"You personally pushed these two children into the river as sacrifices to the River God. However, the siblings have an adverse fate, so the River God was unwilling to accept them. In the end, Fuhua had to take people to fish the two of them out of the river."
"My husband is the patriarch, and when he saw that the children were fine, he told you to take them back and keep them. After all, if nothing else they are at least your own grandchildren, they have your flesh and blood. But you, the shameless old woman called Zhao, said that they have an adverse fate and that your family didn't dare to raise them."
"Just like that, you insisted on removing two perfectly good children from your family. But what exactly did they do wrong to be treated like this?"
"Back then, you said that even if you died you would never support them. But my husband, as the patriarch and the head of the Su family, declared that you couldn't just expel people who hadn't made any mistakes from the family for no reason. In the end, we could only think of letting them be adopted by Uncle Chuan, who had just passed away."
"After that, the document was all written down in black and white, and even now it's still stamped by your handprints. I'm sure back then you were just happy to get rid of the 'burdens' dragging you down."
"So what's this bullshit you are trying to talk now? Do you think everyone else is as stupid as you and has already forgotten?"
Madam Zhou was really not the type of person to put up with Madam Zhao's nonsense, so she exploded at the other woman. Hmph, if Su Yonggui wanted to forget what had happened back then, she would definitely let him remember it well.
After all, her husband was the patriarch of the Su family, and every day he worked painstakingly and laboriously for the Su family, so it was impossible for her to just let him be slandered like this.
Su Tang really wanted to applaud Madam Zhou in her heart. She completely agreed with everything the woman had said. Back then, it was obvious that Su Yonggui's family had decided to try to throw them out of the family because they just didn't want to support her and her brother. It was only because Su Yongqiang used his position as the patriarch to interfere that they could have a way to live and carry on.
Where was Su Yonggui's family's face back then? They always acted like face was so important, but they sacrificed the siblings to the River God like they were livestock!
Seeing that, who wouldn't feel that their whole family was cold-blooded and strange? If they could be so cruel to their own flesh and blood, then what kind of face could they have?
"You…" Madam Zhao was so suppressed by Madam Zhou that she instantly opened her mouth to refute.
Meanwhile, many people had gathered around, and not just people from Sujia Village. After all, people from all over had come to visit the graveyard.
Madam Wu was still full of hatred for Su Tang and her brother, but she knew that now wasn't a good time to confront them. Her eyes flashed. Anyway, she already had 'evidence' in her hands, she was just waiting for the right opportunity to use it. Since sacrificing Su Tang to the River God last time hadn't worked, then next time she wanted to see if that brat could still escape from a soak in the pig cage.
But she hadn't expected that her stupid mother-in-law would randomly take the initiative to look for trouble. Madam Wu cursed and scolded the dead old woman for being such a burden in her heart.
And now that she saw that Madam Zhao wanted to cross words with Su Tang even though there were all sorts of people around, Madam Wu felt very frustrated. Madam Wu hadn't lost her memory, okay? She knew that while Su Tang might look like a little girl, the truth was that she had sharp teeth and a sharp mouth, and she wasn't easy to deal with at all!
And now, sure enough, Madam Zhou had suddenly cut in from the side and made their whole family look like fools. Madam Wu's face turned red, and then white, and looked very unsightly. And, seeing that Madam Zhao seemed to want to continue, she hurriedly pulled Su Dafu's hand and said, "Brother Dafu!"
Su Dafu had been standing silently on one side until now. In front of him were obviously the two children he and his first wife had together, but now they seemed like strangers.
It wasn't until Madam Wu called his name that Su Dafu finally snapped out of it and looked up at the siblings. He interjected, "You were only ignorant before, but nowadays you even dare to come and irritate your own grandparents!"
Su Tang had been watching the angry Madam Zhou squabble with Madam Zhao and feeling slightly amused inside. But all of a sudden Su Dafu spoke up and reminded her that this scum was here too, so she instantly began to feel annoyed.
"What did you say?" Su Tang looked at Su Dafu strangely.
Su Dafu met her gaze fiercely and replied. "You shouldn't just always blame others. Didn't we give you your life? And all we asked was for you to serve the River God to help the whole Su family! How come you have no gratitude at all? You're really nothing like your mother at all!"
Su Tang's eyes widened. She admitted that she was dumbfounded this time!
.
Of course, Su Tang and Su Yonggui's family had a few conflicts before this, but until now the two siblings hadn't encountered Su Dafu. The orange cat later came to Su Tang and told her that Su Dafu had used Madam Wu's connections to get a job outside the village, so he wasn't home often, which was why they hadn't seen him.
Today was the first time the two siblings had seen Su Dafu since the day they had been sacrificed. Su Tang had originally expected that this scummy and shameless man would at least have the decency to keep his mouth shut, so she was shocked that he would unexpectedly interject, and with such shameless words to boot.
Su Tang could hardly believe how self-righteously Su Dafu could spew his nonsense. It seemed that she was really too ignorant of the world, which was why she was still shocked by the lows that scum men could sink to. For a scum man, he could even demand for another person to die for him in a self-righteous and justified tone. Su Tang really felt like her eyes were being opened today.
And the worst part was, if she hadn't already been adopted into another household, this scummy thing would have nominally been her father! Where was that orange cat that reincarnated her into this family? She suddenly had a strong desire to kill!
