Song Qingzao had no idea that someone hundreds of kilometers away was thinking about her. At that moment, all she wanted was to hurry back. That troublesome girl at the hospital was still waiting for her to bring her a change of clothes.
What a reckless idiot. Thankfully, heaven had been watching over her and nothing serious had happened.
Just as Song Qingzao stepped into the courtyard, she suddenly remembered that she hadn’t had a chance to tell Grandpa about Su Qingwan’s accident. She wondered if he had come back yet.
“So, basically, this eldest daughter of the Su family rejected the promising young man Grandpa had chosen for her. Instead, she eloped with a young man from the countryside and went all the way to the rural areas of Jiang City for him, willingly giving up her life as an urban worker to become a peasant woman working in the fields.
“And when she eloped, she even took all the family’s money with her, which caused Grandma’s surgery to go wrong and led to her death. Mom was also in such a hurry to pay off the debts that she almost went down the wrong path. If she hadn’t met Dad, who had come to Beijing looking for a way to make a living, we siblings might never have existed.”
Su Qingwan listened to Su Tongyu explain the story of this eldest sister of the Su family and gave a brief summary.
This eldest aunt she had never even met really did seem to have a talent for dragging her family down.
“What do you mean, we might never have existed?”
Song Qingzao had just entered the hospital room carrying a bag of clothes when she heard Su Qingwan talking about them not existing.
Su Qingwan looked at Song Qingzao and suddenly gave her a meaningful smile.
Speaking of people who knew how to cause trouble for their families, according to the novel, her second sister was no less troublesome than that eldest aunt.
Could it really be hereditary?
“We were talking about our mysterious eldest aunt and how good she is at ruining things for the family.”
Su Qingwan gave Song Qingzao a playful smile.
“Eldest aunt? Where did we get an eldest aunt from? Doesn’t Grandpa only have Mom as his daughter?”
Song Qingzao looked at everyone in confusion.
Su Linqiang had no desire to recount that painful past again. He said irritably, “Ask your mother. Have her tell you later. What a headache. I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
Song Qingzao’s eyes immediately lit up with curiosity. She looked toward her mother, Su Tongyu, hoping she could clear things up.
Su Tongyu said impatiently, “I’ll tell you when you go home with your brother later. If I tell you now, then your brother will ask me about it later and I’ll have to tell the whole story again. Should I also write a letter to your little brother and explain everything to him separately?”
“We should write him a letter. What if someone uses our names to scam people in the future?”
Su Qingwan nodded seriously.
“If you want to write one, write it yourself.”
Su Tongyu immediately turned her attention back to Su Qingwan.
Seeing that her mother was on the verge of losing her temper, Su Qingwan wisely stopped talking.
Instead, she turned to her grandfather, who was watching the commotion.
“Grandpa, what does the letter say? They haven’t been in contact for so many years, and now she suddenly sends a letter. Could something have happened?”
Earlier, Su Linqiang and Su Tongyu had been too angry to think carefully about why someone who hadn’t contacted them for more than twenty years would suddenly write.
Could something really have happened?
Although they were disgusted by what Su Tongjin had done, they still didn’t want anything bad to happen to her.
After Su Qingwan’s reminder, the father and daughter could no longer focus on their anger.
Su Linqiang immediately opened the envelope and quickly read through the letter. It wasn’t long, only about half a page.
Su Tongyu watched Su Linqiang nervously, not missing the slightest change in his expression.
For a moment, it seemed as though time had stopped. The room was unnaturally quiet.
But after only a minute or two, Su Linqiang suddenly exploded.
“What the hell did I do in my past life to deserve a selfish daughter like this?”
Hearing her father’s words, Su Tongyu didn’t ask any questions. She simply snatched the letter from his hand and began reading it herself.
Song Qingzao nudged Su Qingwan with her lips.
“What’s going on?”
Su Qingwan shook her head and spread her hands.
“I don’t know. I haven’t read the letter.”
“Big Sister really is as self-centered as ever. After all these years, she still doesn’t know that Mom has already died.”
Su Tongyu’s expression was calm, and her tone was indifferent.
“Mom, what does it say?”
The curiosity in Su Qingwan’s eyes was impossible to hide.
Su Tongyu eventually gave in. She tossed the letter onto Su Qingwan’s hospital bed.
