Chapter 27: I Am Certain Father Is Not Grandfather's Biological Son

"Second brother, can we even eat these? They've been gnawed on by rats! Are you trying to kill us off with the plague? Is that your plan?" Su Wanwan asked.

Su Mao hurriedly defended himself, "What are you saying, girl? How could it be poisonous? Do you think I'm such a heartless grandfather? You're lucky to have sweet potatoes at all; everyone else eats the same thing."

Su Heng leaned over to inspect the bag of sweet potatoes. "You two are always coming to our house to take this and that—you didn't even spare the chamber pot. We've been broke for ages. We won't be taking these sweet potatoes back. We’ve decided to eat here every day from now on, since all our grain is stored here anyway."

Su Mao’s face instantly turned the color of a pig's liver. "We’ve already divided the family property. It’s completely improper for you to come here and eat every single day!"

"Our grain is here, so why can't we eat it?" Su Wanwan retorted. "Not only do you collect five yuan from us every month, but you also haul away two thousand catties of grain from our home every year. You lot are eating white rice every day while we have nothing at all."

"You are truly black-hearted. You even tried to sell me off as a bride to a fool! I’m going to tell everyone in the village exactly how wicked your family is."

"Grandpa, you tried to dismiss us today with a few poisoned sweet potatoes. Maybe it’s time we call the villagers over to weigh in on this."

Su Heng challenged him, "Don't you realize that two thousand catties is an entire year's ration for a family? Are you even our real grandfather? Are you actually trying to starve us to death?"

Facing his sharp-tongued grandchildren, Su Mao roared, "You little brats! How dare you speak to your elders like that? Who gave you the right to talk back? Get out of here now; I’ll go have a word with your father tomorrow."

Su Heng looked at the heartless man and said, "I’m going to call everyone in the village to judge this. All our remaining grain has been taken by you, this black-hearted grandfather of ours. How do you expect us to survive? I’m starting to suspect that my father isn't even your biological son."

Su Heng’s blunt words made Su Mao’s eyes widen. He flickered his gaze, faltering, "What are you spouting nonsense for? Your father is our biological son! Fine, I'll give you a bit more grain—just don't let the villagers laugh at us."

Seeing his grandfather move to get the grain, Su Heng blocked his path. "Grandma and you always help yourselves when you come to our house, so we’ll help ourselves too."

Su Wanwan squinted. She had seen the shifty look in the old man's eyes clearly. She had just stumbled upon a massive secret: her father might not actually be the old man's biological son.

Su Wanwan said firmly, "That's right, we'll get it ourselves. Otherwise, we'll bring the whole village here to judge what kind of heartless grandfather you are, and while we're at it, we'll ask if Dad is even your son."

Su Mao’s heart skipped a beat. He decided to appease these two little beasts for now and settle the score with his youngest son tomorrow.

"Fine, get it yourselves. It's in the kitchen." They couldn't carry much with just two pairs of hands.

Su Lingxi and Su Heng exchanged a look and headed to the kitchen. Su Heng checked the kitchen storage and found only a small bag of flour. He went back to his grandfather and asked, "Where is the grain kept?"

Su Mao puffed on his pipe and said nonchalantly, "Isn't it all in the kitchen?"

Su Wanwan thought about how people in this era usually stored things in cellars. If her grandfather agreed so easily, it couldn't be that simple. She scanned the layout of the room.

She leaned into her second brother's ear and whispered, "I bet the grain is either hidden underground or up in the roof."

Su Heng started searching and actually found it. It was stored above his grandparents' room, and the ladder was right there in their bedroom.

He set up the ladder and climbed up quickly. When he saw bag after bag of grain, he was stunned. There were dozens and dozens of bags of all sizes—too many to count. The entire attic space was filled with grain.

These two weren't even worried about the roof collapsing and killing them!

Why hadn't it collapsed and crushed them already?

There was both refined and coarse grain inside. Su Heng gritted his teeth in fury; calling them "black-hearted" was an understatement. They were truly conscience-less, despicable wretches.

He quickly grabbed two bags of hulled rice and tossed them down.

*Thump. Thump.*

Su Wanwan and Su Mao both heard the sounds.

Su Mao dashed into the room with surprising speed. Seeing that Su Heng had discovered the grain in the attic, he roared, "You... get down here right now! Who told you to touch that grain?"

Su Heng retorted angrily, "You heartless old thing! We are starving every single day, while you have enough grain up here to feed the whole family for five or six years! If you don't let me take it, I’ll go get the villagers to see just how black your heart is. You’re so cruel to exploit us when you have all this food!"

Su Mao wobbled and steadied himself against the doorframe, panic rising in his chest. "Fine, fine! Just take those two bags on the floor and get down. Why let others laugh at our family?"

He needed to call his son back immediately to move all this grain somewhere else.

Su Wanwan climbed the ladder quickly. She was momentarily shocked by the sheer amount of grain.

She deliberately said loudly, "Second brother, Grandpa and Grandma are trying to starve us to death! They even tried to fob us off with a few poisonous sweet potatoes. I bet Dad isn't even their biological son—he doesn't even look like them. How else could they be this heartless to us?"

Hearing this, Su Mao became frantic. "Your father is my own flesh and blood! Get down here now!"

Su Wanwan climbed down. While her grandfather’s attention was focused on the attic, she slipped into the kitchen.

She put the lard from the cupboard into her basket, then checked the other jars. They were all filled with oil—peanut oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil—each jar containing at least seven or eight catties.

There was so much oil. In this era of rationing, everyone had a set allowance, yet they had so many varieties.

They even had cottonseed oil, the lowest quality, which most families in the village were forced to use.

She packed three jars of oil. They really knew how to live in luxury. She swept it all into her spatial storage.

She looked around again and, glancing up, spotted something hanging behind a wooden board... cured meat.

She stepped forward and confirmed it was indeed smoked meat. This family was truly crafty; they had hidden seven large slabs of it, each weighing at least ten catties.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. They’re swimming in wealth," Su Wanwan exclaimed.

It was time for them to experience the feeling of being completely wiped out.

*Heh heh, the tables have turned.*

She picked up a kitchen knife, stood on a stool, and hacked at the ropes holding the meat. The cured meat fell to the ground, and she tucked it all into her space.

Dozens of eggs? Taken.
A few catties of dried noodles? Taken.
A large jug of white liquor? Taken.
Half a bag of flour? Taken.
Her mother’s pickled vegetables? Taken.
Salt, soy sauce, vinegar, spices... take, take, take!

Everything edible in the kitchen was swept into her storage.