Chapter 21: She Must Maintain Her Dignity in Front of the One She Likes

When Su Xiaofeng saw Su Wanwan’s appearance clearly, her eyes widened, and she exclaimed angrily, “How can you look like this?”

She looked exactly as her mother had described—like a fairy, with skin as white and smooth as a peeled egg, truly flawless. Her cheeks were flushed, as if touched with blush.

Her thick, glossy black hair was loosely braided and hung down her back, even her hairstyle was beautiful.

Jealousy nearly drove her mad.

She herself was dark-skinned and thin, not even comparable.

Su Wanwan frowned slightly when she saw Su Xiaofeng. Why did this person speak as if she were ugly? So annoying—she had already told her not to come bothering her, yet she dared to show up again.

Her fiery temper flared, and she wanted to teach her a lesson, to see if she still dared to provoke her.

She stood up and noticed Xie Beishen nearby, unloading corn in the field.

They were still quite close, so anything they said was bound to be overheard.

Now was not the time to deal with Su Xiaofeng; she needed to maintain her composure in front of the person she liked.

If they really came to blows and Xie Beishen misunderstood her as a shrew, what then?

Don’t blame her for overthinking—it was just that she wasn’t close to Xie Beishen yet, and a misunderstanding would be hard to explain.

No, she immediately dismissed the thought of confronting her.

Suppressing her anger, she said impatiently, “Speak properly. What exactly do you want?”

Su Xiaofeng shouted, “Just admit it—how did you get so white?”

“Is that all?” Su Wanwan replied. “Didn’t you see I wore a hat all summer, covering myself completely? Spending less time in the sun naturally makes you whiter.”

After saying this, she put on her hat and went back to the field to continue weeding, too lazy to bother with her.

After all, Xie Beishen was here.

Hearing this, Su Xiaofeng’s eyes darted around. She needed to cover up properly too. Without hesitation, she headed home.

Throughout the morning, Su Wanwan rested a bit, then worked again in short bursts, repeating this until her second brother came to help her. Only then did she sit down under a tree to rest.

Su Heng looked at his sister, her face flushed red from the sun and her clothes soaked with sweat. Her weeding speed had improved considerably. The afternoon would be even hotter—he couldn’t let her continue.

Su Wanwan watched her brother weeding with impressive speed, quickly catching up to the people weeding next door. He really was good at this work. Occasionally, she glanced toward Xie Beishen and kept pace.

At this moment, Su Wanwan had no intention of approaching Xie Beishen. There were too many people around, and she was hot and didn’t want to move.

Besides, if the village gossips saw her, they’d surely craft some rumors.

Together, Su Heng and his sister worked enough to earn four labor credits before stopping to go home.

Once home, Su Wanwan went with her second brother to their grandfather’s house.

Yang Guixiang’s face immediately darkened when she saw them again. “Why are you here again? There’s no food ready for you. Go home quickly.”

Su Heng anticipated this and was prepared. “That won’t do. Didn’t we agree yesterday to come eat here? Grandpa said he wouldn’t let us go hungry. The villagers are watching.”

Su Wanwan chimed in, “Yes, if the villagers found out we didn’t eat at grandma’s, it would be like slapping grandpa and grandma in the face.”

Su Jianwei scowled, “If you want to eat, eat at home. We’re separated now.”

“Exactly,” Jin Hua glared at them both.

Su Heng plopped down at the table. “You know we’re separated, yet you keep coming to our house to take grain without thinking about what we eat. Maybe we should bring this to the villagers and settle it properly.”

Su Jianwei shouted, “That grain is your family’s offering to grandpa and grandma.”

“Do you not eat the one or two thousand jin of grain you take every year?” Su Heng pointed to the bowl and cup in front of his eldest uncle. “What’s this then?”

Su Jianwei’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot.

Su Mao was prideful. If this matter got dragged into the village, they’d be at fault. After all, the youngest son gave them five yuan a month, which was more than enough, and villagers usually only gave them some grain.

Moreover, the grain they repeatedly took from the youngest son’s house was enough to feed their large family.

They had also saved quite a bit of money over the years. Looking at Jianwei, Su Heng said, “Enough. It’s just a matter of a few meals.”

Su Wanwan smiled, “Grandpa is good. When there aren’t enough bowls on the table, I just take one.”

She quickly went to the kitchen. The air was filled with the aroma of meat, and on the stove sat freshly rendered lard.

She hadn’t seen any pork cracklings at the table earlier, so they must still be in the kitchen. Opening the cabinet, she indeed found a large bowl of pork cracklings inside.

She glanced at the white rice in the rice steamer, then washed four large bowls and placed them on the stove. Scooping several spoonfuls of the freshly fried lard onto the rice, she stirred it well.

Rice mixed with lard was fragrant; everyone in the family needed a little nourishment.

She divided the fresh pork cracklings into the four bowls, laying a foundation, then covered them with the lard-rice mixture, pressing the rice firmly in the bowls.

As she pressed, she grumbled silently—what a cruel family.

She had been here for half a month, and every day it was either coarse grain porridge or hard, dry cakes. The first few meals were bearable, but eating that every meal was intolerable.

Looking at this black-hearted family, cooking so much white rice just for one meal, what a life they led.

How much blood had they sucked from their father? Their hearts were truly dark.

Just as she put the bowls of pork cracklings back into the cabinet, a set of oil containers caught her eye.

There were three small canisters. She opened and sniffed them.

Rapeseed oil, soybean oil, peanut oil—each container held about seven or eight jin. Her eyes narrowed instantly.

This was abnormal—very abnormal.

In this era of scarcity, everyone’s oil ration was fixed, and there wouldn’t be so many types.

Now was not the time to dwell on this. She closed the cabinet, picked up a bowl, and left the kitchen.

She placed the bowl before her brother, and the two of them silently and swiftly began picking food from the dishes.

Jin Hua saw the four large bowls brought out and sounded the alarm in her mind. Damn, why use such big bowls? She felt uneasy and quickly got up to head to the kitchen.

Su Wanwan’s chopsticks moved so fast they almost left afterimages.

The eldest uncle’s face darkened even further, watching their actions. “You take so much, can we still eat? How rude and uncultured.”

Su Wanwan glanced at the dishes in her brother’s bowl, thinking it was enough, and nudged him, “Second brother, let’s go.”

If they didn’t leave soon, they might not get away before the eldest aunt came out.

Su Heng picked up two bowls and said, “I’m going to deliver food to mom and dad. Grandpa, grandma, we’ll come back tonight—make sure to cook plenty.”

Su Wanwan added, “We all know grandpa and grandma are the best. We won’t say a word outside. Every year, grandpa and grandma take two thousand jin of grain from our house and don’t tell them that we give grandpa and grandma five yuan every month.”

At that moment, Jin Hua shouted from the kitchen.

Su Wanwan and Su Heng hurried away like they were riding on wheels of fire, not waiting for grandpa and grandma to respond before running out of the yard.