“You two read it yourselves. Otherwise, if they really come looking for us one day, you won’t even know what’s going on.”
Hmph.
Her eldest sister was still thinking about their father’s property and wanted their mother to send her money for her trip to Beijing.
She still thought the mother who had always favored her was alive.
She wanted a dead person to send her money?
Did she expect her to send ghost money?
Su Tongyu really wanted to see whether her eldest sister would dare accept it.
Su Qingwan and Song Qingzao squeezed together at the head of the bed and quickly read through the half-page letter.
Uh…
After reading just that short letter, Su Qingwan felt that this eldest aunt she had never met was completely unhinged.
No normal person would behave like this.
Song Qingzao also looked deeply troubled after reading it.
Thank goodness this eldest aunt had never had anything to do with their family.
But thinking about what the letter said, Su Qingwan deliberately asked, “Are we really supposed to bring Big Aunt’s daughter to Beijing? The letter even asks Grandpa to find her a job. It doesn’t even say whether she’s my cousin or what.”
Su Linqiang laughed angrily at Su Qingwan’s deliberately innocent expression.
“Su Qingwan, do you have no brains? Or did the water go to your head?”
“But what if she really comes looking for us?”
“She doesn’t have an urban household registration, and she doesn’t have a job. How long do you think she could stay even if she actually made it here?”
That was true.
These days, you needed an introduction letter to travel anywhere. On top of that, people everywhere were being encouraged to go to the countryside.
And Grandpa had moved more than twenty years ago.
It really wouldn’t be easy for them to find him.
“All right, enough. Let’s stop talking about these troublesome matters.”
Su Tongyu waved her hand, signaling Su Qingwan to stop.
She then turned to Su Linqiang and Song Qingzao.
“Dad, you and Qingzao should go home first. It’s getting late. Houdong and Hongjun are still waiting for you to come home for dinner.”
Hearing her mother’s arrangement, Su Qingwan interrupted.
“Mom, aren’t you going home? There’s nothing wrong with me anymore.”
She wanted to take advantage of having some privacy to study the mysterious system that had suddenly appeared.
She hadn’t had a chance to open it all day because there had always been someone around her.
Finally, evening had arrived, yet her mother still planned to stay at the hospital.
“If I go home, who’s going to look after you? What if you develop a fever in the middle of the night? Your brain wasn’t particularly bright to begin with. Don’t let a fever make you even more foolish.”
Su Tongyu rolled her eyes at Su Qingwan.
Su Linqiang nodded in agreement.
“She’s right. We can’t be careless. If she develops a fever and no one notices, it could become serious.”
He then turned toward Su Qingwan on the hospital bed and spoke gently.
“Wanwan, is there anything you want to eat? Grandpa will make it for you when I get home and bring it tomorrow.”
Su Qingwan’s eyes immediately filled with tears.
Her grandfather really was such a good man.
“Grandpa, I want meat buns. The same kind as this morning.”
“All right. They’re just meat buns. I’ll make them for my granddaughter tonight and bring them to you first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Ahhh! Thank you, Grandpa! I love you so much!”
Su Qingwan waved her arms around excitedly on the bed.
“Stop shouting nonsense. You’ll have all the nurses coming over here.”
Su Tongyu patted Su Qingwan’s back, telling her to calm down.
Song Qingzao couldn’t stand her little sister’s endless declarations of love. Carrying several bags, she headed outside first.
All the gifts had been brought by the families of the children Su Qingwan had rescued, and she was taking them home with her.
Snap.
One of the net bags broke, sending its contents scattering all over the floor.
Song Qingzao hurriedly bent down to gather everything.
Suddenly, a strong, powerful hand appeared in front of her.
“Comrade, we meet again.”
The man picked up the fallen apples and handed them to Song Qingzao.
Song Qingzao looked at him in pleasant surprise.
“It’s you! Aren’t you from the textile factory? You came to eat at the state-run restaurant a couple of days ago.”
The man also seemed pleasantly surprised that she remembered him. He smiled and introduced himself.
“That’s right. I’m a salesperson in the Sales Department of the Beijing Textile Factory. My name is Zhang Zongcheng.”
Song Qingzao felt a little embarrassed and followed his example, introducing herself.
“I’m a waitress at the state-run restaurant. My name is Song Qingzao.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the two looked into each other’s eyes.
Then, they both burst out laughing.