Reincarnation and Rebirth

Su Wan'er was speechless. She used her mind to tell him that the remaining half of the space was for him, and he couldn't touch it.

In the end, half of the rabbit, one chicken wing, and two tea eggs were left.

Su Xiang'er looked at the food on the ground, somewhat hesitant.

Su Wan'er sighed, "Xiang'er, I know what you're thinking, but this is too much. You know her personality. If there were only two eggs, she might have eaten them, but if there's so much extra meat, do you think we'll have another chance to improve our meals in the future?"

Su Zhao'er immediately shook her head, "Eldest sister, Mother wouldn't harm us."

Su Wan'er patted her hair. "Of course, no mother would intentionally harm her own child. How about this, let's bring Mom two eggs and a chicken wing today?"

Hearing this, the children's faces lit up with smiles. Su Wan'er looked at Su Ming, who could already say a few words, and said, "Ming'er, be good too."

Su Ming clapped his little hands, laughing loudly, "Good boy, good boy..."

On the way down the mountain, Su Wan'er carried Su Ming on her back and held a bundle of firewood in her hand, while her two younger sisters each carried a bundle on their backs, and Su Xiang'er held a basket of pig feed in her arms. They hid the rest so it would be easier next time, since there was little rain this season anyway.

After Su Ming and his little dumpling had eaten and drunk their fill, they fell asleep on Su Wan'er's back. As soon as they entered the house, they noticed something was different.

"Dad's back!" Xiao Zhao'er exclaimed excitedly.

Father? That cheap father, Su Youlu? True to his name, he was a mediocre man his whole life, but he was alright to his children.

In Su Wan'er's memory, when the original owner was born, Su Youlu really doted on her for a while. But when Su Xiang'er was born, another girl, his smile obviously improved. Then, when Su Zhao'er was born, Su Youfu deliberately named her Su Zhao'er, meaning to invite a younger brother. In fact, it was also a veiled criticism of Su Youlu for not being able to have a son.

From then until Su Ming was born, Su Youlu never beat or scolded his children, but like Wang Shi, he taught them to be tolerant. Sometimes when Su Youlu came home from work, his employer would occasionally send him some pastries, always the cheapest kind, but for country folk like them, these were rare treats. Each time, Su Youlu would happily share them with his nephews, and when it came to his daughters, he would let the three of them share a piece.

Su Wan'er was speechless at the thought of such parents. She understood that in this feudal society, the idea of ​​raising children to provide for one's old age had become an ingrained obsession. Some families, even without sons of their own, would adopt members of their clan to continue the family line. It was not uncommon for nephews to inherit the property of their uncles and aunts. The fact that Su Youlu hadn't thrown his daughters into the mountains to be eaten by wolves was probably the biggest concession he could make.

Even Mrs. Wang felt that having so many daughters was a waste of the Su family's resources. The greatest kindness and parental love the couple had shown was barely managing to raise the children without hitting or scolding them.

Poverty makes people lose their ambition, and the couple felt suffocated by the burden of being labeled as a money-loser by the Su family.

Su Wan'er thought of modern times. Even though they had experienced advanced ideological education, there were still many places where men were favored over women. Because of the one-child policy, some families with only one daughter would have their sons marry into the family, or the two families would merge into one family without any intention of marriage. The children born would take one father's surname and the other mother's surname.

In fact, Su Wan'er also disagreed with this approach. Siblings with the same father and mother have different surnames. When they were young, they might not have understood the concept, but when they grew up, she had seen children who had their grandmother's surname disagree with their grandmother giving money to their brothers, saying that they were from their maternal grandparents' family.

Is a surname really that important? In this world, there are plenty of people with the surname Su, even if you don't. Will a child not support their mother because they don't have her surname? Will they become distant from their elders because they don't have their maternal grandparents' surname?

Uh, Su Wan'er shook her head, then looked back at the middle-aged man tidying up the firewood in the yard.

