Ever since the marriage, his wife had occasionally given money to her maternal family. Each time it had been ten or twenty yuan, and he had always turned a blind eye.
But last month, hadn’t she already given fifty yuan? And now she had secretly handed over another 300 yuan?!
Three hundred yuan!
His money had not fallen from the sky. The savings he had accumulated over the years were barely enough for his two children to spend. The remaining bit of his old savings had been from selling the belongings left by his former wife, originally meant to help his son get married in the future.
Yet this spendthrift woman had secretly given it to her younger brother!
Liu Xiangyu had clearly given the money in private. She did not know how Su Qiu, that damned girl, had found out.
Seeing her husband’s dark expression, she panicked and explained: “I didn’t give it away! My brother Liu Pingqing had urgent needs at work, so I just lent it to him. He’ll return it in a few days.”
After hearing this, the Public Security comrades felt even more that this couple was going too far. They could casually give 300 yuan to an outsider, yet treat their own daughter so cruelly that she had become so malnourished.
The police comrade said unhappily: “Enough. You two don’t look like people short of money. Stop wasting words. Go back and get the money quickly. Today, you must hand it over to Comrade Su Qiu in front of me, so she won’t be cheated after leaving.”
Su Family Zhong left with a dark face, dragging Liu Xiangyu along.
Su Qiu sweetly praised the police comrade for a long while, then went out again.
She went to the nearby Supply and Marketing Cooperative and bought some oil paper that did not require ration tickets.
Finding an empty alley, she took out more than ten beautiful apples from her dimensional space, along with several packs of melon seeds and peanuts, and wrapped them all neatly in the oil paper.
Su Qiu returned to the Public Security Bureau carrying the items and handed them to the comrade who had helped her earlier.
The comrade who had spoken up for her was named Gao Zhiqiang. Seeing the girl return with a bundle of food, he quickly refused.
“Helping the masses is our duty. Comrade Su, take it back. We are grown adults—how can we accept your things?”
“If it were not for everyone’s help, I would have starved when going down to the countryside. This is the only way I can express my gratitude. You must accept it no matter what.”
Su Qiu spoke sincerely, and her endless words of gratitude made the police comrades laugh.
“You really are quite a talker. You’d do well as a public relations officer.”
Su Qiu smiled and replied without any shyness: “That sounds good. If there’s a chance, I’ll definitely try.”
Everyone laughed and chatted together. The police comrades even called everyone over to share the food Su Qiu had brought.
The apples were red, large, and crisp; the melon seeds and peanuts were fragrant and slightly spicy. Everyone praised how delicious they were.
Since they had eaten her food, when Su Jiazhong and Liu Xiangyu returned, many people came out to support Su Qiu.
On the way back, Su Jiazhong and Liu Xiangyu had already agreed to insist they only brought 380 yuan, and if questioned, they would claim there was no more. They would also tell the Public Security Bureau that the rest would be sent later after Su Qiu went down to the countryside. Whether they sent it or not would be up to them.
But when they entered the Public Security hall and saw more than ten uniformed officers gathered inside, they were so frightened that they could barely speak.
Comrade Gao asked: “If you brought the money, hand it over to Comrade Su Qiu.”
The words they had prepared stuck in their throats.
They stammered, trying to speak, but seeing so many people, they did not dare to say anything.
Su Jiazhong’s legs even went weak. He wiped his sweat and took out the prepared 380 yuan from his pocket.
He glanced at his wife and gritted his teeth: “Go and ask Liu Pingqing for the 300 yuan!”
The family originally only had 1,000 yuan left. Now that 300 had been secretly lent out by this spendthrift woman, the remaining 700 yuan was already painful to take out—yet now they were forced to hand over 380 yuan. He felt like crying.
Only 220 yuan remained at home. If all of it was taken away, how would the family survive?
Liu Xiangyu wanted to argue, but thinking of her brother still being detained, she could only bite the bullet and ask the police comrade: “Comrade police, I want to see my brother and get some money from him.”
