Su Jinxia leaned against the door, looking at them with contempt. “As long as you don’t provoke me, I naturally won’t hit you.”
“I know there’s meat in this household. Hurry up and make dumplings for me. Don’t think about trying any tricks. Whatever you do to me, I’ll return it to you double.”
It was no wonder Su Jinxia was so fixated on dumplings. It was because of her mother’s partiality—there would only be dumplings in her bowl when her father was home.
“Dumplings?” Xiao Ying’s face was full of disbelief. How had this become the one thing she was asking for?
Su Jinxia swept her gaze over them. “That’s right. I want dumplings. Why haven’t you gone in to make them yet?”
They shuddered in fright and hurried inside. Su Jinxia’s gaze was far too sharp, leaving them afraid to try anything behind her back.
The dumplings were ready just before dawn. They were served on the table in two large platters. Su Jinxia sat down and ate without the slightest courtesy, not lifting her head once and not calling either of them to eat with her.
The meat dumplings were a little salty, but they were full of oil; the moment she bit into one, grease poured out.
As Su Jinxia ate, she planned things in her mind. If she was going to sea, she would have to prepare certain items. First of all, a letter of introduction was indispensable—she would need it throughout the entire journey.
On the other hand, she needed money. She looked around the house, then raised her head to look at Xiao Ying, who was standing to one side.
“Give me the money and ration coupons.”
“What?” Xiao Ying’s voice rose involuntarily. Asking for money was no different from asking for her life!
Su Jinxia put down her chopsticks. “I won’t say it a second time.”
Xiao Ying stared at her eldest daughter in confusion. “You’ve eaten the dumplings, and we’ve already made everything clear. What do you want money and ration coupons for?”
Su Jinxia said, “That’s none of your business!”
When Xiao Ying met her daughter’s cold, utterly emotionless gaze, she shuddered in fright. That look was as if Su Jinxia had come to claim her life.
With trembling hands, she took a handkerchief from her pocket and said, “You know the situation at home. I don’t have a formal job. We rely entirely on your father’s wages and the benefits issued by his work unit.”
“There are basically no savings at home. There’s only a little over one yuan here, along with three jin of coarse-grain coupons and two jin of fine-grain coupons, plus the other coupons.”
Su Jinxia walked over, grabbed Su Mingyue by the hair, and pressed down the hand she tried to raise.
“If you don’t want anything to happen to your precious daughter, hurry up and hand over the money and ration coupons you’ve hidden.”
Xiao Ying hurriedly stood up. “What are you trying to do? Have you gone completely out of your mind?”
Su Jinxia tugged harder on Su Mingyue’s hair. Seeing her glaring with her eyes wide open, she gave it another forceful pull.
“Ah!” Su Mingyue let out a scream, then finally called out to her mother, “Mom, hurry up and save me! My eldest sister has gone crazy! She’s gone crazy!”
Xiao Ying retreated several steps and looked toward the door. If she opened the front door now and called the neighbors over, would anyone help uphold justice?
“Don’t think about calling anyone. You’ve already offended nearly all the neighbors on the street. Do you really think they’ll help you if they come?”
Su Jinxia spoke with complete confidence. “What are you waiting for? Go!”
Xiao Ying stamped her foot, then returned to the room and found a biscuit tin. Gritting her teeth, she muttered, “What a curse!”
Su Jinxia released Su Mingyue, then strode over and snatched the tin directly from her hand. In front of them, she turned it completely upside down, took all the money and coupons inside, and casually tossed the tin back.
Xiao Ying stared at her eldest daughter’s bandit-like actions, her mouth falling open in shock.
“How can you do this? How can you take all the money?”
Su Jinxia also saw several letters from Grandpa. She had never seen those letters before. They contained detailed records of every salary payment Grandpa had sent home.
“So all this money was sent by Grandpa—and it was all sent to me. You never told me!”
Xiao Ying knew she was in the wrong, but she remained defiant. “What do you mean, yours or mine? You’re my daughter, so naturally the money is mine too. You’re so young—what do you need so much money for?”
She cursed that old man inwardly. He was so partial. If she had known she would be found out, she would have burned the letters.
Su Jinxia said, “From today onward, I won’t call you Mom anymore! Everything you owe me—I’ll take it all back!”
After leaving them with those harsh words, she opened the door and walked out.
The mother and daughter were left trembling in fear.
The door swayed several times before finally closing, seemingly on the verge of collapse.
With a bang, the sound jolted them back to their senses.
“Mom, how did Eldest Sister become like this?” Su Mingyue stared at the plates on the table. They had made thirty dumplings in total, and her eldest sister had eaten every last one. The plates were clean enough to reflect their faces.
That tin had contained her private savings from many years. At the time, she had no idea why she had taken everything out all at once. Perhaps she had thought her eldest daughter wouldn’t take all the money.
“That wretched girl! If I’d known, I would have drowned her in the urine pot the moment she was born.”
Seeing her mother’s crazed expression, Su Mingyue felt somewhat frightened, but she still forced herself to ask, “Mom, what are we going to do now? Eldest Sister is completely lawless! We’re no match for her—we can’t beat her at all.”
Xiao Ying looked at the calendar. “Your father is coming home today. When he gets back, we’ll tell him everything and have him deal with her!”
“Will that work? Dad likes Eldest Sister. He just isn’t home often. When he comes back, will he take her side?”
Su Mingyue spoke indignantly. “Wouldn’t that mean all the suffering we’ve endured was for nothing?”
Xiao Ying said, “No. As long as we tell our side first, and with these injuries right here for him to see, I refuse to believe he won’t take our side!”
Only after hearing this did Su Mingyue feel better. She absolutely could not let her eldest sister live a better life than she did!
Su Jinxia left the house and reached the main road. A new route had formed in her mind. She not only had to save Zhao Yue and keep his leg from becoming crippled—
She also had to find Grandpa. Judging from the dates on these letters, Grandpa could send a sum of money home every two months. It had already been two and a half months since the last payment.
In other words, something had happened to him during this interval.
In her previous life, she did not learn that Grandpa had gone missing until a year later.
Many things happened in the meantime. The railway station was recruiting workers, and her father was an insider who could arrange for one person to get in.
For the sake of that position, her mother signed her up to go to the countryside as an educated youth.
Later, because her younger sister was too young and could not go, her mother sold the position in exchange for a sum of money.
In the past, because of her quiet and taciturn personality, as well as her father working away from home year-round with an irregular schedule and the two of them spending little time together, her father’s image in her mind had always been vague. He was simply a silent, cowardly man.
Moreover, her parents’ relationship had never been good. Her mother was always dissatisfied with her father.
A scene suddenly flashed through Su Jinxia’s mind: Her younger sister looked somewhat similar to Uncle Wang next door. In fact, both of them were left-handed.
Once, she had come home early from school and happened to see Uncle Wang emerging from the bedroom in disheveled clothing. Normally, a neighbor would not enter someone else’s bedroom.
Could it be that her younger sister was not her father’s child?