Meanwhile, the orange cat who was far away in town trying to track down the stalker suddenly felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He looked around uncomfortably. His master was already so far away, so why could he feel such a strong murderous intent?
"So you still remember her?" Su Tang had been stunned speechless by the scum man's shamelessness, so for a moment she hadn't been able to retort. However, before she could say anything, the little guy at her side suddenly spoke up.
He was a young child, so his voice was pure and clear, and it cut through the commotion loudly. Su Nuo grabbed his sister's hand and then stepped forward to look at Su Dafu. "I thought you had already forgotten her. After all, you only spend time with this woman every day. Later she had a daughter, and then a son. But you still remember my mother? Do you also remember that she gave birth to us?"
Perhaps this question had been locked up in his heart for a long time. In the past, he had never dared to ask it out, and since Su Dafu had never mentioned his mother in front of him, he could only hold the question back.
But now, today, Su Dafu mentioned Madam Liu with his own mouth, so Su Nuo finally couldn't hold the question back. He asked it and then looked up at his nominal father with a bit of stubbornness.
Madam Zhou had been happily readying herself to unleash another round of scolding on Madam Zhao, but when she heard the little guy's sudden question, she quickly turned back with worried eyes and called, "Brother Nuo!"
The little guy was only six years old, but he had no choice but to throw such words at his own 'father'. Seeing this, Su Tang couldn't help but sigh. In truth, she herself was a very guarded person, largely because, based on her own experience, the world was a harsh and cruel place. She wasn't the type to easily open up or give any part of her heart away because she knew she might be hurt.
After living like this for a long time, she had already naturally become accustomed to always being indifferent to the people and the world around her. Like this, she at least wouldn't be hurt. In her past life, she had already protected herself in this way for over 20 years, so she was long used to it. And, at the end of the day, she was not really Su Dani. She had no particular feelings about Su Yonggui's branch of the Su family.
What was between them was just that they had killed the original owner of her body, Su Dani. Since Su Tang had already occupied the other person's body she felt obligated to avenge her, but that was the extent of her feelings.
However, Su Nuo was different from her. He was truly the child who had been born between Su Dafu and Madam Liu. If you wanted to be artistic about it, you could say he was a child that longed for his father's love. And even when he told himself that his father was a cold and heartless man, that longing wouldn't just go away.
But at the same time, Su Dafu was always so affectionate to Madam Wu and his children with her, so Su Nuo couldn't convince himself with that explanation at all. In the end, his only choice was to try to look away and try not to examine this contradiction, but how could he not have some resentment and hatred in his heart?
And today Su Dafu even dared to say that his sister didn't resemble their mother, which proved that even until now he still remembered Madam Liu, so the little guy couldn't help but throw out that 'So you still remember her?'
It was just a few simple words, but they were somehow heartbreaking to hear.
Su Nuo ignored everyone else around and just stubbornly looked at Su Dafu "Are those two over there your only children? What did my sister do wrong? Why did you scold her?"
"My sister and I have already left your family, are we not allowed to have a good life by ourselves? Haven't you already done enough? Or will you only be satisfied when we are dead? Why don't we have the right to live? Why can't you just leave us alone? Why?"
Su Nuo spoke word by word. It seemed like he was questioning Su Dafu, but in reality, he was also questioning his fate.
Su Tang didn't expect her brother to suddenly speak up like this and turned to look at him. She saw the little guy's eyes were red as he stood in front of her and tried to protect her. It was clear that in his mind, his sister was the best in the world, and no one should be able to scold her as they pleased.
Su Nuo was no longer just a naughty little village boy who only knew how to run around and play. Su Tang had spent the recent days teaching him to read and educating him about various things. The little guy wasn't stupid at all, so he could already speak in a much more logical and adult fashion.
Obviously, for a little six-year-old boy to say these things, the power could be imagined.
"Little brat, you…" Madam Zhao opened her mouth, "What kind of thing are you? You're just as bad as…"
"That's enough!" Su Yongqiang heard Madam Zhao's words becoming more and more unbearable, and he finally couldn't help but cut in.
Madam Zhao wanted to finish what she was saying, but in the end, she was still a little afraid of the patriarch so she gritted her teeth and dropped the topic. She quickly changed tracks, "Even if you are the patriarch you can't be so biased, just listen to what this brat is saying. What kind of thing is he? He even dares to talk like that to his father, Dafu. Isn't it unreasonable? Who would dare to be nice to them? Wouldn't that just be courting death!"
"Heh, if I had the choice, I would definitely kill you first. Do you believe it?" Su Tang looked directly at Madam Zhao and sneered. If she really had some magic power to kill her relatives, this old woman would certainly go first.
Su Tang's eyes were colder than ten-thousand-year mountain ice, and her gaze was like a sharp blade.
But as soon as Madam Zhao heard this, she almost exploded, "I always knew you didn't have any good intentions, but now you openly say you want to kill me? I'll kill you first!"
Madam Zhao lost all rationality and tried to rush over at the two siblings. However, Madam Zhou saw what she wanted to do and quickly stepped forward to shove the old lady back, which knocked her to the ground.
Madam Wu had originally wanted to communicate with Su Dafu and get him to make Madam Zhao stop talking, however, Su Dafu had unexpectedly brought up the late Madam Liu and thrown all her thoughts into disarray. For him to compare Su Tang to Madam Liu, didn't it mean that he still thought that Madam Liu was better than her?
