The Su family had fourteen members in total: Father Su and Mother Su, their eldest son Su Qing, his wife, and their two sons; their second son Su Yang, his wife, and their son and daughter; their third son Su Bai, his wife, and their daughter; and the youngest, Su Lian, a sixteen-year-old daughter.
Upon seeing the people disembark from the carriage, the Su family became excited.
"A'luo, Jia'an (the eldest son)! Why are you here?"
Though the Su family called out to Su Shi, their eyes were all fixed on the Jiang family's carriage.
Jiang Wan saw their expressions clearly and became even more wary.
Su Shi, however, seemed oblivious. Upon seeing Father Su and Mother Su, she rushed towards them with teary eyes, "Dad, Mom, I thought I would never see you again."
Mother Su hugged Su Shi and they cried together. The three daughters-in-law of the Su family gathered around and offered words of comfort.
After a while, Su Shi stopped crying, "Mom, I heard from Eldest Brother that you and Dad have been ill. How are you? Have you seen a doctor?"
Mother Su sighed, "We were so close to starving to death, where would we have the money to see a doctor? We just let it be, living one day at a time."
Hearing this, Su Shi's tears flowed uncontrollably. She quickly pressed the three taels of silver into Mother Su's hand, "Mom, take this first. Have Eldest Brother buy some food and get some medicine for you and Dad."
Su Shi's eldest daughter-in-law, Tian Shi, said, "How could this little bit of silver be enough? There are so many mouths to feed at home."
Su Shi quickly replied, "I'll find another way."
With her promise, Mother Su asked, "Your family has also come to Jiangnan? Where have you settled? What's your situation now?"
Eldest son walked over and said, "Mom, our family has also come to Jiangnan. We're just outside the east gate of the city, and we're building a house these days."
Mother Su's eyes lit up, "I heard that one must own property to register a household. Did your family buy land here?"
Eldest son hesitated before saying, "We bought it together with the village. Our entire village came."
The Su family exchanged glances. Father Su stepped forward, "That's great. Jia'an, does your village still have any extra space? Look at how many people are in our family, we can't always be huddled by the city walls, what if we're driven away one day?"
Upon hearing this, Su Shi anxiously glanced at Eldest son.
Eldest son thought for a moment and then said, "I'll have to go back and ask my father about this."
Father Su was somewhat displeased, "It's just a matter of extra space, it's not a big deal."
Jiang Wan couldn't listen any longer and interjected, "If it's not a big deal, then why is the Su family still crammed by the city walls? The land in the small mountain village was all bought with money. My elder brother doesn't have the authority to just let you all come."
Everyone finally noticed Jiang Wan, who had been sitting in the carriage and hadn't gotten out.
"Isn't this the crazy girl from the Jiang family? How can she speak?"
"It's better if she doesn't speak at all, look how sharp her tongue is, like a knife!"
Eldest son was displeased when he heard them talking about Jiang Wan. Fearing Eldest son would get angry, Su Shi quickly stopped her family, "Mom, Sister-in-law, Wan Wan is very good, don't you..."
Before she could finish, Mother Su said, "Hurry back and talk to your in-laws, ask them to settle things quickly so they can take our whole family in. I can't stay by the city walls for another day."
The three daughters-in-law of the Su family also urged her. Thus, Su Shi was put back into the carriage without even entering the Su family's makeshift shelter.
After getting into the carriage, Su Shi said to Jiang Wan, "Wan Wan, don't take what they said to heart."
Jiang Wan shook her head, "Sister-in-law, I'm fine. You should think about yourself. How will you tell Mom and Dad about the Su family's demands? If Mom and Dad can't fulfill them, how will you account for it to the Su family?"
Hearing this, Su Shi's expression became grave.
Eldest son, afraid she would worry too much and affect her health, quickly said, "I'll talk to Dad about this, don't you worry."
Su Shi smiled at him, but her brow remained furrowed.
When they returned home, Chen Yuezhi was somewhat surprised to see them back so early, "Didn't you say you were going to wander around the city? Why are you back so early?"
Su Shi felt guilty and didn't dare to meet Chen Yuezhi's eyes. She sat down in the shed and started sewing the half-finished baby clothes with stitches that went in and out unevenly.
Seeing her like that, Eldest son comforted her a few words, then went to talk to Jiang Pan.
Chen Yuezhi called Jiang Wan over, "What's wrong with your sister-in-law?"
Jiang Wan said, "She met her maternal family and gave away all the money from selling embroidery."
Chen Yuezhi frowned, "The Su family also came to Yao County?"
Jiang Wan nodded and explained the situation with the Su family.
Chen Yuezhi already had little good feeling towards the Su family, and after the incident of fleeing famine, she felt even more disgusted with them as in-laws, and became displeased.
But looking at Su Shi, she sighed helplessly, "For your sister-in-law's sake and for the sake of the child in her belly, as long as the Su family isn't too unreasonable, we'll help if we can."
Hearing this, Jiang Wan shrugged helplessly.
She didn't quite understand the adults' way of thinking. In her opinion, she would never forgive those who had betrayed her, no matter how close their relation.
After thinking about it, she decided to keep a close eye on the Su family. If the Su family made any unreasonable moves, she would definitely make them regret miscalculating!
They had expected the Su family to wait for a reply from the Jiang family, but unexpectedly, the entire clan showed up the next day. As soon as they entered the village, they started crying and wailing, drawing the attention of the entire village.
As soon as Mother Su saw Chen Yuezhi, she cried, "Sister-in-law, I've finally seen you. I thought I would never see you again in this lifetime."
Chen Yuezhi was quite annoyed by their behavior and said, "Then you should have informed us before leaving back then."
Mother Su covered her face and cried, "We were forced to do so. Sister-in-law, please don't take it to heart, and don't blame my A'luo for this matter..."
Jiang Wan was astonished, this Mother Su was truly a master of manipulation, fearing her mother wouldn't give face, she actually used Su Shi to make her point.
She really didn't know how a family like the Su family could raise a daughter like Su Shi.
Chen Yuezhi didn't bother arguing with the Su family. After all, it wasn't the Jiang family who was harmed by the Su family. Thus, after the Su family cried and complained, and abandoned Su Shi to flee famine, the matter was considered past.
Looking at the half-built large tiled house of the Su family, everyone in the Su family's eyes were filled with envy.
Mother Su took Chen Yuezhi's hand and said with a look of distress, "Sister-in-law, your family is truly getting richer and richer. Unlike us, we almost lost our lives coming to Jiangnan, and now we don't even have a place to stay. You don't know, these past few days we've been squeezed under the city walls, afraid to close our eyes at night for fear of being harmed."
Upon hearing this, Su Shi was so sad she couldn't help but wipe her tears.
Chen Yuezhi didn't respond, only listened quietly.
Mother Su sighed again, "Your family is truly enviable. You even have three carriages, how much money is that? And such a large house, so spacious. Each person could have their own room with plenty to spare. A'luo is truly fortunate to marry into a family like yours."
Saying this, she turned to Su Shi and said, "You must be filial to your in-laws from now on, understand?"
Su Shi nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Mother Su turned her head and looked enviously at the Jiang family's new house, her eyes, with their prominent dark circles, filled with longing, as if fearing the Jiang family wouldn't notice.