When Mother Su left, Su Qingyu discussed with Grandma Zhou and let her take the feather duster-making job back from her.

Now the store has made a comeback thanks to the meat stall business. Grandma Zhou could no longer take care of the feather duster business. There were so many piled up in the backyard that Father Su piled them up on a cart and transported them back to Qiaotou Village.

Although this thing was sold cheaply, only three or five cents a piece, it was like a broom, and every household had one. A family may have three or five, one for each room, and it was also a consumable item.

If you were quick, it was no problem to tie dozens of them in a day. Although you might not make a lot of money, you could still make some small profits.

Su Qingyu didn’t know whether they were willing to do it or not. Granny Zhou was neat and tidy, so she cleaned the chicken feathers very well and then rinsed and dried them so they were not dirty. Mother Su said that they didn’t want to do it, so she would do it herself.

So when Su Qingyu asked Father Su to send Mother Su back, he also took all the chicken feathers in the backyard back with him.

The next day, Father Su came to town and said that they were all willing to make it and that her grandparents had also made two handfuls yesterday. When he came today, his father asked him to pick some fresh vegetables from the vegetable garden and bring them over.

Su Qingyu breathed a sigh of relief. There were many laborers left, but few jobs. She looked around but couldn’t find any suitable jobs for them. As for male laborers, there were many jobs available as long as they were willing to work hard.

Another month passed and autumn arrived.

Su Qingyu went to the clinic and the doctor said her pregnancy was stable, so she was relieved. During this period, everyone kept a close eye on her, fearing that something might happen to her. Although Su Qingyu wanted to complain, she also cooperated and only did the lightest things.

Autumn came, and the busy farming season began. Father Su went back to Qiaotou Village. For the first time, Eldest Gu brought her eldest son-in-law to Qiaotou Village to help with the autumn harvest.

Step-grandmother Wang Shi had always looked down on Eldest Su, the daughter of old Su’s first wife. She often forced her to work when she was a child and married her to such a poor family. The money that the family borrowed to marry the daughter-in-law was not paid back by Su Dagu for many years after she got married.

Later, Eldest Gu refused to return to Qiaotou Village, firstly because she was poor and secondly because she looked down on Wang Shi.

She was better than Second Gu in every way, but she didn’t expect that the most capable and caring daughter in the family would marry the worst.

Her life was not even a fraction of Second Gu’s. When Second Gu got married, her husband’s family had fields and shops; she had assistants in the shop and hired servants at home; she didn’t even need to touch water; she had food and drink just by lying down.

As for Eldest Gu, her stepmother sent her so far away, took so much betrothal money for her, but didn’t even buy her a few decent dowries. How could she not be angry?

This time, she was not doing it for Wang Shi’s sake, but for her brother Su Dahai’s sake, so she went back to help him and her sister-in-law.

She received Su Qingyu’s kindness; her husband had money to treat his leg, and now he could do some light work at home, making some straw and bamboo baskets and other small things to sell to Qingyu for some money. Her son also brought back money every month, which was more than his father had earned before. Eldest Gu was relieved. Every sip and every bite was destined.

Every year during the busy farming season, Wang Shi always said that the descendants the previous wife gave birth to had more food but less labor and were not as prosperous as those she gave birth to, who did more work in the fields.

Eldest Gu was holding back her anger. Since her family’s land had been sold anyway, she brought her son-in-law, who had finished his work, to Qiaotou Village to help. She just couldn’t let Wang Shi look down on what she had left behind.

Old Su never expected that his eldest daughter, who had been married for so many years and rarely came back, would bring her grandson-in-law to help with the autumn harvest!

Some of them didn’t react. They thought the silver he secretly gave them worked. They felt very comforted.

Eldest Gu didn’t want to say much. She helped for three days, and when she saw that they were busy enough, she took her grandson-in-law to the town. She didn’t even say a few words to Old Su, which made Old Su feel a little disappointed.

