Chapter 635: A New, Fresh Start

"GOT IT!"

Su Xiangfei happily rushed into the house to take the firecrackers and then came back to the courtyard. This, however, made Su Yaning, who had just stepped out of the kitchen, dumbfounded. Though she had seen how Su Xiangfei acted when he was with Tang Xiu and could tell that her younger brother—Su Xiangfei had a good relations.h.i.+p with the former, yet it never crossed her mind that he would actually listen to Tang Xiu to this extent.

Tang Xiu was someone powerful now, and Su Yaning was well aware of it. Not only did he establish the very prominent Magnificent Tang Corporation, he was also a member of the Tang Family from Beijing. She also knew her own brother—of what form of relations.h.i.+p her family had with Tang Xiu; and yet, how could her little brother Su Xiangfei possibly act like that?

Bang bang bang…

The firecrackers sounded and the busy Su Lingyun and Zhang s.h.i.+ began to make dumplings. Taking the time while the firecrackers were being set off, Su Yaning came to Su Xiangfei’s side and asked with knitted brows, “Brother, you seem… to be very obedient toward Tang Xiu?”

Su Xiangfei smiled, “Naturally. I must listen to him since he has the ability to make me to.”

“But our Dad and Mom…” Rebuked Su Yaning angrily.

Upon hearing that, Su Xiangfei suddenly remembered something. He then looked at Tang Xiu, who was at the kitchen, and spoke with an undertone voice, “Sis, it’s my fault that I didn’t tell you before. Tang Xiu called some people in Star City to make them find a way to release Dad and Mom on bail. Ah, right. When I just woke up before, he told me that Mom and Dad are already on the way here. They should be here in less than two hours.”

“What?” Su Yaning looked at Su Xiangfei in disbelief. This revelation was like a thunderclap to her.

“Sis, I know you’re still angry at Tang Xiu,” said Su Xiangfei again. “You think that he’s the cause for us to end up like this. But, have you ever thought about how we treated him and auntie back then? Yeah, that time our family was indeed rich, and auntie had to go through a difficult life while raising him as she often borrowed money from our family. But we were the ones who looked down at them arrogantly, despising them and even making life difficult for them. We also nearly harmed Tang Xiu and got him thrown into jail, remember?

“Now look at how things are unfolding, Sis. Tang Xiu now has wealth that is more than a hundred times ours back then. But how does he act and treat us now? As long as we are close to them, he and auntie won’t look down on us with contempt, neither will they make our lives difficult. Back when Dad tried to commit suicide and got hospitalized, do you know why he did that? It was because he was regretting his treatment of Tang Xiu and auntie.”

When he spoke up to there, Su Xiangfei silently took out half a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. After lighting it up, he took a few deep puffs, let out a bitter smile and spoke again, “You know, it made me realize that the problem lies in our family. It was us who were problematic all those years. Do you want to know the reason?”

“What is the reason?” Asked Su Yaning.

“When I just returned to the Su Family Village, the people here still hadn’t learned that our family had gone bankrupt and neither did they know that Mom and Dad had been imprisoned. And yet, their eyes, when they looked at me, were full of loathing and despise, and they even looked down on me. But why did they do that? Isn’t it because of what we’ve done, forgetting our roots?”

“Our roots?” Su Yaning felt that her heart was fiercely struck, and a faint pain was born inside.

That’s true! Her root was the Su Family Village. Even if her family once possessed tens of millions in a.s.sets, what about it? Could you forget where your ancestors were? If they did forget their own ancestors, then what had their family turn into?

Su Xiangfei gently hugged Su Yaning’s shoulder and sighed, “Sis, we were in the wrong in the past. We must admit our mistakes. The way we treated Tang Xiu and auntie and our att.i.tude toward the folks of the Su Family Village. People say that admitting our own mistakes and reforming ourselves are one of the greatest virtues. Only last night did I really feel the change of att.i.tude from them toward me. Even Su Quan told me something last night after he got drunk. Do you wanna know what he said?”

“What is it?” Su Yaning’s face was a bit pale as she asked in a whisper.

“You are familiar with the neighboring Little Village of w.a.n.g, right?” Asked Su Xiangfei. “We grew up there when we were small. When I had a drink with Su Quan and he got drunk, he told me that we must recognize our ancestors, cheris.h.i.+ng and treasuring our family members, and be united with all the villagers in this village. It’s because all of us bear the same family name of Su—all of us, up to the several generations above us, are of the same ancestors and are one whole family.

“You should have heard about w.a.n.g Xinke from the Little Village of w.a.n.g, right? He could socialize well back then, as he went to the city, set up his own business that went big, and then made a fortune for him and his family. Every time he returned to the village, however, all he did was boast and swagger before others. What happened in the end, then? Just two years ago when w.a.n.g Xinke’s father died in the Little Village of w.a.n.g, no villager went to help with the funeral processions on the funeral day, and not even one went to carry his coffin. All of it was because their relations.h.i.+p with the villagers was so bad. You wanna know what happened afterwards? His uncle, who’s the village chief, brought him to kowtow and apologize to the villagers from house to house before they were finally willing to help carry the coffin and deliver the old gramps to his burial resting place.”

Su Yaning could comprehend it, as a regretful expression then appeared on her face. She fell into silence for a long period of time. Furthermore, she came to the realization that her little brother had grown up, no longer the previously same child who relied upon the power of the dirty money their family once had in the past, and neither was he the same child who was out of tune all day long.

