Chapter 68 She Prefers Hearing "Your Uncle"

Since they had already let her in, they could only take things one step at a time.

The family's thoughts raced in an instant. The door to Su Xiu'er's bedroom on the side of the main room opened, and a woman stepped out in short, measured strides. She was wearing the coarse cloth dress that Su Xiu'er usually wore.

The two women had similar figures, but this woman was noticeably leaner, making the dress hang somewhat loosely on her.

After a brief tidying up, the woman's appearance was revealed. She was only in her early twenties and possessed delicate features, though her cheeks were sunken and her complexion sallow, bearing the unmistakable marks of a hard life.

Walking into the main room and facing the Su family members, the woman suddenly curtsied and dropped to her knees. "This humble woman is Junior Madam Lü from the Second Branch of the Tu'nan Village Su family. I have come today shamelessly to claim kinship, begging my granduncle and grandaunt to save our lives!"

Old Madam Su exchanged a glance with Old Man Su, and everything became clear.

No wonder the other party had been able to call out the old man's name upon arrival.

It was the main branch of the Su family trying to meddle with their household once again.

"Get up and speak. The floor is covered in mud and very dirty; don't ruin a clean dress again," Old Madam Su said, shooting a fierce glare at her husband.

Old Man Su silently turned his head away.

Liu Yuelan and He Dahxiang exchanged glances, and before the woman could speak again, Liu Yuelan stepped forward and handed the small child to her. "Is this your child? He must have caught a chill in the rain; the boy is running a high fever. On such a stormy day, why would you bring a child out? It's torture for the child, and as his mother, your heart must be breaking."

Liu Yuelan had delicate features and a soft voice, which made her words difficult to find fault with.

Yet the implication behind her words was crystal clear: with the child in such a state, the mother had changed into fresh clothes and come out without even glancing at him or showing immediate concern. Was this any way for a mother to behave?

A flash of unnatural awkwardness crossed the woman's eyes.

Liu Yuelan pretended not to see it.

She had a good nature and was always kind to others, but the woman's behavior truly made it impossible to muster any favorable feelings. How many children in the village died from chills and fevers? Furthermore, this was a place of exile, where there wasn't even a place to seek medical help if a child fell ill.

Her aversion to that unfamiliar main branch of the Su family deepened even further.

***

The main branch of the Su family had sent a mother and child out in this kind of weather—one a frail woman, the other an ignorant toddler—fully calculating that the members of the minor Su family would be too soft-hearted to shut the door on women and children. They were playing crafty games.

Perhaps sensing that her reaction had been inappropriate, and coupled with the child burning up in her arms with a flushed little face, Junior Madam Lü began to panic and shed tears. "Yi'er, Yi'er? It's Mother's fault, Mother shouldn't have brought you out with me, sob—"

How could a mother not feel her heart ache for the child she had borne?

Yet she had no other choice.

Watching the woman weep, Old Madam Su let out a sigh. "My daughter has gone out to borrow some ginger, though there's no guarantee she'll get any. A child catching a cold and running a fever is not something to be taken lightly... What your main Su family has done is truly, truly despicable. Stop crying for a moment; what good does crying do? Taking care of the child comes first."

He Dahxiang was also a mother and could not bear to witness such a scene. "Mother, I'll go boil a pot of hot water. Later, we can give the little fellow a hot bath and help him sweat it out; it might just help."

With a strange woman sitting in the main room, second-eldest Su consciously avoided suspicion and stayed out, and with the rain pattering heavily outside, he simply went off to the kitchen with his wife.

Old Man Su received a fierce glare from his old wife. Feeling guilty, he gave a light cough and stood up. "Mother of the children, I'll go outside and see if the eldest and the others are back yet, ahem."

Old Madam Su secretly ground her teeth. "Go on then. You're of no use staying here anyway."

"..." The old man slipped away even faster.

After decades as an old married couple, how could he not tell that his wife was furious?

