Chapter 3: Returning to the Su Family
Su Jing didn’t have any emotional connection with this new younger sister, but he allowed Su Wan to keep holding his hand as they walked.
After leaving the town and reaching the uneven dirt road leading back to the countryside, Su Wan still seemed to be in a good mood; she wasn’t the least bit upset that the hem of her skirt was stained with dust.
Upon reaching a fork in the road, Su Wan didn’t know which way to go. She turned back to look at her eldest brother, Su Jing, her brows slightly furrowed:
“Big Brother, I don’t know the way!” Her tone was like that of a girl acting spoiled, making it impossible for anyone to refuse her.
A trace of a smile appeared on Su Jing’s face. He turned and took Su Wan’s hand, wrapping her small, delicate hand in his own palm. It was so soft that he was afraid he might hurt her if he gripped it too tightly.
The sun was about to set, and they needed to get home as quickly as possible, otherwise, he feared the wolves from the mountains might descend.
He led Su Wan along the path to the left. His hand was large and warm, and his back was straight. That was how he was described in the book—even though life was strapped and cruel, it couldn’t crush his spine. He was the eldest, so it was only natural for him to accommodate his younger brothers and sisters.
In the modern world, Su Wan had no family. Her parents died in an accident when she was very young, and she had lived under her aunt’s roof, dependent on others. Her aunt didn’t like her, and her life before college was miserable. It wasn’t until she went to college and left that oppressive place that she felt she could finally breathe. She started working and studying at the same time; she endured many hardships, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.
The thought that she would have a whole family to care for her in the future—people who shared the same bloodline as her—made her heart feel warm and secure.
Perhaps they didn’t like her yet, but she would try her best to make them see her as part of the family.
By the time it was completely dark, the siblings finally returned to the village. Little sparks of light were ignited throughout the village, looking like tiny stars in the night sky.
After winding through the country paths, they finally arrived at the Su household—a not-so-large courtyard enclosed by a bamboo fence, with a simple thatched cottage containing only three rooms.
The Su family was sitting at the dining table. It was a large table that could seat eight people; since the family was large, this eight-immortal table was the only piece of furniture that looked substantial.
The food on the table had already gone cold, and everyone’s mood didn’t seem very good. When the village dogs began to bark, they knew Su Jing had returned with Su Wan.
“Father, Mother, we are back!” the voice of the eldest son came from the courtyard. Su Father and Su Mother came out to greet them, but the other four brothers didn’t move.
The moment she stepped through the door, Su Wan felt very nervous. She took a deep breath in her heart and then put on an innocent, harmless smile, preparing to meet her new family.
Although she hid it well, Su Jing sensed her hand slightly tightening. He comforted her in a soft voice:
“Don’t be afraid, Father and Mother are very kind!”
In an instant, her eldest brother’s status in her heart soared. Her big brother was truly gentle; this is how a big brother ought to be.
In the darkness, she saw two figures—one tall and one short—appearing against the light. She couldn’t see their faces clearly, but she knew these were her parents from now on.
“Father, Mother!”
She still called out to them obediently. The couple was taken aback; they had been prepared for their new daughter to be cold toward them, but they hadn’t expected her to take the initiative to speak, and she didn’t sound unhappy at all.
“Oh, good, good. Wanwan is back. Mother has already prepared the food. You must be hungry, hurry inside and eat!”
Su Mother was the first to react, coming forward to take Su Wan’s hand. Her palms were covered in calluses and felt very rough.
Because there was no emotional connection yet, the interaction felt quite formal.
Madam Gu felt pained that her biological daughter had been swapped into a poor family and hadn’t lived a good life, so she was eager to compensate. Although she held a grudge, she didn’t feel that the Su family had mistreated her daughter. However, facing such an exquisite and beautiful daughter, Su Father and Su Mother felt a sense of inferiority.
Su Jing let go of Su Wan’s hand. For now, his impression of this new sister was quite good. She hadn’t uttered a single word of complaint the whole way back, she had followed his pace obediently, and she had even declined his offer to carry her on his back.
Su Wan entered the door, with Su Father and Su Jing following behind. Her appearance was now exposed under the lamp. It was a face that looked somewhat similar to theirs; she was very pretty, and she had a pair of small dimples when she smiled.
At a glance, there were four young men sitting around the table—they must be Su Wan’s other four brothers. They were sizing her up, and she was sizing them up as well.
Based on the descriptions in the book and some of the clues her eldest brother had provided on the way home, she tried to distinguish who was who.
She had already met her eldest brother, Su Jing. The book said that the second brother, Su Mu, was the quietest of the five brothers; he had a cold temperament and possessed a pair of iconic fox eyes, making him easy to recognize.
The second brother was a rational man of action who was very driven in his field of interest, but most of the time he had a “poker face.” He was a year and a half younger than the eldest brother and was nineteen this year.
Su Wan identified him almost immediately—the first one on the left was the second brother, Su Mu.
She cautiously called out “Second Brother,” maintaining her pure and harmless demeanor.
Su Mu looked at her with some surprise, clearly not expecting her to be so familiar:
“Hmm, as long as you’re back.” He said, sounding reasonably polite.
Next was the third brother, Su Chen, who was seventeen this year. He was learning skills from a hunter in the village, though no one knew that this hunter was actually a great figure in disguise, harboring secret techniques and having retired to the countryside due to heartache. Su Chen’s talent was spotted by him when he was eight. He was a natural at martial arts, so the hunter had been secretly teaching him. They didn’t let anyone know of their relationship, so Su Chen kept it hidden.
Because he practiced martial arts, he was the healthiest, tallest, and most robust of them all. He inherited the Su family’s good genes, with thick eyebrows and bright eyes, looking full of vigor. He was also easy to recognize, as he was destined to be a famous general whose name would be passed down through the ages.
“Hello, Third Brother!”
Su Chen was indeed very good at martial arts, but he was a bit “thick-skulled”—in other words, simple and honest.
He looked at his new sister in a loss for words, his face flushing red, and he replied quite awkwardly:
“You… you’re doing well too!”
The new sister was truly beautiful. She looked fair, tender, clean, and stood there looking so lovely that it was hard to look away.
Finally, there were only the fourth and fifth brothers left. They were twins, looking 60-70% alike, though they could be distinguished upon closer inspection.
The defining characteristic of the twins was that their personalities were as different as night and day. The fourth brother, Su Yun, had a somewhat impulsive personality and was quite “straight-forward.” Both he and the fifth brother had sunny appearances, but he was like a firecracker that would ignite at the slightest provocation. At this moment, he seemed to be sulking.
“Fourth Brother?” Su Wan said cautiously as she saw his sullen face.
But Su Yun ignored her completely, his expression a mix of sadness and conflict. He was only fifteen, young and reckless, and his age was closest to Gu Yue, with whom he had the best relationship.
Suddenly, the sister he had cherished the most had been replaced by a girl from another family. He couldn’t accept it, and he couldn’t immediately become enthusiastic toward a stranger.
