Su Xiaotian had intended to step forward, but since her brothers had already charged ahead, she was content to watch from behind.
As for Jinwa and Yinwa, Su Xiaotian found them utterly unimpressive. The people in the "Full Red Heart Brigade" were nothing like them. They weren't children anymore, but young lads, completely lacking in manners.
By this time, the villagers had finally recovered from the shock caused by Liu Xiuying. They all began to scold Liu Xiuying and Jinwa and Yinwa.
Liu Xiuying retorted, "They came back from the capital and brought some things to my house. Isn't that only right?"
Li Zhuzi's wife chuckled, "Auntie, what you're saying is, it's one thing for people to give, and another for you to snatch. Are they the same?"
"Exactly," added Granny Chang with a smile, "If you ask me, Su Xiaotian's family just returned from the capital. Don't they need to take some things from your house since they're short of this and that?"
Several others who were not on good terms with Liu Xiuying also stepped forward to taunt her. Some suggested that Grandma Su should go to Liu Xiuying's house and take half a basin of noodles, while others proposed taking a few cabbages. One even suggested taking a few pounds of the meat that had been distributed a few days prior for the New Year.
Liu Xiuying hadn't expected so many people to be waiting for her to speak. In the end, she grabbed her two crying grandsons and fled. As she ran far away, she could still hear the joyous laughter from the main hall of the Su family's house.
When she returned home, Liu Xiuying saw Su Shan sitting on the kang, smoking his pipe.
"Smoke, smoke, smoke. All day you just smoke. Why don't you look at how your wife and grandsons have been bullied!"
Su Shan was also feeling displeased at the moment. He had heard the news of his elder brother Su Chuan's family returning. He had even heard that his elder brother's family had made a lot of money in the capital. However, the relationship between the two families wasn't good, so he didn't have the nerve to visit. Seeing Liu Xiuying return with her two grandsons crying and wailing made him very agitated. But having been suppressed by Liu Xiuying for decades, he didn't dare to shout at her, remaining silent.
Yet, seeing Su Shan's silent demeanor only fueled Liu Xiuying's anger. She directly pushed Su Shan. Su Shan, who was lost in thought, was caught off guard and pushed over by Liu Xiuying. Coincidentally, Su Shan fell towards the corner of the kang table, and his head hit the table corner, breaking the skin. Blood trickled down his head. Su Shan wiped his head and realized he was bleeding. Seeing the bright red blood, Su Shan's eyes also turned red.
"You old hag, you ungrateful wretch. You even want to kill your own husband. See if I don't beat you to death."
The result was that this man, who had been honest his entire life, struck his wife for the first time, and it was a tremendous fight. Of course, the reason for the commotion might have been related to how loudly Liu Xiuying screamed. Liu Xiuying had a very loud voice. As she was being beaten, her cries were heard by everyone around, making them think a murder had occurred in Su Shan's house.
Soon, the news reached the village chief, Su Changjiu, who was sitting and talking at the Su family's house. Hearing that there was a fight at Su Shan's house, Su Changjiu assumed it was Su Shan being beaten again. "I'll go take a look. You all carry on." Su Changjiu frowned as he walked towards Su Shan's house.
Grandma Su whispered, "Old man, should you go take a look?"
Grandpa Su frowned and said, "No need. There's nothing to see." In Grandpa Su's opinion, watching his brother get beaten was indeed not interesting.
The villagers in the brigade were considerate. Knowing that the Su family had just returned, they didn't want to disturb them further and dispersed. After everyone left, Su Laosan said, "I'll go take a look. Second Aunt broke Second Uncle's head, and Second Aunt's face is all bruised and swollen. I estimate her body isn't much better."
Grandpa Su looked at Su Laosan in disbelief. His brother, who had been bullied by his wife his whole life, had actually fought back? How was that possible? "Really? Did your Second Uncle beat your Second Aunt?"
"Yes, I heard that when the village chief went over, Second Uncle was still on top of Second Aunt, beating her. If the village chief hadn't pulled him off, he might have beaten her to death," Su Laosan was also surprised. "What's happening now?" Grandpa Su asked. "Second Aunt ran away, saying she's not going to live with Second Uncle anymore and wants to go back to her maiden home!"
"It's almost New Year, what's all this fuss about!" Grandpa Su said, then fell silent. Grandma Su, however, privately said to Liang Xiu and Wang Xianghua, "She wants to go back to her maiden home? Doesn't she realize her parents are gone, and her brothers are gone? Only her nephew is left. Is she going to rely on him to support her?" Grandma Su wondered what Liu Xiuying was thinking, how could she be so unreliable? Liang Xiu and Wang Xianghua, being the younger generation, couldn't say much and just listened to Grandma Su's complaints.
While some families were joyous, others were troubled. Grandma Su's family had a lively dinner, but Su Shan's house was extremely oppressive. During dinner, Qi Liangying also returned from the county town, bringing a lot of sponge cakes.
"Why did you bring so many sponge cakes this year?" Grandma Su asked, surprised at the large bag of sponge cakes. Qi Liangying said with a bitter face, "It's because the factory's performance isn't good. It's the New Year, and they didn't give any other benefits, just one bag of sponge cakes per person." Compared to previous years, it was far from good. At this moment, Qi Liangying regretted not selling her job earlier and going to the capital like her third sister-in-law. With the factory's poor performance, her job wouldn't fetch a good price either.
Liang Xiu listened and felt worried. When she left, although the factory didn't seem to be doing well, it hadn't deteriorated this quickly. "What's going on?"
"Since two more pastry factories opened in the county town, our factory's performance has been declining day by day. Factory Director Li has also been transferred, and the new factory director is not as good as Director Li."
"Director Li has been transferred?"
"Yes, he was transferred to the city. If Director Li were still here, it wouldn't have become like this!" Qi Liangying used to think that anyone could be a factory director, but now she knew that not everyone could be a leader. Those without ability would only harm everyone. "Third sister-in-law, it's fortunate you left. We don't even know how long this factory can last next year." Thinking of this, Qi Liangying became even more worried. Her household registration was in the city, and if the factory's performance continued to decline, she would truly go hungry.
After complaining a few times, Qi Liangying stopped talking about the unpleasant things and spent some time with the children. Then, she suddenly remembered something and patted her head. "Look at my memory, how could I forget such an important thing?"
"What is it?" Su Lao Er asked, seeing his wife suddenly pat her head.
"Manxiu called yesterday morning, saying she could reach the county town tomorrow."
"Manxiu is coming back for New Year?" Hearing that their daughter was returning, Grandma Su's mood instantly became excited again.