Chapter 37: Record of Moving to the City in the 90s 37

If it wasn’t those two families, then who else had it out for our family?

“It had nothing to do with them. The main thing is that there are five people in our family, and each person had two mu of land. That adds up to ten mu total, and all of it was requisitioned. Do you know how much those ten mu brought in? Four hundred thousand yuan. People saw that and got jealous. They insisted that Mom and Dad hand over half the money, saying the village could compensate them with five mu of land instead. Of course, it wasn’t just our family they were jealous of. A total of sixteen families in Shangsha Village had their land requisitioned, so all sixteen of our families became targets of envy. It’s just that our parents had left the village long ago, so they weren’t as close to the others anymore. That’s why those people dared to go so far. The worst the others got was chicken blood or dog blood¹ splashed on their front gates.” By the end, Second Sister was gritting her teeth.

They’d thrown sacks over her parents and beaten them in an alley.

One ended up with a cracked head, and the other had a broken rib.

If those people didn’t go to prison for this, it wouldn’t be over.

“After they beat them up, they got scared, and the ones who did it all ran off. But that doesn’t mean the matter is settled just because they ran. At the time, we didn’t want to make things too ugly right away. All the older people in the village came out one after another to persuade Mom and Dad, saying that for the sake of being from the same village, they should settle it privately. But for a private settlement, they only offered five hundred yuan. So we didn’t take the money. Instead, we immediately handled the transfer paperwork. Huanxia and I thought we’d bring them back first. Once they were back here, nobody could jump them from behind again. After that, we’d go through the legal process.” That was Second Brother-in-law’s plan. He really had not settled things privately over there.

Su Huandan’s expression darkened.

It wasn’t your money, but because you were jealous, you wanted to take half of it. What kind of logic was that?

And when they wouldn’t give you the money, you ambushed and beat them? What kind of logic was that?

If those bastards didn’t get sent to prison over this, it wouldn’t be over.

“Second Brother-in-law, just tell me what would be the most appropriate way to handle this. I’ll find the lawyer. I’ll leave everything else to you and Second Sister,” Yu Zexiu said. He could tell that the second brother and his wife wanted to take the lead on this matter.

They had been handling it from the start, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to take over halfway through. But when it came to helping, he wouldn’t hold back.

That attitude was enough. No matter who handled it, the matter still had to go through legal channels. It wasn’t something that absolutely had to be done by one specific person.

So they needed to spend money to hire a lawyer, and a good one at that. Xiao Jianguo didn’t want to call in favors by going to a lawyer he knew. Since the third daughter’s husband could pay for a lawyer without owing anyone a favor, it was more suitable for him to handle that side of things, so the matter was handed over to the third daughter and her husband.

As for Eldest Brother-in-law, he was tied to the stove all day and couldn’t leave, so he wasn’t suited to running around with them either. So his father-in-law, mother-in-law, and little brother-in-law, along with his own grandfather and son, were all entrusted to Eldest Brother-in-law’s care.

With people at home to look after things, Xiao Jianguo took a long leave from work and returned there with his wife and the lawyer found by the third family.

After a full month of running around, all six men who had done the beating were sent to prison. Their sentences ranged from six months to three years, and every one of them was convicted.

Once that matter was resolved, all the household registration and related paperwork in Shangsha Village was transferred over to Yuanyi Village. They would never go back there again.

Looking at the new household register, Jiang Chunhua asked her husband in a daze, “So this means we’re city people now, right? Before, we still had rural household registration, but now we really have an urban one.”

Su Dakui had never really thought about it. Hearing that, he was stunned for a moment before breaking into a grin. “Yeah. Back then, there were the elders’ graves over there, and there was farmland too. We couldn’t bear to let it all go, so our roots stayed in the countryside. But now the land over there has been requisitioned, and the graves have been moved here. Even our household registration has been transferred over. Our whole family are proper city people now.”

Jiang Chunhua’s tears instantly spilled down her face.

She had always thought she no longer cared about whether she had an urban or rural household registration, but she hadn’t expected that now that her rural registration had been converted into an urban one, a knot of pent-up resentment deep in her heart would finally be released.

Su Dakui sighed and patted his wife’s shoulder. “Go on and cry, don’t hold it in. You were never truly willing to marry into the countryside, and deep down, you’ve always been trying to measure yourself against your three sisters, the ones you stopped keeping in touch with long ago. Now you’ve got an urban household registration too. If you want to cry, then cry your heart out. Once you’ve cried it out, we’ll never dwell on this again. We’ll turn the page and live our lives well, alright?”

Alright, of course it was alright.

Jiang Chunhua laughed and cried at the same time as she wiped her tears clean, gave Su Dakui a punch, and ducked into the kitchen to cook.

Her rib had mostly healed by now. She had long since been able to cook on her own again, and today she was definitely going to make several dishes the two of them loved.

It would just be the two of them eating, and they’d have a little drink together to celebrate.

Her dream of becoming a city person had only come true after she turned sixty. Today absolutely had to be celebrated.

As for Su Dakui and Jiang Chunhua’s future, all they had left was raising their son and living their lives.

On Su Huandan’s side, the two children were almost one year old now, and had been weaned.

Beibei had nursed until six months old. When he started eating solid food, he simply stopped nursing. There was no withdrawal reaction at all. He just suddenly decided he wasn’t going to nurse anymore, and from that point on he refused a single mouthful.

In that respect, he was different from ordinary children again.

Su Huandan was a little worried. Had this child really not awakened the memories of being some big shot back in the prehistoric era?

Why did he seem so strange in every possible way?

Baobao’s withdrawal reaction, on the other hand, was severe. Every day he buried his head in Su Huandan’s arms. Now he could already pop out words one by one, and while rubbing his head against her, he would say, “Eat, eat, hungry, wanna eat!”

Whenever Baobao acted like that, Su Huandan could see a look of disdain in Beibei’s eyes.

It wasn’t just Su Huandan who noticed. Everyone else in the family had seen it too, and one by one they became utterly fascinated by the little guy’s odd behavior.

Ms. Zhou said, “Beibei is smart. He looks even quicker-witted than Zexiu was when he was little.”

Zhou Jing said, “You can tell this kid’s going to accomplish great things when he grows up.”

Ms. Meng said, “A child who already has his own mind from such a young age won’t need adults worrying too much when he grows up.”

Old Master Yu: …

Old Master Yu had suddenly shown up at the door recently, which was a rare thing in itself.

He hadn’t come for Yu Zexiu’s wedding, hadn’t come for the babies’ one-month celebration², and hadn’t come for their hundred-day celebration³ either. Now, just as their first birthday banquet⁴ was approaching, he had come.

Instead of going over to Ms. Zhou’s place when he came, he would head straight for where Su Huandan and Yu Zexiu lived.

Whether the young couple was home or not, the nanny was always there. He would have the nanny bring the children over, play with them for a while without saying a word, ignoring everyone, and once he was done amusing the kids, he would leave again.

It wasn’t until the first birthday banquet that Old Master Yu made a high-profile appearance. He came alone, with only his aide, and the moment he entered the grand hotel, he went straight to the two children.

He didn’t speak to anyone else, and when the others saw him in that military uniform, none of them dared go near him. They could only watch from a distance.

Watching this scene, Zhou Jing found it deeply irritating. What exactly are you here for?

Are you showing off that you’re a general or what?

It’s not like you don’t have other great-grandsons, and you see them all the time, so why are you so fixated on the two in my family?

Translator’s Notes