Chapter 45: Su Family Ancestral Home
Sitting on the ox cart, Su Ning had no idea that Granny Tan hadn’t even reached the autumn harvest yet and was already calculating what good things the house had that the eldest son could bring her to the city.
She was thinking in her heart about another matter for coming to Hongqi Commune, to go to Team One to see the Su Family Ancestral Home.
After much persuasion, she finally got Tan Zhu, who was driving the cart, to nod and agree, and take a detour to send her to the First Brigade.
“Little sister, are you sure the person you’re waiting for is in Team One?”
“Da Zhu brother, rest assured, they really are there, and I’ll go back with them.”
……
Team One wasn’t too far from Team Two, just deeper into the big mountains, with even rougher and more difficult roads.
Green mountains and clear waters, the air in the mountains was very fresh, but transportation was inconvenient, the working people were poor and poor, and no one had such thoughts to appreciate the beauty of nature.
After climbing a few steep slopes, patches of terraced fields winding around the hilltop could be seen from afar.
“Go in from this entrance, follow the small path all the way and you’ll reach the Team.”
“I
Tan Zhu uneasily waved his whip and left, feeling uneasy at heart. He didn’t know if Uncle Dafeng would be angry if he found out that he hadn’t taken the person to the town?
Su Ning, standing by the roadside, watched the gradually departing ox cart and turned to walk into the small path.
One side of the path was full of honeysuckle in yellow and white, the fragrance assaulting the nose made her ignore the mud underfoot.
On the yellow mud ridge by the field stood three people chatting. Seeing Su Ning slowly walking over, aside from the Brigade Leader, the other two both wore faces full of surprise.
“Su Ning, what are you up to?”
Fu Jiaming didn’t remember her saying she would come to Team One again. If he had known earlier, wouldn’t it have been better to go with them?
“Have you finished with the matters over there? This is Captain Su from the First Brigade. Captain Su she is also a comrade from our textile factory, Cadre Su.”
After introducing the two, whether intentionally or not, Jiaming once again ignored his good buddy nearby.
“Speaking of which, it’s quite a coincidence. You two are from the same clan, both surnamed Su. A hundred years ago, you might have been from the same family!”
“It really is a family.”
What was originally said in jest unexpectedly got this response from her, leaving Fu Jiaming dumbfounded for a good while.
“Girl, who are you?”
“My maternal grandfather is Su Ting.”
“Su Ting is your maternal grandfather?”
Su Qingshan, who was usually always serious and rarely smiled, now had constantly changing expressions on his face.
First surprised and incredulous, then excited, she sighed with complex emotions in her eyes, “Good, good…”
“Where is your maternal grandfather? Did he come back this time?”
“My maternal grandfather passed away. I came back on his behalf to take a look.”
Su Qingshan nodded knowingly and said that in terms of connections, the current First Brigade was originally Su Family Village, and most of those surnamed Su came from the same ancestor.
However, after so many years, they have long since fallen out of the five degrees of mourning. In truth, Su Ting’s branch is the direct line of the Su Family.
If one were to say how close their relationship was, it wasn’t that close; he had only heard his grandfather mention that the most successful direct descendant had once been so glorious and splendid.
As for how he knew about Su Ting, it was because he had seen the high-spirited Su Ting return to the village in his childhood to build the ancestral hall and Ancestral Home; that rare grand occasion was still quite unforgettable even thinking about it now.
“By seniority, you should call me old man.”
Regardless of whether he was the maternal grandson or not, since he bore the Su surname, he was a child of the Su Family. Su Qingshan gathered his thoughts and said kindly for once, “Your maternal grandfather is my clan uncle.”
“Old man.”
“Hey, hey, you’re called Ning Ning? Come on, old man will take you to see your ancestral home.”
Fu Jiaming stared dumbfounded at the two who had just recognized their family and were now leaving hand in hand. He turned his head to look at Yan Bei beside him, as if asking: What about us then? Did the Brigade Leader just abandon us like this?!
“Follow along first.”
After speaking, regardless of his reaction, Yan Bei unhurriedly stepped forward with his long legs and followed behind Su Ning and the other.
“Hey, wait, you guys wait for me!”
……
Su Ting had put in quite some thought back then when he returned to the countryside to build the ancestral hall and the ancestral home; he was very particular about everything from the site selection to the materials used.
The Su Family Ancestral Home is far away from the village’s homestead land, built at the foot of the mountain, with green bricks, grey tiles, and beams all made of century-old fine wood. After so many years, it still looks grand and is unique in the village.
Five main houses, east and west wing rooms, the front yard and backyard are not much different, each with a well dug.
