Third Brother: Come Home with Me Now!
Su Xiaoman was distant from her biological parents and despised by her adoptive ones. Despite never being the favoured child at home, she never lacked material comforts.
Now, looking at her current surroundings…
Su Xiaoman turned her head to survey the environment inside the house. The room was small, about ten square meters, with a small partition created by a cabinet at one side. There were no windows, only a few wall holes under the eaves that allowed some sunlight to filter through.
This damp and gloomy room was where Xie Mingtu lived.
Beneath her was an old wooden bed that creaked with the slightest movement. Su Xiaoman slept on this bed, fearing it might collapse any second. Next to it was a decrepit wooden table and a few plank stools. The table was pitted, and the earthen walls were covered with faded promotional posters.
Looking at the man in front of her, who was as thin as a skeleton, Su Xiaoman felt a mix of emotions. The anger, dissatisfaction, sadness, and sorrow she had initially felt were significantly diluted by the current circumstances.
— She was now Su Xiaoman, a village girl from the 1970s.
Su Xiaoman stared at Xie Mingtu for a long time, unable to imagine how this scruffy man could ever be considered a “handsome gentleman.”
The man kept his head down, and Su Xiaoman could only make out his thick, long eyelashes, reminiscent of crow feathers. Similarly, his hair was dark and unkempt, as was his beard.
“Could I have another bowl, please?”
The bowl of rice soup Su Xiaoman had just drunk was indeed genuine rice soup, mostly water with only a few grains of rice.
In the impoverished rural families of the 1970s, such thin rice soup was the norm and hardly filling. The young man before her, in his late teens, was so tall yet so painfully thin.
It was truly pitiable.
The person before her should have been a beloved young master of a large household, yet he grew up without enough food or warmth…
Xie Mingtu’s past was indeed tragic, no wonder he eventually turned into a major villain.
But for now, the villain was just a pitiable figure.
Upon her request, the pitiable figure honestly took the bowl and stood up to refill it with rice soup.
Su Xiaoman: “…”
As she watched him walk away, Su Xiaoman looked down at her hands, which didn’t belong to her, and zoned out.
The Su family was in decline, with adoptive parents chasing profits, eager to reclaim Xue Zhenzhen as their daughter because she grew up as childhood sweethearts with a top-tier tycoon’s son. If they could connect with the Qin family, the Su family could reverse their fortunes. Meanwhile, her biological parents wanted to make amends to Xue Zhenzhen, believing their own daughter had taken Xue Zhenzhen’s place as the wealthy heiress, enjoying the luxury that should have been Xue Zhenzhen’s. They felt they owed Xue Zhenzhen.
—They all said she owed Xue Zhenzhen, but who was there for her?
Did she, Su Xiaoman, ever wish to be that so-called wealthy young miss?
Recalling her childhood experiences, Su Xiaoman would rather have been just a teacher’s daughter. Despite not being wealthy, she would have been cherished by her parents, learning dance and art from her mother…
They all claimed she was some kind of wealthy pretender, but from another perspective, in the eyes of her biological parents, Xue Zhenzhen was the real pretender, occupying her identity and her parents’ affection!
Su Xiaoman laughed at herself. She and Xie Mingtu were truly pitiable, sharing the same misfortune, whether as faux-rich daughters or genuine sons of large estates, they were both unlucky, stuck in bad families.
Both unloved, pitiful people.
But now, she had left those people behind.
Though she arrived in the poverty-stricken 1970s, the future might be tough, but for her, it was the start of a new life. She no longer needed parental affection, nor cared for her foster or biological parents.
It’s September 1974 now. Looking on the bright side, despite the hardships of the 70s, in just five or six years, the prosperous 80s and 90s would come, and reform and opening-up were not far away. There would be many opportunities, and life would only get better.
With this thought, Su Xiaoman showed a relieved smile.
She bid farewell to her past.
She clearly remembered the memories of both Su Xiaoman and novel Su Xiaoman.
Though unsure if she was the Su Xiaoman who had travelled to the 70s or the Su Xiaoman who had awakened memories of the future, or a combination of both, she was now Su Xiaoman, determined to live well as the new “Su Xiaoman.”
