Chapter 2: Robbery of Food

  Su Xiaomo leaned weakly against the door, frowning as she watched the two women in the courtyard. She had just walked out and overheard some of their conversation, apparently they were here to collect debts.

  In Su Xiaofan's memory, her mother had always been weak and sickly, taking medicine all year round. As a result, their family owed money to many people in the village. Just when her mother finally recovered from her illness and became pregnant with another child, her father suddenly passed away. At his funeral, they even borrowed more silver coins from Second Uncle and Third Uncle's families.

  "Fan'er, how did you get up? Hurry back to bed and rest." Madam Ji strode over, making a gesture as if to escort her back into the house.

  "Mom, I'm fine, but are you okay walking so fast?" Although she had just eaten a bowl of porridge, Su Xiaomu still felt like her whole body was floating, and walking made her feel like she was stepping on clouds.

  And walking out, looking at the poor courtyard, the uneven ground, and the few scattered households in the distance, Su Xiaomu had an even stronger sense of having crossed over. From now on, she would have to live as Su Xiaofan and protect her family for her.

  "It's already gotten used to being a daughter, you've just recovered from a serious illness, but you must rest well." Mrs. Jia smiled lightly, feeling happy in her heart, and Fang'er had become more considerate of others since waking up.

  Su Xiaofan was about to speak when Li's wife shouted again from a distance: "Mother, look at this little Su who is already jumping around, where does she still need money for treatment? You should ask your sister-in-law to return some of our money first."

  Meng said on the side: "Yes, mother, second sister is right."

  Ye's eyes blazed with anger as he glared at them: "Which eye did you see us ordinary people jumping around alive, looking at that pale little face, just that little bit of silver to save our lives, and you all want to take it away."

  Meng saw the situation and didn't get angry, as if he was already used to Ye's temper. With a sarcastic tone, he said: "Xiao Fan has been rejected by the Zhang family, I'm afraid no one will marry her in the future. Big brother is really unlucky, marrying such a cheap wife and having a daughter who loses money too. Who knows if big sister's belly will have another money-losing thing."

  "Get out! All of you, get out!" Ye's anger flared up, and she grabbed a nearby broom, ready to chase them away.

  "You give us the money, and we'll leave. Who would be willing to come all the way to this broken-down place?" Li stood still, not moving a single step, with a look of disdain on her face as she scanned the surroundings, continuing: "I don't know how you people can live like this, these shabby houses that could be blown down by a strong wind, and yet you've managed to live here for so many years."

  "What evil deeds have you committed in your past lives to marry such vicious wives?!" Ye Shi grasped the broom in her hand, trembling with rage.

  "Mother, you really are getting old and muddled. It was the matchmaker who came to our house to propose back then." Meng's mother covered her mouth and laughed, people say that as one gets older, they will forget things, but it seems there really is such a thing.

  "Alas..." Ye patted his chest and stamped his feet, regretting endlessly. If he hadn't married these two women back then, how would their life have turned out like this?

  Jia's family saw the situation and walked over to support her, with a worried face: "Mother, don't get angry and hurt your body." Then he looked at the two of them with a hint of blame and said: "You two siblings should also pay attention to your words and be more considerate, Mother is old and her body is not good."

  Meng's family raised her slender eyebrows and loudly refuted: "If the elder sister had taken out the money more readily, would we have made a fuss about it?"

  "What's going on? You haven't returned for half a day?"

  With a loud and sonorous voice, a group of people walked slowly and steadily along the small path in the distance.

  Su Xiaofan looked up and saw that the arrivals were her second uncle, third uncle, as well as two sons of her second uncle's family and a son and daughter of her third uncle's family.

  When she saw the people coming, Su Xiaofan involuntarily furrowed her brow. From what she remembered, these people weren't good people either.

  "Son, you've come. Look, this woman and my sister-in-law refuse to return the silver." Meng's wife saw her husband arrive and immediately went to greet him as soon as he stepped into the courtyard.

  "Mother, this is where you're wrong. You agreed when we borrowed the money before." Su Sanfu walked into the yard and looked at his elderly mother with a hint of complaint, then glanced at Su Xiaofan standing by the door and continued: "Sister-in-law, look, Xiaofan has woken up just fine."

  "Third brother, it's not that mother and I didn't want to give you any, but the fact is that the Zhang family's silver was already scarce. These past few days, Fang'er has been taking some of it to buy medicine, and today mother went out to buy some rice, corn flour and other things, so there's no silver left." Mrs. Jia looked embarrassed, in the past, all these people who came to collect debts were dealt with by her husband, she had never handled them herself. After her husband's death, those creditors saw that their days as a widow and orphan were not easy, and rarely came to ask for payment, but only the second brother and third brother's families frequently came to collect debts.

  At this time, a thin and weak young man who had been standing behind Su Sanfu all the time came out and shouted loudly: "Dad, mom, I think it's better to take away the things they bought directly. It seems that we can't get the silver back today."

  Then a young man behind Su Er also stood up and said, "Si Qing is right."

  "Let's just do it then." Su Er Fu said in a low voice, his rough tone mixed with some discontent.

  As soon as he finished speaking, the two young men walked into a small side room and brought out all the things that Ye had bought back this morning.

  "You can't do that, this is the only food in the house!" Ye Shi was so anxious she almost cried. If they didn't have those provisions, how could Fan Er recover? Moreover, Zhi Yan's due date was approaching.

  "Mother, don't be unreasonable. Paying back debts is a matter of course." Su Er Fu glared at his mother in a low voice, as if her current appearance was embarrassing him.

  "Oh heavens, what have I done to deserve this?" Ye's body collapsed to the ground, overcome with grief, her aged face etched with wrinkles and tear stains.

  "Mother, mother, don't be like this." Mrs. Jia, with her round belly, struggled to kneel down and wanted to help Ye up.

  Su Xiaofan calmly watched all of this, suddenly deeply understanding what people usually referred to as "extreme relatives" - even strangers wouldn't be so ruthless in their actions.

  Then, she calmly walked into the kitchen, took a glance around and saw that there was only one old iron pot, a small amount of firewood, several incomplete bowls and chopsticks, and nothing else. Oh, and also a broken cutting board and a knife.

  Su Xiaofan didn't think much and went out with a kitchen knife.

  Digression

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