Susan Evans' Grievance
Su Sanyun tried hard to shake off Sun Shi's grip several times but failed. He anxiously said, "If our family did something wrong, then we should be punished. A Li did nothing wrong. As your third uncle, how could I ever hold my niece back!?"
Sun Shi clung to Su Sanyun's arm, sat down hard on the ground, kicked her legs, and cried, "You crooked elbow, you always side with others and never care about us, your own family! I took over the Flower family's land just to earn more silver to support this household. Our family was poor to begin with, and life only got a bit better after splitting. But mother comes here every now and then to freeload, and every time she empties the kitchen. Tea, rice, oil, salt—nothing is cheap! If I hadn’t worked hard to hold this family up, it would have collapsed long ago, and the kids would have starved! Su Sanyun, you only say nice things, but when A Li says to give up the land, you just agree. Have you ever thought about what we'll live on if we lose land?"
Sun Shi grew more upset as she spoke, wiping her tears, "Last year's wheat harvest ground into flour was carefully rationed. After paying monthly respects to the elders, what was left barely fed our own family. But when mother came once, she took it all! Our own grain from the fields was gone, so I had to buy grain with silver from outside. And during the New Year, grain prices rose! Then there’s the firewood—I barely saved some, but mother swept that away too! Without firewood, is she trying to freeze the whole family to death? I only have so much silver to feed and keep warm four people, and mother keeps coming to freeload. If I don’t find ways to earn more money, we’ll starve to death!"
Sun Shi sobbed bitterly, heartbroken. Su Sanyun looked at his wife crying, feeling deeply pained himself, and started crying too, "Wife, I know it’s hard for you to hold this family up, but you can’t just take others’ land by force! Our village is poor; every household struggles. If you take advantage of others, our family gets better but what about others? Their lives get harder. We can’t be so selfish."
Sun Shi wiped her tears and cried, "Easy for you to say, Su Sanyun. Next time your parents come to freeload, you try to stand up to them! The old couple is like a bottomless well. Our family can’t store anything; what about the kids? Shiyong won’t marry and be a bachelor for life? And Lanxiang, she’ll marry in a couple of years with no dowry. Do you want the in-laws to bully my daughter to death?"
Su Sanyun grabbed his hair and squatted on the ground in pain.
Su Li and the Flower couple watched Su Sanyun and his wife. They hadn’t expected that Su Sanyun, after splitting from the family, was still being drained by the Su elders like this.
Sun Shi cried harshly, finally venting all her grievances. She said to Su Li, "A Li, let me be honest with you. When I first heard you gave the business to the villagers, I wasn’t happy. But I knew it was your business, your decision. You decided to share with us out of kindness and generosity; if you hadn’t, no one could say anything since it’s your property. I understand this principle, but life isn’t that simple. The land you gave was enough for our family of four to live on, and if we worked hard, we could even save a betrothal gift for Shiyong and a dowry for Lanxiang. But those old Su elders, even after splitting the family, keep coming to freeload. They don’t just take a bowl of noodles or rice—they take whole bags! Do you think our family has that much wealth for them to carry away? Even a fortune couldn’t withstand it! I feel sorry that my children don’t have enough to eat or wear. As their mother, it pains me, so I had bad thoughts. Seeing the Flower family doing okay and their land close to ours, I wanted to scare them a bit and take some of their land..."