A century of poverty

Chapter 91 Evil!

At the first mahjong table, Cao Qingxue, the second son-in-law, smiled and hummed a little tune: "I won, by self-draw!" As he spoke, he swept the drawn tiles with his left hand, and the twelve tiles immediately fell down and were revealed. He slapped them one by one in his hand for everyone to see.

Su Zhiwei covered his cards with both hands and looked at the cards of the player to his left, Xiao Cao: "That left-handed guy is pretty tough!"

Cao: "Hehe."

Su Hongyuan stood up and started to walk.

Cao: "Don't go!"

Su said, "Who left? Can't I have some water if I'm thirsty?" She picked up the thermos and poured water, saying, "You hosts are not acting properly. The son-in-law is a guest. You should offer him tea as soon as you put down your wine cup. Why wait for someone to be thirsty and then pour water for yourself!" After saying that, she put down the thermos and went out.

Cao: "Hey, big brother, you're the boss, let's start with you."

Su Zhiwei: "The person's gone, what are you giving them money for? Give them cash!"

Cao: "No, I just need to pee, I'll be right back!"

Just as Cao had said, "Su Hongyuan came back and sat down to continue playing cards with Zi'er."

The second mahjong table was occupied by the eldest sister, two younger brothers, and the older sister and her husband playing one hand. Su Lei, sitting next to Su Chun, nudged her, saying, "Take a break, I'll play a couple of rounds."

Su Chun got up and went to the kang (a heated brick bed). He grabbed a handful of husks from the surface, then stood next to Su Xu, opened his hand and picked out the larger ones, putting the smaller ones back. He then grabbed another handful.

No wonder the crabapples in the plate were getting smaller and smaller; that's why they were left over. In my family, this would be absolutely unacceptable; Grandma would scold me for being ill-mannered.

My back ached and my legs were tired, so I sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) for a while before going back to my room to rest.

I vaguely heard a tapping sound on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). I opened my eyes and saw my mother-in-law tapping the cement wall of the kang with her plastic-handled metal cane: "Get up and see! Your sister-in-law has taken all the good food!"

I said wearily, "Take it! Let her take whatever she wants." Then I tried to close my eyes again.

The mother-in-law tapped the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) again: "It's getting dark, time to make dinner. Your sister-in-law and the others are waiting to leave after they've eaten!"

"Then let them do it first, I'll get up."

The mother-in-law went out.

I sat up abruptly and stood there for a moment. I got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and went outside, where I saw Hei Xingan holding a stove hook, trying to scrape ashes from my stove.

I reached for the stove hook: "Give it to me, sister-in-law!"

Blackie's face darkened, and he swung his arm inside, saying irritably, "Let me serve you—!"

My heart skipped a beat, and I turned away. What had the old woman said to her? Why was she acting so strangely? I had nothing to hide, so I ignored her and went to do other work.

Early on the morning of the fifteenth, I rode my bicycle to sell chives again. Having gained more than ten days of experience selling vegetables, I carried the two baskets of chives straight to the big market. There were many people there, and the flow of customers was high. The two baskets of chives were sold out in one morning. I happily rode my bicycle home.

Tomorrow is the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the day the prefabrication plant reopens. I'm going to be a worker, and I'm incredibly happy.

On the morning of the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, I got up early to prepare meals for the whole family. After we finished eating, I tidied up and dressed myself neatly, waiting for my second sister to take me to work so I could make a good impression.

In the large mirror of the piano cabinet: two jet-black braids draped over her shoulders, her hair styled with a newly permed fringe. Long, delicate eyebrows, large eyes that shone with a soft light, full lips, sweet dimples, and a beautifully sculpted face.

He wore a pinkish-purple corduroy blazer with diamond-patterned blue and black dots, a three-button round-front casual suit jacket, a red acrylic shirt underneath, blue and black trousers, and black leather mid-heel shoes.

Full-figured, tall.

When I get to the factory, I'm sure the leaders won't refuse to hire me. No, they won't. When my father-in-law asked my uncle, the factory manager, he said, "Great! Excellent!"

I sat on the sofa, wondering why my second sister hadn't arrived yet. It was almost time!

Then I heard West House's second sister's voice: "You need to look sharp on your first day at work. What should you wear? This one?"

Mother-in-law: "Be obedient there, do whatever you're told, don't act like you're at home and act like a spoiled brat!"

"Look in the mirror and see how you look! Is the dress your second sister picked out not good enough? My little brother is really something, he took one look at the factory manager and immediately fell in love with it." That was the voice of the second eldest sister-in-law.

Is this some kind of pampering of Su Kai? Wasn't he supposed to be my successor? We already agreed on that, so why are you pampering him and ignoring me?

My heart sank.

I sat on the sofa and waited. It was past nine o'clock, but no one came looking for me. No one came looking for me at noon either. A whole day passed, and still no one came looking for me.

I've been feeling anxious, upset, and stifled all day. Why? They told me to go so many times, and I can still hear them saying it, but then they changed their minds without a word. I just don't understand.

When Zhiqiang came home that evening, I asked him, "Your family said I should take over the job, so why did your second sister dress up as Su Kai today?"