Madam Wu became so anxious and angry that she forgot all about trying to get him to help her end things quietly. And then after Su Nuo's rapid fire series of questions that was heartbreaking to listen to, she realized things were looking bad for them. In the past, they had only been humiliated within the confines of Sujia Village, but she estimated that all of the surrounding villages would know about this incident before long and her family would end up in an even worse state than they were in now.
Madam Wu looked at her mother-in-law, Madam Zhao, with a gaze that was full of hatred. But because of her position as a daughter-in-law, she couldn't just ignore the old woman. In the end she hastily passed her young son over for Su Dafu to hold and then went forward to help Madam Zhao.
"Dalang won't accept me, I know, but I…" Madam Wu wanted to act pitiful to recover her image a bit, so she started crying out in a weepy tone. (tl note: 'Dalang' / 大郎 was Su Nuo's name before he was renamed with the adoption.)
"Shut up!" But Su Tang directly interrupted her and wouldn't let her speak.
"It seems that my nephew and his wife are still feeling a bit confused. Do you need for I, your aunt, to explain to all these people here about how we siblings lived under your roof for your mind to clear up?"
"Do you need me to repeat how, us siblings have never eaten even a single egg since childhood while living under your roof, while your own daughter could eat an egg every other day? Should I mention how back then my brother and I could only drink rice porridge every day? No, calling it rice porridge is actually wrong because there was hardly even a single grain of rice inside!"
"And we couldn't just eat that 'rice porridge as we liked. Only after we had fed the chickens and pigs and washed your out daughter's chamber pot were we allowed to eat. Otherwise, we would just go hungry."
"If you want to start talking about how my brother or I won't accept you, let me ask you first: If you were us, would you accept the stepmother who beat you black and blue all day and didn't even give you food? Who called you a little bitch and worthless brat every day? Who constantly asked 'Why couldn't you brats follow your mother and die early?' all the time? Could you accept that person?"
Su Tang's eyes turned a bit red and she looked around at the people who had gathered, "Or let me ask these people who have gathered today, could any of you accept a person like that?"
Su Tang's words fell on Madam Wu like a barrage of gunfire. She was actually really angry this time from having to face this shameless slag of a man Su Dafu and the pack of bastards around him that had caused a lifelong psychological shadow on a child.
Who could understand better than her the impact of a child's family and home life on their outlook? In the end, a large part of the reason she had become so withdrawn in her previous life was due to her parents' divorce. She understood better than most people that, in this world, the people who would hurt you the most would invariably also be the people who were most dear to you. And after going through such experiences, how could anyone get up every day and face the world with love and optimism in their hearts?
No one was worth believing in, except for yourself, that was the lesson she learned long before she came to this strange era. And because of the process she went through to learn that lesson, she knew better than most how difficult it was to recover from injuries to the heart. However, this group of people in front of her were all unscrupulous bastards with no compunctions at all about attacking a child's weak heart.
There were some injuries that would never be mended, even with a whole lifetime. In these recent days, she had been working hard to restore the little guy's sense of security and belonging. After all, she knew how it felt to live without any sense of security in your heart and she didn't want the little guy to have to go through it. But now, thanks to this scum Su Dafu, her efforts would probably be massively set back, if not entirely destroyed.
She had never bothered saying things out so explicitly before because, although she and Su Nuo had been adopted into Su Laochuan's household, at the end of the day they all still had the same surname Su. No matter what, Su Yonggui's branch of the family were still their blood relatives. Plus, she and her brother had already been adopted into another household so they didn't have to cross paths with Su Yonggui's group or hear what they had to say anymore. Of course, who knew what kinds of things they were saying behind the siblings' backs.
But today she didn't feel like putting up with these people anymore. Besides, Su Yonggui and his family had already lost the Su families' good reputation twice before now, so what was once more? Since they insisted on delivering themselves to her door like this, why would she go out of her way to save face for them?
So for those reasons and a few more besides, the people from all the surrounding villages who had come to pay their respects at the graveyard ended up overhearing the shocking internal situation of the Su family.
Madam Wu had never expected that Su Tang would refute her so brutally and directly like this, and her face turned pale. She opened her mouth to refute: "I… "
"Nephew's wife, you don't have to argue. I'm the one standing in front of you today, and let me tell you one thing: When people do things, the heavens are watching. If you don't believe me, just look around and ask yourself who the heavens spare and who they smite. The things you do, the things you say, it's all being seen and recorded by the heavens. Don't forget what the doctor told you back when you gave birth to Wulang."
Su Tang cut Madam Wu off, not letting her speak at all, and her tone was filled with all sorts of meaningful implications. In fact, back then Madam Wu's body had problems and it was only after much struggle that she had been able to give birth to Su Wulang, but the doctor had told her that she wouldn't be able to give birth ever again. Of course, she had been afraid that Su Dafu or Su Yonggui would hear of this, so she had bribed the doctor to keep his mouth shut and, in the end, the doctor really didn't tell anyone else.
After that, Madam Wu had secretly gone to that doctor for a long time to receive treatments after her son was born weak and sickly thanks to the problems with her body. Of course, not many people knew about all this. Chen Xiuxiu, that woman who loved gossip, had managed to find out through some way or another, but so far no one in the Su family had found out.
Su Tang said these words to shut Madam Wu up.
