Su Manxiu paused her eating.
After being discharged from the hospital, she was still homeless.
Seeing the woman's dejected look, Chen Zi'an suddenly felt a pang of sympathy.
He scratched his hair irritably. What was this? He actually felt sorry for this woman?
Chen Zi'an walked out of the ward door in annoyance, needing to clear his head.
Su Manxiu watched her benefactor leave, looking dazed, having forgotten to eat.
"What is this little sister-in-law to you? The young man is quite handsome," an old lady in the same ward asked curiously.
"Oh, he's not related to me," Su Manxiu said, startled awake.
She couldn't even eat the fragrant dumplings anymore.
What face did someone like her have to eat dumplings made with white flour and pork?
Su Manxiu sat on the hospital bed for a long time, finally sighing and placing the lunchbox on the bedside cabinet.
She put on her shoes, got out of bed, and followed him out of the ward blankly, her slender body as if floating.
The old lady who had spoken earlier said to her daughter-in-law who was taking care of her, "What's the relationship between this girl and that man? It feels strange."
"Mom, don't worry about it," the daughter-in-law quickly replied.
She could tell that the young man was not simple, and it was best not to meddle in his affairs, lest they invite trouble.
"It doesn't feel like they're a couple!" the old lady still felt unconvinced.
If they weren't a couple, being together like this felt wrong. Could they be having an affair?
If such a thing were discovered, there would be a reward for reporting it. Should she report it?
If the report was successful, how much money would she get?
The young woman seemed to sense her mother-in-law's thoughts and was afraid of getting into trouble.
She quickly stopped her, "Mom, don't think about unnecessary things. Let's not interfere in other people's affairs and just live our own lives peacefully."
That man was definitely not easy to deal with. He looked like he had a story to tell. She felt scared just glancing at him.
As they were talking, the ward door opened again, and Chen Zi'an returned.
Seeing that the person on the bed was gone and the lunchbox was neatly covered, Chen Zi'an was confused.
"Auntie, do you know where the patient on this bed went?" Chen Zi'an looked at the empty bed and asked the person on the next bed with a frown.
"She went out, don't know for what. Young man, who is she to you?" The old lady was still not giving up, her eyes full of gossip.
"Cousin," Chen Zi'an said impatiently, then went out to look for her.
This woman was truly troublesome. Wouldn't it be better to just lie in bed?
"Mom, look. They're just normal relatives. I think it's a country cousin who came to the city to seek medical treatment from her city cousin."
The old lady was clearly disappointed with the relationship of cousins and muttered, "Why aren't they cousins from different branches of the family?"
If they were cousins from different branches, there might be something more to it. But if they were cousins from the same branch, there was generally no relationship.
Hongxin Brigade.
Old Su Family.
"Xiao Tian, you said your aunt was alive, but why is there no news?" Grandma Su asked, holding Su Xiao Tian on the kang.
For the past few days, Grandpa Su and Grandma Su had not gone to work.
The brigade knew that the elderly couple had been hit hard and were taking care of them. Since farm work was less demanding, they were allowed to rest at home.
Most people in Hongxin Brigade were kind. In the past few days, the threshold of the Old Su family had been almost broken by neighbors.
Neighbors came to visit the elderly couple, expressed their indignation at the beastly actions of the Wang family, and offered a few words of comfort to Grandpa Su and Grandma Su.
However, these comforting words were like poking a sore spot to the ears of the elderly couple.
But this was others' kindness, and they had to accept this sentiment.
Only Su Shan, Grandpa Su's own brother, and his wife did not show up. Not even their younger relatives came to visit.
"Grandma, I don't know either!" Su Xiao Tian shook her head.
It had been several days, and there was still no news of her aunt.
Su Xiao Tian even suspected that she had remembered incorrectly, and that her aunt had indeed committed suicide by drowning at this time.
If that were the case, giving Grandma hope and then disappointing her would be a great sin.
She could only hope that time would help Grandma feel better.
A hint of disappointment crossed Grandma Su's face, and she sighed.
Yes, what could such a young child know?
Perhaps it was just a casual hint from the Dragon King. The Dragon King was busy and couldn't manage their family affairs every day.
"Grandma, you must be well and not sad. Aunt will come back one day."
Su Xiao Tian's childish words made Grandma Su feel a little better.
