Susu, who had been realized as clever, was currently holding Xiao Yu in her sleep, completely oblivious to the topic her in-laws were discussing, or she would have been curious about who the Old Blind Man was.
The little guy's face was rosy and nestled in Susu's arms, even the corners of his mouth were curled up.
Being careful not to wake the little monkey in her arms, Susu tiptoed from the bed and looked up only to meet the sleepy eyes of the little fellow.
Xiao Yu rubbed his eyes and deftly climbed out of bed, "Aunt, wait for me."
Susu helplessly led the little rascal out to wash up.
Sitian Village
"What? You're saying my Erya is setting up a stall in the county?"
Mrs. Su, Li Chunjuan, shouted and then waved her hands indicating it was impossible, "My Erya is living the good life in Provincial City, how could she possibly come back to set up a stall? Jianguo's mother, you must have seen wrong."
"How could I? Even if your Erya turned to ash, I'd recognize her. Not to mention her mother-in-law was there with a little kid."
Jianguo's mother, cracking seeds, stared with wide eyes, "And I watched for quite a while, the business was booming, they must have made about seven or eight yuan a day."
"What? Seven or eight yuan?"
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Su grabbed a hoe, took her man and child, and headed back home.
The other women listened, their eyes widening, all exclaiming in wonder.
...
In those days, everyone hoped to work in factories for an iron rice bowl, with exception to those families with dependents, for single men and women, one well-fed person meant the whole family wasn't hungry.
Right then, a pot of marinated goods was enthusiastically purchased by the textile mill workers, selling out in no time.
Plenty of latecomers complained that there were too few marinated goods, asking the owner to make more next time.
Even on the way home, Mrs. Lu suggested making more each day, since they could handle the extra workload.
Feeling good, Susu explained to her mother-in-law, "Mom, this is called 'scarcity marketing.'
"What is scarcity marketing?"
As both old and young stared in curious perplexity, Susu simply explained it to them.
Mrs. Lu nodded, "Oh—, so it's about making others rush and scramble to buy our stuff? Is that the idea?"
"Yeah! Pretty much that."
Susu gave her mother-in-law a thumbs up, her face full of sincerity, which made Mrs. Lu a bit embarrassed.
From a distance, the family of three saw three people squatting at their doorstep and, before reaching the door, heard Mrs. Su's loud voice.
"Oh my, Erya, mother-in-law, you guys are finally back."
Laughing with a face full of wrinkles, Mrs. Su eyed her bicycle from side to side, "Oh dear, did you sell everything? Does that not mean you'd make about thirty yuan a month?"
Susu looked at her original mother, her face aching with the sheer sycophancy, "How did you know about this?"
"Oh my, you ungrateful girl, coming back without visiting your own home. You don't know how Baocai has been missing his second sister every day. If it hadn't been for Jianguo's mother who just happened to see in town, you heartless wretch...
Susu's head buzzed with the noise, her patience running low, and she headed straight into the house.
Anticipating another freeloader visit by the in-laws, Mrs. Lu was not exactly fond of them but still greeted the mother and son with a smile.
"Second sister, why did you take so long to come back? I'm almost starving to death." Su Baogen pouted, and walked towards the kitchen, rummaging through cabinets looking for food.
Susu immediately hardened her face, grabbed Bao Gen by the ear, and dragged him out, "What's with this nonsense? Taking things without asking is stealing, watch out or I'll call the police on you."
"Waa waa waa—Mom, second sister is bullying Bao—"
Watching the mother and son from the Su Family cry and roll on the ground, Susu couldn't help but laugh.
Seeing this, Mrs. Lu quickly stepped in to speak kindly, then went back inside to get some money to buy food.
Susu, ignoring the ceaselessly crying mother and son, started washing pots and pans by herself.
Seeing no one paying attention to her, Mrs. Su cozily approached, "Erya, is that your cousin's kid? I remember your cousin having two daughters..."
Mrs. Su, who had talked until she was spitting, saw her second child ignoring her and felt like beating the girl, but she dared not reach out due to the fierce look in the girl's eyes.
"What's that thing?"
"This little thing, is she adopted by the second child's family? Not a relative of yours?"
Mrs. Lu was startled by the aggressive mother-in-law, then she saw Mrs. Su pulling a face.
"Not to say anything, but someone else's brat can never truly be brought up as one's own. My son-in-law earns a good salary, but that doesn't mean money should be wasted like this."
"Exactly, where do these little bastards come from? Don't stick around in my sister's house. Be careful or I will beat you."
Su Baogen said, even waved his fist fiercely.
"Slap—"
Susu slapped him across the face and said coldly, "Calling someone a little bastard again and again, is this how you were raised? Apologize to Xiao Yu right now!"
"Ouch, I'm dying, I'm dying, you dead girl, how could you hit your brother for a stranger, your mother..."
Mrs. Su was raising her dry, cracked hand while speaking, but she was intimidated by Susu's fierce look and hesitated to bring it down.
Seeing his mother couldn't help him, Su Baogen, with tears and snot on his face, stammered softly, "So-sorry."
"Louder!"
"Sorry!"
Looking at Su Baogen's tear-streaked face, Susu disdainfully turned away and quietly comforted the visibly frightened Xiao Yu.
Su Baogen: "."
Seeing her daughter-in-law not behaving as usual but instead intimidating that terrible mother and son, Mrs. Lu could hardly believe it.
After a rare moment of silence, just as Susu was half asleep, the terrible original mother quietly snuck over again.
"Erya, Mom's doing this for your own good, you and your husband have that money, it would be better to give it to Mom..."
Buzzing in her ears, Susu opened her eyes irritably, staring silently at Mrs. Su.
Frightened by the black eyes staring at her, Mrs. Su shivered involuntarily.
Mrs. Lu, who bought large meat buns specially for lunch, packed them up for the mother-in-law and sent her out the door, sighing in relief.
"Oh dear, my poor child, that dead girl is getting out of hand."
Mrs. Su, looking heartbroken, gazed at the slap mark on her son's face, jumped lightly and cursed softly at the door.
Su Baogen grimaced and grabbed a large meat bun to gnaw on.
"Er…"
As Mrs. Lu was in the midst of her tirade, the door suddenly opened.
Susu stared at the stunned mother and son at the door, her brows furrowed enough to kill a mosquito.
The Su mother and son, as if seeing a ghost, ran off in a puff of smoke.
Susu: "…"
"Bang bang bang—"
Thinking it was the terrible mother and brother of her original body again, Susu irritably dropped the ingredients in her hand, holding up a kitchen knife.
"Still here?"
"Se-second sister-in-law? What are you doing?"
Susu stood holding the kitchen knife, looking at the doorway dazed, blinking her eyes: "Hehe, why, why are you back?"
It was the Lu siblings at the door.
Lu Xiaoting frowned, looked around, took the kitchen knife from Susu's hand and whispered, "What happened? What's the matter?"