Title: Su Yu’s Promotion Record in the ‘60s
Translator: Fuyu
Chapter 30 - Su Dazhi felt as if he had been shot in the knee (3)
Liu Mei was shocked. She incredulously looked at the hesitant Su Dazhi and then at Su Yu. She trembled in anger. "You're an old girl that hasn't married yet, and you're saying you'll find another one for your brother? You say it as if it's something easily done!"
"So what if I don't marry? I'm happy to do this for my brother's sake. It's my business to make more money for him and marry him a good wife. If you dare to bully him again, I won't recognize you as his wife." Su Yu's expression was utterly fearless.
Su Dazhi couldn't be more moved. Big Sis was so old. She stayed unmarried in order to marry him a wife. Big Sis did all this for him.
Liu Mei didn't expect that Su Yu wouldn't be embarrassed at all and would be so confident of her convictions. In an instant, she was at her wit's end. She thought of a remark she heard from an elderly person. Dogs that bite won't bark. In the past, this older sister-in-law didn't make a peep of complaint. As it turned out, her heart was so dark.
She didn't have any way to deal with Su Yu, so she could only say to Su Dazhi, "Dazhi, you choose for yourself."
Su Dazhi looked at Su Yu. Seeing her looking expectantly at him, he said with tears, "Big Sis is my relative. Everything she does is for my own good."
"Damn you, Su Dazhi, you dare to talk back to me… Fine, don't regret it!" Then, she ran out.
Su Dazhi was about to chase her, but Su Yu grabbed his sleeve to stop him. "Go after you finish eating. Do you want to be hungry?"
"Sis, Liu Mei…"
"She has money and tickets. She won't go hungry," Su Yu lightly said.
Su Dazhi sat down. He wasn't worried that Liu Mei would go hungry. He was worried that she wouldn't come back.
Su Yu said while eating, "Don't worry. Sis isn't lying to you. If Liu Mei doesn't come back, even if Sis has to stay single the rest of my life, I'll find you a good partner to marry. Our family has three workers. What family has conditions as good as ours? Liu Mei's family has old and young to raise. Her family condition isn't even as good as ours. She married up by marrying into our family."
Su Dazhi and Su Xiaozhi suddenly felt that their extremely poor family wasn't that bad.
"Stay calm. Liu Mei's family's conditions aren't as good as ours. She can't bear to leave you. Now, we just have to see which family will take the tougher stance," Su Yu encouraged.
Su Dazhi finally firmly nodded. Their family's conditions weren't bad, and Big Sis was so wholeheartedly dedicated to him. In contrast, Liu Mei's family's conditions were poor. She wouldn't want to leave him.
---
That afternoon, Su Yu and Su Dazhi went to the logistics department. Su Dazhi pressed his fingerprint on his pay file so that Su Yu could collect his salary instead of him. That way, Liu Mei couldn't ask him for his salary in the future.
Although Su Dazhi was a bit nervous about this, he still decided to try this out. After all, Big Sis treated him wholeheartedly.
---
Over at the Liu family's side.
After Liu Mei had taken the afternoon off, she had gone to her parents' home and was currently lying on her parents' bed. She had been crying for a long time.
Angry, Old Lady Liu cursed at home. "Su family's brats are too audacious. They dare to bully someone from our family. Look at their shabby home. What gives them the courage to bully our family? Little Mei, just stay at home. You won't go back unless Dazhi comes here to politely apologize to you and pick you up." She didn't believe that a married man could stay away from his wife.
Her words gave Liu Mei confidence. As long as her natal family helped her, she had nothing to be afraid of. At worst, she would live here for while. She had money and wasn't worried about eating or drinking.
Old Lady Liu and Liu Mei didn't think it was an issue, but they weren't the only members of the Liu family.
Although the Liu family's home was bigger than the Su's family home and had an extra small room, the Liu family had more members. Multiple generations were crowded under a roof.
Before getting married, Liu Mei slept in the same bed as her parents. It was a tight squeeze. After she got married, her spot was taken by her oldest nephew.
In the evening, the other members of the Liu family came home. Liu Mei's oldest sister-in-law's expression became a bit ugly when she heard that Liu Mei was going to live here for a period of time.
(T/N: There was an extreme housing shortage in the post-1949 period in urban China. Due to political reasons, very little new housing was built preceding and after this period, creating a housing situation like Liu Mei's family's.
Su Yu will tackle the issue of increasing the available housing later on in her career in a way that's acceptable to the ruling political party.)