Chapter 6 - Not a dream (3)
"What are you guys doing? Is there anything to eat? I'm starving." A 17 year old boy ran in from outside. It was the third sibling, Su Xiaozhi. Seeing his big brother and sister-in-law, he frowned.
He turned around to open the iron pot at the door, but there was nothing inside.
He said in surprise, "You guys didn't leave any food for me?" No matter how late he came home before, there would always be warm food waiting for him. At the very least, there would always be steamed cornbread left.
Su Lin touched her stomach and unhappily said, "What are you complaining about? I haven't eaten either!"
Su Xiaozhi said, "That's because you don't want to eat. Don't blame anyone else." Then, he looked around. "Where's big sister? Let her cook me a meal. I'm starving. I've been playing ball all afternoon."
Su Dazhi, Liu Mei, and Su Lin pointed to the drawn curtain on the bed at the same time.
"She's asleep."
Su Xiaozhi walked over and lifted the curtain to see that his big sister was sleeping soundly .
He shook the bed, "Sis, I'm hungry."
"Go find your mom if you're hungry, I'm not your mom.." Su Yu mumbled .
Su Yu was not sleeping soundly at all, she was having a nightmare.
In the dream, she turned into a sixteen-year-old girl who had just lost her parents. Her younger siblings were still young, so she gave up going to high school to take her mother's position in the factory in order to support her younger siblings.
Every day, she not only has to take on a heavy workload, but she also has to go home and take care of her younger siblings.
Every day, she doesn't eat enough food or get enough sleep. She was overworking herself to death.
Su Yu scolded herself and told herself to not to do such stupid things, but she couldn't control her body. Every day, she tirelessly wore herself out for others. She was angry enough to almost vomit blood.
Fortunately, she was still clear-headed and knew that she was dreaming.
Yes, yes, it's all a dream. She was the head of the Su family. Regardless if it was the employees at the company or the members of her family, they all had to look at her face. She wouldn't become this kind of honest person who was bullied. Even if it was her parents or younger siblings, she wouldn't let them bully her!
The sky was already bright when she woke up.
She sat up with a yawn and reached her hand out to find her phone, but the space was empty. She looked to the side and was immediately frozen in shock.
It took five seconds for her to come to her senses.
She was still in this h*llhole! Ahhh, wasn't she supposed to go back after a night's sleep? Why was she still here?!
She wasn't really stuck here, right?!
Su Yu fiercely rubbed her hair to a disheveled mess.
In this instant, all her thoughts were gone. Her hope was also gone. Yesterday's idea of a "day trip to the sixties" was also gone.
Now, it was very likely that her day trip would turn into a lifelong imprisonment.
"Sis, you're finally awake. Is there any food? I'm starving." Su Xiaozhi couldn't stand the hunger. He sat up from the bed and quickly called out when he saw Su Yu getting out of bed.
Su Yu was in an unhappy mood at the moment, and when she heard this, she glared at him. "Eat, eat, eat, you only know how to eat. Why are you calling out sis? If you want to eat, make it yourself. I'm not your mom!"
After angrily saying that, she walked out with her toiletries.
Seeing the shabby scene outside, she screamed a few times at the sky. The entire compound immediately became a scene of total disorder.
"W-What happened?"
"Which family is fighting?"
"Are the Su's fighting?"
"..."
Everyone else in the Su's, who had been frightened into sitting up: "..."
Su Yu's face was expressionless as she walked from the doorway to the shared bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.
It was only after fiercely rinsing her face with cold water that she calmed her pounding heart a bit. She tried her best to comfort herself. "At least I don't have to sleep on the streets. At least I'm not an unregistered resident. I have a decent job too. Although the place I'm living is a bit shabby...It's okay. Don't even the leaders in this time period have to live in a shared courtyard? It's okay that I don't have a housekeeper anymore. I can eat in the cafeteria. This family also has a few young, strong laborers at home who can help with cooking, pouring tea and water for me, and such."
