Su Shengli was quick. It wasn’t long before Grandpa Sun arrived with the oxcart, and Zhao Youcai came along too. Because of what had happened with Pang Xiaofang, Wang Xuehong hadn’t been showing her face much lately, so Zhao Youcai was the one handling most of the village’s business.

"What are you all standing around for? Lend a hand and get her onto the cart first." As soon as Zhao Youcai arrived and saw the crowd gathered at the Old Su Family’s gate, he called out, "And you, Tian Aixiang, hurry and grab a quilt for your mother-in-law. Spread it on the oxcart, or the boards will be too hard."

"Oh, right." Tian Aixiang’s heart was pounding. When Zhao Youcai spoke, she quickly responded and hurried into the house to get an old quilt, which she then spread on the oxcart.

As people carried Old Su toward the oxcart, she wailed in pain, cursing Tian Aixiang and Su Tao. When that wasn’t satisfying enough, she started cursing Su Qing as well. "Oww... It’s like I don’t even have granddaughters! One lives right next door, sees her own grandmother like this, and doesn’t even show her face! Goddamn it! May lightning strike all these unfilial brats dead!"

One of the onlookers couldn’t take it anymore and said, "Aunt Su, why don’t you just shut it? Su Qing went up the mountain first thing this morning. You’ve got no reason to be cursing her."

Old Su paused for a second, then snapped, "She’s just unfilial!"

"Heh." The villager replied with just that one sound, and Old Su’s face instantly turned pale with fury.

Even after the oxcart left Lihua Village, the villagers were still discussing the recent drama at the Old Su Family’s home. Thus, the local gossip mill had fresh material about the Su Family.

When Su Qing returned from the mountain that evening, she heard the latest gossip: Old Su and Tian Aixiang had gotten into a brawl, and Tian Aixiang had beaten her mother-in-law so badly she ended up in the hospital.

Su Qing was never interested in gossip about the Su Family. When people asked her what she thought of the matter, she simply fobbed them off by saying that since the family had split, their lives no longer intersected.

What Su Qing didn’t expect, however, was that the Old Su Family would try to drag her into their latest drama.

「The next evening」

Su Qing heard a knock on her door. She opened it to find, to her surprise, Su Lihui.

Su Lihui, still vaguely terrified of Su Qing from the last time she’d brandished a knife at him, instinctively took two steps back when he saw her open the door. He tossed out a single sentence: "Grandpa’s looking for you." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

With that, Su Lihui bolted.

Su Qing frowned. ’He’s probably calling me over because of Grandma,’ she guessed. ’It’s likely about the hospital bills.’ But Su Qing had no intention of being their patsy. ’It’s not like she got sick. Tian Aixiang is the one who put her in the hospital. Whoever makes the mess cleans it up. There’s no reason for me to cover their asses.’

Still, since they’d sent for her, she might as well go and see what was up.

Old Su had assumed Su Qing wouldn’t come after being summoned just once. He’d already made a plan to have Su Shengli go call her a second time, just to show the villagers how much of an arrogant brat his granddaughter was.

But to Old Su’s surprise, Su Qing showed up after just one summons.

As Su Qing entered the room, Old Su took a long drag from his pipe, his face grim as he shot her a look.

Old Su was still in the hospital, with Tian Aixiang staying behind to look after her. Therefore, only Old Su and Su Shunli were in the room. As for Su Lihui, he had bolted to go play as soon as he’d delivered the message to Su Qing.

"Grandpa, you were looking for me?" Su Qing asked, taking a seat on a nearby chair after she entered the room.

Old Su gave Su Qing a displeased look, feeling she was being disrespectful. But this wasn’t the time to address that. He cleared his throat twice and said, "Erya, you’ve heard about your grandmother being in the hospital, haven’t you?"

"I have. I heard Third Aunt put her there," Su Qing replied coolly.

Su Shunli grew angry. "Erya, what are you talking about? Your grandma is in the hospital because she had an accidental fall."

"Third Uncle." Su Qing looked at Su Shunli with a smirk. "Whether Grandma fell or Third Aunt put her in the hospital... you know the truth better than anyone. A fact is a fact. You can’t deny it."

"You!" Su Shunli was taken aback by her words, his anger catching in his throat.

"Enough. Let’s talk business." Old Su took another drag from his pipe. "Erya," he said to Su Qing, "your grandma’s hospital stay is going to be expensive, and she’ll need proper care to recover afterward. Even though you’ve split off from the family, the separation agreement says that if your grandma or I fall ill, you’re responsible for a share of the medical bills. Therefore, you need to shoulder some of this cost."

Old Su’s trip to the hospital this time was serious. The scald on her face was quite severe, and on top of that, her lower back was badly bruised with signs of a hairline fracture. She would need to be hospitalized for a while and would require nutritional supplements to recover later on. All told, the costs would be significant—at least fifty or sixty yuan.

How could the Su Family possibly be willing to fork over such a large sum? After giving Su Qing five hundred yuan previously, the family’s savings had taken a major hit.

Su Qing listened to Old Su without a word, waiting to see what he would say next.

Seeing Su Qing’s lack of reaction, Old Su grew even more furious. He tapped his pipe against the edge of the kang bed and continued, "We’ve done a rough calculation. Between the treatment, the hospital stay, and the nutritional supplements afterward, it’s going to cost at least one hundred fifty or one hundred sixty yuan. I was thinking the three of you—you, your First Uncle, and your Third Uncle—could share the cost. It’s not easy for your uncles, they both have families to feed. You’re on your own. So, if you could just bite the bullet and put up eighty yuan, your uncles can split the rest. What do you say?"

"I say no," Su Qing replied flatly.

"What?" At her words, Old Su’s eyes snapped open wide, and he glared at Su Qing.

Su Shunli was even more incensed. "Erya, that’s your own grandmother! Are you really that cold-blooded, just standing by and watching?"

Su Qing’s voice was cold. "Third Aunt put Grandma in the hospital, not me. If I were the one who’d hurt her, I wouldn’t say a thing—I’d pay for everything, medical bills and recovery costs. But it’s not my place to pay for someone else’s mess, and it’s certainly not your place to go after my wallet. So this time, whoever caused the injury pays the bills. Don’t try to drag me into this. The separation agreement is very clear: I’m responsible for medical fees in case of *illness*, nothing else. Grandpa, I’ve paid you and Grandma every last cent of your support money. I don’t owe you a thing."

"Su Qing, don’t you go too far!" Su Shunli panicked at her words. ’Fifty or sixty yuan! He couldn’t come up with that kind of money even if they bled him dry!’ "Your grandma’s in the hospital!" he exclaimed. "It’s one thing not to visit, but you’re not even willing to chip in a little money? If word gets out about this, what will happen to your reputation?"

"’A little money?’" Su Qing scoffed. "My, Third Uncle, you must be rolling in it. Eighty yuan, and you call that ’a little money’? Why don’t you go ask the full-time workers in the county town if they can even make eighty yuan a month."