Chapter 10: Su Lei Steals Money

Chapter 10: Su Lei Steals Money

Ji Qingqing was already pregnant before she even married into the Su family, giving her elder brother and sister-in-law leverage over her.

In order to team up with her maternal family to get rid of Wang Xiaocui and quickly marry into the Su family, Ji Qingqing had to put pressure on Lin Zhaodi.

The price was giving the job at the ceramics factory to her maternal family.

As a result, after marrying into the Su family, Ji Qingqing never got a formal job and had been doing odd jobs like assembling cardboard boxes from the neighborhood committee.

In recent years, if not for Su Ping working at the mine and sending money home every month, Su Jianjun’s salary alone wouldn’t have been enough to support the family.

Although she received a substantial dowry when she married into the Su family, a stable job is the true "iron rice bowl"—a reliable source of income, especially at a reputable large factory like the steel mill.

If it weren’t for this job opportunity at the steel mill, she really couldn’t bear it anymore.

Ji Qingqing didn’t finish her thought, but Su Jianjun understood her meaning.

“They said it would take about a week. We’ve already waited three or four days, so we just need to hold on for another few days.”

“The job is a priority. We’ll have to endure everything else for now. Once we secure the job, let’s see how that married-off daughter of ours manages in the Zhao family without her maternal family to back her up.”

“That Zhao Daxing isn’t a good person. You know what happened to his previous wife? There are all kinds of rumors going around. When the time comes, there will be plenty of people to help us teach her a lesson.”

Su Jianjun, with a sinister look, squeezed out these words through clenched teeth, making it seem as though Su An wasn’t his daughter but his enemy.

Su Lei, just over six years old, listened half-understanding as his parents spoke, feeling something stir inside him.

In the afternoon, when Su An returned, she had just gotten off the bus when she saw Su Lei running out of the arcade, accompanied by several older children, hurrying home.

Curious, Su An followed them from a distance.

After walking for a while, she noticed that one of them was even Su Bai from the second branch of the family.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, Su An couldn’t help but click her tongue. It’s Wednesday today.

Neither Su Bai nor Su Lei went to class and were instead hanging out with these random people in the arcade.

Clearly, they didn’t take the two days of tutoring she gave them seriously.

But it also shows that they weren’t inherently good kids.

As they reached the front door, Su Lei skillfully reached through the gap in the door, unlocked it from the inside, and led the group inside.

Nobody was home?

Su An became interested and quietly made her way up the stairs, then circled around to the back and peered through the rear window.

This was a large communal apartment building. The first floor was an open market because it faced the street.

The apartments started on the second floor, accessible via shared staircases from the street. The second floor had a maze-like network of alleys and a square-shaped corridor with railings.

Inside, Su Lei headed straight for the master bedroom of Su Jianjun and Ji Qingqing. He reached under the well-worn pillow on the bed and pulled out a set of keys.

He had seen his mother take money from a cabinet before.

A cube-shaped red wooden box, with a few smaller boxes stacked on top of it, was too heavy for Su Lei to move.

Su Bai looked outside anxiously and said, "Su Lei, how much longer? Hurry up, or your mom will be back any minute."

Su Lei, panting, was also anxious. "It's too heavy; I can't get it down. Come help me."

As soon as he finished speaking, a few older kids who had been lurking by the door rushed in and, working together, hoisted the small box down.

Su Bai snatched the key from Su Lei's hand and swiftly unlocked the lock.

A taller boy opened the heavy lid of the cube-shaped box below, using his head to hold the lid up, allowing Su Lei to rummage inside with both hands.

"Hurry."

Su Lei's hands moved quickly inside the box. He skillfully pulled out a small cloth-wrapped box from the bottom, opened it, and took out several banknotes.

The boy who was helping to hold the lid reminded, "Take more; there are so many of us. It won't be enough to go around."

Su Bai, thinking Su Lei didn't recognize larger bills, quickly took a big bill from the thick stack and stuffed it into Su Lei's hand.

"Alright, alright. If we take too much, it won't be good if we get caught."

The group came with a bang and left with a bang, without any attempt to hide.

Su An's mouth almost stretched to her ear. It looked like the past two days weren't the best time to come home.

Pushing the window open, she nimbly climbed inside and felt for the keys where Su Lei had taken them.

The contents of the box took Su An by surprise. At the very bottom, wrapped in red paper, was a thick stack of brand-new large denomination bills.

This was before the hundred-yuan note was introduced, so this stack of money was clearly the bride price she had received from Zhao Daxing when she got married. She hadn’t expected that Ji Qingqing hadn’t deposited it yet.

The rest included a watch, a pair of gold earrings, two gold rings, and three savings certificates. One of the certificates was from three years ago, with a deposit of 200 yuan.

Su An’s heart sank. During those two years, she and her brother would come home from school to glue paper boxes, often working until midnight.

But Ji Qingqing and Su Jianjun always said they couldn’t afford to support so many children at home, that they were running out of food, and insisted on making her drop out of school to become an apprentice at the garment factory, where she would learn to sew.

This savings certificate proved that what they said back then was complete nonsense.

The other two certificates were from the beginning of last year and this year, with deposits of 220 yuan and 360 yuan, respectively. Needless to say, it must have been from Su Ping sending money back.

In the first year of working in the mines, Su Ping sent 25-30 yuan home every month. In the second year, it increased to 40 yuan, and in recent months, it had reached 50 yuan.

Without wasting time, Su An grabbed everything, including the savings certificates, and left the box completely empty.

After thinking for a moment, she put back more than twenty yuan in loose change, mostly small bills and coins, scattering them inside so that when grabbed and thrown in, they filled up half the box.

Su An suspected that Su Lei wouldn’t stop at just one theft. If he kept coming back, he probably wouldn’t even know how much he had taken in the end.

Su An stuffed everything into her pockets and climbed out the window. Instead of using the front staircase, she scaled the back wall and disappeared into the night.