Chapter 136: The Reason for Su Ping’s Ruin

Chapter 136: The Reason for Su Ping's Ruin

Old folks tend to be chatty, and Li Yulan kept pulling Su An and Su Ping to tell them about the events of the past few years.

"Originally, your uncle was going to take your mother to City A, but unexpectedly, your aunt got pregnant again the year before last. The Women's Committee Director in town, taking advantage of the family being away, along with the family planning office, forcibly took your aunt for an abortion and sterilization procedure, which harmed her health. She’s been on and off medication, and only this year has she gotten better."

"The family’s been in such disarray that we couldn’t help much with your mother’s hardships over the past few years."

"Then there’s the matter of your cousin Xuan Ying’s marriage, which has been a rollercoaster. Chen Jiahua’s son... well, thankfully, it’s now settled with the Liu family, and your aunt is relieved."

When mentioning Chen Jiahua, not only did Li Yulan grit her teeth, but Su An also suddenly looked up.

Chen Jiahua was about the same age as Wang Xiaocui. His father, Chen Shuming, had been the brigade secretary, while Wang Xiaocui’s father, Wang Kaifu, was the brigade leader.

Back then, Chen Shuming had even come to propose a marriage between Chen Jiahua and Wang Xiaocui. However, Chen Jiahua’s mother had a notorious reputation for being difficult in the brigade, relying on her son-in-law’s position in the commune and her husband’s role as secretary, she acted arrogantly in the village.

What’s more, Chen Jiahua had been raised by his mother to be utterly dependent, even as a grown man ready for marriage, he still relied on his parents’ work points.

The Chen family, seeing Wang Xiaocui’s capability, planned to marry her off to their useless son to make her work like a beast of burden. Wang Kaifu and Li Yulan certainly couldn’t let their daughter marry into such a family, so they tactfully declined.

After that, while there was some tension between the two families, they managed to keep up appearances. Later, both Chen Jiahua and Wang Xiaocui married and had children, and the past was largely forgotten.

Who would’ve guessed that Chen Jiahua still held a grudge? Though he didn’t fancy Wang Xiaocui, her rejection had deeply humiliated him. At a banquet, he maliciously pulled Su Ping, who was under five, and, as if teasing a monkey, forced him to down two cups of strong liquor.

That night, Su Ping came down with a high fever that wouldn’t break. Back then, in the countryside, medical conditions were poor, and no one would rush a child to the hospital in the middle of the night for a fever. They usually relied on home remedies and waited until morning, only heading to the clinic if things got really bad.

Unexpectedly, Su Ping’s fever wasn’t like the usual colds. A child under five couldn’t handle two large cups of strong liquor. That night, he was burning up, vomiting, and suffering from diarrhea. By the time they got him to the town clinic the next morning, it was too late.

Those two cups of liquor left Su Ping with permanent intellectual damage.

When this happened, the entire Wang family was furious. Wang Kaifu, in his hot temper, grabbed his hunting rifle and scoured the brigade for Chen Jiahua. While the Wang and Chen families were still entangled in this matter, Su Jianjun took advantage of the situation to secure a substitute teaching position through Chen’s son-in-law in the commune, secretly reconciling with the Chen family behind the Wangs’ back.

He even justified it by saying that the incident had already happened and that he was doing it for the family. In the countryside, it was common to tease children with alcohol, and no one expected such a tragedy.

At that time, it was still the collective era, and for the sake of the brigade’s advanced status and collective honor, no one would report such an incident to the police. It was indeed common in the countryside to tease children with alcohol, but most people knew better than to force two large cups of strong liquor down a child’s throat.

Moreover, by then, the Chen family had already obtained Su Jianjun’s letter of forgiveness.

So, the matter was dropped, but the Wang and Chen families became sworn enemies.

Su An looked at Li Yulan and asked, "The Chen Jiahua family? Didn’t our Wang family cut ties with them?"

Li Yulan sighed, "It’s just that your grandfather is no longer here, and their family has started causing trouble again. That son of theirs with polio even dared to set his sights on our Xuan Ying. That shameless Chen Jiahua even sent a matchmaker to your uncle’s house to propose."

