Rebirth to Save Myself

From then on, Su's mother began to dislike her grandmother. Since she cooked for herself anyway, she became quite self-righteous. The grandmother was so angry that she went around badmouthing Su's mother, saying that she was disliked. However, the incident of Su Yue falling into the river had caused quite a stir, so not many people sided with the grandmother.

As Su Yaoche grew older, he gradually learned to walk. When his mother was busy, she would put him in his walker and let him walk around on his own. When Su Xia and Su Yue came home from school, they would help take care of him.

Since her mother came home, Su Xia has gained a little weight, though not as alarmingly as before. However, due to the hunger she experienced in the past few years, she has developed several health problems, including stomach aches if she goes hungry for too long. Fortunately, the school now has a convenience store, allowing students to bring snacks to class. Chen Yuan also occasionally feeds her small cakes, which helps alleviate Su Xia's stomach problems.

That day, Su Xia came home from school at noon and saw Chen Wen and Su Yue in her grandmother's kitchen, with Su Yaoche standing behind them. Su Yue and Chen Wen were thirsty after class, so they picked up the kettle, poured themselves a bowl of water, and casually placed the kettle aside. Su Yaoche saw the kettle and slowly walked over, intending to touch it.

Su Xia scooped up Su Yaoche, and the next second the kettle fell to the ground, all the boiling water inside spilled out, emitting puffs of white steam.

Hearing the noise, Su's mother ran over from the other side and saw Su Xia holding Su Yaoche, with Su Yue and Chen Wen standing some distance away. A kettle of boiling water had fallen over at Su Xia's feet, some of the water splashed onto her trousers. She quickly asked, "What happened?"

"My little brother tried to touch the kettle, but I picked him up and pulled him away," Su Xia said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Su's mother hurriedly ran over and took Su Yaoche from Su Xia's arms. After thinking about it carefully, she realized that if Su Xia hadn't picked up Su Yaoche in time, he would have been injured immediately if the kettle had fallen on him, given how small he was and how he was still wearing open-crotch pants. The consequences would have been unimaginable.

"You two, next time you finish using the kettle, you have to push it inside, otherwise your little brother will get burned if he touches it, understand?" Su Xia, Su Yue, and Chen Wen said.

"I understand, sister." Ever since Su Xia saved her that time, Su Yue has been completely obedient to Su Xia's words.

Chen Wen was indignant. He slept with his grandmother, and she would often complain about Su Xia to him in private. That's why Chen Wen wasn't afraid of Su Xia. He said, "He wanted to go there on his own. What does it have to do with me? It's clearly your responsibility to keep an eye on your brother, okay?"

Upon hearing Chen Wen's words, Su's mother became very angry and reprimanded him as an elder: "What does your little brother know? You knew he was behind you, yet you still didn't put the kettle away properly. What were you thinking!"

"You old hag, how dare you yell at me!" Chen Wen was very unhappy and didn't care that Su's mother was an elder, so he started cursing directly.

"Who did you call an old hag? How can you talk to your elders like that? Where did you learn all that? You have no manners at all!" Su's mother pointed at Chen Wen and started yelling.

Grandma just came back from Uncle's kitchen and saw Su's mother scolding Chen Wen. Without asking what was wrong, she pulled Chen Wen behind her and said to Su's mother, "Who are you yelling at? Are you bullying someone because their parents aren't home?"

"What kind of grandmother are you? You only care about your two grandsons, Chen Tao and Chen Wen. Isn't Yao Che your grandson too?" Su's mother was truly fed up with her grandmother's favoritism. Last time Su Yue fell into the water, her grandmother also stood up for Chen Tao.

“How can you talk like that? They’re all my grandsons, but it’s wrong of you to scold Awen. Why are you, an elder, arguing with a little kid? His parents entrusted him to my care, so of course I have to take good care of him.” Grandma was not to be outdone and shifted all the blame onto Su’s mother.

"Ha, they're all grandsons. I bet even Yaoche is worse than the chickens and ducks raised by your uncle's family. If they were all the same, why has Xia become skin and bones after taking care of you for the past few years? She was perfectly fine when I was here." Su's mother pointed at Su Xia and then started cursing.

"You didn't give me any money, how can an old woman like me help you raise your child! It's already good enough that she has food to eat, what more do you want from me!" Grandma didn't hide anything and told Su's mother directly and clearly, "You didn't give me any money, so this is how I am treated."

"Aren't you just bullying people? Every year we give you money for the New Year! How much food can a little kid like Xia eat? You treat her so harshly. Everyone around knows that you secretly give Chen Wen meat, but you only give Xia vegetables and rice. It would be a miracle if she could gain weight."

Su Xia understood immediately upon hearing her mother's words. It turned out her mother knew about her treatment at home, but hadn't considered bringing her in to care for her or finding a solution. She could only let her grandmother treat her this way until this outburst because of Su Yaoche. Su Xia had originally thought that if she could start over, be better at studying, and more obedient, her mother would change her mind—after all, she was her biological daughter. But reality cruelly told her that it was impossible.

In the end, Su's mother and grandmother refused to give in to each other, and the argument ended badly. Su's mother also became more determined not to stay in her hometown. If Su's father had known that his precious son had almost gotten into trouble, he probably wouldn't have insisted that Su's mother stay in her hometown.

Sure enough, when Su's father returned for the New Year, Su's mother's expression darkened after telling him that both of her children had nearly gotten into trouble that year. Upon hearing that her brothers' children were involved in some way, her face darkened even further. When Su's mother suggested taking Su Yaoche with her on the trip, Su's father didn't object.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, Su's father gave Su Xia a large red envelope containing 100 yuan as a way of praising her.

“You’re the eldest child in the family, and you’ve never caused your parents any worry since you were little. You even help your mother take care of your younger siblings. This is a little reward from your father,” Mr. Su said slowly.

"Thank you, Dad." Su Xia didn't stand on ceremony and took it directly. Then she took out the New Year's money given to her by her eldest and youngest uncles and gave it to her mother, saying, "This is the New Year's money given to me by my eldest and youngest uncles."

"Good girl." Su's mother took the red envelope and praised Su Xia.

After the New Year, Su's mother took Su Yaoche and Su's father to Putian. As for Su Yue and Su Xia, after Su's father talked to his grandmother, the grandmother didn't say anything more and tacitly agreed to take care of the two sisters, Su Yue and Su Xia.

Six months later, Su's mother sent Su Yue and Su Xia to Putian for summer vacation. Su Yue would stay in Putian after the summer, while Su Xia would return to her hometown to continue her studies. Originally, Su's mother had also wanted to bring Su Xia over, but Su Xia needed to enter junior high school after the summer, and junior high schools here were harder to get into than in her hometown where it was easier to directly enter. Besides, Su's mother wasn't worried about Su Xia's grades; Su Yue was still young and had easily gotten into elementary school. To compensate Su Xia, Su's mother bought her a cassette player for learning English.