“I understand, Brother.” Su Yaning hugged Su Xiangfei, and then released him before striding into the kitchen.

Two hours later…

A police car parked outside the Su Family Village, as its doors opened and Su Shangwen and Zhang Meiyun came out of the car. Coming out with them was a middle-aged man in his duty uniform.

“Thanks a lot, Officer Hu. Thank you for sending us back here personally,” Su Shangwen shook hands with the middle-aged policeman and said with a grateful expression.

“You are welcome. This is what I should do, to begin with.” The middle-aged policeman smiled. “Also, please send my regards to Mr. Long and Mr. Chen.”

“Sure, will do!”

Although Su Shangwen knew that Long Hanwen and Chen Zhizhong were the ones who got them—husband and wife out of prison, he did not have any friends.h.i.+p with the two whatsoever. The credit went to the main actor of the script, which ought to be Tang Xiu, and yet he still coped with it and replied to him.

As the police car left, Su Shangwen squatted down and opened the travel bag on the ground to take out two cartons of cigarettes from the inside. He opened them up and stuffed several packs into his pocket, and then stuffed the rest back into the bag. Then he turned around to look at Zhang Meiyun and lightly said, “Don’t blame me for not reminding you. The Su Family Village is my family, and my mother lives and comes from this place. We were at fault in the past, so it’s my wish for you to follow my step and how I speak, to be content for everything we have. That is if you still pa.s.s our days and live together.”

“Shangwen, I know that I used to have a bad att.i.tude, and I realized my mistake.” Zhang Meiyan squeezed a smiling face. “Please don’t worry. I will not regard anyone as beneath me anymore from now on.”

Su Shangwen nodded in response, after which, he picked up the bag and walked toward the village. When he first entered the village, he saw that several villagers had woken up early and paid New Year visits to their elders from house to house.

“Brother Dazhu, Jianxi…”

After walking toward them, Su Shangwen greeted them with a full smiling face, as he then took out the cigarette pack from his pocket and offered one to each of them.

They did not look at or respond to Su Shangwen at all and even ignored him. But upon seeing his warm att.i.tude, they still nodded at him, though feeling surprised inwardly, and took the cigarettes handed over by him.

“Hi, you’re back.” Su Dazhu nodded.

With an attentive smile, Su Shangwen replied, “I was at fault back then, Brother Dazhu. I forgot what meaning it was to bear a family name just because I had a little bit of wealth. Don’t worry, though, I will correct myself and make a fresh start. The Su Family Village is my family, and everyone here is also my relative.”

Su Dazhu and the rest exchanged looks, as he then nodded with satisfaction. A smile appeared on his face as he said, “Great, for one to realize their own mistakes is never easy. And your son is great, he’s already a man. Anyhow, come to my place if you have some time, I’ll tell your big sis-in-law to make some dishes and we’ll have some drinks too.”

My son?

Su Shangwen was stunned for a moment, but still, he replied profusely with a smile on his face.

Shortly after, he bade them farewell and entered the village, meeting many villagers all the way and stopping each time to greet them, offering cigarettes for everyone and smoking with them. What puzzled him was that each and every villager always mentioned his son, Su Xiangfei, with a full appreciation expression. He wanted to ask the reason, but since he kept meeting more people and greeting them unceasingly, he didn’t have a chance to ask about it.

After more than half an hour, the couple—Su Shangwen and Zhang Meiyun came to the entrance of his parent’s courtyard. When he saw the SUV parked outside, his pace came to a halt as he looked at his wife and asked, “Have you realized that this time the villagers treated us differently than when we came back here in the past?”

Zhang Meiyun also could tell the sincere att.i.tude of the villagers toward the couple and nodded silently, saying, “Yeah, they have become… more amiable. When we came back the last time, they just ignored us.”

“It was us who looked down upon them before,” said Su Shangwen. “Hence we had a bad reputation in the village. Anyhow, let’s go! Though I don’t know the reason for the change, let’s just cherish it. After all, whatever is said and done, this place is our family’s home!”

“En!” After a series of incidents, traces of arrogance could no longer be seen on Zhang Meiyun. She carried the bag and followed Su Shangwen into the courtyard.

“DAD, MOM!”

Su Xiangfei and Su Yaning, who had long been waiting in the courtyard, almost jumped out of their chairs as they rushed over upon seeing their parents.

“Little Fei, Little Ning.”

Zhang Meiyun burst into tears after she saw her children. She hugged the siblings and was unwilling to let them go. Su Shangwen only watched his children as his eyes fell on Tang Yunde and Tang Xiu in the courtyard.

He paced a few steps forward and then came before the expressionless Tang Yunde, as he then straightly knelt in front him, “Brother-in-law, I’m sorry.”

Tang Yunde sighed inwardly, and slowly lifted Su Shangwen up from the ground. He shook his head and said, “There’s no need for you to apologize to me. The ones you need to say apologize to are your younger sister and nephew.”

Su Shangwen turned to Tang Xiu.

“There’s no need to apologize,” said Tang Xiu straightly. “Being able to correct oneself, you are still relatives. But if you can’t change yourself, the road to the sky is large enough and each of us can take half and go our own ways.

With a firm nod, Su Shangwen said, “I’ve changed.”

At this moment, Zhang s.h.i.+, who was inside the house and heard the voices outside, came out with Su Lingyun and Mu Qingping. When she saw her son, Su Shangwen, her whole being was stunned on the spot.