Reincarnation and Rebirth

"Grandma, you're supposed to be the wife of a scholar. If people find out that you took off your shoe and hit someone at the dinner table, wouldn't they think our Su family has disgraced our culture?"

Whenever Su Youfu is involved, Old Lady Su will always give him some consideration.

Over there, Old Man Su also scolded, "Don't talk while eating or sleeping, don't you all remember that?"

"Grandpa, Dad, that brat took my eggs."

Su Wan'er sneered, "Did you put your name on this egg? Besides, you've at least been to school for a few years. Haven't you heard the story of Kong Rong giving away pears? How old is Su Ming? Shouldn't he get to eat it?"

Su Chen ignored him and continued to wail.

Su Lin sat there and said quietly, "Xiang'er is even older than Su Chen."

"That's right, you brat, you don't even deserve to eat eggs," Su Chen cursed.

"Auntie, Grandma said that little girls don't deserve to eat. Why don't you give the egg in your hand to Su Chen?"

Su Hehua was watching the scene unfold when she suddenly heard Su Wan'er's words and angrily retorted, "Why should I?"

Su Wan'er said coldly, "Just because you're like us, a little girl, a money-loser."

"I'm not a money-loser!" Su Hehua snapped, standing up abruptly.

Su Wan'er narrowed her eyes, subtly picked up a small clod of dirt from the ground, and shot it under the table. Fortunately, the Su family's land was still yellow clay.

Su Hehua winced in pain and instinctively reached out to steady herself on the table.

The table the woman was sitting at was a low table, and it had been used for decades. It was already on the verge of collapse, so it couldn't withstand her weight. There was a crash as the bowls and chopsticks fell to the ground.

Oh dear, there's nothing to eat.

Su Hehua was stunned by this sudden turn of events and looked at Grandpa Su in a panic. Of all the people in the family, she was most afraid of her father.

Old Man Su frowned and slammed his hand on the table. "Have you made enough of a scene? You can't even let people eat in peace. Youfu, go and pull Su Chen up. If you don't want to eat, then don't eat."

Su Wan'er raised an eyebrow. The old man wasn't blaming their second branch of the family, but instead was blaming Su Chen? Something was definitely amiss.

"Second daughter, this matter was overlooked by your second branch of the family today. Let it not happen again."

“Grandpa, my father works in town and brings his wages home every month. Does he mean my little brother doesn’t even have the right to eat an egg? Look at Ming’er, he’s not even as strong as Su Jie, who is younger than him.”

"What are you saying, you brat? Why don't you say that your second branch has more people and eats more?" Old Mrs. Su jumped up and down.

“But we do a lot of work,” Su Wan’er continued, ignoring Wang Shi’s attempts to pull her away. “Even my five-year-old sister has to go out and cut pig feed. And look at the others. Su Chen, needless to say, runs around the village all day, going up and down the mountain, doing nothing. And Su Qing’er, besides occasionally sweeping the floor, what else does she do? Su Yue’er is older than Zhao’er. Oh, yes, she can embroider, but does she earn ten coins a month? Zhao’er feeds the chickens and pigs every day, doesn’t she earn more? Isn’t it all our second branch of the family doing all the work in this household?”

"Wan'er, please stop talking..." Madam Wang said anxiously.

When Madam Xiang saw Su Wan'er bringing up her family, she objected, "Oh, you're usually so quiet, what's wrong with you today? Did you take the wrong medicine? At least our Yue'er can earn money, can her Zhao'er do that?"

"Why not? Do you think these chickens and pigs can grow up and be sold on their own? Why is it that the other families get to eat the eggs that Zhao'er works so hard to feed the chickens? Grandpa and Grandma, should I go and ask the village chief to come and settle this matter?"

Upon hearing that they needed to find the village chief, the old man's face darkened even more. "Alright, stop arguing. From now on, each of your four branches will also get an egg."

