Su Man had completely changed from her previously easygoing, smiling expression and now wore a serious, solemn look.
For some reason, Su Ercheng felt as if he saw a hint of his older brother in her, and he actually felt a little uneasy inside.
Xia Hongxia thought Su Man was just putting on an act. She sighed and said in a pitiful tone, “Xiao Man, we were only kind enough to help you keep such a large amount of money and tickets. If you didn’t want that, you could have just said it directly. Why agree first and then secretly steal the money back?”
“Your uncle and I didn’t want to tear things apart and expose you, but today you’re still pretending you don’t know anything and asking for the money. You’re clearly trying to embarrass us.”
“What do you mean, auntie? Are you saying you took my father’s money and refuse to admit it, and now you’re even slandering me instead?” Su Man looked completely in disbelief. Tears welled up in her eyes, and her lower lip was bitten so hard it turned pale. Anyone who saw her would think she was innocent.
Even Xia Hongxia began to doubt herself. Could it really not be Su Man? But the money really was gone!
Su Man cried, sobbing, “If auntie doesn’t believe me, then go search my room. If people can casually spread rumors without evidence, then I might as well say it was auntie who sent the money back to her maternal family.”
Su Man glanced at Su Ercheng, hesitated for a moment, then continued, “A few days ago, when uncle and my cousins weren’t home, I even saw auntie’s younger brother come to our house. When he left, he took a lot of things, and auntie even told him not to tell anyone.”
As soon as those words fell, Su Ercheng slammed the table in anger. “So you really sent my older brother’s money back to your maternal family! I was wondering why your good-for-nothing brother hasn’t come around for a while—so he got fed all at once, huh! Ever since you got married, you’ve been constantly supporting your family, and now you’ve gotten bolder and bolder, even daring to touch my older brother’s money!”
Su Yuan also said in dissatisfaction, “Mom, it’s one thing if you secretly support your family when my dad doesn’t know, but with such a large sum of money, you might as well have given it to uncle so he could get me a job instead.”
Although his mother had said Su Man would transfer her job to him, it still hadn’t been done. The Street Office had already come several times urging him to go down to the countryside. Besides, Su Man’s job was at the Textile Factory—if he went there, he would have to deal with a bunch of women every day, which was embarrassing. If they had that money his uncle left behind, they could have bought him a much better job.
Xia Hongxia felt like she had swallowed bitter medicine but couldn’t spit it out. That money really wasn’t touched by her! The things she secretly gave her younger brother were gifts from Factory Director Zhang’s family. That girl had clearly been lying in bed looking like she was on the verge of death, yet she had actually gotten up and seen it.
In anger, she raised her hand to hit Su Man. “I’ll make you talk nonsense, you wretched girl!”
Su Man quickly hid behind Su Ercheng. Su Ercheng pointed at Xia Hongxia’s nose and said, “If you don’t get that money back this time, I’m divorcing you!”
“I really didn’t take it!” Xia Hongxia stomped her foot anxiously, but no one believed her explanation.
Su Man suddenly let out a cold laugh. “So this so-called ‘helping me keep it’ was actually auntie planning to send it to her maternal family, and cousin wanting to use my money to buy a job.”
She wiped away her tears, her eyes showing a cold determination as someone deeply hurt. She declared, “If you don’t return the money to me today, I will go everywhere and spread the word about how your family is sucking the blood of your niece and exploiting her inheritance. As for giving the job to my cousin, you can forget about it. Just wait and go down to the countryside honestly!”
As soon as those words came out, the household instantly erupted into chaos.
Su Ercheng cared deeply about his reputation. If he was publicly scorned, it would be worse than death for him. He tried to pull Su Man back and appeal emotionally, but Su Man didn’t give him any chance at all and decisively ran out.
He then turned around and shouted at Xia Hongxia, “Why aren’t you going back to your maternal family to get the money! If this scandal gets out, I’ll beat you to death!”
Su Yuan also grabbed Xia Hongxia and blamed her, “Mom, do you not care whether your son lives or dies? I don’t want to go down to the countryside!”
……
Su Man left the noisy commotion behind and slowed her pace after running out of the house, walking leisurely toward the street.
Before Su Dacheng died, he had been worried about the Original Owner. He remembered a childhood engagement he once made with a comrade-in-arms. They had not been in contact for many years, and although he did not take the engagement seriously at first, his younger brother and sister-in-law were unreliable. For the sake of the Original Owner, Su Dacheng still shamelessly sent a letter to his comrade-in-arms.
Until Su Dacheng passed away, he never received a reply, and he assumed the Qi Family of his comrade-in-arms was unwilling.
He had mentioned this matter briefly to the Original Owner before, but she had been too devastated at the time and did not take it to heart.
However, according to the original story, the Qi Family had actually replied. It was Su Ercheng and Xia Hongxia who intercepted the letter in order to sell Su Man off to Factory Director Zhang’s family.
In the 1970s, traveling was not as convenient as in modern times; going anywhere required a letter of introduction. For Su Man, leaving this place with the engagement letter to find her fiancé was undoubtedly the best option.
It seemed her uncle and aunt still didn’t know about the engagement. She planned to go to the post office—by now, the letter should have arrived.
Just as she walked out of the alley onto the main street, Su Man was stopped by the postman. It was simply because she was a famously beautiful girl in the area, and the postman recognized her at a glance.
Su Man smiled and accepted the letter. After the postman left, she opened it and found it was a reply from the Qi Family. The letter stated that the Qi Family was very willing to fulfill the engagement and even attached an address of a Military Unit, telling her to go there to get married.
Su Man felt a slight confusion—why wasn’t she being asked to go to the Qi Family and wait for the man to return before getting married? After thinking about it, she figured the man might be very busy and rarely go home. In any case, as long as it could help her leave this place, it was fine.
With a thought, Su Man stored the letter into her space.
This space had followed her from the modern world after transmigration. It did not have any special abilities, but it gave her a sense of security. As for the missing money and tickets that Xia Hongxia couldn’t find anywhere, they had naturally been stored in the space as well.
The first thing Su Man did after transmigrating was to take advantage of the Original Owner being weak and bedridden, when the whole family was unguarded, and steal back all the money.
If they dared to take her money, she would make them pay it back double.
After obtaining the letter, Su Man wandered around for a while before preparing to return, but she was suddenly stopped by Zhang Tianci.
Ever since he had seen the Original Owner once, Zhang Tianci had been itching with desire. Knowing that Su Man’s uncle and aunt had already agreed to the marriage and were only waiting for Su Man’s consent, he was so eager that he wanted to persuade her personally.
But after Su Man’s father died and she suffered a serious illness, she had not gone out for days, so he had to wait patiently. Today, while skipping work and wandering the streets, he unexpectedly ran into her.
After not seeing her for a while, Su Man had become even more beautiful. Rubbing his hands together, Zhang Tianci became even more determined to marry her.
“Su Man, so many people want to marry me and live a good life. Just agree.”
Seeing Zhang Tianci’s sleazy smile, Su Man frowned and instinctively took a few steps back. She originally wanted to turn and run, but after catching sight of Su Lan, she changed her mind. She turned back and forced a shy smile while suppressing her disgust.
Zhang Tianci was completely dazzled by that smile and failed to notice any of her reluctance or disgust. He simply assumed she had agreed to the marriage.