Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

Su Yu watched her act coldly, then pulled her arm back and held the iron pot firmly in her arms. She just stood there quietly, not saying a word.

Wang Guifen turned her head and screamed, "Eldest brother! Second brother! Quickly, get it back! That's money our family earned drop by drop of sweat and blood!"

Upon hearing this, Su Qing and Su Jun immediately surrounded them: "Third brother, are you crazy? You stole that money? How can you face the whole family like this?!"

Su Yu scoffed, "Your mother sang with great enthusiasm. Whether she survives or not is none of my business. I didn't even step foot in your door today—I went straight from the village entrance to the outside. Who saw me touch your door latch? Besides, she's your mother, not my biological mother. My biological mother is buried in the pine forest behind the mountain long ago."

Upon hearing the curse, the two men grabbed their fists and charged forward. Su Yu didn't even lift an eyelid, tossed aside what she was holding, grabbed a hoe from a bystander, and swung it down on the two brothers' heads—precisely and ruthlessly.

Seeing that things were going wrong, Wang Guifen screamed at the top of her lungs, "Murder! This ungrateful wretch is going to kill me! This bastard I've raised for over ten years can't be tamed! Why is my life so miserable?!"

In less than five minutes, the brigade secretary Liu Yu, the brigade leader Su Guang, and the accountant Lao Chen arrived. The two men were curled up on the ground, blood seeping from their foreheads, gasping for breath in pain.

Liu Yu asked with a grim face, "Why did you take action?"

Su Yu dusted off her sleeves: "They stole my things, everyone saw it."

Wang Guifen scrambled to her feet: "Secretary! Third Uncle! You have to stand up for me! This beast not only beat me, but also stole all the money from the house!"

Everyone nodded silently, but no one spoke up—in just a few days, the family had fallen out to this extent, and no one knew what had really happened.

Su Guang frowned and sighed: "No matter what, he's still your brother. Just pay some money for the medicine, and let's let this matter go."

Su Yu sneered: "Brother? My second uncle told me everything before he died, even stuffing the last hundred yuan into my hand—he was afraid your wife would turn on him the moment he closed his eyes. My father's name is Su Qiang. Back then, he was so sick he was on his last breath. Afraid no one would take care of him, he insisted on having Qi Wentai send me back from the county town. Before leaving, he even gave me two hundred and seventy yuan for child support. You saw all these years I slept in thatched huts, carried manure buckets, and suffered hunger and cold. Do you think I'd tolerate them?"

Wang Guifen jumped up and shouted, "Nonsense! It's all bullshit!"

Su Yu stared at her: "Why don't we go to the county grain bureau right now and ask Director Qi in person?"

Wang Guifen shrank her neck, and her mouth immediately fell silent.

Su Guang froze, scrutinizing Su Yu closely—she had short hair today, and although she was thin, her features were well-defined, and she really did resemble his elder brother in his youth. His nose stung, and tears streamed down his face: "Good...good...your brother has an heir! These past years, you've suffered so much...haven't eaten yet? Come on, let's go to my house, we're having dinner! You two, stop pretending to be dead lying on the ground. A few scrapes will heal in a couple of days at home. From now on, if anyone dares to steal from others—I'll personally escort you to the farm for re-education!"

Liu Yu was completely dumbfounded: So the third son of the Su family wasn't Su Shan's biological son at all? No wonder he had been treated like a slave all these years, and was kicked out as soon as Su Shan died... What's even more heartbreaking is that his biological father paid 270 yuan in child support! If it were their own child, everyone would just shake their heads and sigh; but this child was a complete stranger, and had been treated so badly, the scales in everyone's hearts had long since tipped to the side.

Liu Yu's face turned ashen, and he shouted sternly, "Disgraceful! If you do it again, you'll be sent straight to a labor camp! Wang Guifen, you're bringing shame to our brigade! No one is allowed to utter a single word of what I said today!" After finishing his reprimand, he turned and left.

Su Yu said softly, "Third Uncle, I still need to go back and tidy up the house. I need to build a stove, otherwise I won't even be able to support the pot."

Su Guang nodded hurriedly, "Yes, yes, yes! You go back first, your third uncle will have someone fix your house right away—the cracks in the walls are letting in drafts, and the tiles are warped; it'll collapse if it rains again!"

Su Yu smiled and said, "Okay, once it's fixed, I'll treat everyone to a hot meal."

Su Guang patted him on the shoulder: "Go back and rest first. They'll be here at three o'clock this afternoon!"

Su Yu slowly strolled home, pondering: Had he gone too far with that hoe? These two are tough as nails; they were down in no time. He'd have to teach them a lesson next time they caused trouble—they kicked him all the time when he was a kid, so he shouldn't be allowed to indulge them.

With her mind preoccupied, Su Yu unconsciously made her way back to her little hut. The hut was closer to the cowshed, but still separated from the village by a cold, dusty road. Su Guang had originally intended to build her a room in the village and gradually deduct her work points, but she insisted on choosing this secluded spot—where at night, a few specks of oil would float on the stove, and coarse steamed buns would be cooked, leaving no trace of human activity.

……

As soon as she entered the house, she quickly turned the quilt over and replaced all the sheets and pillowcases with freshly washed ones, stuffing the old items into a wooden basin. Then she carried the basin to the yard, squatted down, and picked out stones to build a stove: first, she would build a rough structure that could be used for a fire, and make do with it for a few days.