"Good child, it's a blessing to have you by my side, otherwise how would I get through life?"
"Tian Tian will always be with Grandma."
Just as the grandmother and granddaughter were talking, Su Manxiang's voice came from the yard.
"Mom, are you home?"
Grandma Su responded and beckoned Su Manxiang in.
Then she whispered, "Xiao Tian, what do you think your aunt is here for?"
Su Xiao Tian shook her head.
She guessed it was to bully someone, but could she say that?
No!
She really hoped that Su Manxiang wouldn't do anything reckless, or Grandma would be even sadder.
Su Manxiang lifted the curtain and rushed in, without a greeting, and directly questioned.
"Mom, what's going on? Why did you send my brother-in-law to the mine?"
Grandma Su was stunned. Wasn't her youngest daughter here to comfort her? Why was she blaming her?
"Aunt, don't talk like that. Grandma is sad!" Su Xiao Tian stood in front of Grandma Su and said.
She had known for a long time that Su Manxiang was a troublemaker.
"What's there to be sad about?" Su Manxiang said dismissively.
Grandma Su looked at her daughter, who was speaking so carelessly, with a heartbroken expression.
It would have been better to have given birth to a bun than such a daughter!
"Do you know that your sister was tormented to death by the Wang family?"
"I know, I heard. It's a good thing Su Manxiu is dead. Otherwise, I would have told her too, what's the point of a woman living if she can't have children? Isn't it a waste of food?" Su Manxiang said nonchalantly, as if it were natural.
"What did you say?" Grandma Su's voice trembled.
She never expected her youngest daughter to say such a thing.
When had she ever told them that women who couldn't have children were not worthy of living?
Su Xiao Tian was also stunned. Although women who couldn't have children were looked down upon, no one said so directly like Su Manxiang, that women who couldn't have children should die!
"Mom, you're too unkind. You sent someone to the mine, and how will they live the rest of their lives? Haven't you thought about what outsiders will say about our family?"
"Mom, you don't know, people from the Kang family are saying that our family is very mean, and even I have received a lot of disdain."
She wasn't feeling sorry for the Wang family; she despised Wang Gouzi a million times over.
But because Wang Gouzi was arrested, the Kang family treated her with disdain, squeezed her from all sides, and said that their Old Su family was wicked and would lead to the extinction of their lineage.
Grandma Su closed her eyes, not wanting to listen to her daughter's foolish words any longer.
Not hearing her mother's words, Su Manxiang took off her shoes, climbed onto the kang, and leaned closer, whispering to Grandma Su.
"Mom, why don't you tell Dad to go to the commune and say something? We won't pursue it anymore, and let them release him!"
Grandma Su could no longer tolerate it. She suddenly opened her eyes wide and slapped Su Manxiang.
"Mom, you hit me?" Su Manxiang cried out in surprise, having been slapped unexpectedly.
Her father had hit her since she was little, but her mother had never laid a finger on her.
This time, she was hit for Su Manxiu.
Su Manxiu was a debt collector, and she wouldn't rest even in death.
Such a person should have died long ago; living was a waste of grain.
"I should have hit you long ago, and it's too late now!" Grandma Su said with extreme heartbreak.
"Mom, how can you be like this? You've never hit me since I was little, and now you're hitting me for a dead person!" Su Manxiang said indignantly.
"Your sister is gone, and you're not sad at all, yet you're asking me to release her enemy! How vicious can you be?" Grandma Su's voice was hoarse from the force.
"Mom, Su Manxiu is dead, why are you still thinking about her? A woman who can't have children, it's fine if she's dead!" Su Manxiang said aggrievedly, covering her face.
Su Xiao Tian's eyes turned red with anger. She stood up, her small body standing straight in front of Su Manxiang.
"Aunt, get out. You are not welcome in our house!"
She wondered if she had remembered incorrectly. In her previous life, her grandparents didn't die of grief but were angered to death by her aunt, right?
"A little good-for-nothing, and you dare to scold me? Insolent thing, your parents don't discipline you, I will discipline you for them!" Su Manxiang said, raising her hand to hit Su Xiao Tian.
It was all this little good-for-nothing's fault, a born debt collector!
Ever since she fell into the water last time, everything seemed to have changed.
"Try hitting my granddaughter."
