Chapter 80
The three children were here to show off their fingers. Seeing Niudan cry like this, they were a little embarrassed to show off.
“Finger,” Dahu said.
Just to show off.
“Mother wrapped it,” Erhu said.
If his brother showed off, he would show off too.
“You don’t have it,” Xiaohu added.
Niudan was speechless. He couldn’t just stop crying, right?
The three of them ran back to their kitchen where Su Xiaoxiao was cooking cured meat.
“Mother, I want,” Dahu said.
Su Xiaoxiao thought that the three of them were greedy for the cured meat in the pot and said softly, “It’s not cooked yet. Wait a moment.”
“Not meat.” Dahu shook his head and raised his dumpling finger to point at the cloth on it. “I want this.”
“Gauze?” Su Xiaoxiao asked.
“Yes!” The three of them nodded.
Children were at the age of playfulness and exploration. It was normal for them to mess around. Su Xiaoxiao didn’t refuse and returned to the east room to cut three clean pieces of gauze for them.
The three of them happily played with it.
Su Xiaoxiao smiled and continued to cook.
“Eh? Where are the children?”
Father Su walked in with the dry firewood. He had clearly heard the voices of the little fellows.
“What happened to your hand?”
He saw Su Xiaoxiao’s wrapped index finger.
“Nothing. I accidentally scratched it,” Su Xiaoxiao said. “They went to look for Niudan.”
“Are you really fine?” He knew his fat daughter very well. A small wound could last for a long time.
“It’s fine. Wei Ting wrapped it.” It looked so serious.
“Son-in-law is so considerate,” Father Su said.
Su Xiaoxiao spoke, “Hello, did you miss the point?”
“I’ll go see the children.” Father Su went to the back door of the Liu family and took a look. He saw the three little fellows wrapping something around Niudan’s hand. Niu Dan was twitching as if he had just cried.
Father Su automatically imagined a small bullying scene and nodded in satisfaction. The three little fellows did not suffer a loss, so he was relieved and went home to continue chopping firewood.
The Liu family’s argument intensified. When Liu Shan threw a chair, Niudan cried again.
The three little ones walked over and slammed the front door of the kitchen shut!
Niudan was stunned. ... That worked?
This was the bad thing about living in the countryside. Whenever there was any commotion, more than half of the village would rush over to watch the commotion.
Knowing that they were breaking up the family, everyone advised Liu Ping to stop fooling around.
Although they also knew that the eldest branch was not having a good time in the Liu family, it was still the same thing. As long as their parents were around, they would not split up.
As long as they broke up, it would be an extremely ugly scene.
Liu Shan felt that he could not afford to lose face. “If you want to split up, you have to die!”
“Aiya, Brother Ping, listen to Auntie’s advice. Which of the families that broke up has a good ending? If you don’t think for yourself, think for the two children.”
“That’s right. Life won’t be easy after you split up.”
“A pot of rice can’t feed two families. What grudge can’t be resolved? Must you make it to the point of splitting up? Yes, it’s a little hard on your eldest branch, but you’re the eldest son. Which eldest son doesn’t live like this?”
The villagers stood at the moral high ground and criticized the unorthodox couple.
“Auntie Zhou is right. It’s naturally harder for the eldest son to take charge than the second son!”
Su Xiaoxiao strode in.
Everyone looked at her strangely, not understanding why she was there.
Su Xiaoxiao placed her hands behind her back and said leisurely, “In my opinion, Liu Ping really doesn’t know what’s good for him. Isn’t it just doing more hard work and working for others outside? Why is he aggrieved? And Little Wu, she’s the head of the family. She’s the one who washes, cooks, cleans, and chops firewood. As the eldest daughter-in-law, this is what she should do!”
Everyone was wondering why her words sounded strange. However, Fatty Su’s words successfully reminded everyone, or rather, she stated what everyone had evaded.
Liu Ping worked hard in town. In order to get more work, he rarely returned home. He had worked so hard, but how did the Liu family treat his wife and children?
Little Wu did the work of the entire family alone. When the farm was busy, she had to farm. In comparison, Madam He and Big Wu were freer.
Their children were dressed in rags and were thin. They were far inferior to Niudan of the second branch.
Big Wu told everyone how much her heart ached for Liu Ping. She claimed to not feel so strongly for her own son.