He resembled Old Man Su in appearance, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, a high nose bridge, and lips of moderate thickness. No wonder Wang Shi married him back then. He must have been the most handsome member of the Su family. It is said that this cheap father was once favored by the daughter of a butcher in town, who was willing to give twenty taels of silver as dowry. However, Su Youlu did not like the butcher's daughter with her pockmarked face and robust figure. He insisted on marrying Wang Shi. Old Man Su was so angry that he almost kicked her out of the house. Later, by chance, Old Man Su learned that the butcher's daughter was known for her shrewishness. She was worried that she could not handle her, so she relented.

"Wan'er, you're back." Su Youlu looked up, smiled at his daughters, then put down his work, walked over to Su Wan'er in a few steps, picked up his son from the basket, and grinned from ear to ear with joy.

"Son, my son is so handsome."

Handsome? Has Su Youlu gone mad? Didn't he see Su Ming's thin face? He's a two-year-old who can't even walk properly or speak in complete sentences. I don't know what he's so happy about.

Su Xiang'er was alright, having grown up, but Su Zhao'er was still young. She was looking at the father and son with envy, remembering that her father had never held her like that before, lifting her high in the air.

"Father..." Su Zhao'er called softly.

"Okay, Zhao'er, take your little brother into the room."

Su Wan'er couldn't bear to see the child looking so wronged, so she went over and picked her up. "Zhao'er has been such a good girl. She's been taking good care of her little brother all this time, hasn't she?"

"Yes, Zhao'er is good."

Su Youlu was a little embarrassed. He handed Su Ming to his second daughter and took Zhao'er from Su Wan'er's arms. "Zhao'er is so good. Daddy will give her a hug."

Su Zhao'er's silvery laughter rang out, catching the eye of some people.

"It's shameful to carry such a big child. What about the pig feed and firewood you were supposed to cut?"

Su Xiang'er pointed to the ground, "Grandma, we brought them all back."

Grandma Su glanced critically at the things on the ground and said to Su Youlu, "You still have the nerve to come back? You've been gone for a month or so and haven't brought back a single penny. Have you been hiding something from me?"

Su Youlu awkwardly put down his youngest daughter and stammered to his mother, "Mother, the employer said the wages had been paid to the foreman, but the foreman suddenly ran away. I... I can't do anything about it."

"He ran away? That son of a bitch Su Yang actually ran away with my money? No way, I have to go find his mother and get it back."

Su Yang is from Suhe Village. He has some connections in the town. Whenever there is a need for laborers, he brings the villagers over. The villagers usually trust him. He said he would pay them every two weeks, and everyone agreed.

In town, the daily wage for work is usually fifteen coins, including food and lodging. After the wages are settled, each person will give Su Yang a referral fee of two coins.

But to their surprise, after working for the employer for half a month, Su Yang did not pay them. He said he would settle the payment after the work was finished. Since they were all from the same village, no one thought much of it. But when they finished the work and went to ask Su Yang for their money, he was gone. When they asked the employer, he said that he had paid them the night before. The workers were dumbfounded.

They've finished their work here, but they have no connections in town, and they need to spend money on food and lodging, so they have no choice but to go back to the village.

Grandma Su tiptoed out the door to find Su Yang in the west of the village.

Su Wan'er felt that the name was somewhat familiar, but she couldn't remember it. Seeing the old lady go out, she wanted to follow her.

"Wan'er, where are you going?"

Su Wan'er glanced at her adoptive father and said, "I'll go check on her. Grandma is getting old; she can't be alone and something might happen to her."

"Yes, yes, hurry up and follow them."

Su Yang's family consists of only his elderly mother and a seven-year-old son. His wife died of illness a few years ago, and the whole family relies on Su Yang as the sole breadwinner.

When Grandma Su arrived, her house was already surrounded by villagers, numbering about twenty.

“Ms. Wu, don’t think this will go away just because you’re hiding at home. Your son ran off with everyone’s hard-earned money. You have to give us an explanation.”

"That's right, hand over the money now."

“My husband and son both went, and it cost 900 coins in total. You need to pay me back quickly.”

"Our family is the same, pay back the money quickly."

"Pay back the money!"