Su Manxiang didn't expect Grandma Su to protect Su Xiao Tian. She slapped out, hitting Grandma Su's arm.
She used a lot of force, and even Grandma Su flinched involuntarily from the slap.
Su Manxiang showed no remorse after hitting Grandma Su. Instead, she shouted at Grandma Su, "Mom, you're still protecting this good-for-nothing?"
"Su Manxiang, I don't have a daughter like you. From now on, you are cut off from my Old Su family," Grandma Su said through gritted teeth.
A daughter who felt no sadness at her sister's death, a daughter who could slap her niece so hard, a daughter who showed no remorse after slapping her own mother, Grandma Su felt she was beyond saving.
It was better to have no such daughter.
"Mom, do you know what you're saying?"
Cut off?
Before, her father had at most said not to visit too often, but he had never said to cut off ties.
But these words came from her mother, who loved her the most.
"I will tell your father," Grandma Su said, looking at Su Manxiang's accusing eyes without backing down.
Su Manxiang shouted loudly, "Mom, I am your daughter!"
"I don't have a daughter like you. If I had known you were like this, I should have drowned you in the chamber pot when you were born. I would rather have never given birth to you!"
Grandma Su's heart was filled with desolation.
At the time, she only thought that her daughter was frail and sickly, but she never expected her to grow up with such a disposition!
It was fortunate that her old man said he was bored at home and went for a walk in the mountains, otherwise he would have been angered to death on the spot!
How could Su Manxiang be willing to leave?
Although she looked down on the Old Su family as country bumpkins, unlike her in-laws who lived on state-provided grain in the commune.
She also knew that her good life in the Kang family over the years was due to the continuous subsidies from the Old Su family.
Without the support of her maiden family, her life in the Kang family would surely not be easy.
She threw a tantrum in the house, causing Grandma Su a headache.
The noise from the Old Su family was heard by people outside, who hurried to find the Su brothers from the fields.
The Su brothers knew that someone was making a fuss at home and immediately ran at full speed.
They all thought that people from the Old Wang family had come to cause trouble, but upon entering, they discovered that it was their youngest sister, Su Manxiang, who was arguing with their mother.
After hearing what Su Manxiang said, the expressions of the three Su brothers changed.
These past few days, they had been thinking about finding Su Manxiang to accompany their parents and comfort them.
Who knew that when she came, she spoke inhuman words? She was an enemy poking at their wounds!
"Su Manxiang, say it again, what are you here for today?" Old Third Su glared at Su Manxiang with bloodshot eyes.
"Just to ask you to go to the commune and say something to release Wang Gouzi."
"Don't you know what Wang Gouzi did?"
"He just wanted a son, what's wrong with that? Who told Su Manxiu not to have children? If she could have had a child, there wouldn't have been so much trouble?"
Su Manxiang despised Su Manxiu for not having children. If Su Manxiu had given birth to two healthy boys in one go like her, her life wouldn't have been so bad?
"Su Manxiu jumped into the river, it was suicide. It's a good thing she had some sense of shame and knew she jumped into the river. Otherwise, if I met her, I would definitely shame her to death!"
Su Manxiang still hadn't realized her mistake, and instead spoke righteously, even thinking that her brothers should think the same way she did.
"Third Brother, think about it, the children in the family are all grown up and will be getting married in a few years. Having an aunt who was divorced by her in-laws would delay them?"
They couldn't possibly delay the entire family because of Su Manxiu alone, right?
She had endured enough disdain these past few days.
She figured that the Old Su family must have been pointed at and gossiped about in Hongxin Brigade too.
Su Manxiang was driven out by the three Su brothers.
Before driving her away, they also issued a stern warning: the next time they saw her, they would break her legs and ensure she never appeared at the door of the Old Su family again.
Su Manxiang cursed as she walked towards the commune, feeling extremely angry.
She hadn't had a good time during her recent visits to her maiden home. Not only did she not get any grain, but she also got angry.
"Oh, isn't this Manxiang? Are you here to see your mother?" Liu Xiuying's gloating voice sounded.
Su Manxiang glanced at her, not intending to pay attention to her.
She knew that the two families were not on good terms.
"Manxiang, Second Aunt tells you, your parents really did something wrong, it's too bullying." She had been happily watching the jokes of Su Chuan's family these days. If this brain-dead girl could cause more trouble, it would be even happier.