore her, and don’t get angry with her.”
After saying that, she continued to play with Fubao.
“Fubao is a good name. A fortune baby. Let me hold her. Let me soak up some of Fubao’s good fortune.”
As she spoke, the Women’s Director’s eyes grew a little lonely. “If I accumulate enough good fortune, maybe I’ll get to hold a grandson before I die.”
“You definitely will, don’t worry.”
Su Nian comforted her softly, turning to the side to place Fubao in the Women’s Director’s arms, trying to distract her. “Look, Fubao likes you.”
This wasn’t just for comfort; Fubao genuinely liked the Women’s Director and had been chanting in her heart.
[Grandma’s body is fragrant and warm. She’s a good person, not like the bad grandma whose belly is all black and whose body is stinky. All she thinks about all day is how to bully Mama. Baby likes Grandma.]
[But the book says Grandma will be all alone in the future, and her heart will turn bitter. So pitiful.]