Chapter 28 Way to Go
Seeing this, everyone else's faces darkened.
This brat has no manners—over a bite of food, he tried to hit his own aunt?
"Mom! Don't hurt my mom!" Zai Zai and Niu Niu immediately moved to shield Su He.
But Su He was faster than Tie Zhu. She caught his hand, smiling coldly.
Tie Zhu shivered under her stare but then felt a sharp pain in his hand, making him bawl his eyes out.
"Grandma! Grandma!" he cried, tears streaming as he called for Zhang Shufen.
"Oh, my precious, what's wrong?" Zhang Shufen wiped his tears, heartbroken.
Taking the chance, Su He released Tie Zhu's hand and pulled Zai Zai and Niu Niu closer to her.
Unable to explain himself, Tie Zhu just kept crying. With no other choice, Zhang Shufen had to take her grandchildren home.
On the way back, she couldn't help but grumble, taking it out on her granddaughters.
Su He watched, frowning, displeased.
The others, seeing how Su He had handled Zhang Shufen with just a few words—sending her home without even getting a meal—looked at her in awe.
Only Fu Dajun looked concerned and asked Su He, "That stuff you said about Tie Zhu being sick—was that real?"
Wu Yanhua had been pleased to see Zhang Shufen humiliated, but when her husband showed concern for someone else's grandson—especially the grandson of someone she despised—she snapped.
"What the hell is wrong with you? You don't even care about your own daughter-in-law's health, but you're worried about Zhang Shufen's grandson first?" With Zhang Shufen out of earshot, Wu Yanhua finally exploded with years of pent-up resentment.
"From the day I married you, you've told me to give in, to let her have her way.
Do you even know what I've been through? Even now that we've split households, you still tell me to yield.
She waltzes in and pushes us around, and you still tell me to back down. Fu Dajun, do you even have a conscience?
You don't want to let down your late elder brother, you don't want to embarrass him—but what about me?" Sobbing, Wu Yanhua ran into the room, ignoring everyone else.
The kids stood there, uncomfortable, not daring to speak as their parents argued.
They'd put up with enough over the years.
Honestly, nobody cared if Zhang Shufen mooched food.
But every time, she'd whine—"not enough meat," or complain about the cooking being bad—as if this were her own home.
She played the matriarch, bossing around Fu Dajun and his sons and daughters-in-law.
Who'd put up with that? She had no sense of boundaries or propriety.
After their parents retreated to their room, third sister-in-law Chen Sufen couldn't help but give Su He a thumbs-up and said, "Su He, way to go!"
Eldest sister-in-law Zhang Xiaohua also whispered, "After all these years, it's the first time I've seen Aunt leave our house without even getting a meal."
"Exactly, Su He is amazing," second sister-in-law He Fangfang added.
Chatting and laughing, the family began setting the table for dinner.
After returning to the room, Fu Dajun began pacifying Wu Yanhua again. This scenario was common in the Fu household—whenever Zhang Shufen visited, Wu Yanhua would inevitably quarrel with Fu Dajun.
"Fu... Fu Dajun, if... if you keep letting Zhang Shufen come to our house and throw her weight around, I'm divorcing you!" Wu Yanhua sobbed as she spoke.
"Oh, it's not that serious. She doesn't come often—just put up with it," Fu Dajun said, only adding fuel to the fire.
"Not often? Once or twice a week isn't enough? Do you need to see her every day for it to count as 'often'?" Wu Yanhua was furious and didn't want to deal with this infuriating old fool anymore.
"What am I supposed to do? My sister-in-law did take care of me for a while when I was young.
And my elder brother—he worked as an apprentice, got beaten and cursed just to earn a little money to support us. It left him with health problems for life.
Before he passed, he told me to take care of his wife and children. I can't go against his last words. Otherwise, how could I face him after I die?"
Fu Dajun was also at a loss. He knew Zhang Shufen was in the wrong, but she was old now, and he didn't want to argue with her anymore.
"You think I haven't suffered? I'm tired of arguing with you—it's always the same." Wu Yanhua was actually quite patient; otherwise, she wouldn't have endured Chen Shufen's behavior for so many years, nor would she have been fooled by her husband's stubborn sense of duty for so long.
The couple talked for a while longer until their eldest son, Fu Guoqing, knocked on the door to call them out for dinner. Not wanting to make a scene in front of their children and daughters-in-law, Wu Yanhua eventually went out.
But after Zhang Shufen's outburst, Wu Yanhua warmed up to Su He and even said to her, "If you're ever too busy, just bring the kids to me—I'll watch them for you. Even though we're in the countryside, little kids still need someone to look after them."
Su He was momentarily stunned by Wu Yanhua's words but quickly replied, "I understand. Thank you, Mom."
Because of Zhang Shufen, Wu Yanhua found Su He much more agreeable.
"You said earlier that being overweight caused health problems—was that true?" Wu Yanhua asked again.
"Yes, being too heavy isn't good for the body."
"Then you should work harder—what was it you said? Right, weight loss. Lose weight properly, understand?"
Come to think of it, if Su He weren't so heavy, she'd actually be a good fit for my son.
Her father was a teacher, their family lived in the city, and they had city household registration. Wu Yanhua didn't even expect Su He to be particularly pretty—just ordinary would've been fine.
Before, Wu Yanhua had thought there was something off about Su He, but after spending time with her these past few days, she realized she might have been the one with the problem—looking at Su He through biased eyes, always finding faults.
After the meal, Su He took her two children home.
Before leaving, she told her sisters-in-law about some maintenance advice for the Fire Durian Saplings and asked them to keep an eye on them.
Though it might seem like Su He's family weren't lacking for food and clothing, the truth was, she was broke.
She needed to find a way to earn money and planned to figure it out carefully once she got home.
"Mom, Zhuang Zhuang took us out to play lots of fun games these past two days!" Niu Niu hugged Su He's arm excitedly.
"Good. You can play more with the other kids from now on," Su He said as she bathed the two children.
"Mom, this shampoo smells so sweet! Today, Ya Ya even asked me why my hair and body smelled so good." Niu Niu was probably talking about the shampoo Su He had gotten from her [hidden] stash.
"What did you say?" Su He asked.
"I told her my mom put the sweet-smelling stuff on me. The other girls at home were so envious—they said I have such a good mom." Niu Niu said proudly.
"Well, every mom is unique. Their moms are good too—they just have their own ways of showing love."