The next day, before dawn, Su Qingyu was woken up by her mother.

She was in a daze and hadn’t slept enough, so Mother Su nagged her while she and Su Qingliu finished washing her and put on her bridal garment.

Getting married in rural areas was not so particular, and usually, no one put on makeup or powder. When getting married, they simply applied lip rouge to their lips and cheeks. Su Qingyu wanted to change her image as a country bumpkin by taking care of her skin, but she didn’t get enough chance to do so.

As soon as she finished dressing up, Xiao Qingyang came up and hugged her tightly, burying her head in her arms.

Su Qingyu thought he was reluctant to let her go, so she patted him comfortingly. But only Xiao Qingyang knew that he heard what the two sisters said last night.

Great energy and vision surged in the hearts of the little guy.

“Sister, I will be obedient in the future and work hard to learn my skills. I will let my parents and you live a good life!”

With the eldest brother was away, he was the backbone of the family. From this moment on, he would support his second sister, and he would definitely do it!

Su Qingyu was very moved when she heard this. This little thing was usually very sensible, but before she left the house, he came over and said these sensational words to her.

“Okay, stay at home, listen to your parents, and learn more skills. When your sister learns the calligraphy in a while, she will come back to teach you. I will also send you to school next year to study.”

“Yeah.”

Xiao Qingxing saw her brother. Niwai and her sister also came to hug Su Qingyu. This made Su’s father, Su’s mother, and Su Qingliu even more uncomfortable.

“Qingyu.”

Su Qingyu looked towards the door.

Xiǎoshū ^[1]little uncle, brother of one’s father who is younger to him Su Siquan came over and handed her a pair of silver earrings.

Su Qingyao smiled at him and took it: “Thank you, sì shū.” ^[2]fourth uncle

Su Siquan was a little shy, gave the thing, and said a few words before going out.

Su Qingyu watched him go out and squeezed the things in his hands. She didn’t have much contact with this fourth uncle. Seeing that he was not very talkative, she never took the initiative to talk to him. He was young. When Su’s mother gave birth to Su Qingsong and Su Qingliu, he was not yet born, so he was only one year older than her.

Father Su looked at his youngest brother and felt somewhat comforted.

Mother Su, on the other hand, had mixed feelings.

When Su Siquan was born, Wang Shi was old and had no milk to feed him, so she left him with Mother Su.

At that time, Su Qingliu had not yet been weaned, but Wang Shi threw Su Siquan to her, so Su Qingliu didn’t have enough to eat. The food in the countryside was not good, and Wang Shi did not give her preferential meals when she gave birth. Her milk was not enough for the two children, so she had to stop Su Qingliu’s milk and feed Su Siquan exclusively.

When Su Qingliu was young, she didn’t have enough milk to drink and was raised to be thin and weak, while Su Siquan was raised to be chubby and fair-skinned. Qingliu helped take care of Su Siquan and several younger siblings from a young age, starting to work despite being too young when the stove was high. As she was about to get married, life didn’t improve for her. Wang Shi arranged for her to marry into such a household…

Qingliu was living like this now, Mother Su cried for a long time last night.

Qingyu was married this morning, so she had to brace herself up and deal with it.

At this time, Zhang Shi felt somewhat comforted when she saw that Su Siquan had given Qing Nao a pair of silver earrings as a dowry.

Things were given to the second and third bedrooms in the house, and even her dàgū ^[3]Eldest sister of father who had not returned asked someone to send things back. However, only Su Baozhu, her èrgū ^[4]second sister of father who sold the young girl, showed no expression.

Qingyu was about to leave soon, and her family had just returned. However, upon returning, they didn’t show much enthusiasm. They didn’t offer to help; instead, they casually sat in the courtyard chatting with villagers.

She was afraid that others wouldn’t know that she had property in the town. As soon as Mother Su was thinking about it in her heart, Second Aunt Su appeared.

“Oh, Qingyu looks much better in this outfit, not so dark anymore.”

Su Qingyu wanted to roll her eyes after hearing this.

“Now that you are marrying town, you will be close to your second aunt, so you have to come and go often. Your mother didn’t agree before. How good the Lu family is. They have a shop, a house, and fields, and they also hire part-time workers. There is no need to worry about the housework, when you get married, you will be like a young madam when you walk in…”

Mother Su didn’t want to hear so much from her, but she still boasted of her own merits.

She interrupted her and said, “What your èrgū means is that she’s hoping that in the future, my son-in-law will have a good fate. Your second aunt will certainly lend a hand. She is living in town, after all, which is more convenient than our village.”

Su Baozhu’s expression changed on her face, and she forced a smile, saying, “Of course, that’s for sure. My dear niece, we’re family. How could we stand by and watch?”

Su Qingyu glanced at her face and felt that her second aunt was quite talkative, and everyone in the family was a little bit… like old man Su Tou, who was not good at talking. Su Baozhu was more like Wang Shi.

Just as she was thinking about it, she heard a scoff from someone beside her.

She turned around and saw her cousin Zhao Yanran looking at her with disdain.

The fifteen-year-old girl was well-nourished, fair-skinned, with a beautiful complexion. She wore bright and colorful clothes, adorned with pearls and jade on her head, and a pair of heavy silver bracelets on her hands, dressed like someone from a wealthy family.

Not in tune with country girls.

Zhao Yanran originally came to see the wedding and the bride. After all, what girl didn’t yearn to get married? Normally she didn’t come to Qiaotou Village very often. This time she heard that her cousin was getting married, so her mother coaxed her to come to her maternal grandfather’s house early in the morning with her parents and brothers to see the bride.

Who would have thought that there was no red makeup in the courtyard, the bride did not have a phoenix crown, no exquisite makeup, no wedding bride, no jewelry, no one added makeup, and it was not even festive and lively.

This was not a wedding!

Zhao Yanran had deep disappointment on her face.

She hadn’t slept enough yet, so she came to see a wedding. What was she seeing?

There was dissatisfaction on her face, but she didn’t know how to hide it, and she showed her dissatisfaction and disdain clearly.

Su Qingyu looked at her face and saw that she had turned around and left. She was not going to talk to her. Why bother with a little girl?

Second Aunt Su put down a piece of cloth and also followed her daughter out. After giving birth to three children, she only had one daughter. She had been holding her in the palm of her hand since she was young. If it weren’t for coaxing her to come and see the marriage, she wouldn’t have planned to come to her natal home. Afraid that she might show her emotions on her face and give others something to talk about, she hurriedly followed her out.

Mother Su looked at the piece of cloth that Aunt Su put down, and glared at Father Su angrily: “Look at your good sister, every time she comes back, she wears gold and silver, for fear that others won’t know that she is well married. But her zhí nǚ ^[5]daughter of your brother is getting married, and she gives her just a piece of cloth? If it weren’t for her, our girl wouldn’t have to marry into the Lu family. In the future…”

“What are you talking about? It’s a happy day.” Father Su interrupted Mother Su’s chatter.

“Mom, why bother with her? It’s okay if we don’t treat her the same way she treats us in the future.” Su Qingliu persuaded.

“Mom, life is how people live it. I will live it well in the future. Don’t worry.” Su Qingyu also said.

Su’s mother was still upset: “Your dàgū is poor, yet she asked someone to bring back a few pieces of cloth and two hundred coins. She is much better married than your dàgū, yet she still behaves like this…”

Father Su was silent for a while and then said: “Do you think something happened to the eldest sister? No one from her family came for Qingyu’s marriage.”

(End of Chapter)