Chapter 7: CH 7

Chapter 7 - Divide and Conquer (1)

The compound had a communal shower room and shared the faucets inside. Su Yu just finished washing, and one after another, people came over to wash up. Seeing that Su Yu’s face was dripping with water, they thought she had just cried.

Everyone knew about the Su’s family matters. Wasn’t this just a case of a man forgetting his mother figure after marrying?

It was a pity that Su Yu couldn’t stand up for herself and failed to control her younger siblings. Her two youngest siblings were still young. They didn’t have jobs, and they relied on their family for support. If the family really separated, how can the family live?

"Su Yu, are the children in your family still making trouble?" Mrs. Liu, who lived in the same compound, asked. She was married to Liu Mei's uncle. During this instance when Liu Mei was quarreling to separate the family, Mrs. Liu was meddling and making it worse.

The other people in the compound were aware of this. They all exchanged looks with each other and watched Su Yu while brushing their teeth.

Mrs. Liu smiled and said, "If you want me to say something, a couple should have their own home after getting married. If your parents were here, they would have helped Dazhi and his wife with the living arrangements. As the saying goes, the eldest sister is a mother figure. As the eldest sister, you should be accommodating to your younger siblings. Dragging it out like this won’t work.”

Su Yu resisted rolling her eyes. This person really treats others as fools. Saying nonsense that the eldest sister is a mother figure. This bullying tactic only worked on honest people.

Su Yu sighed and said, "Mrs. Liu, don’t even mention it. In the past, when my parents just passed away, Dazhi was so sensible then. He said he wanted to be the pillar of the family and to help me raise our younger siblings together. But, he forgot all about his siblings after marrying a wife. So, when marrying a wife, you have to look at her character. If you marry a wife with poor character, then you’ll become a heartless person. Let me ask you. How did her parents raise such a daughter? A dragon begets a dragon, a phoenix begets a phoenix, and a mouse's son will make holes.”

(T/N: Su Yu’s last sentence is a proverb that means that children are influenced by nature (genetics) and nurture (how their parents raised them).)

"Pfft-" When someone heard this, he couldn't help but laugh, even spitting out the toothpaste in his mouth. When he looked at Mrs. Liu, he saw that her face had already changed colors in anger.

Mrs. Liu gritted her teeth and said, "Su Yu, it’s really not nice of you to say that. Why have you become so mean?"

Su Yu said, "The truth isn’t pleasant to hear. I’m not being mean. Who let me meet a mean sister-in-law? If I don’t act this way, my younger brother and sister will have to sleep on the streets. Mrs. Liu, you should help persuade Liu Mei when you have the chance. Otherwise, the other daughters-in-law in the compound will learn from her and do the same thing.”

The other people’s expressions suddenly looked a bit bad, especially the expressions of the older people. The ones that had a married son were sweating and felt as if their chest was tight. If the Su’s eldest son and his wife succeeded in getting a separation, would the daughter-in-laws in their families be tempted?

All young couples would like to have a single room to themselves.

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Su Yu didn’t care that Mrs. Liu was so angry that her mouth was askew. She sighed and went back with the basin. On her way back, she met the Su siblings, who had come over to wash up. They saw her, but these guys didn't even greet her. It was obvious they were sulking.

Su Yu didn't care about them. In her opinion, these guys were owed a lesson.

In the beginning, the original Su Yu raised these three siblings on her own. Although Su Dazhi joined the workforce later on, he soon met Liu Mei. Thus, his salary and tickets ended up in the hands of the Liu’s. The original Su Yu was the only one that rushed about to prepare for his wedding. She had paid for everything out of her pocket, but in the end, Su Dazhi didn’t appreciate his big sister’s kindness. He listened to his wife’s instigations and wanted to separate the family.

As for the two youngest siblings, they were a lesson in not spoiling one’s children. Su Xiaozhi complained all day that he didn’t want to study. He was like a feral child that roamed everywhere. His older sister took care of him, but he didn’t appreciate it and thought she was meddling in his life.

As for Su Lin, she was even more insensible. She looked as if she didn’t understand the sufferings of the people. She liked to compare her food and clothing with others. If her older sister didn’t give into her demands, she went on hunger strikes.

Su Yu had thought she could go back to her time, so she had a laissez-faire attitude towards this. Anyways, after she left, it was the original owner's business. She wasn’t so bored that she would bother herself with it.

But now, it was different. She had become Big Sister Su.

There were some things that she must take care of. And as for sweeping these people out of the home, Su Yu has no such intention. These people were a labor force. At critical times, they can even look after and protect the home. After all, regardless of the era, there was a big difference between a single woman and a family.

Back home, Su Yu began to take inventory of her assets. If she had to continue living in this place, then she must ensure that she has enough to eat, drink, and live a good life.

The grocery had already been brought this month. Before she had transmigrated over, the other three would take food stamps to eat out, so there weren’t many food stamps left. There were only three catties of food stamps left. If she went to the canteen to eat ready-made food, there was only enough to eat a few meals. It was only the middle of the month. She couldn’t starve herself the rest of the month just to eat a few good meals at the canteen.

So until her payday, she can’t go to the canteen to eat well.

When she looked in the cupboard where food was kept, she saw that there were still ten catties of rice and thirty pounds of cornmeal left, as well as some wheat bran and corn flour. These were the family's provisions for the month.

In the basket, there were two taels of fatty meat, which were saved from New Year’s supply and had been made into bacon. The original owner would usually cut a few slices of the bacon and add it into the food to supplement the nutrition for her younger siblings. This bacon was the most precious thing for the whole family.

As she looked at these things, Su Yu's heart couldn't help but feel cold again. No matter how much she consoled herself, she couldn’t change the fact that this was a time of scarcity. Not to mention, this family was so poor.

T/N: Unlike other ‘60-’70s novels, Su Yu won’t be working on getting rich by making modern-day desserts or anything similar to that. Her family’s problem is primarily that one adult is subsidizing a spoiled teenage girl, a rebellious teenage boy, and a man-child and his wife even though there are three employed adults in the family, along with other problems. In the next part, Su Yu will begin her campaign to harvest these siblings into her willing workers.

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