"Mother said, Kang-er is a boy. He's different from us." You Jin stared straight at Mrs. Su. Her tone didn't fluctuate at all, but it hurt like a needle prick in You Bao's heart. Although the young ones don't remember the trivial things in the past, they all remember clearly why their family came to Luohe Prefecture- because Yue Family despises themselves for being a girl/ Disdained their mother for not being able to give birth to a son. And disliked their younger brother for being sickly!
The eyes of the little girls ached. Their red eyes looked at Mrs. Su, as if she had turned into a man-eating monster.
Seeing that her daughters' attitude towards her changed instantly, Mrs. Su couldn't help feeling a little flustered: "No, You Jin, Mother doesn't mean that. It's just that this family will still depend on your younger brother to be the head of the house. Mother is afraid that he will suffer grievances."
In Mrs. Su's opinion, she wasn't in the wrong. Wasn't everything in the family now going to be handed over to her son in the future? She only had this one son. It wasn't like the family conditions can't allow it, so what if she spoiled him a little?
"My younger sisters and I have worked so hard to build up the family business. In the future, when Younger Sisters get married, it will be their dowry. Who said it will be given to Kang-er?" You Jin still looked straight at Mrs. Su and slowly uttered: "I thought Mother had already hated people like Yue Family after living so many years of hard life. I didn't expect that in the end, Mother turned into that kind of person."
"Since ancient times, men have always been the head of the family. Why is it different when it comes to our house?" Mrs. Su never knew that her daughter had such shocking thoughts. She couldn't help being a little angry. There was also a trace of fear: "You Jin, what do you mean by saying this today? Could it be that you would rather give such big business to outsiders than to your younger brother?"
"Outsiders? Who are outsiders? I want to leave this family wealth to my younger sisters as dowry. It can't be that younger sisters are outsiders?" You Jin became even more infuriated when she heard Mrs. Su's remarks: "Mother is also a female. Isn't it a little self-deprecating to say that! Today Kang-er can hit Auntie Zhang just because he tripped. Tomorrow he can take advantage of his wealth and commit murder? If Younger Brother is like this, I would rather he hadn't been born in the first place!"
You Jin's words phrased it too harshly. Mrs. Su was shocked after hearing this and took several steps back. In the end, she tripped and sat on the ground in a slump. Panic and rage were in her eyes.
These children were normally very close to Mrs. Su. But today at the sight of their mother slumped on the ground, no one stepped forward to help her up. Now they were all agitated and were rooted to the ground. At a loss, they turned to Eldest Sister. They didn't know what to do.
"You, You Jin!" Currently limp on the ground, Mrs. Su really wanted to slap Daughter in the face to teach her to be more sensible: "Are you so vicious that you want your younger brother to die?"
When Su Kang heard Mother condemn Eldest Sister in this way and Eldest Sister was standing upright with a majestic appearance, he felt that Eldest Sister was bullying Mother. His chubby body rushed forward and began to beat You Jin: "Bully Mother! Bully Mother!"
You Jin grabbed Su Kang's aggressive little paw and coldly uttered: "If it wasn't for me, Su Kang would still be alive to this day? I'm afraid he would have turned into soil now!"
She swung down hard on Su Kang's bum. "Since Kang-er thinks beating people is fun, how about Eldest Sister play with you every day?"
Although You Jin also controlled her strength, it was enough strength to make Su Kang scream in pain. Adults' scolding and children's cries were mixed together. The servants, who were hiding outside and dared not come in, were all terrified. No one dared to come forward to say anything. After all, it was the masters' private affair. How could they, who were servants, dare to get involved?
"What do you mean? What do you want to do to Kang-er?" Mrs. Su supported herself up with the stone table and stared at You Jin with red eyes. Only then did she realize that her eldest daughter was no longer under her control. She didn't even have the ability to resist her daughter at all.
Glancing at Su Kang who had changed from howling to sobbing softly, You Jin gave a faint smile, "I don't want to do anything. I just want to discipline our only heir, that's all. If not, how can he hold up the family in the future?"
After these words were out, the heavily emphasized 'the only heir' made Su's eyebrows twitch.
"Three years old defines one to old age. Now Kang-er is this big, he starts beating and kicking the people at home. Won't he beat and scold others at will in the street in the future? If we let Mother indulge and pamper like this, our family's pillar will grow crooked. Since I can teach my younger sisters well, I can naturally teach Kang-er well. Now that we brought it out in the open, I'm not afraid of making Mother mad. If Kang-er keeps growing up spoiled like this, will he be any different from old Third Chen and Yue Family in the future?"
At this time, You Jin had calmed down. Her solemn eyes fell on the somewhat bewildered Mrs. Su and looked straight at her: "If Mother raised Kang-er to be that kind of person, it would be better if he wasn't born in the first place."
"It's not that serious..." Hearing her daughter phrasing it like that, her expression became very serious. She couldn't help feeling short of breath and guilty. She stammered out: "Kang-er is still ignorant. I'll slowly teach..."
"Mother said that Kang-er is ignorant, but little Eighth never hits people." The childish voice of You Bao sounded. She firmly stood on Eldest Sister's side, especially when she witnessed Kang-er beat Eldest Sister just now. She was very displeased with Younger Brother. Little Sixth and little Seventh often played with Kang-er and little Eighth on normal days. When they heard Fourth Elder Sister speak out, they all nodded in unison: "That's right. Younger Brother likes to beat people. He even bit me!"
Seeing the dislike toward their younger brother on the faces of her little daughters, Mrs. Su couldn't help but wonder if it was really her own fault that caused the sibling's heart to separate. But letting Son be disciplined by others, even if this person was the backbone of the family, she was reluctant: "You Jin, do you really distrust Mother? Mother promises that I will discipline Kang-er well from now on!"
