Reincarnation and Rebirth

Su Youfu ultimately dared not deceive his own father. From a young age, he had been terrified of his biological father. As for why, it all started when he was five years old.

At that time, Su Cuihua had just been born, and Su Youlu was not even two years old; neither of them could remember anything yet.

Back then, his family was doing relatively well. He clearly remembers that although they didn't have meat at every meal when he was a child, they did have it twice every three days. Moreover, their staple food wasn't the thin, dark porridge they have now; it was mostly brown rice and dark flour buns. Occasionally, when his parents were in a good mood, they would steam a pot of big white buns.

He remembered that night, because he drank a big bowl of chicken soup for dinner, he woke up in the middle of the night needing to urinate. He wanted to ask his mother to go to the outhouse with him, but when he reached out, his mother was not by his side.

At first, he thought his mother might have gone to sleep with his father, since it wasn't the first time. So, out of habit, he avoided his younger brother and sister and crawled toward his father's seat. But all he touched was a cold, unresponsive blanket. This time, he was terrified. Just as he was about to burst into tears, he heard the sound of something heavy falling in the yard, which made him fall silent. He then secretly peeked out through the crack in the window.

But what they saw terrified them. A masked man in black stood there in the moonlight, clutching a dripping, blood-soaked woodcutter's knife. Beside him lay another person, their fate unclear, but their attire—the fabric of their clothes shimmering in the moonlight, clearly expensive, and the gleaming pearls on their belt—all spoke of wealth.

Terrified, Su Youfu covered his mouth tightly, not daring to make a sound, instinctively not wanting the other person to know what he had seen.

Then, an even more terrifying scene unfolded. The masked man removed his veil, and Su Youfu realized that it was his own father. He then saw his father skillfully remove all the valuables from the man's body. Su Youfu clearly saw his father pull out a handful of silver notes and a bag of silver from the man's pocket. However, while undressing the man, his father seemed to see something and put the man's clothes back on before going to the backyard.

A short while later, the sounds of hoes and shovels came from the backyard. After waiting a while, his father returned, picked up the person from the ground, and walked towards the backyard.

When his father returned to the front yard, his mother came out of the kitchen and said, "The hot water is ready."

"Okay, keep these."

His mother took the valuables, said nothing, and was about to go into the room.

Su Youfu was afraid of being discovered, so he pretended to be asleep.

As Grandma Su entered the room and was about to get onto the kang (a heated brick bed), she found Su Youfu sleeping crookedly. She went over and touched him, then said angrily, "You brat, you're so old and you still wet the bed." She then slapped him awake.

Su Youfu pretended to have just been woken up by the beating, "Mother, what are you doing?"

"What are you doing, you brat? You've wet the bed again. Go wash up and change your clothes. Your dad's taking a shower too."

Su Youfu instinctively refused, "No need, no need to wash, Mom, just give me a change of clothes, I'm so sleepy."

Seeing that he said that, Grandma Su did not insist. After changing him into clean clothes, she coaxed him to sleep.

Then he took out his key, unlocked a very hidden lock at the very back of the cabinet, and put the item inside. All of this was seen by Su Youfu, who was pretending to be asleep.

Later, Su Youfu disliked going to the backyard, especially at night. Even if he was woken up by the urge to urinate, he would refuse to go to the outhouse in the backyard.

However, that was the first and last time Su Youfu saw such a scene. Later, his family bought some land, and he was sent to school. However, this incident remained hidden in his heart. From then on, he was afraid of Old Man Su. In his midnight dreams, he often saw Old Man Su pull down his mask, revealing a bloodthirsty and terrifying expression.

"You're so lucky, what are you thinking about? Your father is asking you a question, did you hear me?" Old Mrs. Su patted her eldest son on the back. "How much silver did they actually offer?"

Su Youfu lowered his head, not daring to look at the old man, "Really, really twenty taels."

Clearly sensing Old Man Su's anger, Su Youfu said tremblingly, "Father, son, I just wanted to make money and give you a big surprise."

"I'm really excited right now, tell me more about it."

Upon hearing Old Man Su's words, the nightmare that had haunted his childhood returned suddenly. Su Youfu dared not hide anything any longer and told the whole story.

Old Man Su remained silent with a gloomy face, while Old Woman Su pounced on him and started hitting and scolding him, "You traitor! Can't you tell who's on your side and who's on your side? You actually colluded with outsiders to scheme against our Su family's money! What have you been doing all these years of studying?"

Su Youfu was worried about his father, but also about people outside hearing the commotion. He quickly tried to dissuade his mother, "Mother, please don't make a fuss. What if that wretched girl finds out she can sell the recipe for money and refuses to hand it over?"

"Pah, she wouldn't dare! I'll go get it right now."

"Stop!" Old Man Su shouted, and Old Woman Su had no choice but to stop. She turned around and looked at the old man with a puzzled expression. "Old man, what's wrong?"

Old Man Su didn't answer her, but looked at his eldest son, "Are you sure you can sell them for five taels each?"

Su Youfu shook his head, "This is also Chen's father's estimate. But Father, he showed me the perfume balm sold in town. It is indeed not as good as the one we brought over. Even if it is not 5 taels, it should be 2 or 3 taels."

Old Su took out his pipe and took a puff. So many years have passed, and that matter has remained undiscovered. Does that mean I've been overthinking things? If so, my family should be fine going into business, right?

After so many years of waiting, the eldest son still only managed to become a scholar. This time, it was said that he could get the position of county magistrate, but it was not confirmed yet. If his family had money, then he wouldn't have to worry.

For so many years, the family has been living off their savings. If we don't find a way to make money, we're afraid we won't be able to afford the tuition for these kids.

If it weren't for an official, what if one day... Old Man Su didn't dare to think any further. He tapped his pipe and said to Old Lady Su, "Let Chen and the others learn first. If they can learn, it will save us some trouble."

"What if you can't learn it?" Grandma Su asked.

Old Man Su looked up and glanced at Old Woman Su. The ruthlessness in his eyes startled even Old Woman Su, who had shared a bed with him for decades.

"I understand, I will definitely find a way to get the prescription."

Grandma Su was telling the truth; how could she possibly miss out on such a lucrative business?

Although the courtyard was noisy, Su Wan'er could hear the conversation between the people inside the house clearly.

She hadn't expected that Old Man Su would be so clever as to see through Su Youfu's scheme, nor had she expected that Su Youfu would be so afraid of Old Man Su.

It seems that this old man Su is indeed the most powerful person in the Su family.