A century of poverty

Chapter 116 Arrogance

When I arrived at Wang Xiaojie's house, I wiped my eyes and forced myself to tell Wang Xiaojie what had happened. At this moment, his father, Wang Youdao, came over and said, "This old man, how can he do things like this? Didn't we bring him to talk yesterday and agree? No way! We can't make things difficult for your fourth uncle and aunt anymore."

I'm leaving first thing tomorrow morning. I'm going to Anshan to get the money from your aunt and pay them back.

Me: "Thanks, bro."

When I got home, I breathed a sigh of relief and said to Zhiqiang, "Looks like he can pay it back early, so we can pay him back ahead of schedule. It's so hard to owe people money!"

Sure enough, the following afternoon, Wang Youdao delivered the money on behalf of his son.

I said to Zhiqiang, "Quickly return this money to your father. Take the money to your uncle and return it to him through him. We need to make sure someone knows we've returned it."

On the other hand, your dad smashed our windows because he wouldn't let him haul timber. That's outrageous! We need to teach those people a lesson. Call Su Zhijuan, Su Zhichun, and Su Zhiwei to come and see what her dad's doing.

After Zhiqiang returned from keeping the money with his uncle, he called the families that evening and asked them to come over the next morning.

November 13, 1997, Friday, the sky cleared up.

At seven o'clock, we had just put down our chopsticks and hadn't even picked up our bowls when the front door creaked open, and a person slipped in from behind the green cotton curtain. He was wearing a cotton coat, double-layered nylon gloves, and his head was completely covered.

Upon entering the house, instead of heading towards the counter, they stood directly next to the radiator by the door.

I looked closely and saw that it was black scallops, so I quickly greeted her, "Sister-in-law, you're here early? It's cold. Come over here and sit on the kang (heated brick bed)."

Because his face was covered up, his expression couldn't be seen, but his voice was vicious: "I hope your older brother dies soon! Don't call my house again!"

I was bewildered. What did she mean by that? "What's wrong, sister-in-law? What are you saying? I don't understand!"

Blackie stopped talking and turned to look at the wall. I said awkwardly, "You stay here, I'll do the dishes."

I picked up the bowls, rinsed them, moved them off the kang table, and tidied them up.

It was still early, and Su Long hadn't been taken to kindergarten yet.

The sun came out, and sunlight streamed into the room through the east window, so bright it was dazzling and impossible to look directly at.

Su Zhijuan and Su Zhichun each came in wearing a leather coat.

Before he could speak, Hei Xingan stepped back and forcefully slammed his fist against the window: "The old man smashed the window of your big house, so I'll smash this one!"

Then, with a loud crash, the east windowpane shattered and fell to the ground. Next, Hei rushed to the counter, grabbed the "orange segment candy box," and threw it at Zhiqiang. Zhiqiang dodged, and the candy box smashed against the wall. With a loud "bang!", candy granules scattered everywhere!

Su Zhijuan and Su Zhichun rushed forward to stop her sister-in-law.

Zhiqiang shouted angrily, "Zhang Qinglian, beat her up!"

That shout woke me up. Through the counter, I grabbed a handful of sweat and slapped her face. Seeing things were going badly, Su Zhijuan and her sister forcefully pushed their sister-in-law out of the room.

At that moment, Su Long was squatting by the stove, tears streaming down his face, picking out orange segment candies one by one and putting them into the box.

The child, bathed in sunlight streaming through the window, his small body crouching on the floor surrounded by an orange-yellow glow. Tears streamed down his rosy face, and his chubby little fingers picked up pieces of candy from the floor and placed them back in the box, like an angel. A child not even four years old! What did he know, suffering such humiliation alongside us?

I felt incredibly guilty for making my child suffer like this. I picked him up and put him on the kang (a heated brick bed): "I don't care about the child; a few pieces of candy are nothing!"

Black Xingan was still shouting outside: "Come out, if you've got the guts, come out! I'll fight you to the death today!"

I went outside and saw Hei Xingan picking up bricks, about to smash something, but the two sisters stopped her and she smashed into the wall. The two sisters pushed her away, heading back the way they came.

Unexpectedly, it was another unwarranted disaster.

Back inside, I hadn't even finished cleaning up the mess left by the vandalism. The phone rang, and I answered, "Hello?" I heard Su Lihua on the other end: "You wait, I'll bring people to wipe you out! My mother is so old, no one has ever dared to lay a finger on her, and today you've given her a whole face full of graffiti..."

I explained, "Lihua, this is what happened today, and your two aunts were also present..."

