Chapter 7

Su Sanya didn’t need Su Xi’s answer either. With a gossiping expression on her face, she excitedly said, “I heard those two men are Erzhi. Do you know what Erzhiis? They’re just perverts, playing hooligans. Can you believe that they are in a relationship? Disgusting, isn’t it? It’s almost sinful. What’s worse is that it has affected their families. I heard both families have been isolated by the entire village, and there are talks of expelling them. It’s really pitiful. I can’t blame them entirely for this, but if it were my family, I’d find it repulsive, don’t you think?” ^[1]Erzhi, also known as ‘Erweizi,’ ‘Eryizi,’ and ‘Erqiaozi,’ describe individuals who exhibit neither male nor female characteristics and lack masculinity. This term, … Continue reading

While Su Sanya spoke, her sharp eyes were fixed on Su Xi’s face. 

She noticed that Su Xi’s expression only showed a moment of surprise before returning to calm. 

This confirmed in her mind that something had changed about this girl, but she couldn’t figure out the reason behind it.

Su Xi pushed Su Sanya’s hand that was blocking the door and said with a smile, “Aren’t you hungry? Go back home earlier.”

After saying that, she forcefully closed the door with a ‘bang.’

Once shielded from Su Sanya’s prying eyes, the expression on Su Xi’s face immediately turned cold.

Something was off with Su Sanya. How did she know about the situation between her brother and Big Brother? 

According to the plot Su Xi knew, at this point in the story, Brother and Big Brother hadn’t revealed their secret yet. So, how did Su Sanya, an outsider, know about it?

Could it be…?

“Xixi, then I’ll leave. If you ever encounter two close men, make sure to keep your distance. They are bad people. You can tell me, and I’ll help you figure things out.”

Listening to these seemingly caring words, Su Xi’s gaze sharpened. Regardless of what was going on with Su Sanya, one thing was certain.

In the novel, the original Su Xi transformed from an innocent and delicate girl into a malicious cannon fodder opposing her brothers. The provocatively inclined Su Sanya undoubtedly played a significant role in this change.

As she heard the footsteps leaving outside, Su Xi tightened her fist. 

Her fist hardened!

She looked left and right.

She picked up a small rock from the edge of the vegetable garden, walked quickly to the side of the courtyard wall, used a stool as a boost, and leaned out. Facing Su Sanya’s back, which was not far away, she lightly flicked the rock.

A sudden ‘ouch’ cry echoed as Su Sanya caught off guard, fell flat on the ground. Unluckily, her teeth hit another small stone, causing her to lose a front tooth.

Meanwhile, Aunt Wang Guizhi, who was next door drying vegetables in the yard, witnessed everything through the opened door.

Wang Guizhi frowned and glanced at the little girl next door, who peeked her head out. Inside, she was frustrated. The silly girl from the second house, who usually played petty tricks in their own corner, now knew how to launch a surprise attack.

But these thoughts weren’t important at the moment. The girl at the door was from the Su family. Considering how shameless and troublesome the whole Su Laiwang family was, Wang Guizhi immediately sprang into action. 

She dropped the wild vegetables she was holding, marched out proudly, and instinctively blocked Su Sanya’s line of sight.

Quietly, she extended her foot, nudging the stone that Su Xi had thrown to the wall among the debris before taking the initiative to speak, “What’s the matter with you, girl? You can’t even walk properly. Look, you’ve smashed the ground that we’ve worked so hard to level in front of our door. How are you going to compensate for that?”

After saying these words, Wang Guizhi waved her hand at Xixi, who was still peeking, signaling her to go back.

In Wang Guizhi’s view, even if she was dissatisfied with the spoiled nature of Xixi, she was still her own niece. Family members could criticize her, but outsiders couldn’t. Moreover, their good-tempered child wouldn’t launch an attack on Su Sanya without a reason.

I don’t see any problem at all!

However, in Su Laiwang’s family, there was no decent person, so it’s not hard to guess that they might really come to her house to cause trouble.

Although Wang Guizhi wasn’t afraid of them, her husband was a village cadre, and she herself was the wife of a cadre. She couldn’t engage in a squabble with that family like a sister; it would be too disgraceful.