After thinking about it this way, her heart was finally at ease.
There was food and drink, and there would soon be people to wait on her. It wasn't that different from her before... As for how she would get these people at home to listen to her, she wasn't worried about that.
Consider white-listing this website?
Chapter 7 - Divide and Conquer (1)
The compound had a communal shower room and shared the faucets inside. Su Yu just finished washing, and one after another, people came over to wash up. Seeing that Su Yu's face was dripping with water, they thought she had just cried.
Everyone knew about the Su's family matters. Wasn't this just a case of a man forgetting his mother figure after marrying?
It was a pity that Su Yu couldn't stand up for herself and failed to control her younger siblings. Her two youngest siblings were still young. They didn't have jobs, and they relied on their family for support. If the family really separated, how can the family live?
"Su Yu, are the children in your family still making trouble?" Mrs. Liu, who lived in the same compound, asked. She was married to Liu Mei's uncle. During this instance when Liu Mei was quarreling to separate the family, Mrs. Liu was meddling and making it worse.
The other people in the compound were aware of this. They all exchanged looks with each other and watched Su Yu while brushing their teeth.
Mrs. Liu smiled and said, "If you want me to say something, a couple should have their own home after getting married. If your parents were here, they would have helped Dazhi and his wife with the living arrangements. As the saying goes, the eldest sister is a mother figure. As the eldest sister, you should be accommodating to your younger siblings. Dragging it out like this won't work."
Su Yu resisted rolling her eyes. This person really treats others as fools. Saying nonsense that the eldest sister is a mother figure. This bullying tactic only worked on honest people.
Su Yu sighed and said, "Mrs. Liu, don't even mention it. In the past, when my parents just passed away, Dazhi was so sensible then. He said he wanted to be the pillar of the family and to help me raise our younger siblings together. But, he forgot all about his siblings after marrying a wife. So, when marrying a wife, you have to look at her character. If you marry a wife with poor character, then you'll become a heartless person. Let me ask you. How did her parents raise such a daughter? A dragon begets a dragon, a phoenix begets a phoenix, and a mouse's son will make holes."
(T/N: Su Yu's last sentence is a proverb that means that children are influenced by nature (genetics) and nurture (how their parents raised them).)
"Pfft-" When someone heard this, he couldn't help but laugh, even spitting out the toothpaste in his mouth. When he looked at Mrs. Liu, he saw that her face had already changed colors in anger.
Mrs. Liu gritted her teeth and said, "Su Yu, it's really not nice of you to say that. Why have you become so mean?"
Su Yu said, "The truth isn't pleasant to hear. I'm not being mean. Who let me meet a mean sister-in-law? If I don't act this way, my younger brother and sister will have to sleep on the streets. Mrs. Liu, you should help persuade Liu Mei when you have the chance. Otherwise, the other daughters-in-law in the compound will learn from her and do the same thing."
The other people's expressions suddenly looked a bit bad, especially the expressions of the older people. The ones that had a married son were sweating and felt as if their chest was tight. If the Su's eldest son and his wife succeeded in getting a separation, would the daughter-in-laws in their families be tempted?
All young couples would like to have a single room to themselves.
Su Yu didn't care that Mrs. Liu was so angry that her mouth was askew. She sighed and went back with the basin. On her way back, she met the Su siblings, who had come over to wash up. They saw her, but these guys didn't even greet her. It was obvious they were sulking.
Su Yu didn't care about them. In her opinion, these guys were owed a lesson.
In the beginning, the original Su Yu raised these three siblings on her own. Although Su Dazhi joined the workforce later on, he soon met Liu Mei. Thus, his salary and tickets ended up in the hands of the Liu's. The original Su Yu was the only one that rushed about to prepare for his wedding. She had paid for everything out of her pocket, but in the end, Su Dazhi didn't appreciate his big sister's kindness. He listened to his wife's instigations and wanted to separate the family.