The surrounding yard walls were built two people high, with climbing vines covering the walls. From afar, the entire house looked as if it had merged into the green hills.
Because few people passed by, green moss grew on the steps under the eaves at the corner of the wall.
Although it was her first time coming to the Ancestral Home, Su Ning looked at it without any sense of unfamiliarity; on the contrary, It felt very warm and familiar..
Because this layout was almost exactly the same as that of the old residence in Beijing City.
“Ning Wa, after you’re done, come to Old man’s home later. You and I will have a good drink together. Do you still remember the way to Old man’s home that I pointed out just now?”
“Got it, old man me will go in a bit.”
“Good, wait till we get back and have your brothers and sisters come help you clean up together, no rush ha!”
Su Qingshan walked with hands behind his back holding the pipe stem, smiling as he finished speaking and turned back only to see two motionless human-shaped ‘big mushrooms’.
Captain Su’s face instantly changed from kindly affection to stern seriousness: What the heck, it scared the hell out of me!
“That Comrade Yan, Cadre Fu, shall we keep talking as we walk?”
The two equally perceptive people glanced at her face full of grief and sorrow, and nodded without objection.
At a time like this, of course they should let her be alone.
Even the gossipy and talkative Jiaming tactfully muted himself, silently following behind Captain Su as they left.
……
Once everyone had gone far away and no other figures were visible at the foot of the mountain, Su Ning took a deep breath and forcefully pushed open the tightly shut front door.
None of the doors were locked, and inside the room was empty with not even a simple piece of furniture.
Su Ting must have known that with no one guarding it year-round, to avoid those sneaky thieves coming to rummage, he simply left it completely bare, nothing at all.
After closing all the doors again, Su Ning waved her hand in front of her nose to dispel the floating dust, then walked around to the corner of the wall outside.
Sure enough, the same position, the same scratch marks.
With experience from last time, this time it took less than half the time to empty out this underground secret room, all stored into the cave in the Peach Blossom Spring Space.
She didn’t even check the contents of the rosewood boxes one by one, only knowing that the number of rosewood boxes here was twice that of the old residence.
These were the wealth left by the Su Family ancestors for future generations, the foundation to stand on no matter the time or place.
If possible, she also hoped to add some of her own savings among them, to pass on together to future descendants.
Su Ning, who had exited the secret room from inside the room, returned to the wall outside, pacing back and forth around the entire yard several times, until every spot had new traces without highlighting that one place, then she left reassured.
“Su Ning!”
Under the big locust tree on the necessary path to the village, Jiaming stood while Yan Bei sat, not knowing how long they had been waiting there.
As soon as he saw her figure, Jiaming spat out the grass root from his mouth, immediately stood up and waved his hand toward her.
“Why are you here?”
It was like they were specially waiting for her.
“Wasn’t it because we were worried about you? There was hardly anyone at the foot of the mountain, what if a big beast came running down from the mountain, what would you do?”
His index finger brushed the stray hair at his temple, Jiaming grinned brightly, “Don’t get too moved oh, who told us to be friends!”
“Then, no need to be polite?”
“Has anyone ever told you, you’re suited to telling cold jokes.”
“Yes, you.”
Helplessly shrugging his shoulders, Jiaming was directly shut down by her retort.
“Cough~ Let’s go quickly, the brigade leader is still waiting for us at home.”
The two chatted and laughed as they walked ahead, Yan Bei silently following behind.
This experience of being completely ignored from start to finish made him feel slightly uncomfortable, yet also inexplicably novel.
‘Su Ning.’
He mouthed her name silently, a faint ripple rising in the depths of his eyes, so subtle that even he himself didn’t notice.
……
“You’re all here, the meal is all prepared, hurry into the house!”
Seeing the three coming one after another, Su Qingshan tapped his pipe bowl, speaking as he stood up to lead them into the main hall.
Inside the house were over ten people big and small, and the moment the three entered, all eyes gathered.
“Old woman, this is Ning Ning from Uncle Ting’s family.”
“Hello, Big Aunt.”
“Ai, good good, such a pretty girl, quick sit, sit and we’ll talk!”
Su Qingshan’s wife Liu Juan smiled and called out, “And Comrade Yan, Cadre Fu, you two don’t stand on ceremony, sit sit sit.”
After a simple round of introductions and greetings, the three of Su Ning each took their seats.
After a lively dinner, it was already late, the crescent moon peeking out in the sky.
Unable to dissuade the insistent three who wanted to leave, Su Qingshan had his eldest grandson hitch up the ox cart to send them to the guesthouse in town.
Uh, over a hundred, covers face~ Is there a beam of light that can come smashing down head-on?
Continuing to beg for votes, all you big and small cuties, let’s shine a flashlight and give some light~