Realizing this, Wang Guizhi felt the need to gather witnesses from the masses. She quickly raised her voice, shouting, “Come and see, everyone! Su Laiwang’s third daughter has smashed a pit in front of our house.”

With such a loud voice, neighbors from all around, whether living next door or not, were startled and came out. It was true that the Su Laiwang family had a formidable reputation in the village!

Su Xi, receiving the signal from Wang Guizhi, stopped paying attention to the two of them. She obediently got off the stool, erased the traces of the stool, and happily carried the stool back to her room.

Settling scores immediately felt great!

Auntie turned out to be unexpectedly cute, a bit different from Su Xi’s memories.

However, regardless of whether Auntie helped or not this time, Su Xi wouldn’t get into trouble. She had thought this through before doing it. There were plenty of similar stones on the road, and even if Su Sanya knew which stone hit her, who could prove that it was Su Xi who threw it?

Moreover, she deliberately aimed at Su Sanya’s buttocks. Firstly, because there was flesh there, and as long as she didn’t use much force, there wouldn’t be any serious injuries. Secondly, even if there were bruises on her buttocks, would Su Sanya dare to show them to others? Reputation is crucial for girls these days, so Su Xi was confident that this subtle revenge would work.

Once she confirmed that Su Sanya had plotted against the original’s life, she wouldn’t have let it go as easily as today.

………………

The lunch at noon was very sumptuous, and her grandma’s craftsmanship was superb. She stewed the fish brought by Xiannan from last night. In the fish soup, there was also a piece of tofu exchanged from a family in the village that made tofu.

Two wild grass carp were put into the pot, along with a large piece of tofu, stewing in a pot of clear and delicious fish soup.

As usual, a portion of the good food was sent to his uncle’s house. This was an unspoken agreement between the two families. Apart from the constant nagging of her auntie, usually, as long as Uncle was at home, any good things would be shared with Su Xi’s family.

When Xi Yannan returned with an empty clay pot, Su Xi and the others had not started eating yet.

He quickly came to the table, took out two small peaches from his pocket, and handed them to Su Xi before picking up his chopsticks and saying, “I told you not to wait and eat first.”

Grandma said it with a hint of affection. “What’s the rush? It’s just a few minutes; have some more soup. My good grandson has lost weight.”

Su Xi took the peach and looked at it. It was quite small and could be held in the palm of her hand. She was curious and said, “Can you eat such a small peach?”

Xi Yannan swallowed his food before replying. “You’ve had these in previous years, don’t you remember? It’s the same variety. Wild peaches don’t grow big. Haven’t you noticed the red tips? They’re sweet. It’s not yet the right time, and I only found these two edible ones on the tree, so I gave them all to you. Zhuzi wanted some, but I didn’t give him any.”

Feeling favored by family is wonderful. Su Xi accepted the peaches, happily buried her head in her bowl to drink the soup, and then remembered her grandma mentioning how thin his Brother was.

She glanced at Xi Yannan’s muscular body and thought to herself that although he still had a bit of the slender feel of a young person, it couldn’t be considered thin. In their well-off family, both she and her brother had quite robust physiques. Perhaps, this was the filter of being family?

“I heard you hit someone today,” Xi Yannan said abruptly while eating.

“Pu… cough cough… cough cough…” Su Xi didn’t say anything yet, but Chen Xiangyun coughed heavily and choked on her soup.

Xi Yannan didn’t expect to make Grandma choke and quickly got up to pat her back. Su Xi also ran to the well, pulled up the hanging bucket of cold water, and fed Grandma. After a while, Grandma recovered.

Grandma, in disbelief, looked at her granddaughter and said, “You got into a fight?”

How could this be possible? Her granddaughter is known for her coquettishness and temper, but it’s only in front of her family that she’s like this. In fact, her granddaughter is a timid girl, and she couldn’t believe the timid girl would get into a fight.

Su Xi didn’t want to bring up this matter, but Xi Yannan found out, probably from what Aunt had said when she delivered the fish soup.

