Chapter 17: Pressure from Mother Su, Let’s Be Honest

Xin Huimin glanced at Su Jinyan in front of her with a faint expression. The longing she had felt over the past few days was suppressed for the moment, replaced by confusion about how Su Jinyan had changed so much over the years.

Once proud, innocent to the point of foolishness, and a bit arrogant, but now…

Xin Huimin found herself at a loss for words to describe her daughter.

After a long pause, she finally said, “Let’s talk about your marriage. Don’t tell me you’re in love.”
Su Jinyan felt a headache coming on. Facing Xin Huimin made her feel overwhelmed. The words were stuck in her throat, and after mulling over it for a while, she decided to speak the truth. “I’m sorry, Mom. I let you down.”

“I didn’t know that the human heart could be so treacherous. After going down to the countryside, I realized how poor the meals were for the educated youth.”

“They could barely fill their stomachs with corn and coarse grains every day. Meals were always the same: corn porridge, boiled potatoes or cabbage, and hard, black corn bread. I simply couldn’t get used to it, so I took the money vouchers to the town to buy some oil, grain, and seasonings, and I cooked separately after buying some eggs, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and vegetables from the villagers.”

“At first, seeing their miserable state, I would stew potatoes or improve their meals and give them some.”

“Who would have thought that greed would lead to disaster? They wanted to partner with me in meals, claiming that it would be better to mix fine and coarse grains. They offered to cook, but I didn’t agree, so I distanced myself from them.”

“I thought it would get better after a while, like with my classmates, but they were much worse than I expected. Soon enough, gossip spread around the village claiming I was the daughter of a landlord, eating fine grains and eggs every day.”

“Is it because my face is too pretty? The boys in the village chased after me and helped me with my work, while some of the male educated youth in the group fawned over me, helping me gather firewood. At first, I was a bit pleased, because working was exhausting, and I just couldn’t keep up.”

“But I never intended to exploit them. They helped me with work, and I would treat them to meals every now and then, which counted as payment.”

“Who would have thought that before long, I’d earned a reputation for being lazy and a seductress, a fox spirit enticing man, and the daughter of a landlord?”
“In my second year in the countryside, while washing clothes by the river, I got into a fight with a female educated youth who pushed me, and I fell into the river.”

“At that moment, Zhao Yuanyi saved me…”

“My reputation was gone, but Zhao Yuanyi is quite good-looking, and I saw that he had considerable prestige in the village, so I married him.”

“After marriage, he treated me well, and the Zhao family treated me well too. They didn’t let me work or do housework, so life has been pretty good.”

After about ten minutes of explanation, silence fell in the living room again.

Xin Huimin looked down, lost in thought, while Su Chengguo sat on the stairs, smoking quietly. The ticking of the clock filled the air, and Su Jinyan sipped her water, counting the ticks absently.

Even though Su Jinyan had embellished the story, from what she said, she had the same nature as the daughter they knew.

Over the past few days, Xin Huimin had also sent someone to check on Su Jinyan’s affairs over the years and had learned a rough idea of the circumstances.

After about ten minutes, or perhaps longer, Xin Huimin asked softly, “Have you told them about our family?”

Su Jinyan shook her head. “I only mentioned a little to Zhao Yuanyi when I called Dad to say I was bringing them back. I told him that dad works in the military and that you’re a researcher. Just that much, but don’t worry, Zhao Yuanyi is tight-lipped; he hasn’t even mentioned it to his parents.”

Xin Huimin narrowed her eyes, pondering, then asked her, “What about the money our family has been giving you these years?”
If she’d spent it all, especially on that poor family, she wouldn’t rule out that Zhao Yuanyi’s family had their eyes on her daughter’s money.

Su Jinyan pressed her lips together. “I’ve saved it all. I bought a few clothes for myself and the child, spent a few dozen yuan and fabric vouchers, but the rest has all been saved, and I exchanged tickets with villagers for cash.”

“Were the Zhao family useless? What do you eat every day?”

That poor family was unwilling to accept her daughter’s contributions, too proud to accept help while making life hard for her. At the same time, Xin Huimin felt sorry for her daughter and somewhat resentful of Zhao Yuanyi, whom she had yet to meet.

Su Jinyan smiled slightly. “Mom, don’t worry about that. Zhao Yuanyi has his ways of earning money. Ever since I married him, I haven’t spent a cent; I eat fine grains every day and haven’t eaten even a single corn bun.”

That was somewhat unexpected. But “Ways to earn money, Mom? Unlawful income?”

Su Jinyan hesitated for a moment, but under Xin Huimin’s immense pressure, she decided to give Zhao Yuanyi a warning in advance. “He might be doing some black-market dealings to earn a profit. Mom, in this era, without a job and relying on those meager work points, it’s hard enough to feed oneself, let alone provide good food for a wife and child. Your niece is still on formula! The official income is those work points; how can that support a family?”

Husband, I really don’t mean to betray you, just giving you a heads-up so they can prepare a little.

Xin Huimin shot her a side glance, lost in thought again, and didn’t speak.

Time ticked by, and Su Jinyan felt unbearably sleepy. She couldn’t help but yawn, then smiled somewhat flatteringly. “Mom, how about we sleep first? Do you have any more questions? Tomorrow we can continue the interrogation. I promise I’ll tell you everything.”

Xin Huimin pursed her lips and looked at her, that gaze seemed to pierce right through her exterior into her soul. Su Jinyan’s heart skipped a beat, feeling a bit scared of this commanding matriarch.

She was even scarier than her mother in her previous life when she was serious.

“Alright, go to sleep. You know the room, right?”

Su Jinyan: !!!

She forced a smile, thinking about the unfortunate end of Xin Huimin in the book. She stepped forward and hugged her, patting her back. “Mom, it’s been almost three years. I missed you so much. I’m so happy to see you again today.”

After five years in the countryside, Su Jinyan had only returned home once, and even then, she only saw the fleeting Xin Huimin.

Xin Huimin’s body stiffened as she allowed Su Jinyan to hug her, her mouth tightly closed, and her eyes stung with tears.

Didn’t she miss her daughter too?

“Alright, hurry up and go to bed.”

Once she released Xin Huimin, Su Jinyan noticed her mother’s eyes were moist. She instinctively followed her past behavior of comforting her mother, helping her wipe away her tears. “Oh no, I made my dear mother sad right after I got back. That’s really not right. Don’t cry, it’s okay, be good.”

Xin Huimin couldn’t help but laugh in anger, reaching over to pat her head. “After a few years apart, how did you become so cheeky?”

Su Jinyan laughed naturally. “Hehe, I’ve gotten too used to charming kids.”
“Okay, mom, get some rest. Goodnight.”

“Go to sleep.”

The long train journey had exhausted Su Jinyan. She went upstairs back to the original owner’s bedroom.

The room had a desk lamp on, and Zhao Hua was sleeping on one side. Su Chengguo had thoughtfully placed a pillow beside her to prevent her from falling off the bed, and there was a neatly folded set of pink pajamas on the bed.

Looking at her sleeping daughter, Su Jinyan went upstairs to the bathroom to wash up briefly, changed into her pajamas, and went to bed.

She fell asleep immediately and didn’t wake up until midday the next day.

When she awakened, she was momentarily disoriented by the unfamiliar surroundings before remembering she had returned to the Su family. Turning around, she discovered the child was no longer there.

Xin Huimin must have taken the child away for fear that she would wake her.