As for the two youngest siblings, they were a lesson in not spoiling one's children. Su Xiaozhi complained all day that he didn't want to study. He was like a feral child that roamed everywhere. His older sister took care of him, but he didn't appreciate it and thought she was meddling in his life.
As for Su Lin, she was even more insensible. She looked as if she didn't understand the sufferings of the people. She liked to compare her food and clothing with others. If her older sister didn't give into her demands, she went on hunger strikes.
Su Yu had thought she could go back to her time, so she had a laissez-faire attitude towards this. Anyways, after she left, it was the original owner's business. She wasn't so bored that she would bother herself with it.
But now, it was different. She had become Big Sister Su.
There were some things that she must take care of. And as for sweeping these people out of the home, Su Yu has no such intention. These people were a labor force. At critical times, they can even look after and protect the home. After all, regardless of the era, there was a big difference between a single woman and a family.
Back home, Su Yu began to take inventory of her assets. If she had to continue living in this place, then she must ensure that she has enough to eat, drink, and live a good life.
The grocery had already been brought this month. Before she had transmigrated over, the other three would take food stamps to eat out, so there weren't many food stamps left. There were only three catties of food stamps left. If she went to the canteen to eat ready-made food, there was only enough to eat a few meals. It was only the middle of the month. She couldn't starve herself the rest of the month just to eat a few good meals at the canteen.
So until her payday, she can't go to the canteen to eat well.
When she looked in the cupboard where food was kept, she saw that there were still ten catties of rice and thirty pounds of cornmeal left, as well as some wheat bran and corn flour. These were the family's provisions for the month.
In the basket, there were two taels of fatty meat, which were saved from New Year's supply and had been made into bacon. The original owner would usually cut a few slices of the bacon and add it into the food to supplement the nutrition for her younger siblings. This bacon was the most precious thing for the whole family.
As she looked at these things, Su Yu's heart couldn't help but feel cold again. No matter how much she consoled herself, she couldn't change the fact that this was a time of scarcity. Not to mention, this family was so poor.
T/N: Unlike other '60-'70s novels, Su Yu won't be working on getting rich by making modern-day desserts or anything similar to that. Her family's problem is primarily that one adult is subsidizing a spoiled teenage girl, a rebellious teenage boy, and a man-child and his wife even though there are three employed adults in the family, along with other problems. In the next part, Su Yu will begin her campaign to harvest these siblings into her willing workers.
Chapter 8 - Divide and Conquer (2)
Dejected, she rubbed her face. She continued to be depressed as she grabbed a handful of rice, put it in the pot, cut a few pieces of meat, and put that into the pot. She wanted to make herself breakfast, but after a long time, she still couldn't start a fire for the stove and the smoke hurt her eyes.
My god, how was she supposed to live?
She rubbed her eyes, looking as if she was ready to die. No, this won't do. She had to hurry up with training the labor force.
"Big Sis, what's there to cry about? Are you done cooking yet?" Su Xiaozhi came over. He was the first one to finish washing up and had rushed back to eat breakfast. Every day, the first thing his older sister did after waking up was cook breakfast.
Sure enough, as soon as he came back, he saw his big sister at the stove. He was shocked to see her wiping away tears. He was about to starve to death. What was she crying for? Why wasn't she cooking?
Su Yu rubbed her red eyes and looked at Su Xiaozhi. She had the urge to scold just by looking at him.
Su Xiaozhi looked similar to Su Yu. He had a slim face, a long and thin body, and a pair of agile eyes. She could tell that he was a bratty child with an over-inflated ego and was restless all day long.
As she looked at this child, Su Yu immediately rubbed her eyes again to make her eyes red. She looked at Su Xiaozhi and said, "Why is Big Sis crying? Isn't it for you? Your older brother is quarreling to separate the family. If that happens, where will you live from now on? Big Sis and Little Lin are girls. We'll be able to find someone to marry in the future. We'll definitely have a place to live. But what will you do? You're a boy. If we separate, you won't even have a home of your own. Where will you live? How will you marry a wife?"