Pretending not to notice Grandma and Brother’s inquisitive looks, she casually picked up some cold cucumber salad and said, “It’s not a fight; I just threw a small stone at Su Sanya.”

Xi Yannan raised an eyebrow.

Chen Xiangyun also couldn’t understand and said, “Why? Weren’t you two getting along well? Did you have a fight?”

Su Xi took another bite of rice, imitating the tone of the original owner, and said playfully, “I don’t want to be friends with her anymore.”

“That doesn’t mean you can use a rock to hit someone.” Chen Xiangyun frowned, concerned that her granddaughter was picking up bad habits.

Su Xi sighed as she looked at her grandma and complained, “She said bad things about my brother, saying that he’s not part of our family. I didn’t like hearing that.”

“What? Why is Su Sanya so mean? Why isn’t Nannan part of our family? How did Su Laiwang raise his children? No, I’m going to talk to her.” Chen Xiangyun exploded upon hearing the reason; her usually good temper was gone. She abandoned her meal, ready to storm out.

Su Xi and Xi Yannan quickly stopped their grandma.

Xi Yannan felt a bit frustrated, but he didn’t care much about these things. He had heard worse things growing up. So, he smiled and reassured, “Grandma, let them talk. As long as we don’t think the same way as them, I don’t treat myself as an outsider. Besides, Xixi helped me get revenge. Not only did she fall out with her friend, but she also used a rock. I heard Aunt say that Su Sanya was knocked down by the rock, and even her front teeth got knocked out.”

Chen Xiangyun was still unhappy in her heart. Someone was speaking poorly of her child. Personally, she could endure grievances, but not when it came to her children.

However, she looked approvingly at her granddaughter. “Good hit. I used to think Su Sanya was a good girl, thinking that bad bamboo produced good shoots. It turns out none of them in that family is any good. From now on, we won’t associate with them, understood?”
Su Xi nodded obediently and then sneakily complained, “I know, Grandma. Also, this time when I went to the back mountain, she was the one who encouraged me to go. I always felt that she was acting strange and had ill intentions.”

“Bang!” Xiyannan slammed the table, his eyes filled with anger as he stared at Su Xi, and ordered, “You stay away from her in the future; did you hear me?”

Xi Yannan didn’t care whether Su Sanya did it intentionally or not. He had long seen through her and knew she wasn’t a good person.

Originally, it was just about deceiving Xixi for free meals and drinks. Xixi didn’t have many friends, so she considered the food a reward for keeping her company. Little did he expect that the girl had some other crooked ideas. Even someone as dull as Xixi could see through it, which means that Su Sanya has crossed the line.

It seemed that he needed to keep an eye on this matter. If they dared to bully his family’s treasure, they would have to get past him first. Thinking of this, Xi Yannan’s eyes darkened slightly.

In his heart, the Su family was the closest to him, and he always protected them. This matter couldn’t be left alone. However, there was no need to tell the little girl about it. Let her remain innocent and carefree. With him and her older brother around, they could always protect her.

…………..

After finishing the meal, none of the three immediately went for a nap. Instead, they sat under the jujube tree in the courtyard, laid out bamboo mats, and sat cross-legged to enjoy the coolness.

The sun was scorching, and the small windows in the room didn’t provide much ventilation. The courtyard, on the other hand, felt cooler.

Xi Yannan took out the basin that Su Xi had accidentally damaged yesterday from the utility room and began repairing it under the jujube tree with a clinking sound.

Chen Xiangyun fanned the two children while curiously asking, “Why do I keep seeing you fixing things recently?”

Su Xi’s hand, flipping through the book, paused. Feeling guilty, she exchanged a glance with her brother and lowered her head again.

Xi Yannan smiled and said, “I’ve been practicing boxing lately. My grip is strong, and I accidentally broke things. I’ll get used to it after a while.”

Grandma, who was unsure whether to believe it or not, muttered, “This strength is too much.”

Su Xi coughed lightly, put down her Chinese book, and decided to interrupt Grandma’s thoughts. She looked at Xi Yannan with an innocent and ignorant expression. “Brother, I almost forgot, what does’Erzhi’ mean?”