Volume One, Chapter 15: Do You Think My Mom Has Feelings for Old Wang Next Door?

Page (1/3)

Those eyes were incredibly tiny, unnervingly red, and constantly darting about, which terrified her. She wanted to scream but feared that any sound might alert whatever it was. So, she clutched the blanket tightly, pressed herself against the wall, and fixed her gaze on those small eyes. The eyes moved intermittently, circling around. She stared intently, and just as she was about to relax, something suddenly leapt up, making her cry out, “Mom!”

Xiao Ying, who had just fallen asleep, was startled awake by the cry. Hearing her youngest daughter calling out, she hurriedly put on her shoes and got out of bed. When she reached the living room, she instinctively went to her daughter’s usual room, but just as her hand reached for the door handle, she remembered that the two girls had switched rooms. So she changed direction and headed to the smaller room.

Inside, it was hard to make out what was happening. “Mingyue! What’s wrong?” At that moment, Su Mingyue rushed to her mother’s side, wrapping her arms around her. “I just saw a pair of red eyes. I don’t know what it was, but something jumped onto my bed. I was so scared! It’s still there now!”

After hearing her daughter’s description, Xiao Ying immediately guessed it was a rat. “Don’t be afraid. This is the storage room; there must be rats here.”

“What? There are rats in our house?” Su Mingyue could hardly believe what she was hearing. “That can’t be. Our doors and windows are all secure. How could there be rats?”

Xiao Ying felt embarrassed to tell her youngest daughter that the rats were secretly placed there by her, just to make the eldest daughter suffer a little scare. But instead, it ended up frightening the youngest.

She patted her daughter’s hand, “Alright, you shouldn’t sleep in this room anymore. Just squeeze onto the sofa for tonight. When that troublemaker leaves tomorrow, you can go back to your room.”

Su Mingyue began to cry. “Mom, how did things get like this? How did my sister become so fierce? Could she be possessed or something?”

Xiao Ying despised any talk of ghosts and spirits. Her expression darkened immediately. “Stop talking nonsense. Go to sleep right now! It will be daylight soon. If you don’t sleep, how will you go to school tomorrow?”

“But—” Su Mingyue tried to speak again but was pushed away by her mother. She had no choice but to follow her mother’s footsteps out, not daring to look back.

This house was truly terrifying—rats actually lived here! She wondered how her sister could live under these conditions. Surely she wasn’t sharing a blanket with rats?

Page (2/3)

…

Su Jinxia woke up at dawn, a habit formed over many years. She never slept deeply because she never knew when danger might come next. It was this resilience that had kept her alive.

Finding no one awake in the living room, she went straight to the kitchen. The cupboard was locked, but a tug on the latch popped it open. She took out a bag of rice, then a bowl, and filled it generously. Normally, this bowl of rice would last ten days. She only drank water with porridge, and the rice was shared between her and her mother, which had caused her physical development to be slow.

After preparing the porridge, she carried the basin back to the living room and sat there quietly drinking.

Hearing the noise, Xiao Ying came out and saw her eldest daughter drinking something. She glanced at her but said nothing—she also felt sorry for the rice, as if cutting into her own flesh.

Anyway, they were leaving today. No need to quarrel; it was better to behave well and get the wages from her husband—that was the real task. Otherwise, she and her daughters would have to starve this month.

Su Jinxia saw that her mother didn’t want trouble. That was fine—she could eat in peace for now.

Soon, the basin of porridge was almost empty. Just as she put down her chopsticks to wipe her mouth—

“My goodness! Su Jinxia! Are you a weasel?” Xiao Ying came out holding the rice bag. “Our family’s rice for half a month, and you’ve eaten it all in one sitting! Are you some kind of starving ghost? Su Jinxia! Show some shame! How can a daughter act like this? It’s never a fight with your sister, it’s always hitting your mother!”

“Mrs. Xiao! I’m eating the grain coupons my grandfather sent me to buy this rice. What’s it to you?” Su Jinxia put down her chopsticks and stood up. “Or do you want to go over every grain I’ve eaten these years and keep an account?”

Xiao Ying looked at her daughter, who had become a debt collector. From yesterday onward, she had never had the upper hand in any argument; she was always on the losing side.

Su Beilu heard the commotion and came out of the room. Seeing his wife in a confrontational stance and his daughter calm and indifferent, he knew a quarrel was brewing.

“Early morning! Stop this! It’s not good if outsiders hear!”

There was a knock at the door.

He opened it to find their neighbor Wang Youquan standing there, awkward at first but quickly composed.

Page (3/3)

“Old Wang, what brings you here?”

Wang Youquan looked slightly embarrassed but soon recovered. “We ran out of soy sauce at home. I thought I’d come borrow some. Do you have any? If not, I’ll ask old Sun next door!”

Su Beilu turned back. “Yingzi, do we have soy sauce at home?”

“Yes, yes, yes. I’ll get a bowl to fill some!” Xiao Ying’s heart lifted. She quickly went back to the kitchen, poured some soy sauce into a bowl, and returned to the door with a bright smile. “Brother Wang, is this enough?”

Wang Youquan smiled as well, “Plenty!”

Their hands touched briefly as he took the bowl—everything was unspoken but understood.

Seeing their eldest daughter return to her room, Su Beilu followed and paid no attention to them, oblivious to the uneasy expressions on their faces.

After the door closed, Xiao Ying said to Wang Youquan, “He’s leaving tomorrow.”

“Alright, got it. Be careful!” Wang Youquan casually touched her hand again before reluctantly leaving.

Xiao Ying closed the door and looked back inside. Why hadn’t the two of them come out yet?

Su Beilu handed money to his daughter. “The road is long and the mountains high; take extra money.”

Su Jinxia looked at the thick stack. “You’re giving me your entire month’s salary? Aren’t you afraid she’ll make trouble?”

Su Beilu said, “Don’t say that. She’s your mother. She’s done wrong sometimes, but she’s still family. Don’t blame her too much.”

“You’ll understand after you get married. With children, parents always fall short at times.”

Su Jinxia sneered sarcastically. “Then don’t have so many. I believe that when I have children, no matter how many, I’ll treat them all equally. Just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean I can’t.”

Su Beilu felt a pang of sadness as he looked at his grown daughter. “It’s your father’s fault for being away so often. If I were home more, your mother wouldn’t have gone so far. You’ve suffered over the years. I promise it won’t happen again.”

Su Jinxia looked at her father. “You know you’re often not home. Do you realize your mother treats Uncle Wang next door better than she treats you?”