For a time, the main room was left with only Old Madam Su, Liu Yuelan, the four little ones, and the sobbing woman.

"Yi'er wasn't feeling very well before we left. I didn't want to bring him along either, but I truly had no choice," Junior Madam Lü lowered her gaze and wept softly. "The situation at home is a complete mess right now. The Old Madam has her hands full and no time to spare, so she sent me here. How could a humble woman like me dare refuse?"

Old Madam Su looked at the child with the fever-flushed face in the woman's arms and remained silent.

Since her mother-in-law did not speak, Liu Yuelan remained quiet as well, merely staying close by to keep an eye on the three mischievous kids.

Tianbao nestled in her grandma's arms, blinking her eyes. Well-behaved and quiet, she loved listening to adults chat because she could hear stories.

"Grandaunt should know about Wanjia Village. Earlier, people from that village came to your house to make trouble and were beaten back. Wanjia Village felt they had lost face and have harbored a grudge ever since. Since they can't do anything to you, they've vented all their anger on our family."

***

"The master of the main branch was taken to the village precisely because of this. He was beaten black and blue before being thrown back, his leg bone broken. He lies in bed drifting in and out of consciousness, and the Old Madam almost cried her eyes blind."

"You probably all know what it's like to work as tenant farmers for others; it's simply no life for a human being. Our family has no money and no grain left at present, and dozens of people have to tighten their belts every day just to scrape by. With the master of the main branch beaten into such a state, it's truly adding frost to snow. If we weren't at the absolute end of our rope, the Old Madam wouldn't have sent someone over again."

"Back when our family's fortunes were good, the master of the main branch was serving as an official in the capital, busy with official duties day in and day out, and ended up neglecting many of our distant relatives. Speaking of which, this was indeed an oversight on the part of our main Su family, and we cannot blame you for holding a grudge. But we really had no choice, we truly had no choice left, which is why we shamelessly knocked on your door a second time. If granduncle and grandaunt are unwilling to understand and help, I'm afraid none of the dozens of people in our family will survive this summer."

The woman spoke as she wept, her words fragmented and rambling, detailed yet lengthy.

Tianbao let out a small yawn, her eyes glazing over as she quickly lost interest in the story.

For some reason, she always found it immensely interesting to listen to her grandpa, grandma, and the surrounding people talk, but listening to Junior Madam Lü made her want to doze off straight away.

It was too flowery and unappealing.

She still preferred listening to things like "your uncle," "goddamn it," and "go to his grandma's."

"Na—na—wan." Letting out another yawn, Tianbao's little hands pawed at the old woman's lapel, lifting her small face with an eager expression.

Her sudden interjection interrupted the rest of the woman's speech. Sitting there, Junior Madam Lü looked somewhat awkward, while the gaze she cast at Tianbao carried a trace of surprise and inquiry. "Grandaunt, your little granddaughter doesn't look very old, yet she can already mimic speech?"

Tianbao frowned. "Big!"

Old Madam Su suppressed a smile. "Good, good, good, our Tianbao is not small. Back then, none of the older boys were as plump as you at eight-plus months!"

She couldn't help kissing her granddaughter's little face. How clever—knowing that Grandma was growing impatient, she had come to rescue Grandma from the sea of misery.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, she spoke to Junior Madam Lü. "There was some truth to what you said just now. The main Su family produced a high-ranking official who brought glory to our ancestors, and you certainly neglected many distant relatives. We minor Sus have never benefited from your prestige. If that were all, we naturally wouldn't care; whether we benefited or not, our family has survived well enough. But we didn't share in your glory when you were soaring high, yet when misfortune strikes you, we are expected to share in your misery. No matter how magnanimous a person is, they cannot be completely indifferent."

She paused before continuing, "These things only need to be said once. Besides, you've come begging at our door, but what can our family possibly do to help you? Did Old Madam Su send you here hoping our family would cough up silver and grain for you?"

***