Chapter 17: The Disliked Members of the Su Family

Before the words “pay for yourselves” could be spoken, Zhang Lishi let out a cold laugh and interrupted, “No wonder. We never see you come around when there’s nothing going on. So it turns out you brought your whole family here to escape famine. But our family’s situation isn’t good either, as you can see. I’ve got sons, daughters-in-law, grandsons, and granddaughters all crammed in here. We barely have enough to eat ourselves. We really can’t spare any food to entertain you. Well, Zhang Hongzhuang isn’t back from work yet. You can wait in the courtyard and see how he plans to deal with you.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the man beside her, Zhang Laoda, quickly objected, “Mom, we can’t let them in! What if they cling to us and refuse to leave?”

As he spoke, he looked at the Su family with disgust, as if they weren’t relatives but a bunch of pesky leeches.

Old Madam Su knew her sister-in-law had never liked her, but this eldest nephew—she had even helped raise him when he was a child. Hearing him speak like this made her both upset and furious. “Tiegen’er! What’s the meaning of this? You haven’t seen your aunt in twenty years, and now you don’t even recognize me anymore?!”

Zhang Laoda got angry when she scolded him. “Our family is poor too. We can’t take you in. What, are you trying to force your way into our home? There’s only so much space here—how are we supposed to house such a big family? And with so many mouths to feed, how much food do you think you’ll eat?!”

Besides, the things Old Madam Su was talking about happened so long ago that he barely remembered them!

Zhang Laoda’s wife, Qian Cuimiao, glanced around quickly before tugging at his sleeve. She stepped forward with a smile and said to Old Madam Su, “Auntie, Tiegen just has a blunt personality. His words might sound harsh, but he doesn’t mean anything by them. Please come in. I’ll go get some chairs for you to sit. It must’ve been difficult for your whole family to escape to the capital like this. Take a rest first—we’ll wait until my father-in-law returns.”

Li Sumei also softly persuaded Old Madam Su, “Mom, it’s getting dark. Let’s wait for Uncle to come back first.”

Old Madam Su’s expression softened. She nodded to Qian Cuimiao and led her family into the courtyard. Qian Cuimiao and a few of her sisters-in-law brought over some chairs for them to sit on.

There weren’t enough chairs, so they even borrowed a few from the neighbors.

Zhang Lishi sat in the main hall. When Qian Cuimiao came in after helping out, she gave her a glance and said coldly, “Why are you being so nice to them? A whole bunch of paupers.”

“Shh.” Qian Cuimiao leaned closer and quietly pointed to the baby in Old Madam Su’s arms. “When the wind blew earlier, I saw a very fancy necklace around the baby girl’s neck—gold and silver! Maybe they’re pretending to be poor, dressing like this just to win our sympathy. If we kick them out, we might be turning away a walking God of Wealth!”

Zhang Lishi’s cloudy eyes lit up. She quickly asked, “Did you search their things?”

Qian Cuimiao shook her head. “Not yet. That old woman watches her granddaughter closely. None of us have been allowed to hold her. But I had Second and Third Sisters-in-law look through their luggage when they brought them some sugar water. Nothing valuable turned up.”

Zhang Lishi’s eyes darted around. “Go invite your aunt inside for a chat.”

Qian Cuimiao knew her mother-in-law intended to search the baby herself. She agreed with a smile and went out to tell Old Madam Su that it was windy outside, and she was worried it might cause her to catch a chill, so she invited her into the main hall to sit.

Old Madam Su chuckled after hearing this and praised her thoughtfulness. She handed her hooded cloak to Li Sumei, then carried little Su Huan into the main hall to speak with Zhang Lishi.

As they left, Liu Yingying leaned over to Li Sumei and asked, “What did Mother give you just now?”

Li Sumei quietly lifted the cloak a little to reveal what was hidden inside.

It was the Seven-Treasure Longevity Lock that had been around little Su Huan’s neck earlier.

The agate that had originally been missing had been replaced by a luminous pearl the Su family had found inside a river clam, so the necklace glowed brightly at night.

Liu Yingying wasn’t foolish—she understood at a glance. This was their mother protecting the baby from this family.

Wu Chunhe, watching the Zhang family members sneakily returning the bundles and luggage they had searched, scoffed coldly. “Didn’t you see how that family went through our belongings? If Mother hadn’t told us to tolerate it and pretend we didn’t notice, I would’ve smacked them already!”

The Su family had fled famine all the way here—they were on high alert and sharp. There was no way they wouldn’t notice their luggage being rifled through for so long.

But since they were relying on others for shelter, they had no choice but to endure.

Su Lao’er sighed, wrapping an arm around his wife. “If we’d known this aunt would treat us like this, we should’ve stayed at an inn in the capital.”

Su Laosan gave a bitter smile. “We’d need a registered household just to stay at an inn.”

It all came back to the issue of household registration.

Without it, even if they stayed at an inn, they’d risk being reported or investigated by the authorities and end up being taken away as forced labor, just like any other refugee.

Their only option was to endure here at the Zhang household for a day and wait until their uncle returned to see if he could help them get registered.

Zhang Xiaolan patted her husband’s shoulder and looked anxiously toward the main hall. “I wonder what Mom and Aunt are talking about. Will Wuya be alright?”

Li Sumei bit her lip with concern, recalling how the man in the alley mentioned the Zhang family had moved to Qingshui Village. She also remembered how her mother reacted when she tried to hide Wuya’s seven-treasure necklace. She sighed deeply.

Mother truly had foresight—this Zhang family couldn’t be trusted.

Inside the main hall, Zhang Lishi had been chatting and laughing with Old Madam Su for a while. Finally, after complimenting little Su Huan for the tenth time, she managed to make Old Madam Su, the proud grandmother, beam with joy—just in time to reach out and hold Su Huan.

Su Huan was uncomfortable as the old woman’s rough hands fumbled all over her, and in her distress, she couldn’t hold it in anymore—splash!

A stream of urine soaked Zhang Lishi’s hands.

Su Huan wiggled in relief, her cheeks glowing pink with comfort.

Ahh… that felt good…

Zhang Lishi’s face instantly darkened. She almost reflexively wanted to slap the child, but Old Madam Su quickly snatched her back and exclaimed, “Oh dear! I forgot I needed to change my granddaughter’s diaper!”

Then, pinching her nose, she looked at Zhang Lishi with exaggerated disgust. “Tsk, Sister-in-law, didn’t I warn you not to hold her? But you insisted! Now look—peed all over you! Serves you right. You reek! Go change your clothes, quick!”

Zhang Lishi was already furious after being peed on, but now, being mocked like this made her feel like her chest would burst with rage. Yet Old Madam Su didn’t even give her time to retort. She turned around and called Li Sumei in to help change the baby’s diaper.

Zhang Lishi had no choice but to swallow her anger. She glared fiercely at Su Huan and snapped at Qian Cuimiao, “Eldest daughter-in-law, come back to the room with me!”

Most people steal chickens and end up losing the rice; she tried to steal riches and ended up drenched in pee. It was infuriating!

As Zhang Lishi hobbled away, slamming her cane with every step, Qian Cuimiao’s heart jumped in panic. She lowered her head and followed her into the room, nervously trying to calm her down.