Madam Wu's position seemed very solid right now since Su Dafu was currently blindly in love with her to the point that he had completely thrown his first wife to the back of his mind, so much so that he was even willing to allow his own children to be adopted into another person's household without a word of complaint. Plus, Madam Wu's family had a bit of money, so he was able to take advantage of their connections to find better jobs and make more money as well as gain various other benefits. And, since Madam Wu was still at the age where there should be no problem for her to have another few children, Su Dafu wasn't currently worried at all about not having any sons to continue his family line.
However, in this era the standards of medical care were abysmal, and even healthy children would often die before they could grow. So Madam Wu's weak and sickly son would only find it harder to survive than those ordinary children and. So if Madam Wu's son were to prove unable to continue Su Dafu's line, and if the state of Madam Wu's body was revealed, then Madam Wu would find herself in a very precarious position indeed.
Su Tang's eyes coldly glared at Madam Wu, full of warning.
The days were still long. For now, Su Dafu didn't have any concerns, but what if Wulang died? What if Madam Wu couldn't have another son? Would Su Dafu still act so unconcerned then?
No matter how close he might be with Madam Wu, what was more important than having a son?
In this ancient era, people paid great attention to bloodlines and inheritance. So if Madam Wu was smart, she would shut her mouth and not continue this topic, or else Su Tang wouldn't mind exposing everything. After all, she and Su Nuo were already a part of another household anyway, so she had no reason to be afraid.
A large part of the reason why Su Tang insisted on coming to pay their respects at Su Laochuan's grave today, despite knowing she would encounter the other members of the Su family, was to clearly express her stand and her determination, lest these people from Su Yonggui's branch have too many unrealistic dreams. She knew it would still take some time for Su Nuo to grow to the point where he could stand up on his own, so during this time she had no choice but to predict these sorts of problems and prepare for them in advance.
Madam Wu stared into Su Tang's eyes, her mind reverberating with shock. How did this brat know her secret?! She absolutely couldn't let this loose end wander around outside! These two brats couldn't be kept! They had to die!
Su Tang watched as Madam Wu's eyes went from shock to horror and finally to madness and, even without the orange cat's help, she could clearly see the woman's killing intent.
Look at her, it seemed that this Madam Wu had never given up her plans to kill Su Tang and her brother at all.
Of course, when she saw Madam Wu like this, Su Tang was completely unafraid and stared right back at her. After living two lives, she had no intentions to play any little games with Madam Wu. She had decided she would live a happy and wealthy life, so she wouldn't let herself feel suffocated for a small Madam Wu.
And if Madam Wu dared to extend her claws toward her, Su Tang would be happy to break them off for her.
However, Su Tang's words had sparked curiosity in the other people around. Not mentioning anyone else, even Su Yonggui frowned and asked, "What do you mean by that?"
But Su Tang just ignored Su Yonggui's question. She grabbed Su Nuo and pulled him along while saying, "Anyway, we need to go pay our respects to our parents, so let's not let these people interrupt us!"
Then she continued to educate Su Nuo, "Xiao Nuo, always remember, you don't need to care about the pain of the people who don't care about you. It's not worth it at all. Also, you should remember that the people that really care about you are the people who won't be willing to hurt you."
Su Nuo's eyes were still a bit red, but he nodded along with his sister, "OK, sister, I'll remember it. I won't care about it anymore."
Su Tang nodded. "Good child. And remember, our parents are buried here in front of us, so we have to strive for success in the future so that they can be proud of us from up above. Let's go!"
With that, she turned to Su Yongqiang and said, "Xiao Nuo and I need to pay our respects to our parents first, but we'll come to visit Brother Qiang's house a little later on."
When Su Tang had spoken her last few sentences scolding Madam Wu, her voice was lively, forceful, and not small at all. Thus, everyone looked over at Madam Wu curiously, wanting to see how she would refute. But in the end, even when Su Tang seemed to be done speaking and planning to leave, Madam Wu still didn't dare to say anything at all.
Naturally, most members of the Su family felt that Su Tang had spoken correctly so they didn't interrupt. Su Yongqiang and Madam Zhou, along with their sons and their sons' wives all nodded and agreed with Su Tang.
But Su Yonggui sensed that there was something important buried in Su Tang's words, so he tried to ask again, "What exactly did you…"
"Su Yonggui, it was you that thought that us siblings were destined to bring ruin on your family. Since you are so afraid, just stay away from us." Su Tang cut him off in a strong voice.
"For the past eight years, what exactly have you done to us? You should know best. Of course, for a person like you who has no conscience, you probably don't feel you've done anything wrong, and you probably don't feel sorry, but you should know that the River God is watching. The River God sees everything, and everyone will receive their just deserts in the end."
"So don't come and pretend in front of me, it just makes me feel disgusted!"
Of course, Su Tang had no intention to just directly inform Su Yonggui about Madam Wu's matter. For a person like Madam Wu, having this sort of thing hanging over her head would be pure torment, and Su Tang was in no hurry to relieve her of the feeling.
Madam Wu had killed Su Dani, so the debt of that life would have to be slowly reclaimed. But the other accomplices would also have to pay the price for their actions as well!
After dropping those final words, she ignored Su Yonggui's family completely and took Su Nuo away to go pay their respects to Su Laochuan's grave.
