Chapter 286: The Angry Su Ping

Chapter 286: Su Ping's Fury

Noticing the earlier tension between the two, Su An’s expression turned cold as she looked up at Su Ping. "Ge, you knew?!"

Seeing his sister was clearly upset, Su Ping waved his hands in panic. "No no, An An, I swear I didn’t lie! I thought he was a boy—I treated him like a bro."

"Today at work, the more I thought about it, the fishier it seemed. How could a guy also wear that kind of clothing? [binding clothes?] So, I went home to check his official ID records."

"When I saw the gender marker said 'female,' I was afraid I might be wrong, so I dragged her out to clarify. Before that, I even thought she might be seriously ill. I asked our neighbor Aunt Liu, and she said men wouldn’t do that—either I was mistaken or she was actually a girl. That’s when I started suspecting."

Su Ping blurted out his explanation, nervously watching Su An’s reaction.

Even though Ren San had lied, if An An got angry, Ren San would be in real trouble.

"An An-jie, I’m sorry. I betrayed your trust. Go ahead—hit me, yell at me, I deserve it. I know I was wrong. I shouldn’t have deceived you."

Suppressing her frustration, Su An said, "Get up first."

Ren San, now timid, ducked behind Su Ping.

Seeing Ren San’s fearful expression, Su An sighed helplessly. "I thought I made myself clear enough last time. What exactly are you afraid of?"

"Why did you hide the fact that you’re a girl? Is this also why you didn’t want to go to school?"

Ren San repeated the explanation she had given Su Ping earlier—she just felt boys were more liked, more easily accepted, while girls were treated like mistakes.

"How could that be? That’s just your village..." Su An trailed off, unsure how to explain.

Because the reality was, even in cities where families were only allowed one child, out of a hundred households, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who'd admit they only wanted a daughter. In more backward areas, it was even worse—daughters weren’t considered their children. Girls were seen as obstacles to having sons. Without daughters, they believed they’d be allowed to try for a son.

Even outside remote villages, the "accidental death" rate for baby girls was orders of magnitude higher. At the cannery, Su An had once overheard a neighbor whispering to her mother-in-law about how she had given birth in the washroom and, upon seeing it was a girl, left her face-down in the gutter without retrieving her...

Abandoned baby girls were commonly found on streets, outside police stations, or near shops. And that was if the parents had any conscience—some simply dumped them in deserted mountains, ditches, or rivers. This is why the gender ratio becomes severely imbalanced in the coming decades.

*Trigger Warning: The following content contains descriptions of infant abandonment.*

"Men and women are different. Even if no one taught you before, you should’ve learned by now after being here so long. You..."

Su An looked at Ren San and Su Ping with exasperation.

Before Ren San could react, Su Ping turned red with shame, shuffling his feet like a scolded child.

"I had no idea!" Su Ping whimpered.

Ren San, anxious, added, "An An-jie, it’s not Su Ping’s fault. I was very careful—I hid it on purpose. He really didn’t know. The moment he confirmed it, he got angry and scolded me."

Tears welled up in Ren San’s eyes. Her brother had yelled at her, and it hurt deeply.

Seeing her so upset, Su An couldn’t bring herself to say anything harsh. She hadn’t cried even when confronting child traffickers at the train station, but now she was on the verge of tears.

"He scolded you?" Now knowing Ren San was a girl, Su An was still angry about the deception but also felt more sympathy.

Ren San met Su An’s gaze. "He called me a liar... said I had no decency. *[soft sobbing]*"

Su Ping stared at Ren San, who was sobbing uncontrollably while wiping away tears, completely stunned.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! He thought Ren San was a perfect example.

"You've got some nerve crying! You're a girl pretending to be a boy, and you even slept in the same bed with me! Everyone will laugh at me! And you’re still crying? Sister An, look, just look at her!"

Su Ping pointed at Ren San, furious.

Su An watched her brother throwing a tantrum, getting a headache. "Brother..."

"I don’t want to hear it! Liar! She’s a liar!" Su Ping yelled at Ren San before turning and stormed out.

Ren San flinched at the shout, watching Su Ping leave in anger, tears streaming down her face as she hiccuped.

Seeing Ren San like this, Su An couldn’t bring herself to scold her—instead, she had to comfort her.

The poor kid looked utterly miserable.

"Look, this was really serious. You really shouldn’t have kept it from us. It’s a betrayal of trust. Of course Brother is angry—his best friend turned out to be fake..." Su An explained awkwardly.

A big part of Su Ping’s anger stemmed from embarrassment. Though he wasn't fully developed mentally, Wang Xiaocui and Su An had always emphasized the importance of boundaries between men and women.

Even though Su Ping was now an adult man, his mentality was still childlike. But if he accidentally touched someone—it could cause real problems.

Under Wang Xiaocui and Su An’s influence, Su Ping was stricter about these rules than anyone else.

Because his mother and Sister An had repeatedly told him: You must never casually touch girls. It’s wrong, it’s improper, you must be polite. Boys and girls are different. Even accidentally touching someone could get you called a creep.

Ren San might still be young, and perhaps no one had ever taught her these things. But in Su Ping’s mind, this was a grave mistake.

"Sister An... (sniffles)... Brother Ping is mad at me," Ren San whimpered, staring at the door.

"Well... give him time to calm down, then apologize properly."

"But this time, you really shouldn’t have... *sigh*..."

"Sister An, I know I really screwed up. I was just... just so scared. I’ll never do it again, I promise. Please don’t be mad. I know I messed up. I betrayed your trust. I’m sorry..."

That night, when Wang Xiaocui found out Ren San was a girl, she nearly had a heart attack.

A girl had been living under their noses for so long, and no one noticed—until her simple-minded son figured it out.

"Brother Ping, how... how did you realize San was actually a girl...?"

Before Wang Xiaocui could finish, Su Ping, humiliated, marched into his room, slamming the door behind him.

This was too much. He had thought Ren San was a boy and had even shared all kinds of guy stuff with her. How completely humiliating!

The loud *bang* made Ren San jump in fright.

"Sister An..." she said in a small voice, tugging at Su An’s sleeve.

"It’s fine. He’s just embarrassed. He’ll get over it in a few days."

Just as Ren San started to relax, Su Ping marched out with a bag.

Su An called after him, "Brother, for now, San and I will stay at the other place. We'll get the door fixed tomorrow. The neighborhood's full of families—nothing to worry about."

Su Ping gave a stiff nod, then glared at Ren San. "Fine. I’ll stay here."

After Su An and Ren San left, Wang Xiaocui gave Su Ping a troubled look, as if she wanted to ask something but didn’t know how to phrase it.

"Ping Ping... how did you figure out San was a girl? You didn’t... do anything that would ruin your reputation, did you? Mom told you before, you must never..."

Su Ping’s hair practically stood on end. Furious, he started pacing back and forth.

"I knew it! I just knew it! I hate Ren San! Damn liar! I never want to see her again!!!"