Chapter 18: Taking It Back
Second Uncle Su pulled open the door and looked coldly at Su Yaoguang: “The old lady is still in a coma even now. She fell and got injured at your house, so your family has to take responsibility to get her treatment from a doctor and bring her back to serve her. Only when the old lady can get out of bed and be as spirited as before will this matter be considered settled.”
“It’s easy to make Grandma wake up; I can make her wake up right now.” Su Yaoguang said as she handed the two pig trotters to Zhou Wangshu beside her and strode through the courtyard gate.
Second Aunt Su did not stop her.
This stinking girl is not a doctor anyway; let’s see how she wakes up Grandma Su. If she can’t wake her, they will have plenty of reasons to squeeze a hefty sum out of her.
Grandma Su and Grandpa Su lived in the main room. At this time, Grandpa Su had not yet returned home; only Grandma Su was lying on the bed.
Su Yaoguang saw the needlework basket placed nearby, picked up the needle on top, and pricked Grandma Su’s finger.
“Ah…” Grandma Su woke up in pain and suddenly sat up. “Ouch… ouch…”
She had already pulled a muscle in her waist, and now sitting up so abruptly made the waist injury even worse.
Su Yaoguang took out the needle, stuck it into the ball of thread, and said to Grandma Su: “Grandma, you just pulled a muscle in your waist. Wait for me to give you a massage, and you’ll recover immediately.”
Second Uncle Su and Second Aunt Su were watching the show from the side. Seeing Su Yaoguang wake Grandma Su with this method, both had expressions as if they couldn’t pass gas.
Without waiting for them to react or for Grandma Su to agree, Su Yaoguang immediately massaged Grandma Su’s waist.
Crack!
“Ah…” Grandma Su let out a painful scream.
“Su Yaoguang, do you want to die?” Second Aunt Su wanted to come stop her but was blocked by Zhou Wangshu.
Zhou Wangshu looked coldly at Second Aunt Su, his eyes like they had been tempered with ice.
While Second Aunt Su was stunned by his gaze, Second Uncle Su also wanted to stop Su Yaoguang. But Su Yaoguang’s movements were faster than his; with just a few cracks, she released Grandma Su.
Grandma Su’s screams pierced the sky: “Ah… it hurts hurts hurts… it hurts so much…”
“All good, Grandma, you’re fine now.” Su Yaoguang smiled faintly. “Try moving a bit more.”
“Su Yaoguang, I’m going to kill you.” Grandma Su was furious to the extreme and grabbed the pillow nearby to swing at her. “This old lady is going to beat you to death today, you money-losing goods, you disaster star.”
Su Yaoguang dodged Grandma Su’s swings, putting on a sad appearance of being hurt.
“Grandma, I came specially to see you and even brought you meat, yet you want to beat me to death. Wuu wuu… Grandma, I’m your biological granddaughter; why do you treat me like this?”
Grandma Su swung the pillow as she got out of bed, chasing Su Yaoguang and swinging at her.
“You money-losing goods, stop pretending. I think you just want to kill me. You didn’t manage to kill me by making me fall before, and now you want to kill me on the bed.”
Su Yaoguang grabbed Zhou Wangshu’s wrist and ran outside, shouting while running: “Grandma, you’re sick, and I massaged you; why are you still dissatisfied with me, your granddaughter? I thought you hadn’t tasted wild boar meat yet, so I specially brought over the last piece of wild boar meat from home for you.”
“Pah, who cares about that stuff? If you really had filial piety, why didn’t you first pay respects to the elders when you caught the wild boar earlier? Now you’re just pretending.”
“Grandma, you know our family’s situation. My mother has been sick for so long, and all the money at home is used up. It’s all because of my dad—why did he abandon us orphan and widow to join the army? If he were still here, we mother and daughter wouldn’t be living so miserably. Dad… if you have a spirit in heaven, have you seen the suffering my mother and I are enduring?” Su Yaoguang wailed loudly.
Several nearby households poked their heads out.
“Grandma Su, it’s just a bit of wild boar meat; it’s not even tasty. Yaoguang’s mother could sell it to supplement a bit of medicine money.”
“Exactly. Yaoguang’s father joined the army in place of his brothers; in the end, it’s you second son who took advantage. As an uncle, you don’t know to take care of your elder brother’s wife and niece.”
“Su Yaoguang, it’s just a bit of wild boar meat; who cares? Stop howling here and get lost back home.” Second Uncle Su was furious.
Recently, Su Yaoguang didn’t know what had possessed her, bringing up over and over how his elder brother joined the army in his place. Before, the mother and daughter had been tough, swallowing any losses without saying anything outside. Now, she didn’t even care about face; for the tiniest matters, she cried until the whole village knew. She had no shame, but he as an elder still cared about face.
“No way; today I must teach this cheap wench a lesson. I’m her biological grandmother, yet she dares to disrespect her elder.” Grandma Su said with hands on hips, cursing.
“Grandma, what you said really chills my heart. Wasn’t it me who helped you wake up? Wasn’t it because I massaged you that you can get out of bed and run?”
Su Yaoguang looked as if she had suffered a great grievance, her gaze at Grandma Su filled with despair.
“Forget it; I know you don’t like me. You like my cousin from Second Uncle’s family. He’s a boy who can carry on the Su family line. I’m just a young lady, so I’m destined to be as lowly as dirt. Grandma, if you don’t like eating wild boar meat, that’s fine. Wangshu and I will go back.” Su Yaoguang said as she pulled Zhou Wangshu and turned to run, still making wuu wuu crying sounds from her mouth.
Zhou Wangshu stayed as an honest and obedient ornament the whole time. Until Su Yaoguang pulled him far away and stopped, he followed and stopped.
“I’m exhausted.” Su Yaoguang took the two pig trotters from Zhou Wangshu’s hands. “We made a trip without losing a scrap of meat and even gave them a hard time—perfect.”
“You went out of your way for this trip just to give them a hard time?”
“Of course not.” Su Yaoguang said, “My grandma and Second Uncle’s family are trouble. If we don’t tear off the mask early, we mother and daughter will keep being suppressed by them. I don’t want the things I finally obtained to cheaply benefit others, so I have to let the villagers know that Second Uncle, Second Aunt, Grandpa, and Grandma just want to suck our mother and daughter’s blood. As long as it happens enough times, and we find an opportunity, we can sever ties with them. At that time, no matter how much we have, they won’t get to take advantage of a single bit.”
Not yet.
This little conflict is not enough for them to sever ties.
She had to wait for a suitable opportunity to let all the conflicts erupt, then cut ties cleanly.
“Mom, we’re back.” Su Yaoguang carried the things into the courtyard.
Zhang Zhaodi was cooking in the kitchen. Hearing her words, she said: “How is your grandma? Your Second Uncle and Second Aunt didn’t give you trouble, did they?”
Su Yaoguang carried the things back and said: “Don’t worry, Wangshu is very capable; he will protect me.”
Zhang Zhaodi looked at Zhou Wangshu with suspicious eyes: “Him? With his weak appearance, he’s probably the one who needs your protection. Why did you bring the meat back again? Second Aunt doesn’t want it?”
Something’s wrong! Second Uncle’s family loves taking advantage so much; how could they refuse something delivered to their door? Not only would they take it, they would find ways to squeeze more out of it, especially since the old lady was in a coma.
