Title: Su Yu’s Promotion Record in the ‘60s
Translator: Fuyu
Chapter 8 - Divide and Conquer (2)
Dejected, she rubbed her face. She continued to be depressed as she grabbed a handful of rice, put it in the pot, cut a few pieces of meat, and put that into the pot. She wanted to make herself breakfast, but after a long time, she still couldn’t start a fire for the stove and the smoke hurt her eyes.
My god, how was she supposed to live?
She rubbed her eyes, looking as if she was ready to die. No, this won’t do. She had to hurry up with training the labor force.
"Big Sis, what’s there to cry about? Are you done cooking yet?” Su Xiaozhi came over. He was the first one to finish washing up and had rushed back to eat breakfast. Every day, the first thing his older sister did after waking up was cook breakfast.
Sure enough, as soon as he came back, he saw his big sister at the stove. He was shocked to see her wiping away tears. He was about to starve to death. What was she crying for? Why wasn’t she cooking?
Su Yu rubbed her red eyes and looked at Su Xiaozhi. She had the urge to scold just by looking at him.
Su Xiaozhi looked similar to Su Yu. He had a slim face, a long and thin body, and a pair of agile eyes. She could tell that he was a bratty child with an over-inflated ego and was restless all day long.
As she looked at this child, Su Yu immediately rubbed her eyes again to make her eyes red. She looked at Su Xiaozhi and said, "Why is Big Sis crying? Isn’t it for you? Your older brother is quarreling to separate the family. If that happens, where will you live from now on? Big Sis and Little Lin are girls. We’ll be able to find someone to marry in the future. We’ll definitely have a place to live. But what will you do? You’re a boy. If we separate, you won’t even have a home of your own. Where will you live? How will you marry a wife?”
Su Xiaozhi was stunned. He knew all about his older brother wanting to separate the family, and he also thought that his older brother was too weak-minded. His older brother’s wife had actually succeeded in instigating him to separate the family and take over their home.
However, he had always felt that this was a matter for his older sister to worry about. Even if he was unhappy about it, he won’t spend effort to take care of this issue. But now that he heard Big Sis say that, he didn’t feel well. Older brother was trying to snatch the room from him.
Su Yu patted his shoulder and said, "Xiaozhi, you're 17 years old. You’ve already grown up. In fact, I know you want to start working earlier because you want to share the burden with your family, so I've been working on helping you find a job. Once I find a job, you won’t have to go to school.”
When he heard Su Yu's words, Su Xiaozhi, who had been feeling confused, felt as if fireworks had gone off in his head. Looking bewildered, he asked, “Big Sis, really? You used to always force me to study.” Whenever he said he didn't want to study, his older sister used to cry and insistently drag him to school.
"Really." Su Yu nodded her head.
Only the original owner, who was devoted to her younger siblings, would force her younger siblings to go to school. She hoped that education would give them a better future.
Su Yu didn't have that idea at all. Since he doesn’t want to study, he should go out to find a job and support his family. It would be best if he turned in his salary to her, so that she could eat and drink.
"I thought it through. You're a man, a big man. You should have your own career. If you don't want to study, don't study. Big Sis supports you!"
Su Xiaozhi was overjoyed. "Big Sis, I'll definitely help you share the burden! Also, the family definitely won’t separate. Don’t worry!”
He brilliantly smiled. As long as he doesn’t have to go to school, anything was fine. As for the matter of going to work, he wasn’t worried about it. Anyways, work wasn’t tiring. If it was tiring, then he won’t go to work. He would just quit and have his older sister raise him.
Su Yu looked touched. “En, older sister will rely on you then." Then, she put the tongs in Su Xiaozhi's hand. "Older sister just cried a lot. My eyes don't feel uncomfortable. Light the fire first. We won’t give them food today. Teach them a lesson. Let them know our power. Let’s eat well ourselves. I'll help you look for a job after we finish eating."
Su Xiaozhi suddenly felt that he and his sister were on the same side. He immediately said, "Okay, older sister, you sit down, I'm the best at making fires."
For a teenager, who had done everything and had an over-inflated sense of his abilities, the matter of lighting a fire wasn’t new. He quickly lit the fire.
Su Yu looked at the black smoke coming out of her stove and immediately covered her nose. She now incomparably missed the smoke-free kitchen at home. Ai, there was no hope for a smoke-free kitchen, but she can consider getting a coal stove.
Right after the fire was started, Su Dazhi, Liu Mei, and Su Lin came back.
Su Yu ignored them and sat on the bed to comb her hair. The original owner had waist-length hair, but unfortunately, most of her hair was withered and had split ends due to malnutrition. It wasn’t beautiful at all. After combing her hair for a long time, she was barely able to braid her hair into pigtails.
Su Dazhi and the other two looked at Su Yu with strange expressions. She hadn’t spoken to them all morning. Even breakfast was being cooked by Su Xiaozhi.
Su Dazhi was pushed out by Liu Mei. He stammered out, “Big Sis, umm... About our family affair… What do you think?”
"What’s there to think? Big Brother, we can’t separate!” Su Xiaozhi immediately said.
Liu Mei laughed. “Xiaozhi, this is a matter for adults. You’re a child. Don’t meddle.”
"Why can’t I have a say? I'm also a son of the Su’s.”
"Your big brother is the older son in the family."
“Big Sis is the oldest one and the one in charge of the family!” Su Xiaozhi resolutely supported his older sister.
Translator Ramblings: Divide and conquer XD.
I want to note that although Su Yu thinks, “It would be best if he turned in his salary to her, so that she could eat and drink”, we’ll soon see that she’s a workaholic, and she has no intention to take advantage of the original owner’s siblings. She just wants them to contribute something. Although dropping out of school is extreme by modern-day standards, I think letting him drop out so that he can see first-hand how hard it is to earn money is a good idea when their family has limited resources. If he decides that he can’t take it, it’s not too late for him to go back to school later.
And well, she’s not their sister. She doesn’t have familial affection for then, and she has a complicated relationship with her biological family.
What do you guys think of her actions?