After only a few minutes of work, several middle-aged men from the village arrived with tools—Su Guang had asked them to repair the house, and they were getting their full work points for the day. Some dragged bundles of straw, while others climbed onto the roof, peeling away the rotten old straw and layering new straw; two others mixed mud to patch the cracks in the walls, first stuffing large holes with stones as a base, then smoothing them out with mud. While it was still bright outside, the group also helped tidy up the courtyard wall. After the two men finished patching the wall, they turned around and squatted down to help Su Yu build the stove.

Su Yu took out the wheat cakes she had bought from the supply and marketing cooperative from her bundle and gave two to each person. Everyone stared at the cakes in disbelief—they were made from fine grains, who would bear to eat them on the spot? They all planned to take them home and break them into small pieces to appease their children.

Wang Dingjiang patted the mud off his hands: "Alright, Su Yu, the work's done, let's head back now. If you need any help in the future, just let me know!"

Su Yu smiled and stopped him: "Brother Wang, take care! There's something I'd like to ask your father for a favor—to make a set of furniture. What do you think would be a suitable price?"

"What furniture?"

"A square table, four stools, a cabinet, two chests, and three doors."

"You bring your own wood. My dad and I will do it together. Ten yuan, is that enough?"

"That's enough! Thank you, Brother Wang!" She turned and ran towards the back of the house. "I'll go up the mountain to prepare the supplies right now!"

The Wang family were renowned carpenters in the area. Their skills weren't top-notch, but they were reliable and honest. Eight out of ten villagers would go to them for dowry preparations and chest and cabinet making, and they would pay them money or grain.

Su Yu carried the remaining flatbread up the mountain. She needed to chop all the timber and transport it down today—she probably wouldn't have time to do it again later. Before leaving, she locked the small kitchen and main house doors tightly with the new metal padlocks she'd bought from the department store. This was to prevent Wang Guifen from sneaking in and rummaging through her things. She didn't want to confront her directly, but if Wang Guifen succeeded, it would only benefit the woman. Although she could vent her anger by pinching a few of Wang Guifen's children, Su Yu was too lazy to get her hands dirty.

She borrowed an axe from the village office and headed up the mountain. As she bent down to pick at tree trunks, she suddenly saw a slender figure swaying towards her—her steps unsteady, as if she were walking on cotton. As the person drew closer, Su Yu's heart skipped a beat: It was her?

But why did she go up the mountain? In her memory, this girl was Xiao Yulan, the eldest daughter of Xiao Dongjia at the entrance of the village. The original book mentioned it briefly: When the female protagonist, Su Yun, was asked by her colleagues in the city who was the prettiest in the village, she replied, "Xiao Yulan was the most beautiful one, but unfortunately she died young at eighteen."

Her stepmother, Liu Yan, had already declared: whoever wanted to marry her would have to pay a dowry of thirty yuan, not a penny less, plus fifty jin of grain. But Xiao Yulan's face was sallow and her body was frail; she looked like she had been starving for years and couldn't even lift a hoe. Wouldn't she be treated like a goddess if she were married into the family? So, no one had come to her door to propose marriage.

But Su Yu didn't see it that way—she missed out once in her past life, and regretted it to the bone. Now, this opportunity had come her way; it wasn't just picking up a wife, it was as if God was pushing a fairy into his arms! She didn't look like she died of illness; she was clearly starved to death. Her mother had a bad class background and only gave birth to her. Her in-laws bullied her, and her own family treated her coldly. Unable to bear it any longer, she hanged herself, leaving her an orphan. Her maternal grandfather's family was even more miserable than this place; no one sought justice for her mother. Her grandfather, when he was alive, could protect her, but now the grass on his grave was three feet high, and if she went back to the Xiao family, she wouldn't even be able to get a hot soup.

"Magnolia, where are we going?"

"I... went to the back mountain to pick some wild berries."

"Here, I can't finish these pancakes, can you help me digest them?"

"There's no such thing as an endless supply of food, Third Brother, don't tease me."

"Open your eyes and look—this isn't a dream." She shoved the pancake into the person's hand. "Eat up."

Xiao Yulan's stomach was already rumbling like a drum. She took the medicine and swallowed it in small sips, her cheeks bulging slightly.

Su Yu stopped rushing to cut down the tree, sat down next to her, and started chatting.

"I live alone now and don't understand those formalities. Tomorrow I'll ask Wang Po to come and propose marriage—from now on, as long as I have a hot meal, you'll have a bowl of soup too. Are you willing?"

Xiao Yulan lowered her eyes, her ears turning red, and remained silent. She knew in her heart that her stepmother, Liu Yan, was no pushover and was determined to squeeze every last drop of profit out of her. But who would be willing to pay thirty yuan plus fifty catties of grain? Not to mention that she didn't even have a decent dowry.

"Third Brother doesn't want a single grain of rice or a thread from your family. If you nod, Granny Wang will come tomorrow; if you shake your head, pretend I never said anything."

She had wanted to escape that house for a long time. But her maternal grandfather's family was even poorer than this one, and going there would only be a burden. She nodded slightly.

Back then, when it came to marriage, who cared about free love? Parental approval was all that mattered. Su Yu had no elders to back her up, so she became the person in charge of the household after marriage—she wasn't stupid. Having grown up with him, Su Yu was gentle and honest, but she was puzzled: Where did he get fifty catties of grain? And where did he get thirty yuan?

Su Yu hoisted a thick log down the mountain. The log weighed at least three or four hundred pounds, but his shoulder didn't sway at all. He had tried this strength several times: looking at a frighteningly heavy stone, he could lift it with one hand without his arms and legs getting tired.