I'd like to briefly explain what happened.

Su Lihua: "Those two are nothing! They won't listen to anyone today, and they can't get through to my mom; Daqing! Is everyone here? Let's go! Let's not waste our breath on her."

"Beep! Beep beep." The phone hung up.

I called Su Zhijuan and told her about the conversation I had just had with Su Lihua.

Su Zhijuan: "Lihua has made a lot of money these past few years and is very arrogant. If things get tough, you should go into hiding."

After hanging up the phone, I turned to Zhiqiang and said, "Is this really okay? They're all so ruthless and outrageous! We wanted to call her dad and aunts over so we could complain to them, but instead of complaining, we got beaten up by her mom."

My daughter is going to come and settle scores with us. She's making a fortune through illegal fundraising, and even her mother has become a gangster.

I'm not going anywhere, I'll just wait for her to settle things. I'm not afraid of her evil ways! I'll fight them to the death. Bring it on! Sooner is better than later.

Zhiqiang was also furious: "Just wait at home and let her come and settle things!"

I tidied up the things in front of the counter. I kept an eye on the outside while also keeping an eye on the child.

Half an hour passed, and no one came to drive up to level us.

The phone rang again. Zhiqiang went to the front door to answer it. Although I couldn't hear what was being said, I could tell from the conversation that it was Su Lihua again, accusing and cursing us. They would never let it go, and so on.

They dawdled for over half an hour without hanging up. A customer who wanted to make a call came in, got impatient, and left.

Zhiqiang comforted Su Lihua and then hung up the phone.

Within 24 hours, Su Lihua made several more phone calls, threatening and intimidating us. Unfortunately, we were using a public phone and couldn't disconnect, so we had no choice but to answer the calls.

Although they didn't ultimately exterminate our family and confiscate our property, they still regarded us as enemies.

A few days later, Su Qian came to pack up her father-in-law's things, and it was Su Kai's turn next.

Su Qian said, "Don't blame the old man. He's getting old, confused, and doesn't know how to speak properly."

Me: "Then he shouldn't have taken my timber in the first place! The first time, I saw him leave, but I didn't chase after him to ask. The second time he came to take it again, we need that timber to build our front house. He doesn't have a house, and he doesn't use it for fuel, so why is he taking our timber? Where is he going to put it? Isn't he just deliberately causing trouble?"

Su Qian: "Didn't Xiao Kai get divorced? The public housing he transferred to was old; the old man wanted to renovate it for him."

Me: "To decorate Su Kai's house? Why didn't he say anything? I heard someone saw it being delivered to someone's house by the river."

Su Qian: "Don't listen to people's nonsense."

Me: "And Hei Xingan, Zhiqiang called to ask his older brother and sister to come and see if Grandpa Xuetian could break our windows and persuade him not to always target us."

Who let her come? And she caused another disaster. Are we really that pathetic, letting anyone who gets their hands on us smash things? How are we supposed to survive here in the future?

Why should we? What did we do to deserve this?

Su Qian: "Don't hold a grudge against your sister-in-law. She was just upset because your brother had a heart condition and went to Shenyang for treatment a few days ago."

Me: "That's going too far. The two things are unrelated."

Su Qian: "We can't really talk about other people's business, so I'm not going to chat with you anymore. I have to go; my dad is still waiting for me at my third uncle's house."

Me: "We'll pay him back and let his son do the renovations!"

Zhiqiang helped Su Qian tie his father's washbasin, luggage, and other belongings to the bicycle rack, and watched his second sister leave.

I've been feeling down for days. Why does everyone dare to bully us? Is it just because we're too kind? Because we have no money or power? Little Su Lihua, just a few days old? Even her powerful aunt is afraid of her.

Thinking of Su Lihua added to my sense of crisis.

After marrying into the Su family, I worked diligently, quietly, and without complaint. After learning tailoring, I did countless chores for them, young and old; making satin cotton-padded jackets for winter, gauze shirts and trousers for summer, and suits for spring and autumn, without ever accepting a penny. Not only did no one remember me, but they also saw me as someone who could be bullied.

The old woman stopped talking; being bullied by an old woman isn't considered humiliating. Hei Xingan is my sister-in-law, and although I don't know why she sees us as thorns in her side, I've heard that sisters-in-law can be difficult to deal with.

When it came to Su Lihua, the third generation, she didn't even ask her mother why I grabbed her. She just kept bullying us; is this some kind of family tradition?

When will this ever end? Su Lihua's son is only one year younger than Su Long. Are we going to suffer like this generation after generation?