Madam Sun watched the whole farce from beginning to end, but she just stayed on the sidelines with a sneer. Seeing it was over, she grabbed her husband and pulled him away with her. At the same time, Madam Zhang and Su Sanshou had been beaten by boards thanks to Su Tang last time, so they just hid away and didn't say anything the whole time. (tl note: in case you forgot, Madam Sun is Su Erlu's wife. They're the second branch of the family under Su Yonggui while Madam Zhang and Su Sanshou are the third branch.)
Of course, Madam Zhao still wanted to retort, but Madam Zhou cut her off before she could say anything, "Certain people in this world shouldn't have the delusion that they are the only smart ones and dream that no one else can see through them. Who here doesn't know what kinds of things you've done?"
"En, who doesn't know? Even if Sister Tang and Brother Nuo are now living good lives without you, don't think that the heavens have forgotten. At the very end you'll have to face up to everything you've done!" Madam Qin, who had just arrived, also added on after learning about the situation.
"You…" Madam Zhao started again.
She really wanted to argue back, but Madam Wu hurriedly pulled her arm and said: "Niang, the weather is cold, the road isn't very good, and there are still noodles at home. Let's just go back."
After she finished speaking, Madam Zhao angrily sent over a slap and sneered, "Bah, useless thing…"
Madam Wu knew that she would be beaten and scolded as useless for opening her mouth, but right now she was very worried about the thing Su Tang had mentioned before so she didn't dare to let the conversation continue and could only open her mouth to interfere.
Su Yonggui felt that there was something off with his daughter-in-law right now, but he knew that the topic shouldn't be explored in front of outsiders. Because of that, he also wanted to leave, so he snorted and said to his wife, "Let's talk about it when we get back."
Then he looked over at Su Yongqiang and Su Yongshun, "Well, that girl has vented her feelings, but I don't know what we've supposedly done wrong. In the end, we'll see who the River God has been watching and who will really be punished!"
With that final stern statement, Su Yonggui took the lead to leave first. Madam Wu helped Madam Zhao to follow him, and Su Dafu and the rest all also followed along. And from beginning to end, Su Dafu never answered any of Su Nuo's questions.
He didn't even look at the siblings when he left. Perhaps for him, mentioning Madam Liu was just something he could do casually. After all, the young woman from back then who had been coaxed by his sweet words was not only already buried under the thick soil, but she was also thoroughly cut from his heart.
Seeing that Su Yonggui was still acting tough even at this point, Su Yongqiang and Su Yongshun almost wanted to laugh. Su Yongqiang was about to open his mouth and teach him a lesson, but Su Yongshun hurriedly pulled his arm and stopped him.
"Brother Qiang, don't bother talking to him, he won't listen. It's the Spring Festival now, so let's not make any trouble for Sister Tang, let's just focus on enjoying the holiday. After all, everyone knows what's really going on in their hearts. Plus, now that Sister Tang and Brother Nuo have been adopted into Uncle Chuan's household, their lives will only get better and better. It can be considered a good thing."
Today was the first day of the new year and the beginning of the Spring Festival so, generally speaking, they should just set these sorts of matters down and focus on the holiday. And anyway, it wasn't like this was the first time that Su Yonggui hadn't learned his lesson.
Of course, Su Yongqiang knew that letting things drop here was the right thing to do, but whenever he thought of Su Yonggui and his family happily marching off without a care after everything they had done, he felt a bit uncomfortable. As if the whole Su family was a big pot of porridge but somehow a few drops of rat shit had slipped in.
But there wasn't really anything he could do. Thus, Su Yonggui and his family all left, and a few moments later the other two families also dispersed to go and pay their respects to their ancestors.
However, it was also true that there had been many outsiders in the graveyard outside Suijia Village who had seen the whole process, so the whole thing became a topic that many people discussed during the Spring Festival.
Meanwhile, Su Laochuan and his wife, Madam Huang, had a very simple tombstone. After all, Su Laochuan had died suddenly, and his family didn't really have any assets, so he couldn't even afford to bury himself. It was only after some other members of the Su family donated a little bit did they scrape together enough money to give him and his wife a simple burial.
Su Tang and Su Nuo went before Su Laochuan's grave and unpacked the offerings from the boxes they were carrying. After setting everything up in front of the grave, they lit the incense and burned the yellow paper.
Su Tang said solemnly, "We were adopted into your household without your consent, so I don't know if you're satisfied with us."
"I can't promise anything else, but since I've decided to call you my parents, even though you're already gone, I definitely won't do anything to embarrass or let you down as your child."
"I promise to fulfill the last wishes that you were unable to fulfill at the end. When the temperature warms up with the spring I will definitely send someone to move the graves of my brother, my sister-in-law, and my niece back here to Sujia Village so that our family can be reunited."
"I'm making money now, and Xiao Nuo has been studying well. Maybe, in the future, your line will really be able to move on to become scholars instead of farmers. Even though we came to your household on our own accord, I think you will be satisfied with us."
As she watched the paper burn, Su Tang continued: "Anyway, I want to thank you both. Without the two of you, my brother and I wouldn't have had any way out at all back then. Soon I will bring my brother's family back, and I'll always watch over and maintain your grave. Watch us carefully from up there and, even though you didn't choose to adopt us, I'm sure we'll show you that we won't disappoint you!"
After she said all this, Su Tang pulled Su Nuo to kneel down and kowtow to the grave.
