Early the next morning, when Su Yu woke up, Tang Chen had already left.
In the pot were still two warm eggs and two steamed buns.
Seeing them, her heart felt warm.
“Tangtang…”
“Is anybody home? Open the door for me!”
?
Su Yu hurried to answer the door and found a woman with slicked-back hair standing outside.
She looked somewhat familiar.
The woman stood at the doorway, sizing Su Yu up from head to toe.
There was even a trace of disdain in her eyes.
“You’re Su Yu?”
Why did her tone sound so irritating?
Su Yu simply nodded.
The woman glanced inside and noticed that Su Yu was alone.
Without another word, she pushed past her and walked straight in.
After entering the main room, she sat down as if she owned the place.
When she saw the two eggs on the stove, she casually pocketed one.
Watching such blatant robbery, Su Yu clenched her fists.
“Auntie, I don’t think I know you.”
She crossed her arms.
“Did you come all the way here just to steal an egg?”
Su Yu’s expression turned icy.
Since this woman showed her no respect, she saw no reason to keep observing traditional virtues like respecting elders.
After hearing that, the woman stuffed the egg into her pocket and stood up.
Pointing directly at Su Yu’s nose, she began scolding her.
“My daughter got a fever because of your man.”
She raised her voice.
“What’s wrong with me taking one egg?”
Her daughter?
What kind of romantic trouble was this now?
Su Yu frowned deeply.
Looking closely, the woman’s features seemed familiar.
Upon hearing that, the woman proudly lifted her chin.
“That’s right.”
She nodded.
“I’m Chunxing’s mother.”
She folded her arms.
“I don’t know what your family did to her, but after she came home last night, she developed a high fever in the middle of the night.”
She sniffed dramatically.
“She was talking nonsense the entire time. The fever only went down this morning. She’s lost so much weight already.”
Then she looked at Su Yu expectantly.
“So tell me, how are you going to compensate us?”
Leaving aside whether the fever was real or not—
How could someone become emaciated after just one night of fever?
It made no sense.
Clearly, Chunxing’s mother had already decided she wanted compensation.
Her eyes constantly wandered around the room, searching for anything valuable.
Without hesitation, Su Yu stepped in front of her and blocked her view.
“Yesterday, your daughter came to my house on her own initiative to deliver shoes to my husband.”
Su Yu stared at her.
“Auntie, surely you understand what that means.”
In this era, spending time alone with a man could get a woman cursed by the entire village.
Chunxing had shamelessly come to deliver shoes to Tang Chen.
Anyone with eyes could tell she liked him.
But Tang Chen already had a wife.
At that point, she should have known when to stop.
If the villagers found out, Chunxing would be drowned in gossip.
After hearing that, Chunxing’s mother became visibly flustered.
She glanced outside and, after seeing nobody around, hurriedly closed the courtyard gate.
The practiced movement made it seem like she often quarreled with people.
She coughed awkwardly.
“Ahem.”
“My daughter may have done something wrong.”
She quickly added,
“But couldn’t you have spoken to her nicely?”
Her voice rose again.
“Chunxing kept muttering in her sleep, begging you not to scold her.”
Then she pointed accusingly.
“You people are worse than pigs and dogs!”
Clearly, she had learned a phrase without understanding its meaning.
Su Yu found it absurd.
So this was what Tang Chen meant by “reasonable people.”
Seeing Su Yu remain silent, Chunxing’s mother suddenly sat down on the ground.
Then she began crying as though attending a funeral.
“Oh, my poor child!”
She wailed loudly.
“She’s still so young!”
“Burning with fever and talking nonsense!”
“She almost didn’t recognize her own mother!”
She wiped her nose dramatically.
“I only wanted you people to come apologize.”
She beat her chest.
“I’m already just a bag of old bones. At worst, I’ll fight you to the death!”
As she cried, snot and tears streamed down her face.
Every now and then she wiped her nose and smeared it on the sole of her shoe.
Su Yu frowned even harder at the sight.
She walked over, crouched down, and looked directly at the woman.
“Fine.”
She nodded.
“If you want justice, let’s go find the village chief.”
She smiled faintly.
“I’m sure he’ll determine who’s right and who’s wrong.”
The moment those words came out, Chunxing’s mother panicked.
This matter absolutely could not reach the village chief.
Otherwise, Chunxing wouldn’t dare show her face outside ever again.
Finding a husband in the future would become even more difficult.
After all, what decent girl would stand outside a married man’s house just to deliver him a pair of shoes?
Without warning, Chunxing’s mother rolled around on the ground.
Dust covered her clothes, but she didn’t care.
She continued crying and shouting.
Fortunately, most villagers were already out working.
Even if she screamed herself hoarse, nobody would hear.
“Auntie.”
Su Yu’s tone remained calm.
“If you keep doing this, I’ll tell Chunxing’s father and let him handle it.”
Suddenly, Su Yu remembered a conversation she’d had with Li Xiuling a few days earlier.
They had mentioned Chunxing’s father.
He was lazy and good-for-nothing.
His only hobby was drinking.
When sober, he was a normal person.
When drunk, however, he recognized no family and loved hitting people.
Whenever that happened, Chunxing would avoid going home and spend the night elsewhere.
But her mother wasn’t so fortunate.
Even after being beaten black and blue, she still had to clean the house.
“No!”
Chunxing’s mother shook her head frantically.
“How can you be so heartless?”
She pointed accusingly.
“The year before last, I even helped take care of little Tangtang!”
Some people only remembered what benefited them.
A tiny favor from years ago remained crystal clear in her memory.
There was pleading in her eyes.
Beneath them were faint bruises.
They were hard to notice unless one looked carefully.
Clearly, she had recently suffered another beating from her husband.
“I’ll leave.”
Her voice softened.
“I won’t come again.”
Looking at her, a trace of sympathy unexpectedly appeared in Su Yu’s heart.
Perhaps this woman was also trapped by circumstances.
Without another word, Su Yu returned to the kitchen.
She took the remaining egg from the stove and handed it over.
“Forget it.”
Her voice softened slightly.
“I hope you’ll remember what you said today.”
She looked directly at her.
“I’m not an unreasonable person.”
She pressed the egg into her hand.
“Take this back.”
“When Chunxing gets better, explain things clearly to her.”
Shock filled Chunxing’s mother’s eyes.
Looking at Su Yu, tears suddenly welled up.
Perhaps it was because she had not felt such kindness in a long time.
Even her hand trembled as she accepted the egg.
“Sister Su…”
Her voice choked.
“Thank you.”
“This was my fault.”
Seeing her sincere attitude, Su Yu merely nodded indifferently.
She watched as the woman left.
Then she turned around and closed the gate.
Outside, Chunxing’s mother walked away with disheveled hair, clutching the egg tightly.
Fear still lingered in her eyes.
Beneath a large tree not far away stood a young-looking man.
The moment he saw her emerge, he immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Did you get the money?” he asked.