Today was the Minor New Year, so Su Shengguo and his family of five had all returned ho.
Normally, this would call for a lively reunion dinner, but right now, no one in the Su Family looked very happy.
Old Lady Su had hurt her back when Tian Aixiang shoved her to the ground. Ever since being discharged from the hospital, she had been bedridden, recuperating. She was furious at Tian Aixiang for pushing her, and the hatred she felt was bone-deep. Every day, she found new ways to tornt Tian Aixiang. One mont the food wasn’t to her taste, the next sothing else wasn’t to her liking. If Tian Aixiang showed even a hint of reluctance, Old Lady Su would grab her crutch, stumble out into the courtyard, and start wailing that her daughter-in-law was abusing her, crying loud enough for the whole village to hear.
As for Tian Aixiang, she’d had a falling out with her brother and sister-in-law, so she couldn’t go back to her own family. She was terrified Old Lady Su would convince Su Shengli to divorce her. She was getting on in years, and with her daughter Su Tao having been executed in such a disgraceful manner, she would have nowhere to go if she left the Su Family.
So, she had been silently enduring it all. The constant tornt from Old Lady Su had made her sallow and much thinner.
Su Shengguo’s family was also simring with anger when they returned this ti.
The last ti Zheng Erlian ran into Su Qing, Su Qing had tipped her off to the real reason for Old Lady Su’s injury. By that point, their family had already paid for half of Old Lady Su’s dical bills.
That was nearly forty yuan! They had originally only given twenty, but then Su Shengguo was tricked into forking over another ten-plus. That was no small sum of money. How long would it take their family to save up that much?
Furious, Zheng Erlian had gone to the hospital to confront Tian Aixiang about it. The two sisters-in-law had even gotten into a scuffle, but ultimately, they never got the money back. Because of this, both Su Shengguo and Zheng Erlian were seething.
So, returning today for the Minor New Year, neither of them looked happy.
Old Man Su’s face was grim as he stared at the ager dishes on the table. This year, the Su Family hadn’t just suffered devastating financial losses; their reputation was all but ruined. Between Su Qing leaving the family and Su Tao being executed, the Su Family couldn’t hold their heads high in Lihua Village anymore.
And now, for the Minor New Year, there were only these few dishes on the table. It was nothing compared to previous years.
"What is this? It’s the Minor New Year, and this is all you could be bothered to make?" Old Man Su rapped his long-stemd pipe on the table. It was the sa one Su Qing had snapped; Old Man Su had a carpenter make a new stem for it.
"Father, we don’t have much at this year. We have to save so for the Lunar New Year," Tian Aixiang said, pursing her lips.
In years past, the family had been well-off. When the pork ration from the village wasn’t enough, they would buy more on the black market. So for the New Year, there was always plenty of at. Add to that the chickens they raised and the smoked fish they had stored, and they could prepare a huge, lavish feast.
But this year, money had been flowing out of the house like water. With what little savings were left, Old Lady Su didn’t dare spend lavishly, so naturally, the quality of the als had plumted.
Su Shengli was also displeased. He shot a look at Su Shengguo. "Big Brother, you knew the family was having a hard ti this year, yet you didn’t think to bring so at back. Look how you’ve let our parents down."
If Su Shengli had kept his mouth shut, things might have been fine. But hearing his words, Zheng Erlian imdiately blew up. "Third Brother, listen to yourself! What do you an, we didn’t bring at? Do you have any idea what your brother’s monthly salary is? We give money to the family on ti every single month, and we have three children to raise. How much money do you think we have left over? And don’t you forget, when Mother was in the hospital, our family paid for more than half the dical bills! By rights, your wife was the one who injured her, so you two should have paid for everything. But we ended up shouldering most of it, and now you have the nerve to ask us for at? I’m telling you, you can’t be this unreasonable! You might as well just bleed and your brother dry!"
"Eldest Sister-in-law, that’s a ridiculous thing to say." Tian Aixiang might be scared of Old Lady Su, but she wasn’t scared of Zheng Erlian. Glaring, she shot back, "Don’t you forget that Father and Mother paid five hundred yuan to buy Big Brother that job from that little bitch Su Qing. You two didn’t spend a single cent. So, our parents paid for the job, Big Brother gets to have it all to himself, your family keeps the salary, and you’re still not satisfied? You should know that the money our parents have will be ours one day too, not just yours! It’s like our half of the family paid to buy Big Brother his job. So you tell who’s being unreasonable! You’d better think that over!"
Zheng Erlian flew into a rage. "Your brother is the one working the job! And don’t you forget, we give Father and Mother ten yuan every single month. How much do you think he even makes? The city isn’t like the countryside; everything costs money. We’re a family of five barely scraping by on twenty-sothing yuan a month! And you and Third Brother? How much do you give our parents every month? Why don’t you do the math yourself before you go around all day acting like you’re the one being wronged!"
"We’re not the ones being wronged?" Tian Aixiang slamd her hand on the table. "You and Big Brother are off living the good life in the county town while Shengli and I are stuck here serving Father and Mother! You get all the benefits, and what do we get? So what if your family paid a little more in dical bills this one ti? Is that such a big deal? Mother got sick. As her son and daughter-in-law, aren’t you supposed to chip in for dical bills?"
"Is this about the dical bills?" Zheng Erlian retorted furiously. "If Mother had simply gotten sick, we would have paid without you saying a word, of course we would. But why was she in the hospital this ti? Don’t play dumb. If you, her ’good’ daughter-in-law, hadn’t injured her, would she have been hospitalized at all? PAH! You claim you’re at ho taking care of our parents? Is this how you take care of them? What kind of daughter-in-law beats her mother-in-law and puts her in the hospital? You could search all of Xiyuan County and the surrounding villages and not find another freak like you!"
"What did you say? Say that again!" Tian Aixiang shot to her feet, pointed a finger at Zheng Erlian’s nose, and cursed, "Whatever I did, it’s a hell of a lot better than you, hiding out in the county town enjoying your leisure ti instead of serving your parents-in-law!"
"PAH! Don’t you dare flatter yourself," Zheng Erlian seethed. "You’re the only person in the entire world who’d put their mother-in-law in the hospital. You have so nerve."
The two sisters-in-law were at each other’s throats. The children just looked back and forth at one another, not saying a word. Su Shengguo and Su Shengli also remained silent. Each man felt his own side had been wronged, so neither was about to stop his wife from fighting their corner. Finally, Old Man Su slamd his pipe heavily on the edge of the table. "It’s the New Year celebration! Are you going to shut up or not?" he roared.
Su i muttered under her breath, "If Su Qing hadn’t blackmailed our family out of five hundred yuan and made us the laughingstock of the whole village, we wouldn’t be having such a pathetic al today."
Su Lihui, who had slipped out to use the latrine, ca back and announced, "That wretched girl Su Qing is back."
Old Lady Su, who had been silent with a grim expression the whole ti, finally spoke. "Go. Get that wretched girl over here. She still hasn’t given us old folks our support money for the year."
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