Su Tang actually didn't believe in things like ghosts or spirits, but even though Su Laochuan was no longer alive, Su Tang had to admit that he had really died at the perfect time to create an opportunity for her and her brother to keep living.
She knew that Su Laochuan hadn't been the one to take the initiative to give them this favor, but Su Tang was always someone who remembered her debts. Although there wasn't much she could do for someone that had already passed on, if it was fulfilling his final wish, she could definitely achieve that.
When Su Nuo saw she was finished, "Mom, Dad, I am Su Nuo. In the future, I will study well and become a high-ranking official, and I will bring you along so that you can also enjoy the scenery from up there!"
The two siblings solemnly kowtowed together and completed the memorial ceremony, and when they were done they repacked all of their things and took them back down the mountain.
Because of the previous conflict, as they headed down the mountain the two siblings received a lot of strange looks, but other than that nothing happened.
After they came down from the mountain, the brother and sister first headed over to Su Yongshun's house to fetch Su Yongshun and his wife, and then they all went to Su Yongqiang's house together.
After they knocked on the door, Su Xue was the one who opened the door. When Su Xue saw it was Su Tang and her brother, as well as Su Yongshun and his wife, she greeted them happily, "Uncle Shun, Aunt Tang, Uncle Nuo."
"Xiao Xue, are your parents here?" Su Yongshun asked her with a smile.
"It's almost time, isn't it? Is your dowry already ready?" Madam Qin also asked with a smile.
Su Xue blushed as soon as she heard this question and replied, "Auntie, how could you ask something like that? Also, yes, my parents are both here."
As they spoke Su Xue invited Su Tang's group inside, but at the same time Su Laiwang's wife Madam Lu appeared from inside and reported, "Uncle Shun, my parents are waiting for you in the main hall!"
As soon as Su Xue saw her sister-in-law had arrived, she blushed fiercely and ran away, which caused Madam Lu to laugh and tease, "Such a big girl, but she's still so thin-skinned!"
When Su Xue heard her sister-in-law's teasing, she turned around and stuck her head out of her room and called, "Sister-in-law, you told me that back when you wanted to get married to my third brother you were also very thin-skinned!"
Madam Lu laughed and replied, "En, Xiao Xue, you're already a big girl who wants to get married, what you said is right."
This joke caused Su Xue to flush all over again and hmph angrily.
Su Laixi's wife Madam Luo also heard her third sister-in-law teasing Su Xue like this, so she came out and said, "You're already a mother but you're still so naughty! You haven't even invited Uncle Shun inside."
Madam Lu had originally had a very lively character, so when she heard that she just laughed along. It was already the Spring Festival, so everyone was in a good mood.
Su Tang followed Su Yongshun inside. As she entered she passed the box in her hands to Madam Luo and said, "There are the things that I brought as tribute for my parents today. I just went to Brother Shun's house and shared half of it with his family, so take this other half and save some for Xiao Rui and the other little ones to eat."
Although a proper tribute should be left on the grave of the deceased, the people in Sujia Village were all very poor, so if good things were left on graves as tribute then someone would definitely steal and eat them. Therefore Sujia Village was already used to taking the tribute items home to their families after the memorial ceremonies were finished. They justified this by saying that the ancestors approve of sending good food to go to the young ones in their families.
Su Tang had passed some of her items to Su Yongshun when she went to Su Yongshun's house just now, and now she gave the rest of them to Madam Luo. She had brought out some of the cakes from her shop, as well as some chicken, some duck, some fish, and so on.
Chicken, duck, and fish were all meat, so Su Tang and her brother couldn't eat them because they were still in their mourning period. At the same time, they were already spoiled from eating fresh cakes from her shop and weren't too interested in these cakes that were already cold, so Su Tang didn't want to bother bringing any of the things back to town and instead passed them off to her relatives in the village.
"Then I'll thank Aunt Tang and Uncle Nuo on Xiao Rui's behalf." Seeing that many of Su Tang's tribute offerings were meat, Madam Luo didn't refuse and accepted them with thanks.
Su Tang and Su Nuo gave her a nod and then followed along to the main hall to greet Su Yongqiang. Su Yongqiang's eldest grandson, Su Rui, who they had just been discussing, was also inside, and he was very excited to see Su Nuo.
Su Tang realized that their next topic was fairly serious, so she had Su Nuo, Su Rui, and the group of other children go out to play so that she could talk with their parents.
When Su Tang asked for Su Yongshun and Madam Qin to come along and see Su Yongqiang with her, they understood it was because Su Tang wanted to improve her own voice in the Su family. After all, the patriarch was the one who was nominally in charge of the whole family, but each member of the family had their own say with varying degrees of importance.
The two naturally followed along happily, but when Su Yongqiang saw that they had all come together he was a little confused. He asked uncertainly, "Brother Yongshun, sister-in-law, you two have also come? Is there something going on?"
At this moment, Madam Miao appeared and served everyone warm water with brown sugar. At the same time, Su Tang replied to Su Yongqiang's question, "There is something!"
After that, she explained to Su Yongqiang everything she had told to Su Yongshun's family earlier. After the explanation was finished, she continued on, "What is certain now is that we will need at least hundreds of thousands of these seedlings in a few months, and when we reach the later stage the number needed will only increase."
