Ye Xiu’e wanted to ask a few questions.
But when she saw the calm expression on Wanwan’s face, she suddenly held herself back.
Forget it.
As long as her daughter could grow up healthy and safe, nothing else really mattered.
After washing up and lying down in bed, Ye Xiu’e continued thinking about everything that had happened that day.
In the end, today’s confrontation had been worth it.
Wanwan’s eyes no longer looked as dull and lifeless as before.
Still, the matter wasn’t over.
She was already making plans.
In a few days, when she had some free time, she would visit the neighboring village and find Hongxia.
She intended to get to the bottom of that two hundred yuan.
Back when Su Youcai was still alive, Old Madam Su hadn’t deliberately made life difficult for them.
After all, Su Youcai sent eight yuan home every month and frequently exchanged letters with Ye Xiu’e.
Old Madam Su hadn’t dared do much.
But after Su Youcai’s death, she became convinced that the mother and daughter had somehow brought misfortune upon her son.
From then on, she constantly found ways to bully them.
First, she took all five hundred yuan of Su Youcai’s compensation money, claiming she was merely keeping it safe for them.
Then she argued that the eldest son’s family had too many people and not enough living space.
Using most of the compensation money, she built a new four-room brick house.
The largest room in the middle became the family hall.
The two western rooms were given to Su Wangcai’s family.
The eastern room, which was warm in winter, cool in summer, and had the best sunlight, was reserved for Old Madam Su herself.
She claimed it was because Hongxia needed a comfortable place to stay whenever she returned to visit.
The most outrageous part was that the house built with Su Youcai’s compensation money had no place for Su Wanwan and her mother.
Old Madam Su insisted that since the family had never officially divided households, the compensation money didn’t belong solely to Ye Xiu’e.
Everyone in the Su family had a share.
Three hundred yuan had been spent building the house.
The remaining two hundred yuan would supposedly belong to Ye Xiu’e.
But because Ye Xiu’e worked in the fields and traveled around treating patients, Old Madam Su claimed she might not be able to safeguard such a large amount of money.
There were always one or two dishonest people in every village.
She said she was only helping keep it safe.
Whenever Ye Xiu’e needed it, she would return it.
Besides, Ye Xiu’e only had a daughter.
A daughter would eventually marry and leave home.
So there was little point building a house for them.
Sons needed houses to marry wives.
Wouldn’t it be better to save the money and give Wanwan a larger dowry when she married?
At the time, Ye Xiu’e thought the explanation sounded reasonable.
So she didn’t object.
Later, however, she watched everyone else living in bright, comfortable brick houses while she and her daughter remained in a dark, crumbling mud hut.
Naturally, she felt bitter.
But since she had already agreed, she didn’t want to go back on her word or create conflict with Old Madam Su.
When Su Youcai died, Wanwan had only been four years old.
She desperately needed someone to look after her.
Yet the villagers also depended on Ye Xiu’e.
Whenever someone got sick, she had to make house calls.
Bringing Wanwan along wasn’t always possible.
Some illnesses were contagious.
With Wanwan’s weak health, catching one could be dangerous.
So she needed someone at home to help care for her daughter.
The obvious choice was Wanwan’s grandmother.
To encourage Old Madam Su to take good care of the child, Ye Xiu’e handed over her entire ten-yuan monthly subsidy.
Old Madam Su had been delighted.
The child was already four years old and didn’t require much effort.
Receiving ten yuan every month was an excellent deal.
At first, she really did take decent care of Wanwan.
Seeing her daughter looked after properly, Ye Xiu’e gradually relaxed.
But as time passed, Wanwan remained stubborn and frequently fell ill.
Old Madam Su slowly lost her patience.
Whenever Ye Xiu’e wasn’t around, she would beat and scold the child.
Using a broom wasn’t even the worst of it.
The real pain came from the rattan switch.
Each strike left red welts.
Yet after half a day, the marks faded completely, leaving almost no evidence.
There was also the summer incident.
One scorching hot day, Wanwan accidentally spilled her food.
As punishment, Old Madam Su made her kneel under the blazing sun.
Before long, she suffered heatstroke and nearly died.
Then there were the winters.
Even in freezing weather, she was forced to wash clothes and vegetables in the river.
Her hands became swollen with frostbite.
The skin cracked open and bled.
When spring finally came and the wounds began healing, the unbearable itching tormented her constantly.
Yet she never dared tell her mother.
Her uncle had threatened her.
If she ever complained, he would secretly sell her away.
He also told her that her father was dead.
There was no one left to stand up for them.
A child of only a few years old couldn’t tell truth from lies.
She only knew one thing:
She didn’t want to be sold.
She wanted to stay with her mother.
So no matter how badly she suffered, she silently endured it.
Of course, Ye Xiu’e knew none of this.
What she did notice was that Wanwan became quieter and quieter.
The light in her eyes faded.
She even stopped wanting to eat with the rest of the family.
Ye Xiu’e knew something was wrong.
Looking back, she blamed herself for being careless.
It had taken until today to finally understand the problem.
People had warned her before that Old Madam Su mistreated Wanwan.
But every time she asked her daughter, Wanwan denied it.
She had assumed others were trying to stir up trouble.
Now she realized there had been signs all along.
The fault lay in trusting the Su family too much.
And in not noticing the truth sooner.
Fortunately, it was already the winter slack season.
There wasn’t much work in the fields.
The men could handle what remained.
For the first time in a long while, she had the freedom to think seriously about the future.
No matter what, she had decided on one thing:
They would separate from the family.
Wanwan was already seven years old and could take care of herself.
As a barefoot doctor, Ye Xiu’e received both subsidies and work points.
Supporting two women wouldn’t be difficult.
Su Wanwan had no idea her mother was already planning to separate households.
At that moment, she was sleeping soundly in her mother’s arms.
In her dream, she saw her grandmother from the modern world.
Grandma’s hair seemed even whiter than before.
She radiated despair as she held Su Wanwan’s lifeless body and cried bitterly.
Su Wanwan wanted to comfort her.
She wanted to tell her she wasn’t dead.
But Grandma couldn’t see her.
She couldn’t hear her.
So Su Wanwan could only stay by her side and cry with her.
If only Grandma could come here too…
Just as that thought crossed her mind, a rustling sound woke her up.
She blinked sleepily.
Daylight had already filled the room.
Ye Xiu’e was fully dressed and preparing to leave.
Seeing her daughter awake, she smiled.
“Sleep a little longer.”
Su Wanwan nodded.
On such a cold day, staying curled up beneath a warm blanket was the most comfortable thing in the world.
Ye Xiu’e continued giving instructions.
“The meat patties are in the biscuit tin. I’ve added coal to the stove too. If you want to eat one, just warm it over the fire.”
“The water jar has frozen over, so I boiled some hot water and left it on the table. Remember to drink plenty of warm water.”
“And your body has only just recovered, so keep yourself warm.”
“I made you a thick cotton outfit a few days ago. It’s by the bedside. Remember to put it on after you get up.”
“And another thing—”
Watching her mother fuss endlessly over her, Su Wanwan couldn’t help laughing.
“Mom, I know. You should dress warmly too.”
Ye Xiu’e’s eyes immediately lit up.
She nodded vigorously.
“Yes! Mom knows!”
Her daughter had smiled.
She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d seen Wanwan smile.
And now her daughter was showing concern for her too.
The thought made her incredibly happy.
Life suddenly felt full of hope again.