Xie Mingtu went to get some rice soup.
He hadn’t expected Su Xiaoman to actually eat, to accept the rice soup he offered. Last time, she had even smashed the bowl.
But not only did she eat, she even asked for another bowl…
With his head down, Xie Mingtu’s eyes flashed with complex emotions as he poured the rice soup from the clay pot into a porcelain bowl, then took another bowl and poured the remaining contents into it.
Before him now were a bowl of “rice porridge” and a bowl of “rice soup.”
The rice porridge clearly showed the white rice grains, a genuine bowl of porridge, while the rice soup next to it was greyish water.
Xie Mingtu took a spoon, scooped a little from the rice porridge, and added it to the rice soup.
After doing this, the tall Xie Mingtu glanced towards the cabinet at the other end, where a few wooden planks were sticking up, revealing large gaps through which he could see Su Xiaoman on the bed in the distance.
When Xie Mingtu looked over, Su Xiaoman happened to lift her head and smile.
That smile was pure and beautiful, and he couldn’t help but pause, suddenly remembering the hand that had grabbed his wrist earlier.
Xie Mingtu withdrew his gaze and looked at the bowl of rice porridge and rice soup on the table.
He hesitated for a moment with the spoon in his hand, then scooped two spoonful’s of “rice porridge” into the bowl of “rice soup.”
The next moment, Xie Mingtu picked up his own bowl and drank the thick rice porridge in one breath.
After finishing it, he held up the rice soup and brought it over to the woman.
Su Xiaoman took the rice soup, looking at the clear and watery liquid in her hand. She couldn’t help but sympathize with Xie Mingtu. It’s not easy for someone to grow to over 1.8 meters tall while eating such things.
This bowl of rice soup was slightly thicker than the previous one, and she could clearly taste the nearly softened white rice grains.
It was sweet.
Rice was delicious.
She felt somewhat moved in her heart.
After reluctantly considering herself “well-fed and watered,” Su Xiaoman forcibly suppressed the urge to let this man shave, and lay down to rest. Although the high fever had subsided, her body was still weak. She had just recovered and it wasn’t advisable to move around too much.
The Su family.
Su Xiaoman’s father, Su Guodong, paced back and forth in the room, sighing repeatedly. He worried about his youngest daughter.
With three unruly boys in the family, he only had this one daughter, who had been spoiled since childhood. Initially, he was the most opposed to his daughter marrying Xie Mingtu. However, Su Xiaoman’s mother, Liu Shufeng, insisted on her daughter marrying into the Xie family.
Su Guodong exhaled smoke and said to his wife, “Manny likes that Educated Youth Jiang. You know that too. Why force her to marry into the Xie family… Look at how she’s living now, and she’s been sick these past few days.”
“I only have this one daughter. How can I not feel heartbroken?”
Liu Shufeng, the women’s director of the production team, was always quick-tempered. Upon hearing this, she dismissed it with indifference, saying, “She needs to taste a bit of bitterness to understand her mistakes.”
“Is that Educated Youth Jiang a good match? Does anyone even appreciate her? She’s still thinking about that Jiang guy. Why doesn’t she think more sensibly! She doesn’t even realize her mistake!”
Su Guodong flicked off some ash and raised his voice, “And what now that she realizes her mistake? She’s already entered the Xie family’s fire pit.”
“Is that mother-in-law of hers easy to deal with? Not to mention she has three sisters-in-law. Xie Second’s wife is formidable… I don’t understand what you were thinking, making Xiaoman marry Xie’s fifth. Even if our Xiaoman married an ordinary man from the village, it would be better than that Xie Fifth.”
“Xie Fifth’s conditions are too poor. How could our daughter suffer with him?”
Hearing him say this, Liu Shufeng snorted coldly, “I always felt that Mingtu was quite good. We’ve seen him grow up, he’s from the same village, rooted and honest. Among his peers, he’s the tallest. How many in our brigade have grown as tall as him?”
“Not to mention, he saved Xiaoman. He’s a good person.”