When Su Tang had spoken to Su Yongshun before she still didn't know the specific number of seedlings she would need. However, a few days ago she had received a letter from Luo Xingchen that said that the Luo family had set aside a total of ten plots of land to grow tomatoes and chili peppers on. According to her calculation that a thousand seedlings would be required per mu of land, even the mere ten plots of land the Luo family had set aside would already require more than a million seedlings.
Thus, that was the quantity that Su Tang reported this time. However, that number actually didn't include the plots of land that Su Tang had yet to buy. According to the amount of money in her hands that was set aside for land, she estimated she would need an additional few hundreds of thousands of seedlings once the land was purchased, and the total number might even be over a million.
When Su Tang finished speaking, not mentioning Su Yongqiang, even Su Yongshun and his wife, who had heard Su Tang explain this matter to them beforehand, all sucked in a breath of cold air, "Sister Tang, how many did you say you needed?"
"Although it sounds like an overwhelming number, raising seedlings is actually not very complicated or difficult. From my estimates, if your whole family works together, I think Brother Shun's family alone should be able to produce about 30,000 to 50,000 seedlings."
Because raising seedlings wasn't as complicated as growing crops, it was relatively unnecessary to use much space or put in much effort, it just required the person growing them to pay a bit of attention.
Su Yongqiang's voice was trembling. "Five seedlings is a one copper coin, so hundreds of thousands of seedlings…"
"I'm sure that if our Su family can digest this job then there will be at least a hundred taels of silver in it for us." Su Tang had calculated everything clearly beforehand. Although both she and the Luo family were chipping in to pay for these seedlings, the Luo family was the larger party so they were paying the larger part of the share.
As for Su Tang's own money, she was planning to use it to fund the seedlings for the land that Luo Xingchen was having her buy. But she had to wait until she had the land in her hands to make any final preparations on that end, mainly because she planned for her seedlings to be more high-end than the seedlings the Luo family would be using.
Even hearing the figure 'a few hundreds of thousands', which Su Tang had purposefully understated, made Su Yongqiang and Madam Zhou suck in a cold breath. But, at the same time, Su Yongqiang became very excited, "Wow, great! You've found an excellent opportunity for the Su family. Such a good thing! Sister Tang, it's all thanks to you."
"Brother Qiang, you're being too polite. Xiao Nuo and I are also members of the Su family and, no matter if it's before or now, we've always been helped by the family. That being the case, how can we not think of the family when we find such a good thing? I've done some rough calculations ahead of time and, so long as the workers are diligent, I think that around fifteen families should be enough to produce the first few hundreds of thousands of seedlings."
"This job pays very well and it isn't very complicated, but there is one very important point! That is: the job needs to be kept secret and can't be leaked out at all. Because of that, we need to be careful with which people we use."
"If this business is leaked out beforehand, then the businessman I'm working with might lose tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of taels of silver. And if that really happened, then our small Su family wouldn't be able to make up for the losses even if we all sold ourselves."
Su Tang wasn't lying here. The tomatoes and chili peppers were already the Luo family's highest level secrets, and they were being very cautious with who could hear the news. Of course, Su Tang felt that she herself wasn't in any danger of leaking the information, even if she brought in a few members of the Su family. After all, no one would ever imagine that such a big thing would happen in a small place like Sujia Village, and no one would ever think to monitor her, a small peasant girl. However, the things that needed to be said still needed to be said, no matter how low the risks might be.
Stated plainly: If the Su family wanted to make money, they would need to tighten up their ship and make sure that no information could slip outside. Otherwise, even ten Su families wouldn't be able to afford the consequences.
However, when Su Yongqiang heard Su Tang's warning, he wasn't surprised or afraid at all. He merely commented, "En, that's how it should be."
After all, even a child would know how unusual it was for a group of peasants to have an opportunity to earn tens or hundreds of taels of silvers in a short two months. Could it be possible for such a good thing to have no risks at all? Of course not. It was very normal to have risks.
"Anyway, that's the message from the person I'm working with, I hope that Brother Qiang can understand."
"After all, it's normal for good benefits to also carry risks. But I believe that we can trust the character of most members of the Su family and, so long as we choose who to bring on board carefully, there shouldn't be any mistakes."
"Also, when the time comes, you will have to sign a contract representing all the members of the Su family, and if the contract is breached then it's likely that the other party will look for us for a hundredfold in compensation."
"But at any rate, this matter can only begin once the weather warms up a little more, so there's no rush to make a decision right now. Brother Qiang, you should take this time to think it over."
"If the family defaults, then you may end up owing a thousand teals of silver, or even more, since the number of seedlings required for the contract will only be increased as time goes on. If you feel that the risk is too great then just tell me and I will look for another family to do the work."
The benefits that Su Tang was offering were right in front of him, but it was up to Su Yongqiang to decide whether he wanted to reach out and grab them or not. Nearly half the people who lived in Sujia Village were related to the Su family, whether distantly or directly. Thus, even if the Su family was currently in a slump, it was still possible for a word from Su Yongqiang to muster up a dozen or so families to do some work.
And Su Tang also made her meaning very clear: This job wasn't for the whole Su family, but rather for a few trustworthy households from within the family. On top of that, the requirements were very high, with both high risks and high rewards.
As Madam Zhou processed Su Tang's words, she couldn't help but look up when she heard the girl stress that 15 families would be enough. If 15 were enough, didn't that mean that Su Yonggui's branch of the family could be safely excluded entirely? Was she thinking too much, or had this been an intentional move from the eight-year-old girl in front of her?
