Chapter 31: Pingnan And Dingbei

Su Pingnan’s village was in an uproar.

Su Jianguo’s wife was a big mouth. Big Worm from Old Master Su’s family had returned, driving back two rugged off-road vehicles and looking very impressive. The news spread through the village in no time.

Su Zhendong hid in the west wing, crouched on the ground smoking like an old farmer. He couldn’t understand why a tough, combative guy could come back in such glory, while he, who worked the fields every day, couldn’t even find a wife after a year.

Su Pingnan was as domineering as ever. He had been raised by his grandfather since childhood, and his parents had never been able to control him.

“What, you’re not happy that I got rich?” Su Pingnan said with a smile, looking at his elder brother who would be meek for the rest of his life.

Su Zhendong felt a little embarrassed. “You’re too wild in your ways, but you are indeed better than me.”

Su Pingnan laughed loudly. “Elder Brother, I beat you every day since you were nine, and it’s all because of your lousy personality. But we’re family, so let’s not talk about that sort of thing anymore. I’m planning to be a contractor for the bluestone mountain behind this village, plus I’ll set up a brick kiln with eight chambers. You keep an eye on things and I’ll give you profit shares every year.”

Su Zhendong meekly said, “Mother and father are old so they can’t farm anymore. What do we do about our land?”

For some reason, Su Pingnan suddenly felt the urge to slap his brother. He said irritably, “Farming? Has farming made you stupid or something? I’ll give Mom and Dad 2,000 yuan a month — is that enough?”

“It’s enough, but what about the land?”

Su Pingnan decided his elder brother really was something. Every time he talked to him, he ended up exhausted.

This man had a timidity and honesty almost unheard of. In Su Pingnan’s previous life, he got into trouble once, and he was scared half to death. He even cried secretly a few times at night.

Thinking of this, Su Pingnan squatted down calmly. “Since our grandfather died, I haven’t come home much. Our parents and you are honest folk — you go talk to them. If you can convince them not to farm, I’ll pay them 2,000 yuan a month and I’ll find you a wife. Help me set up the brick factory and watch the quarry, I’ll share the profits with you.”

Seeing his younger brother in a good mood, Su Zhendong grew bold and made a request, “Okay, I’ll definitely help you. But I want a salary too, alright?”

Su Pingnan suppressed his temper after some effort. “Fine. I’ll take care of the two younger sisters too. You idiot — if you don’t want dividends then I simply won’t give you any. I’ll pay you 50,000 yuan a year as salary, you help me to honor our parents. They always seem so fearful of me, and I won’t be returning often anyway.”

“Okay, 50,000.”

Su Zhendong was shocked by the figure his brother offered. In this era, 50,000 yuan was as distant as a mountain of gold to someone who had scraped a living from the fields since childhood.

Su Pingnan sighed. Although this elder brother was timid and conflict-averse, he was responsible — if he agreed to something he’d work diligently and treat the factory like home. Su Pingnan had hoped to find a way to give them more money, but to his surprise, this guy only wanted a salary.

“Hey, are you seriously stupid or just pretending?” Su Pingnan scratched his head.

“Heh heh.”

“Forget it, I won’t ask you anymore.” Su Pingnan kicked the still-crouching Su Zhendong.

“Grandpa told me to take care of you. He said you inherited all the timidity and meekness of our generation of the Su family — we owe you for that,” Su Pingnan said a little more softly.

Su Pingnan’s expression turned sorrowful. His greatest regret after being reborn was not having seen the old man once.

“Is Uncle Li still in charge of things in the village now?” Su Pingnan asked.

“Yes, Third Uncle Li has gotten powerful — he went to the town to take a government post and enjoys an official’s pay.”

“That’s bullshit. I’m going to look for him. I can’t believe an entire village filled with Su family members let some guy with a different surname run things for decades — what a bunch of fools.”

“Second Brother, don’t beat anyone up, you hear me?”

Su Pingnan landed a heavy kick that made Su Zhendong stagger. “Didn’t I say so the last time? Call me ‘second brother’ again and I’ll kill you!”

……

Su Pingnan stayed in village for three days. Every household brought him small tokens of goodwill.

The village held a meeting and agreed to sign a ten-year contract with Jinxiu Stone for two large stone mountains marked on Changyang County’s map at a price of 8,000 yuan per year.

Su Pingnan also promised that the stone factory and brick factory would give hiring priority to laborers from his village. The people, long hardened by hardship, finally felt like they could see a glimmer of hope.

Even Su Pingnan’s iron-heartedness softened somewhat. He announced that as long as he leased both the quarry and the brick factory, he would pay for the village children’s schooling. He also had Su Wenwen buy a pig and held a banquet that lasted all night.

That night, the village was as lively as a military camp celebrating their victory. Roosters crowed, dogs barked, and everyone wore smiles.

Su Pingnan left, taking more than a dozen men from the village with him. These young men had once been his loyal followers but had stayed behind to support their families. Now that Su Pingnan had the means, he naturally took them along.

In Heisha Town, Su Pingnan went to see his fourth sibling. Su Dingbei wore a cold, defiant expression on a delicate face. “Second Brother, as long as I’ve got enough money, I’ll be fine. I’m Su Dingbei — when grandpa was alive, he said if I had been born a boy I’d be stronger than you.”

Su Pingnan watched the somewhat immature girl in front of him in silence. The old man’s judgment had been sharp — in his previous life, Su Dingbei became Tiannan Province’s top female outlaw, and died on the high seas under mysterious circumstances at the age of 26.