“Although he’s a bit thin, a young man in his teens and twenties will bulk up with time. He’s skilled at work, and Xiaoman will definitely not live poorly with him.”
“Sure, it’s tough now, but it’s a good opportunity for Xiaoman to toughen up. When the Xie family divides their property, they can live independently, in the same village, and it’ll be convenient for us and her three brothers to take care of her. It’s much better than marrying someone like Educated Youth Jiang or Xue Zhiqing.”
“I’m not hoping for our daughter to be extremely wealthy. As long as she has food and clothing, that’s enough.”
“All of you should advise her to settle down with Mingtu and live a stable life.”
At that moment, Liu Shufeng called out to the youngest in the family, “Third, I’ve cooked fish soup in the kitchen. Take it along with some brown sugar and eggs to deliver to your sister at the Xie household.”
Su Minyong, also known as the third brother Su, nodded, “Dad, I’ll go see my sister.”
*
Third brother Su, took the items and went to the Xie household. The main house of the Xie family was quite large, but Xie Mingtu lived in the most remote and dilapidated house, not far from the outhouse and pigsty. Standing at the door, Su Minyong felt a pang of sadness.
His lovely little sister was now living in such a place. His mother was too harsh.
“Sister, Third Brother’s here to see you.”
Hearing the familiar voice outside, Su Xiaoman in the house was momentarily stunned, then opened the door to welcome her third brother.
Su Xiaoman had three brothers in total: the eldest, Su Yuemin, who was already married; the second brother, Su Zhenqiang, who worked in a steel factory in the city; and the third brother, Su Minyong, who was close in age to her. He was lazy and liked to slack off at work, but he had the best relationship with Su Xiaoman.
Seeing his pale-faced sister, Su Minyong felt even more heartbroken, “Xiaoman, divorce Xie Fifth. Who cares about reputation? We brothers can support you in the future.”
“You’ve suffered too much.”
Su Minyong initially thought his sister would have a splendid marriage, but unexpectedly, an accident occurred.
Xie Mingtu’s mother, Sun Mei, was a gossipy woman who intentionally spread the news far and wide, claiming that Xiaoman had lost her innocence and could only marry into the Xie family…
Everyone in the village knew that Sun Mei was biased, especially favoring her second son. As for Xie Mingtu, even though he was the youngest, Sun Mei treated him like a mere grass in the field, willing to demean him as she pleased.
Xie Mingtu had turned eighteen, and others told Sun Mei, “You should start saving some money for your fifth son to get married.”
Sun Mei was reluctant to spend this money, but she also feared being criticized for her stinginess. Now that this incident had occurred, she used Xiaoman’s loss of innocence as an excuse to spend not a penny and just marry her off.
Sun Mei caused a scene in the village, arguing with Xiaoman and her mother at home over Xiaoman’s entanglement with Educated Youth Jiang. In anger, Liu Shufeng decided to directly marry her daughter off to the Xie family.
They hastily arranged the wedding, without even a wedding banquet, and Xiaoman was just sent off like that.
Third brother Su, felt sorry for his sister.
“My sister is so beautiful. Marrying Xie Fifth is like putting a flower in cow dung. There are plenty of people who want to marry our Xiaoman.”
“Do you still want to marry that Educated Youth Jiang? Third Brother will help you.”
Su Xiaoman shook her head. She didn’t know what to say to her third brother at this moment, but she didn’t want to marry Educated Youth Jiang now.
She wanted to keep her distance from the male and female leads, lest she becomes a cannon fodder in their comparison.
“Sister, let me tell you quietly. You’re only eighteen now, and Xie Fifth is just over eighteen, not even nineteen yet, so he can’t get a marriage certificate. Men can only get it when they’re twenty. Your marriage isn’t valid.”
At that time, marriages in rural areas often didn’t involve marriage certificates. A village banquet was considered a valid marriage. Some would later obtain certificates, while others wouldn’t bother.
Not to mention, his sister hadn’t even had any substantial relationship with Xie Fifth.
“Xiaoman, come back home with me now!”
Su Xiaoman hesitated, “Third Brother, I…”
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