“Mom, why are you and Jiefu ^[1]husband of elder sister here?” Zhou Dajiang was very happy to see his mother and held his mother and Jiefu tightly.

“Mom can’t come? She should stay in the village, stay at home, and not go anywhere else?”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant.” He scratched his head, afraid that his mother would be angry.

Zhou Chulan’s husband patted his xiǎo jiù ^[2]little or youngest brother of wife, looked at him for a while, and was very happy to see such a big change in him.

Eldest Su Gu looked at her son, who was becoming more and more experienced. She was happy to see that his temperament had changed. “Where are your biǎojiě?”

“In the backyard. I’ll take you there, jiěfū. Let’s go…”

“Ok.”

When they got to the backyard, they were intimate again.

“Ah? Gu, you went home to help with the autumn harvest?” Su Qingliu widened her eyes in shock. The world was about to change.

“What? Mom, you went to my grandparents’ house? And you brought our Jiefu with you?” Zhou Dajiang’s face was also full of disbelief.

“Of course. If I went alone, your grandmother probably wouldn’t think much of it, saying that as a woman, I wouldn’t be able to do much work and might even think I was just going for a free meal. So I brought your Jiefu along. Let’s see what she has to say now. With the help left by her earlier this year, four laborers are helping out at home, yet only two of them eat from the household. It’s no worse than what she’s raised.”

Eldest Su Gu still wanted to make up with Wang Shi.

“What about my grandfather? Wasn’t he scared?”

“How could he not be scared? Your grandfather looked at me for a long time as if he didn’t know me. I didn’t pay much attention to him. Your father is an honest man, he doesn’t fight or compete. If I hadn’t reminded him, he probably wouldn’t even remember that he had married a wife before.”

Su Qingliu burst out laughing: “Gu, you are really something. I guess my grandma is not very happy about your appearance.”

“She’s not happy that someone is helping her with the work? She can rest after two more days of work at home. I heard from your mother that she used to have to work a few more days. Besides, I don’t care whether she’s happy or not. The more unhappy she is, the happier I am.”

Seeing Eldest Gu’s proud look after getting rid of her anger, everyone laughed.

Su Qingyu thought that this Gu was a woman who had been tortured by life and had lost her vitality, but she didn’t expect that she was so impetuous, had a clear distinction between love and hate, and was optimistic and kind.

Eldest Su Gu took Qing’an aside and said a lot of nice things to her. She thanked her for giving Da Jiang work. Seeing that Da Jiang was like a different person now, she was very happy and kept talking to Su Qingyu. She also reminded her of many things to pay attention to during pregnancy.

After having lunch, she didn’t want to stay any longer and hurriedly took her son-in-law back.

Two days later, after finishing his work at home, Father Su was thinking about growing vegetables in Xiahe Village, so he came to the town again, got the vegetable seeds, and took Zhou Dajiang to Xiahe Village.

After a few days of hard work, he watched the tenants in Xiahe Village turn the fields, apply fertilizer, and plant vegetable seeds before returning to the town. After returning, he immediately followed Su Dahu to the countryside and was busy collecting fruits everywhere.

Since Su Qingyu got pregnant, Su Dahu was rarely seen in the store. He was out almost every day, leaving early and returning late. He would only return to the store when Su Qingyu went back to Lu’s house at night, and the two of them often didn’t see each other for a long time.

Su Qingyu sometimes ran into him and wanted to talk to him, but he always talked about business and picking fruit in the countryside and didn’t say much else.

In the past, he would always remind her of something else. When Su Qingyu asked him to go to the countryside, he was not very enthusiastic and always liked to stay in the store, following Su Qingyu’s shadow with his eyes.

Su Qingyu naturally noticed it. But she was no longer the Su Qingyu of the past, and she could not respond to his deep affection. Perhaps finding someone to start a family with him would help him forget it faster.

So Su Qing’an went to find Grandma Zhou.

(End of this chapter)