“Don’t try anything funny. Xiao Li, take her there.”
When Liu Pingqing saw his sister, he immediately cried out for help.
“Sis, I only did this for Baoming’s sake! Please think of a way to get me out!”
Liu Xiangyu glared at her useless brother but did not dare say much in front of the police comrade.
She leaned in and asked quietly: “Where is the 300 yuan I gave you last time? Take it out quickly. If not, Su Qiu will sue you and you’ll be sent to prison.”
Hearing the word “prison,” Liu Pingqing panicked and quickly searched his pockets.
“I don’t want to go to prison! I spent 100 yuan. I only have 200 left!”
He pulled out a messy stack of money from his trouser pocket and handed it over.
“Sis, hurry and get me out! If my superiors find out, I’ll lose my job.”
“I’m telling you, I already spent 600 yuan to save you together with your brother-in-law. After you get out, you’d better make up the remaining 100 yuan, or I won’t be able to explain it!”
“Got it, sis! As long as you get me out, I’ll find a way……”
……
Liu Xiangyu returned with the stack of money and handed it to Su Jiazhong.
Seeing her husband’s unhappy expression, she tried to soften things by saying: “Pingqing only had 200 yuan on him. The rest will be returned in a few days. He only ended up here because he felt sorry for Baoming as his uncle.”
Su Jiazhong’s expression eased slightly. Holding the money, 200 plus 380 still left a shortage of 20 yuan. He reluctantly pulled out his remaining loose change and barely managed to make up 600 yuan in total.
When he handed the money over, his heart ached terribly.
Su Qiu took the money, immediately put it into her pocket, and bowed in thanks to the police comrades.
……
Su Qiu and her elder sister walked out of the Public Security Bureau first.
Su Jiazhong and stepmother Liu Xiangyu followed closely behind.
“Su Qiu! Stop right there! You tricked us out of so much money—do you even have a conscience?!”
Liu Xiangyu gritted her teeth, wishing she could strangle her.
Su Jiazhong also walked over with a dark expression.
“You caused all that trouble in the Public Security Bureau. Hand the money over!”
Su Qiu sneered and immediately shouted loudly: “Comrade police—”
“Shut your mouth! I don’t want it anymore! Shut up!”
Liu Family Zhong’s face turned green as he glared at his daughter and hissed: “You unfilial daughter! If you’re so capable, don’t ever come back home!”
Then he turned to Su Li.
“As the elder sister, you don’t even try to stop this disgraceful behavior and instead follow her to make trouble in the Public Security Bureau! You’d better make her hand over the money, or our Su family has no place for either of you!”
Su Li had long since lost all respect for her father. Hearing this, her eyes turned red as she finally snapped back.
“The Su family never had a place for me and Xiao Qiu to begin with! We are your daughters too—why are you so cruel as to send Xiao Qiu to the countryside to suffer? She is only eighteen and already so thin and weak. How is she supposed to survive doing farm work every day?!”
She shouted the last sentence, her emotions completely breaking down.
Years of bitterness and grievance exploded at that moment.
She resented herself for being useless and unable to protect her sister, and she resented her father’s cold cruelty toward them.
“You ungrateful thing! What does Su Qiu’s thin body have to do with us? It’s her own lack of ability! Does she expect me as her father to feed her every meal?!”
Su Jiazhong had already been holding back anger. Now both daughters were defying him. If this had not been at the Public Security Bureau, he would have slapped them both into submission.
Su Li’s heart turned completely cold.
“Xiao Qiu works and also serves your entire family. She is underfed and overworked every day, which is why she is severely malnourished.”
Liu Xiangyu said sarcastically: “Oh my, anyone hearing this would think we’ve abused you sisters. Xiao Li, you’re already a mother—how can you not understand your parents’ good intentions?”
Already furious, Su Jiazhong raised his hand and slapped her hard.
“Do you have a death wish?! I wasted my efforts raising you!”