Chapter 4: Su Zhaodi Seizure

The phrase “not knowing how to enjoy good fortune” had its reasons. When Xu Daniu first married into the family, she didn’t have much of an issue with Su Zhaozhao, who had returned to her parents’ home. After all, by then, Su Zhaozhao had already been kicked out and was living on her own with her children, posing no threat to Xu Daniu. They would even smile and greet each other when they met.

But once Xu Daniu had a son in the Su family and felt she had secured her position, she started taking charge of all the household matters, including those involving her sister-in-law, who didn’t live with them.

Since her sister-in-law didn’t have a husband, as the younger sister-in-law, Xu Daniu decided it was her responsibility to arrange things for her.

It wasn’t long before she found an old widower in her own village for Su Zhaozhao. The man was over ten years older than Su Zhaozhao and had six or seven children. His first wife had died during childbirth, leaving the family in dire poverty. Despite this, he had high expectations; knowing that Su Zhaozhao had two children, he only wanted the son, not the daughter. He believed the son could work, while the daughter would just be a financial burden, eventually married off to someone else. Xu Daniu, acting on her own, agreed to this match without even informing Su Zhaozhao.

She believed that since Su Zhaozhao was a widow with two children, with nothing to her name besides her looks, relying on the landlord’s rented land to survive each year, it was already a great deal that someone was willing to accept one of her children. Conveniently, there was a family in the neighboring village looking to adopt a child bride, with decent conditions. Xu Daniu thought it would be perfect, as it was close enough to keep an eye on, assuming Su Zhaozhao wouldn’t refuse.

After all, Su Zhaozhao herself had been a child bride, so it seemed fitting for her daughter to follow the same path.

At that time, Gu Nian was only four years old.

Once Xu Daniu had everything arranged, she happily went to Su Zhaozhao to propose the match. Su Zhaozhao had no intention of remarrying; she just wanted to raise her two children. At first, she tried to be polite to avoid offending her sister-in-law, but when Xu Daniu mentioned sending Gu Nian off as a child bride, Su Zhaozhao couldn’t take it anymore!

Even-tempered as she was, she kicked Xu Daniu out of the house.

Because of this incident, the Su family parents came to scold Su Zhaozhao, saying she shouldn’t have thrown her sister-in-law out and accused her of being ungrateful.

From that day on, Xu Daniu treated Su Zhaozhao with contempt, as if even looking at her was distasteful.

She often called Su Zhaozhao and her children “paupers.”

When the land was redistributed during the land reform, Xu Daniu made a scene, trying to get Su Zhaozhao to trade her two acres of prime paddy field with the Su family. She argued that as a married daughter, Su Zhaozhao had no right to inherit land from her parents’ village.

Xu Daniu wasn’t the only one who thought this way, but fortunately, the village leaders were practical people. They ignored the gossip and even gave those spreading rumors a good talking-to.

As Su Zhaozhao saw the two of them, memories of their past interactions flashed through her mind.

This sister-in-law truly looked the part, with her sharp, narrow eyes and raised eyebrows—a face full of malice and meanness.

As for Su Laibao, he was short, about the same height as Su Zhaozhao, around 1.6 meters. This height was acceptable for a woman but short for a man. He had a timid personality, incapable of making decisions, which made his marriage to a domineering woman somewhat complementary.

Su Zhaozhao raised an eyebrow and said, “What do you mean by fate? Do you still think we’re living in the old society? The village just held a meeting recently, emphasizing the need to eliminate all feudal superstitions. You keep going on about fate, but where does that leave our great leader, the one steering us toward a new life? Are you still nostalgic for the days when you had to beg for a living under the landlords? Comrade Xu Daniu, your thinking is seriously problematic!”

Xu Daniu was stunned: “…”

What was she babbling about?

She didn’t fully understand, but for some reason, Xu Daniu instinctively shut her mouth.

Xu Daniu didn’t get it, but Su Laibao, who had attended a few days of school, did.

“Big Sister, you shouldn’t be saying these things. Daniu didn’t mean it like that. How are you feeling? Are you better?” He quickly changed the subject, though he looked at Su Zhaozhao with a hint of suspicion.

Swallowing the retort she had on the tip of her tongue, Su Zhaozhao replied, “I’m not dying.”

The original Su Zhaozhao had strong feelings for this younger brother. She had carried him on her back and in her arms from the day he was born. Later, when their parents forced Su Zhaozhao to live on her own, Su Laibao even helped repair her house. But that was about the extent of his kindness; his rare acts of goodwill often backfired, causing Su Zhaozhao to endure a lot of scolding from Xu Daniu. Despite this, Su Zhaozhao never blamed him and always remembered his kindness.

But Su Zhaozhao wasn’t the original Su Zhaozhao; she didn’t have these complicated emotions towards him.

Xu Daniu wanted to say something more, but Su Laibao pulled her away, afraid she would cause an even bigger scene. “Let’s go home, let’s go home. The chickens haven’t been fed yet…”

This time, Xu Daniu gave him some face and, though fuming, asked as soon as they got home, “What was she going on about? What does this have to do with ideology? And what does our great leader have to do with it? Why bring up the landlords?”

Su Laibao glanced at her and said, “You sound like you’re disbelieving in the leadership and respect for it while still praising the landlords and rich merchants…”

“Pah!” Xu Daniu jumped up immediately. “When did I ever say that? Su Zhaozhao must be out of her mind!”

She tried to turn back to argue with Su Zhaozhao, but Su Laibao stopped her. “Your words sounded that way. The last village meeting emphasized cracking down on feudal superstitions. Don’t make a fuss, or you might be sent to an education class…”

The mention of an education class made Xu Daniu hesitant; she was terrified of such classes and felt dizzy just thinking about the blackboard. “Wasn’t your sister always so reserved? Why does it seem like she’s suddenly gone crazy and started spouting nonsense? Maybe she’s possessed by a ghost or something?”

The more she spoke, the more she felt it resembled old tales of ghosts and monsters… She shuddered with goosebumps.

Su Laibao quickly waved his hand. “Don’t say such things. That’s feudal superstition…” He also felt something was off. “I also think this doesn’t sound like something my sister would say. She must have really hurt her head…”

Su Zhaozhao didn’t enter the house. She saw the puzzled look on Su Laibao’s face earlier and knew her original self’s personality was very different from hers. She needed to be careful and not speak impulsively; she had to proceed gradually to avoid seeming strange.

If she wasn’t worried about suspicion, she wouldn’t have held back. It was affecting her performance.

A small hand tugged at the hand hanging by her side. “Mom, this is the first time Aunt has acted like this. Usually, she makes a fuss for a long time.”

Every time Aunt made a scene, her mom would worry and sigh deeply.

Gu Nian didn’t have as many thoughts as the adults; she just felt that her mom had become really strong!

She liked that her mom was strong enough to drive Aunt away and didn’t like seeing her mom always troubled and telling them to endure.

Su Zhaozhao looked down and smiled. “Mom was sick and has come to terms with things. We can’t always let people bully us. We should stand up for ourselves when needed.”

Gu Nian nodded firmly. “Yeah!”

In the village, no one dared to bully her because her brother would beat them up, though unfortunately, her brother was too young to fight adults.

Her brother always wanted to confront Aunt and those in the village who gossiped.