Su Xiaozhi was stunned. He knew all about his older brother wanting to separate the family, and he also thought that his older brother was too weak-minded. His older brother's wife had actually succeeded in instigating him to separate the family and take over their home.
However, he had always felt that this was a matter for his older sister to worry about. Even if he was unhappy about it, he won't spend effort to take care of this issue. But now that he heard Big Sis say that, he didn't feel well. Older brother was trying to snatch the room from him.
Su Yu patted his shoulder and said, "Xiaozhi, you're 17 years old. You've already grown up. In fact, I know you want to start working earlier because you want to share the burden with your family, so I've been working on helping you find a job. Once I find a job, you won't have to go to school."
When he heard Su Yu's words, Su Xiaozhi, who had been feeling confused, felt as if fireworks had gone off in his head. Looking bewildered, he asked, "Big Sis, really? You used to always force me to study." Whenever he said he didn't want to study, his older sister used to cry and insistently drag him to school.
"Really." Su Yu nodded her head.
Only the original owner, who was devoted to her younger siblings, would force her younger siblings to go to school. She hoped that education would give them a better future.
Su Yu didn't have that idea at all. Since he doesn't want to study, he should go out to find a job and support his family. It would be best if he turned in his salary to her, so that she could eat and drink.
"I thought it through. You're a man, a big man. You should have your own career. If you don't want to study, don't study. Big Sis supports you!"
Su Xiaozhi was overjoyed. "Big Sis, I'll definitely help you share the burden! Also, the family definitely won't separate. Don't worry!"
He brilliantly smiled. As long as he doesn't have to go to school, anything was fine. As for the matter of going to work, he wasn't worried about it. Anyways, work wasn't tiring. If it was tiring, then he won't go to work. He would just quit and have his older sister raise him.
Su Yu looked touched. "En, older sister will rely on you then." Then, she put the tongs in Su Xiaozhi's hand. "Older sister just cried a lot. My eyes don't feel uncomfortable. Light the fire first. We won't give them food today. Teach them a lesson. Let them know our power. Let's eat well ourselves. I'll help you look for a job after we finish eating."
Su Xiaozhi suddenly felt that he and his sister were on the same side. He immediately said, "Okay, older sister, you sit down, I'm the best at making fires."
For a teenager, who had done everything and had an over-inflated sense of his abilities, the matter of lighting a fire wasn't new. He quickly lit the fire.
Su Yu looked at the black smoke coming out of her stove and immediately covered her nose. She now incomparably missed the smoke-free kitchen at home. Ai, there was no hope for a smoke-free kitchen, but she can consider getting a coal stove.
Right after the fire was started, Su Dazhi, Liu Mei, and Su Lin came back.
Su Yu ignored them and sat on the bed to comb her hair. The original owner had waist-length hair, but unfortunately, most of her hair was withered and had split ends due to malnutrition. It wasn't beautiful at all. After combing her hair for a long time, she was barely able to braid her hair into pigtails.
Su Dazhi and the other two looked at Su Yu with strange expressions. She hadn't spoken to them all morning. Even breakfast was being cooked by Su Xiaozhi.
Su Dazhi was pushed out by Liu Mei. He stammered out, "Big Sis, umm... About our family affair… What do you think?"
"What's there to think? Big Brother, we can't separate!" Su Xiaozhi immediately said.
Liu Mei laughed. "Xiaozhi, this is a matter for adults. You're a child. Don't meddle."
"Why can't I have a say? I'm also a son of the Su's."
"Your big brother is the older son in the family."
"Big Sis is the oldest one and the one in charge of the family!" Su Xiaozhi resolutely supported his older sister.
Translator Ramblings: Divide and conquer XD.
