"What is Lihui trying to pull?" Zheng Erlian frowned, looking at Su Shengli with displeasure. "My Lifeng didn’t even use any force. Why is he screaming like he’s being tortured?"

She hadn’t even had a chance to call Lihui out for being an older cousin who snatched candy from his younger one, yet here he was, howling first.

Su Lihui’s cry made Su Shengli’s heart ache terribly. He didn’t dare touch Su Lihui rashly, not knowing what spot would cause the boy unbearable pain.

"Don’t ask," Su Shengli sighed. "I just came back from the hospital with Lihui."

"Lihui’s sick?" Su Shengguo looked at Su Lihui. ’His complexion is rosy, he doesn’t look sick at all. It’s just that scream...’

Before Su Shengguo could speak, a neighbor knocked on the door. "Old Su, don’t be beating your kids in the middle of the day. We need to take our noon break, and if we can’t rest well, we won’t have any energy for work this afternoon."

Su Shengguo quickly opened the door and said to the neighbor with a smile, "We’re not hitting him. The kid just bumped into something, and it hurts. Sorry about that, really sorry."

"Oh, as long as that’s all it is. Alright, I’ll head back. Just have the kid be more careful. With that scream just now, I really thought you two were giving him a beating."

"No, nothing like that."

After seeing the neighbor off, Su Shengguo asked again, "So what kind of illness does Lihui have?"

"Sigh, don’t even get me started," Su Shengli sighed. "They couldn’t find anything. The doctor said they can’t diagnose the problem, but my Lihui can’t be touched. We don’t know where, but if you do, he’s in terrible pain. The doctor told us to take him to the city to get it looked at."

Zheng Erlian’s eyes went wide. "You have to go to the city for it?"

’No matter how you look at him, Lihui doesn’t seem sick at all. When he snatched Lifeng’s candy just now, his movements were incredibly agile. Can a sick person move like that?’

"That’s right." Su Shengli nodded and said quickly, "Big Brother, Sister-in-law, I came over today hoping to have Lihui stay with you for one night. I need to go back to the village to get a letter of introduction so I can take him to the city tomorrow."

"Oh, Third Brother, just look at our place. Where would we have room?" Just for the fact that Su Lihui had snatched Su Lifeng’s candy, Zheng Erlian would never let him stay. Who knew what he would try to snatch next? The boy was completely spoiled. A fourteen-year-old young man with no manners at all. He’d been here this whole time without a single ’Uncle’ or ’Auntie’.

"It’s just for one night. Can’t you figure something out?" Su Shengli said. "You saw it yourselves—it hurts Lihui the moment he’s touched. If I take him back on my bike, I can’t imagine how much pain he’ll be in. Surely you can’t bear to watch Lihui suffer like that, right?"

Zheng Erlian secretly rolled her eyes. ’Oh, I can bear it. I can bear it just fine. He’s not my kid, so what’s there to feel bad about?’

"Third Brother, you heard the neighbor knocking just now," Zheng Erlian said, making her refusal perfectly clear. "Lihui let out one howl, and they were already unhappy. This dormitory building isn’t a standalone house with a private courtyard like in the village. The walls aren’t soundproof; you can hear every little sound. It would be bad if he disturbed the neighbors and caused a conflict."

Su Shengli was displeased. He looked at Su Shengguo. "Big Brother, is that what you think too?"

"Your sister-in-law has a point," Su Shengguo said. "Besides, we don’t know what kind of illness this is. If he stays here and his condition worsens, it’ll be impossible to clear things up. Don’t you agree?"

The words from Su Shengguo and Zheng Erlian filled Su Shengli with rage. ’What a fine big brother and sister-in-law,’ he thought. ’The moment I run into trouble, this is how they treat me. Great. Just great.’

In truth, Su Shengli had long held some resentment toward Su Shengguo. He’d always felt that Su Shengjun’s job should have gone to him, but instead, it went to his big brother simply because he was the eldest. And while his brother sent money home every month, not a single cent ever made it into Su Shengli’s hands. On top of that, Su Shengguo often took vegetables and grain from the family home.

Su Shengguo’s family hadn’t done an ounce of work in the village for years—they didn’t even come back for the autumn harvest—yet they took so much rice, flour, and vegetables. The more Su Shengli thought about it, the more he felt he’d gotten the raw end of the deal.

Seeing Su Shengli’s sour expression, Su Shengguo didn’t want to make things too tense and quickly said, "You just came from the hospital, you probably haven’t eaten. I’ll have your sister-in-law make you something. After that, you should hurry and take the boy home to rest."

"No need. We’re leaving now." Fuming inwardly, Su Shengli prepared to leave with Su Lihui. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

But then, Su Lihui immediately started shouting, "I’m hungry! I want to eat!"

Seeing this, Su Shengli didn’t dare grab Su Lihui and could only say, "Lihui, we’ll eat at home."

"No! I’m hungry now, and I want to eat now!" Su Lihui paid him no mind. He glared, pouted, swung his arms, and looked ready to howl. This trick had never once failed him at the Old Su Family’s home. The moment he started, his grandma and mom would give him whatever he wanted.

Seeing that Su Lihui was about to start wailing, Su Shengguo hurriedly said to Zheng Erlian, "Quick, go make something for Third Brother and Lihui to eat."

Though inwardly unwilling, Zheng Erlian knew this wasn’t the time to defy Su Shengguo. She pursed her lips and grudgingly went to make a meal for Su Shengli and his son.

Leaving aside the unspoken thoughts of the brothers Su Shengguo and Su Shengli, let’s turn to Su Qing. When she returned to the village, it was just as the villagers were getting off work. Seeing her come back from town with a basket on her back, many of them called out greetings. "Su Qing, where have you been?"

Su Qing smiled and replied to each of them, "We were running low on some things at home, so I asked the team leader for a day off to go to the county and buy some supplies."

"You’ve been running around all morning, you must be tired. Hurry home and get some rest," said one of them who was fond of Su Qing, smiling warmly.

But there were also those who were envious.

"Hey, what do you think is in that girl Su Qing’s basket? It looks pretty heavy to me."

"I know, right? It’s probably full of good things. That girl’s got money now."

The speakers were two women from the village. One was a widow with the surname Liu who had a son named Zhang Erlai; the villagers all called her Er La Niang.

The other’s surname was Lu, and her name was Lu Chunhua. She was distantly related to Old Su—a niece so far removed they were outside the five generations of mourning. Her temperament was rather similar to Old Su’s, and she had often bullied Su Qing in the past. This time, when Su Qing managed to split her household from the Old Su Family, Lu Chunhua had been furious.

She had been the one to act as matchmaker for that fool from the Sun family, and this was the result. She had even gotten a harsh scolding from Shi’s mother over it. She blamed Su Qing for all of her pent-up frustration, feeling that if Su Qing hadn’t caused such a scene, she wouldn’t have ended up being blamed by everyone involved.

Lu Chunhua glanced at Er La Niang and raised an eyebrow. "Don’t tell me you’ve taken a fancy to the girl?"