However, it was just a passing thought in Madam Zhou's mind. After all, since Su Tang had found such a huge opportunity for the family it meant that her significance within the Su family was no longer on the same level as it used to be. Even if everyone hadn't already been disgusted with the things Su Yonggui and his branch had done in the past, with this change it meant that just a word from Su Tang would already be enough to exclude them.
This was a huge matter after all. Even Su Yongshun wasn't really qualified to know about or voice his opinions about such a huge matter, much less Su Yonggui.
"Finding fifteen households will be fine." Su Yongqiang naturally recognized the subtext in Su Tang's words and tacitly agreed. Then he took a look at Su Yongshun and said, "And Brother Shun's family can certainly be brought on board."
Since Su Tang had already brought Su Yongshun and his wife here today, it was obvious that Su Yongshun's family would occupy one part of the quota.
When Su Yongshun heard Su Yongqiang's words, he quickly replied, "Yes, I will definitely accept this task. Also, I know a few other people who are also tight-lipped and capable!"
After that, Su Yongshun went on to recommend two more families that he felt were trustworthy. Last time Su Tang had told him to pick five, but he didn't want to overstep himself so he only recommended two. After all, Su Yongqiang was still the patriarch, so he didn't dare to say too much.
After Su Yongqiang heard the two families So Yongshun recommended, he nodded slowly and then said: "En, they are good and trustworthy people, but their conditions at home are not very good. I don't know if they can do a good job…"
"Anyway, Brother Qiang and Brother Shun you can decide what people you want to use first and then bring them to me to sign the contract after the holiday ends. I will distribute the seeds to everyone at that time." When Su Tang saw that they had begun to seriously discuss the matter of who could be used, she quickly cut in.
Then she added, "It's still the middle of the Spring Festival right now, so you should just celebrate the holiday for now. This matter can't be rushed, so you might as well just prepare for it slowly after the holiday ends."
"En, you're right." After a moment of thought, Su Yongqiang agreed. After all, it was true that it would take some time to decide on which fifteen families could be used, so there was no need to try to rush and figure it all out right now.
"It's getting late, and I need to take my brother to go greet his master after this, so I won't stay much longer. Brother Qiang, after you've decided on all the candidates, if you or any of them have any more questions then send a message to the shop called Dessert Cafe over on East Street, and I'll come back to explain." Seeing that the sun had already passed the highest point in the sky, Su Tang didn't plan to stay much longer.
She knew that if she didn't go back soon to accompany Song Yi for the Spring Festival, then that old man would definitely be angry with her.
Seeing that it was getting late and Su Tang was leaving, Su Yongqiang and Madam Zhou as well as Su Yongshun and Madam Qin all left with her to see the siblings to the edge of the village. They all watched as Su Tang and Su Nuo strolled down the road out of the village toward town hand-in-hand.
Watching the two small departing figures, Madam Zhou sighed and said, "Who would have thought that Sister Tang and Brother Nuo would have such luck? They've only been living in town for a few days but they've already found such a good thing."
Madam Qin nodded. "Sister Tang is smart, and capable too."
"En, and after she met the River God she's always been so different!" Madam Zhou sighed again.
Almost every time they saw these two siblings, they could clearly see a change in them, and they seemed to be slowly getting better and better. If nothing else, the way she confidently discussed a business deal that was worth hundreds of taels of silver in front of them today showed Su Tang's change in demeanor.
Listening to her speak now, she seemed almost like a completely different person from the small girl who was practically a mute that had lived in Su Yonggui's house before.
However, when they remembered how Su Tang and her brother had been fished out of the Qing River, no one felt too surprised by her changes. People who survived disasters would inevitably be changed by the experience, so they could only sigh about how amazing it was for them to stumble across such an amazing opportunity.
"Anyway, this is a chance for the whole Su family. Brother Shun, sister-in-law, don't rush ahead blindly, we all need to discuss things slowly." Su Yongqiang cautioned.
Money was definitely a good thing. If they could have more money, then the Su family could send more children to study. And if more of their children could study, then it would mean there would be more chances for a member of the Su family to pass the exams and become officials.
Thus, even when Su Yongqiang heard that the job was very demanding and that there would be dire consequences if it was leaked, he still didn't hesitate to agree to take it on. After all, such an amazing opportunity was very rare. If it could be seized, then the fate of the whole Su family could change. Even if only for that reason, there was no way he could let it go.
However, he also understood that these fifteen families would have to be chosen very carefully. They all had to be honest, upright, able to work hard, and also not be the type to blab their mouths. After all, everything had to be done secretly.
Wang Changhe still didn't like their Su family and he wouldn't pass up any opportunities to make trouble for them, so the matter needed to be done with a very low profile. But at the end, each family would earn a few, or maybe even a few tens, of taels of silver! If Su Tang hadn't been a child of the Su family, they never would have had such a good opportunity delivered to their door!
Su Yongqiang felt grateful to this new sister of his that had delivered such a good thing, and he was determined to ponder over the details as seriously as he possibly could.
"Oh, you men are always so eager to talk business. What time is it already? Sister Tang already said that there's no rush to discuss things before the new year passes, so let's just have a good time first and talk about everything slowly later on." Madam Zhou's chiding voice suddenly cut in broke his train of thought.