"Old man, an egg can sell for a penny!" Old Mrs. Su said anxiously.

Old Master Su glared at her. This old woman was getting more and more useless. If this little matter got out, Su Youfu's reputation would be tarnished. Besides, they had already made arrangements. As long as Youfu passed the imperial examination this time, there would be a vacancy for the position of county magistrate, which he could fill. Thinking this, he turned his gaze to Su Wan'er.

Su Wan'er always felt that the old man's eyes were malicious, and they made her scalp tingle. It seemed that the person she should be most wary of in this family was this old man.

When Grandma Su met Grandpa Su's gloomy gaze, she finally gave in. Anyway, she had all the things in the house, so if she said they were gone, there was nothing they could do.

But when she saw the mess on the ground, she wanted to curse again, but Su Wan'er picked up Su Ming and called her two younger sisters to follow. As for Wang Shi, she could do whatever she wanted, and she couldn't control her.

"Where are you going? Don't you need to clean up?"

"Grandma, it seems like it's the eldest branch's turn to cook today. Auntie is injured, but my eldest cousin isn't. We've already kindly helped with the cooking, so cleaning up isn't our responsibility. Besides, it's still early, let's go out and cut some pig feed. Grandma, didn't you hear the pigs squealing with hunger?"

Grandma Su was angered by Su Wan'er's words, but she also clearly heard the sounds from the pigsty behind her. She felt a lump in her throat, unable to breathe properly, and it was very uncomfortable.

Su Yue'er ate slowly; she had barely touched the bowl of porridge, but still clutched the cornbread tightly in her hand. "Mom, I'm hungry."

Before Xiang could speak, Old Lady Su cursed, "Eat, eat, all you know is eating! Are you a reincarnated starving ghost?" Su Wan'er left, and she had nowhere to vent her anger, so Su Yue'er just happened to walk into the line of fire.

"Mother, Yue'er is still young, why are you taking it out on her? Besides, it was your sister-in-law who knocked over the table..."

"Xiang Shi, what nonsense are you spouting? If you were all so useless, would I have been bullied by that wretched girl Su Wan'er? Humph..." After saying that, Su Hehua turned around and went back to her room. Anyway, there were still some pastries that her eldest sister had brought back last time. Her mother secretly slipped two pieces to her.

Su Jie was so frightened by this turn of events that she cried. Xiang Shi used the excuse of comforting the child to pull Su Yue'er away from the dinner table.

After being pulled up and scolded by her father, Su Chen didn't dare to cry or make a fuss, but the hatred in her eyes was impossible to hide.

"Grandma, I haven't eaten a single bite yet," Su Chen said to Grandma Su.

Actually, not much was spilled on the table. Everyone's bowls only had a little bit of porridge, which they finished in a few bites long ago, except for Su Yue'er. As for the salty pickled vegetables and cucumbers, they weren't anything valuable. Besides, the room had a mud floor, so the rough porcelain bowls weren't broken, only slightly cracked a few times. They were still usable, otherwise Old Madam Su would have been angry, since even a bowl cost money.

Everyone held onto the steamed buns, and none of them fell to the ground, but it was a pity that the cucumbers and pickled vegetables were wasted.

Seeing that most people had left, Old Lady Su scolded Wang, "Clean this place up! I don't know what bad luck my son had to marry such a slut like you, and have a litter of sluts..." She pulled Su Chen away and went to the inner room. Su Chen made a face at Wang, knowing that his grandmother was going to give him some pastries.

On the men's side, after scolding the old man, he continued to eat quietly. After finishing, as usual, he pushed his bowl and chopsticks aside, took a pipe, and went to check on the fields. Su Youfu and the others went back to their rooms to read.

Many scholars in ancient times came from farming families, so schools would give them a few days off during the busy farming season so they could go home and help. This was also a form of training for them, preventing them from becoming lazy and ignorant of farming. Unfortunately, the Su family was the only ones who raised such useless people.