"Your aunt, though she doesn’t talk much with us, loves Xuan Ying and Jian Yong dearly. She immediately drove the matchmaker away."

"Later, Chen Dong even ambushed your cousin Xuan Ying twice. Your uncle caught him once and beat him up. The engagement with the Liu family was almost ruined by their meddling."

Li Yulan lovingly stroked Su Ping’s large head, her eyes filled with heartache, "My clever Ping has been so badly harmed by their family. With such a deep grudge, they still dare to think of marrying a Wang family girl? It’s a dream!"

"Back then, I already saw that Su Jianjun was no good, but with the two of you, there was no other choice. Ah, it’s also my fault and your grandfather’s for misjudging him back then."

"By the way, what about you? I know that heartless Su Jianjun has made you suffer a lot over the years. When your mother came back, I ignored her for half a year. How could she leave you with someone like Su Jianjun? I was so worried. If I weren’t so old and if so many things hadn’t happened at home, I would have gone to find you myself."

"Your mother insisted that with Su Jianjun, you’d have urban residency and access to rationed food in the future. She said your father had a job and would retire eventually, and Su Ping could take over. She also said that as his biological children, he wouldn’t harm you, and that being with your father was better than staying in the countryside and farming with her. She even said that if she had lived in the city and seen a doctor earlier, my Ping wouldn’t have turned out like this... But I say, nothing is better than keeping your children close. Even eating chaff and vegetables with their mother is better than being with a father like Su Jianjun."

Su An and her brother spent the afternoon chatting with their grandmother, who was visibly overjoyed and in high spirits. As the sky darkened, Jian Rong and Xiu Yun, who had been studying, also returned.

When Su An and her brother went to the city, Jianrong and Xiuyun were still young, and now they seemed a bit unfamiliar.

But after receiving the gifts, they quickly became close.

For dinner, Wang Yongzheng went all out, even slaughtering a duck.

The yellow cow at Haiwang's house in the village had given birth, and the family didn't want to eat the afterbirth, so Wang Yongzheng spent some money to buy it.

In traditional Chinese medicine, cow afterbirth, or cow placenta, is believed to replenish qi and blood, benefit the kidneys and lungs, and is especially good for women. His wife Zhang Shuangshuang and his elder sister Wang Xiaocui had always been in poor health. Hearing that it was beneficial for women, he kept an eye on that cow.

In the afternoon, when he heard the cow was about to give birth, he hurried over to keep watch, afraid that the afterbirth might be eaten by the cow.

The dinner was a feast, featuring a large pot of stir-fried duck meat, a pot of duck offal and blood soup, fresh vegetables from their own field, and the star of the meal—a large pot of mugwort stewed with cow placenta.

Jianrong went to Wang Yongshun's house twice to call them, and Wang Yongshun came over with Wang Xuanying on crutches. Jianyong, a third-year junior high student, was boarding at school and only came home every Saturday afternoon.

Everyone was used to Liu Xiaomei not showing up, but Li Yulan still made sure to fill a large bowl of cow placenta stew for her, ready to deliver it.

Seeing how dark it was outside, Su Ping stopped Wang Xuanying and her grandmother, "Grandma, I'll go. It's almost pitch black out there, and I can run fast."

Carrying the bowl, Su Ping ran all the way from her grandmother's house to Wang Yongshun's house. The lights were on at her uncle's house, and Su Ping burst in, plopped the bowl on the table, and shouted, "Auntie, Grandma sent this for you."

Without waiting for a response, she turned and bolted.

After leaving her uncle's house, Su Ping hurried back to her grandmother's, her mind buzzing with thoughts of the stir-fried duck.

Just then, there was a rustling sound from behind the abandoned house by the roadside—the sound of someone stepping on broken tiles.

Su Ping froze, startled, and shouted towards the house, "Who's there?"

The only response was another rustling sound. Although Su Ping was brave, her soul was still that of a child, and she felt a chill in her heart.

She called out twice more towards the back of the house, and when no one responded, she mustered her courage and tiptoed around to the back.

When she spotted the figure crouching under the eaves in the moonlight, Su Ping's mind nearly exploded.