As long as Son was still by her side, Mrs. Su felt that she could overcome any difficulties: "No matter what, Mother had given birth to so many of you. And you are so busy, You Jin. How can you have time to manage it all?"
You Jin indifferently glared at Su Kang who was biting her hand. She pinched Su Kang's aggressive mouth with her free hand: "Since you like biting people so much, you move to Xiao Hei and Wang Cai's place and live with them?"
Little Hei and Wang Cai had their own den now. With Su Family's current big business, it was pretty good to have six or seven wolf dogs guarding the house.
Su Kang's round eyes glared at the half-squatting Eldest Sister. Thinking of the dirty and smelly kennel, he shook his head at once: "Not, not ive with dogs."
Having his little face pinched by You Jin and couldn't even speak properly, Su Kang quickly rejected Eldest Sister's "kindness".
"If you bite again in the future, I'll have someone move your bed to the kennel." Seeing that Su Kang showed weakness, You Jin let him go with satisfaction: "You Bao, take Younger Brother to freshen up. Then get someone to clean up the vacant room by the study in the front yard. Kang-er will move to live there from now on."
Seeing Daughter disregard affection and have her son move out of the main room, Mrs. Su felt a little displeased. As an elder, she had pleaded with her daughter with a lowered head. Still, Daughter insisted on having it her way. Displeased, she spoke: "You Jin, you order Kang-er to move out. Have you asked me? I don't agree with this matter. "
"Mother, it's better to beat your own child than to let the official beat him. If we don't discipline Kang-er well today and he commits a crime of murder tomorrow. Is Mother satisfied when the official beat him then?" You Jin indifferently swept her gaze to Mrs. Su: "It's the father's fault if the son isn't taught well. We don't have a father, so Mother took on the responsibility of raising children like this? Mother always thinks that Kang-er is young and blindly dotes on him. Kang-er developed his current temperament and Mother doesn't reflect on it. Instead, you blame me. If Kang-er is someone else's child, who doesn't know etiquette, and loves to beat and bite, would Mother still think he is good?"
You Jin said this lightly, but it exploded in Mrs. Su's mind like a thunderbolt on the ground. Her thoughts turned back and forth in her brain. She thought how the older ones were already taking on the responsibility of supporting the family and the younger ones were very well-behaved and sensible. Only Kang-er had the most troublesome temper!
Seeing Mrs. Su's self-struggle for a long time, You Jin breathed a sigh of relief. Mrs. Su's struggle indicated she was thinking it through. Although her son was said to be the pillar of the family, You Jin was determined not to let Su Kang ruin the family business she and her younger sisters have worked so hard for if he was raised crooked. Although there weren't many restrictions on women in this era, women were always at a disadvantage. In addition, You Jin had always been a strong character. She had already made up her mind to divide the family property into nine shares among the family members.
But Mrs. Su had the weakest temperament. Going by her temperament, she would adopt 'obedience to son after husband's death'. If Su Kang was brought up wrongly, them sisters will definitely be implicated in the future. For their own sake of them sisters not turning into supporting-brother-demon, You Jin can no longer let Mrs. Su be.
***
This turmoil ended with Mrs. Su's compromise and You Jin's concession. Su Kang still lived in the main courtyard, but he had to move out from Mrs. Su's side to live alone in the West Wing of the main courtyard. In addition, You Jin entrusted Third Master Huang to find a Xiucai surnamed Chen who was in his early fifties to become a teacher at home.
Third Master Huang had had a lot of business dealings with Su Family in the past two years. In addition, the eldest son of the owner family told him to take care of Su Family before he left. Now that You Jin came to ask for help, he tried his best to help. Within a few days, he found someone who opened a private school by himself in the early years, but no longer opened the school to teach due to old age in the past two years. He only accepted work as a hired teacher and lived and ate at the master's house. In a year, it cost the master family a small sum. This old Xiucai was a bit talented. Previously, he taught in a wealthy family in Luohe Prefecture, but the major household had many rules. So the old scholar resigned.
Hearing that it was a rich family in the countryside and the students to be taught were all the children of the family, Xiucai Chen was a little surprised. Usually only rich families consider having their daughters learn to read and write. How can rural people have such foresight? So he proposed to see the children of Su Family.
You Jin led the several younger siblings to meet Xiucai Chen. Xiucai Chen tested the children's knowledge one by one. Then he got the younger ones to write a few words. Then he nodded in satisfaction and praised little Seventh: "Not bad, not bad. Although there's no strength in character yet, it's pretty good to be able to write decently at such a young age."
Little Seventh understood manners now. She respectfully performed the younger generation courtesy: "Thank you for the compliment, Teacher."
Seeing how the little girl who was only five or six years old and acted so well behaved, old Xiucai nodded and agreed to Su Family's invitation.
The arrival of Xiucai Chen didn't have much impact on the little girls of Su Family who were used to reading and writing every day. However, it was really miserable for Su Kang who was doted on since little.
If he didn't concentrate on listening to the teacher's lecture, he would be hit. If he didn't finish his homework, he would be beaten. If he came up with a plan to skip class, he would be hit….The most extreme thing was that in order to control him, Eldest Sister chose two guards at home to guard him every day. She had instructed the guards that if he skipped class without reason, half a month's monthly payment would be deducted from them ..... All these means was what the Teacher called notorious for one's misdeeds and too numerous crimes to record!
Seeing her son's red hands from being hit every day, Mrs. Su felt very distressed. But when she thought of what her eldest daughter said that day, she had no choice but to suppress the emotions in her heart. She could only smear cream for swelling on son's hands every day.
Have to say that Mr. Chen still had some tricks. In just a few months from the Mid-Autumn Festival to December, Su Kang had transformed. Although he hadn't yet reached You Jin's targeted standard, it was already much better than before.