I want to note that although Su Yu thinks, "It would be best if he turned in his salary to her, so that she could eat and drink", we'll soon see that she's a workaholic, and she has no intention to take advantage of the original owner's siblings. She just wants them to contribute something. Although dropping out of school is extreme by modern-day standards, I think letting him drop out so that he can see first-hand how hard it is to earn money is a good idea when their family has limited resources. If he decides that he can't take it, it's not too late for him to go back to school later.
And well, she's not their sister. She doesn't have familial affection for then, and she has a complicated relationship with her biological family.
What do you guys think of her actions?
Chapter 9 - Wahh, Big Sis doesn't love me anymore (1)
Seeing that Su Xiaozhi, who usually didn't bother to involve himself in family affairs, the other three people looked at him as if they were looking at something odd. Even Su Lin, who was sulking, looked at her brother.
Liu Mei felt that she was being bullied by her brother-in-law. He wasn't even an adult yet. She gritted her teeth and said, "Whatever. This family has to separate!"
"No, we can't separate!" Su Xiaozhi shouted.
"We must separate!" Liu Mei retorted.
Su Yu took a look at the two of them and didn't interrupt. Hearing the sound coming from the pot, Su Yu quickly got up to serve herself food. She filled up her bowl with half of the food and then said,"Xiaozhi, the food is ready. Stop arguing. Let's eat first."
A delicious scent had come out when Su Yu took the lid off. The other people in the house gulped. Big Sis had actually cooked meat congee!
Su Xiaozhi had been ravenous for a while, so when he heard this and smelled the food, he hurriedly went to get his utensil and bowl.
Su Yu hadn't cooked much. After she took half of it, there was only half a bowl of food left in the pot. He was salivating as he nimbly poured the congee into his bowl. Anyways, Big Sis said she didn't want to give any of the food to their brother and sister-in-law. Still, he thought of his younger sister. He turned back and looked at Su Lin. "Old Fourth, come get some."
Su Lin was about to lift her foot, but then she thought of something. She looked at Su Yu, who was eating with her head down, and pouted. "No, I won't eat. I might as well die!"
She was determined to get her older sister to buy her a Bulaji dress.
(T/N: Below is a picture of a Bulaji dress. Bulaji is a rough transliteration of plátʹje, Russian word for dress.)
(T/N: Below is a Bulaji-style inspired dress. Imagine the dress having a floral pattern instead of polka dots.)
braji style dress.jpg
However, the nearby Su Yu was engrossed in eating. She looked as if she hadn't heard Su Lin.
"Oh, then I'll eat it myself." Su Xiaozhi wasn't a considerate person. Hearing that Su Lin didn't want to eat, he hastily ate breakfast with a smile. Although the congee was watery, drinking a bowl of congee can temporarily make him feel full.
Liu Mei and Su Dazhi looked at the empty pot, dumbfounded.
Liu Mei said, "Dazhi and I haven't eaten yet."
Su Yu said, "Eat? Don't you want to split up the family? Let's start with splitting the food. I bought all the food in this home. Yours and Dazhi's are at the Liu's."
Liu Mei and Su Dazhi: "..."
Su Lin touched her hungry stomach. She looked shocked as she watched Su Yu, who was enjoying her meal.
What was wrong with Big Sis? Did she really not care if she lived or died?!
Su Lin felt wronged, and her eyes reddened.
Unfortunately for her, Su Yu didn't care at all. After eating, she hurriedly picked up her rucksack to go to work. "Xiaozhi, let's go."
"All right." Su Xiaozhi enjoyed this special treatment. He felt all the more that Big Sis and him were on the same side. Big Sis was fighting over the room for him. He can't hold back Big Sis. He had to back her up!
Su Yu and Su Xiaozhi went out. Su Lin froze in surprise for a moment before she turned to look at her older brother, Su Dazhi. "Brother, what are we going to eat?"
"Eat? Your brother and I haven't eaten anything yet," Liu Mei retorted unhappily. After marrying into the Su's, she didn't have to cook. Her sister-in-law had always cooked for the family. What was going on with her sister-in-law the past two days?
"Dazhi, let's go out to eat."