Zhiqiang: "I don't know."

Even if it happens afterward, shouldn't you give me an explanation? No.

This matter has deeply affected me. Who can I talk to? Li Kongzhi? I could tell long ago that he was inarticulate, sleazy, and his mother-in-law described him as "a pig bristle rope that's stupid inside but not outside." In front of the Su family, Li Kongzhi was just a plaything to be ordered around.

A feeling of unease settled in my heart. I went about my usual routine.

I was selling the second crop of chives; the weather was already warm. I was riding my bicycle from north to south when I ran into Hei Xingan and Su Zhichun, who were walking north, chatting and laughing. I got off my bike and said to them, "Sister-in-law, older sister, where are you two going?"

Hei Xingan looked displeased and stammered, glancing sideways. His older sister chimed in, "Come to my house."

I wondered why my sister-in-law had such an expression, but I didn't think much of it. I pushed the cart into the yard, placed it under the window, went to the west room to give the money to my father-in-law, and then went back to the east room.

Zhiqiang was lying on his back on the windowsill, head facing east, his hands on the shuttle line, his little aerober spinning on the wire frame. Seeing me enter, he said irritably, "What have you been doing all this time?"

Me: "You went to sell chives! What's wrong?" I noticed his face and neck were red, and his nostrils were flared, his expression was not normal.

"Hei Xingan fought with me and has been cursing at me for ages."

Why?

Zhiqiang: "I don't know."

"What did she say to you?"

Zhiqiang: "She scolded me for being superfluous, yet she still bought me a TV to help me get married. They were the eldest daughters and didn't even have a TV. There were a whole bunch of other nasty things she said that I don't remember."

"She insulted you like that, and your mother and nobody else cared?"

Zhiqiang: "No, my older sister came later. She said her husband, Su Lei, had bought a TV and invited us to her house to watch it before she left."

"No wonder their expressions were off when I came back and talked to them earlier!"

Several days later, I heard my second sister-in-law and her parents say, "I've taken leave to build a house at home."

The eight rooms behind the house were given by his father-in-law to his second and eldest daughters, four rooms each. Su Zhichun built two of the four outer rooms for himself, and sold the two inner rooms to a godparent from somewhere, whom he called the eldest uncle of the male head of the household.

This uncle of mine is very good at handling things. He's a carpenter, a feng shui master, and a fortune teller. He can talk about all sorts of things. He's so good to the foreign woman, he's made Su Zhichun treat him like his own uncle. His front door faces our back door.

This time, Su Zhiqian built a house in the area of ​​four rooms that are next to his house to the west.

My father-in-law agreed: "Go ahead and build it!"

Second Aunt said, "Then I'll go to Shangxidao to buy sand." After saying that, she got on her bicycle and left.

Father-in-law: "Qinglian, take the pickled cabbage out of that sauerkraut jar. Give this jar to your second sister and Hui."

"Oh! Where do you put the pickled cabbage?"

Father-in-law: "There's a small vat behind the front door, that's where it's stored."

I first rinsed the small vat with water, then scooped out the pickled cabbage and put it into the small vat.

I thought to myself, this family is different from mine. Not only did they let their daughter build a house in their yard, but they also strongly supported it, even emptying the sauerkraut vat for her to mix with ashes. Their attitude towards their daughter is completely different from mine.

On the last day after the three batches of chives were sold out, I handed the money to my father-in-law as usual.

My father-in-law took the money, put it on the kang (a heated brick bed), and went to the inner room. I walked out.

Mother-in-law: "Don't go."

Hearing the sound of a cabinet being opened in the inner room, the father-in-law came out, holding an envelope in his hand: "There are more than seven hundred yuan here, all the money from selling three batches of leeks is in here." He then counted out twenty ten-yuan bills: "Here's two hundred yuan for you, consider it money to buy you a washing machine for your wedding."

I didn't say anything, thinking to myself, "This is so unreasonable. What do you mean by 'buying a washing machine'? We've done most of the work in the greenhouse for the past six months, and our feet were even frostbitten from shoveling snow. Giving us two hundred yuan as payment for our labor is reasonable, but I wouldn't mind if you didn't, because I respect you as an elder. Since you've already given it to me, why the pretext?" If we're really talking about a pretext, it would be more like compensation for the ninety-nine yuan I didn't receive for visiting someone—that would make me feel better.

The father-in-law continued, "Starting tomorrow, you two will cook for yourselves. Use the rice and grain at home as a start. When you run out, buy enough grain for the two of you with your grain ration coupons. Buy coal from your coal ration coupons. Don't distinguish between pots and pans; just share them."

I said, "Okay."

The father-in-law continued, "They said it's for you to eat on your own, but when guests come and go, you still have to cook and do chores. During holidays, we'll eat together. Also, there's a place outside the greenhouse where you'll have five rooms, just like your older sister's. You can build one and live in it, and sell the other half."

This sounds like the same old story. I have no doubt about it; my daughter gave us four rooms, so isn't it normal for her to give us five? In that case, let's not even mention the ninety-nine yuan we didn't get for visiting, or the incident where Su Kai went to work behind my back. With this arrangement, Zhiqiang and I won't have too much trouble making ends meet.