Zhao Youcai ignored Old Su and looked at Su Qing to ask, "Su Qing, what are your own thoughts?"
In the past, Su Qing had been the quiet type. No matter how she was bullied at the Old Su Family's home, she never complained to anyone, simply enduring it in silence. She had never made a single demand. But today, Su Qing was speaking up for herself. As Zhao Youcai saw it, this meant she had a mind of her own, and he wanted to hear her out.
Su Qing pressed her lips together and said, "Brigade Leader, Party Secretary, I used to endure things because I remembered they were my grandparents. I thought, 'We're family, so there's a limit to how badly they can treat me.' But now... not only did they try to sell me to a simpleton to be his wife, yesterday they tied me up, locked me in a room, and tried to frame me for having an affair with him. They wanted to utterly ruin my reputation. A family like that... I don't dare to be a part of it anymore."
The crowd erupted at Su Qing's words. Aunt Cuihua and the others who had been at the Su Family home earlier corroborated her story, causing the assembled villagers to look upon the Old Su Family with even greater contempt. They had seen families sell their daughters and granddaughters for a bride price, but a family that would scheme to personally destroy their own granddaughter's reputation? That was a first for them!
Zhao Youcai and Wang Xuehong nodded. 'Who would want a family like that?' Seeing Old Su about to make a scene, they immediately cut her off.
Su Qing continued, "This time, I just want what belongs to my family. The two rooms that were ours, and the courtyard my mother fenced in—I want them back. Also, all our belongings from the house: the chest of drawers, the trunks, the table and chairs, the pot, the water vat, and the rice vat. They must be returned to me. And one more thing—my eldest uncle's job. It was written in the family separation agreement that when I turned sixteen, he was to give the job back to me."
As for the money the family used to have, Su Qing didn't bring it up. The Old Su Family had never found it. Before this body's previous owner's mother left, she had hidden the savings passbook and other valuables, telling only her daughter where they were. However, because the girl had always resented her mother for abandoning her, she had never gone to get them.
"Oh, and this year's work points," Su Qing added quickly, remembering the issue. "I hope the Brigade Leader can put them under my name. Otherwise, I'll have no grain to eat."
"That's right, that's right," the crowd all nodded.
Old Su was so furious she was practically jumping up and down. "You damned, heartless brat! And you say you're not greedy? You're trying to clean out the entire Old Su Family! You've gone too far! Have you no conscience?"
Su Tao grew anxious too. 'If they give the two rooms back to Su Qing, where will I live?'
Su Qing ignored Old Su, shrinking back to hide between Aunt Tao and Aunt Cuihua. The two women protectively shielded her, their hearts aching for the girl. "Brigade Leader," one of them said, "Su Qing isn't being unreasonable at all. She's just asking for what was hers in the first place. What's unreasonable about that?"
Zhao Youcai nodded and looked sternly at the old man. "Uncle Su, I think the girl's right. Let's get this all sorted out today."
Old Su's heart hammered with anxiety. 'The house and the courtyard, fine. The furniture and work points, whatever, we can give those back if we have to. But we absolutely cannot return our eldest son's job. He's in the county town now, earning more than thirty yuan a month! If we give that job back, our monthly income will drop by over thirty yuan. Things will get tight.'
"Erya," Old Su said, looking at Su Qing with a warning glint in his eyes, "your uncle is familiar with that job now. Besides, it's not suitable work for a young woman like you. Even if we gave it back, you wouldn't be able to do it. Wouldn't that be a waste?"
"Tch, that's not right, Uncle Su," someone in the crowd of onlookers called out with a laugh. "Even if Su Qing can't do the job Su Shengguo has now, she could trade it for one she can do, right? I hear there are plenty of jobs for girls in the factories."
"That's right, that's right!" the people around him chimed in.
Old Su shrieked in anger, "What business is this of any of you?"
With all her family's dirty laundry being aired out, Old Su decided to abandon all pretense of shame. She plopped herself down on the ground, crossed her legs, and began to wail at the top of her lungs, slapping her thighs for emphasis. "My son's job! No one is going to take my son's job! You'll have to walk over my dead body first! Aiyoo, Su Qing, you heartless, wretched girl! May you die a horrible death! You're trying to drive us two old people to our graves! You unfilial beast—"
"Enough!" A flash of disgust crossed both Zhao Youcai's and Wang Xuehong's faces as they watched Old Su's performance on the ground. When they had tried to step in on Su Qing's behalf years ago, Old Su had used this exact same tactic, screaming that whoever wanted to interfere could be the one to put food on Su Qing's plate. She had done it then, and she was trying it again today!
It wasn't going to work.
"Uncle Su," Zhao Youcai said, issuing an ultimatum, "just say it. Will you agree to Su Qing's demands or not? If you won't, then we'll report this to the higher-ups."
"The job is non-negotiable!" Old Su said, refusing to budge on that point.
As it happened, Su Qing didn't actually want the job. 'I have my superpower,' she thought, 'I can live a good life no matter what. I'm really not suited for a nine-to-five job.'
So, Su Qing pressed her lips together and said, "Brigade Leader, Party Secretary, if my grandfather insists on not returning the job, then I'll just have to do without it."
Before the Su Family members could even celebrate, Su Qing continued, "In that case, just pay me the cash equivalent for what the job is worth."
"What? You damned girl, you dare to ask for money!" Old Su shrieked, pointing at Su Qing.
"Uncle Su, if you don't get a handle on Aunt Su, then..."
Before Zhao Youcai could finish, Old Su kicked his wife. "Shut your mouth."
'Doesn't she know when to speak and when to keep her mouth shut?' he fumed internally. 'If she keeps this up and the Brigade Leader really washes his hands of this and turns it over to the police, will anything good come of it for the Old Su Family?'
Old Su knew perfectly well that when it came to Su Qing, his family was completely in the wrong.
Despite how she tyrannized others, Old Su had always been afraid of her husband. He had beaten her viciously when they were younger, leaving her with a lasting trauma. So, after he kicked her, she immediately fell silent.
"Fine." Seeing his wife had finally quieted down, Old Su turned to Zhao Youcai and Wang Xuehong. "We'll give the money to Erya. But we don't have much. Fifty yuan is the most we can do."
"Fifty!" a villager scoffed. "Uncle Su, who are you trying to kid? We may just be farmers with muddy legs, but even we know a permanent job in the county is worth at least five or six hundred yuan."
"Our family doesn't have that much money," Old Su said, sticking to his story that they were poor.
Su Qing pursed her lips. "My uncle's monthly salary is over thirty yuan."
The body's previous owner may have been quiet, but she had known everything, which was now proving very convenient for Su Qing.
What!
Su Shengguo's salary was more than thirty yuan a month!
None of the villagers had known. The Su Family had kept the salary a closely guarded secret, never breathing a word of it to anyone in the village.
Good heavens. Someone did the math: over thirty a month was nearly four hundred a year. Over six years, that was a staggering two thousand four hundred yuan.
Even with living expenses, they must have saved at least a thousand, right?
For them, who scratched a living from the dirt, earning a dozen yuan in an entire year was a good haul. And this family, with all that money, was crying poor?
Instantly, the way the villagers looked at the members of the Su Family changed.