Anyway, she still had food stamps. She wasn't stupid. How could she possibly give her and her husband's salaries all to her maiden family? Although she usually gave a little bit to them, she kept most of it for herself. She usually said that she had given the money to her maiden family, but she was only saying that for her older sister-in-law and younger brother-in-law to hear. It was just a ploy to guard against them from asking her for money.
At this time, Su Dazhi was utterly bewildered. What was happening? How could Big Sis suddenly treat him this way? How could she even so clearly draw a line between them for food?
He had gotten used to always being taken care of by his older sister. Shocked by the sudden change, Su Dazhi felt very uncertain. After hearing his wife's suggestion, he didn't think too much and followed her out. As for his younger sister, he wasn't in the mood to care about her.
Su Lin stood in the room and watched as her brother and her sister-in-law also went out, leaving her all alone at home. "Wahh, Big Sis doesn't love me anymore."
Chapter 10 - Wahh, Big Sis doesn't love me anymore (2)
As for Su Lin, Su Yu didn't have the slightest intention of taking care of her. In this era, many fifteen or sixteen-year-old girls were already working to earn money to support their families. Only families with better conditions were able to pay for their daughters to go to school. For a poor family like the Su's, it was simply a miracle that Su Lin could still go to school.
And this miracle was achieved through the sacrifice of the original owner. She did exhausting work and cut back on her own food and spending in order to send Su Lin to school.
The other members of the Su's weren't healthy either, but at least they looked normal to the people of this era. In contrast, the original owner's physical condition could be described as severely malnourished even by the standards of people of this era. For the original owner to be seen as severely malnourished in this era of widespread malnutrition, it showed how weak her body was.
When Su Yu looked at herself in the mirror of the factory's lounge, she almost didn't want to see her face. This body was so skinny that the cheeks were sunken, the skin was dull and had a yellowish complexion, the hair was withered and looked like straw. There wasn't much flesh on this body.
Fortunately, the owner's facial features were still very good with big eyes, a high nose, and full lips. If this body was raised well, it would belong to the sort of beauty that was very impressive. Unfortunately, it had been wrecked to the point that no beauty could be seen. She had to eat meat. She must eat more meat.
After tidying up, Su Yu hurriedly went to her work station. She had to settle down and get on with her pursuit of improving her life. Work was the foundation for her being able to eat. Nothing could go wrong.
At this moment, the workday hadn't started, and the other employees were chatting while preparing for work.
Seeing that Su Yu came so early again, the others curiously looked at Su Yu. Su Yu had come to work early in the past two days, which was very unusual and strange for her. However, everyone knew that her sibling and her sister-in-law were quarreling to separate and knew that this was the reason behind her coming in early.
They were filled with strong emotions. It seemed that Su Dazhi and his wife had really gone too far this time. They had made even a good-natured person like Su Yu angry.
At this moment, Su Yu didn't care what everyone was thinking. She was thinking about how to make her life a little better. This body was already very weak. The original owner had been using strong willpower to hold on, but she couldn't. Su Yu thought it was better not to suffer this kind of sin. She doesn't want to get sick from exhaustion.
Moreover, she didn't have the mentality to want to persist working with her weak body. The crucial point was that there was no future to this. The only reward was a lifetime of being a spinner. It was the archetype of working like a dog. Working more than others, but getting less than others.
Su Yu felt that she had to do something to break her current situation. So in the morning, when everyone was working feverishly, Su Yu gloriously fell on top of the working station.
An uproar suddenly started in the workshop.
"Little Su fainted-"
"Her face doesn't look good. I can easily tell that her health is bad."
"Aiyo, hurry up and send her to the hospital. Don't let anything happen to her."
Soon, Director Xu arranged a van to take Su Yu to the provincial hospital, then he had someone notify Su Yu's family.
Translator Ramblings: Can you guess the multiple reasons why Su Yu pretended to faint? The clue is in this sentence, "Su Yu gloriously fell on top of the working station."