After transmigrating,The Female Supporting Character Became Darling of The Five

Chapter 8: Making Things Worse?

The father and mother of the Su family were under great pressure to raise their six children, so they both worked outside. Father Su was a coal miner, while Mother Su worked as a cook at the mine. The couple worked in the same place to support their family.

In the early years, to provide for their children's education, the couple worked for a wealthy family in the county. After their daughter was born, they returned to the countryside. During this time, Father Su continuously did hard labor outside. Once a handsome young man, he was toughened by life into a rugged man with dark skin, showing no trace of his youthful handsomeness.

Over the years, as the children studied, frequent illnesses and medical expenses led to considerable debt.

Mother Su, once a great beauty desired by many landlords, chose love over wealth. Now, weathered by life and kitchen work, her hands are calloused, and at only forty, she looks like a woman in her fifties with a face full of wrinkles.

They now pin their hopes on Su Jing, whose academic success, even as a scholar or high-ranking official, could significantly improve the family's life.

This is why the relationship between Su Yun and Gu Yue is the closest. Gu Yue was mostly raised by Su Yun, as her parents went out to find work when she was just a few years old.

Su Yun, who cooks at home, has a natural talent for creating unusual and impressive dishes.

"Father, Mother, don't worry. As the eldest brother, I will take good care of Guan Guan. Third brother, since my second brother and I are in the county town, you're in charge at home. You must treat Guan Guan well!"

Suddenly feeling the weight of responsibility, Su Chen solemnly nodded: "Big brother, I understand!"

Su Jing went out to study, only returning home once or twice a month. Su Mu worked in a medical clinic in the county, returning every seven days and earning two hundred coins a month as an apprentice. This income helped support the family.

At home, the third, fourth, and fifth brothers managed the house and farmland. They had studied from the age of six to fourteen, and though literate and numerate, they had no ambitions for academic exams, as continuing their education would only add to their parents' burden.

After a long silence, Su Yun, with a flushed face, said to Su Guan, "Although you are pitiable, in my heart, Yue Yue is still the most important!" He then proudly entered the kitchen, his tone much softer than before.

Su Yi always smiled, making Su Guan wonder if he would get laugh lines from smiling so much.

"Guan Guan, sister, why do you look at me like that?" he asked, smiling with squinted eyes.

"Of course, it's because fifth brother is good-looking!"

Su Yi, only fifteen years old, still had a childlike appearance, but he was genuinely handsome. Su Guan realized how cunning he was only after reading the original story and sighed that even his squinting eyes were deceptive.

"Guan Guan, little sister, you really have a way with words!"

For breakfast, only Su Guan had white flour buns. There were only four in the basket, which Su Guan divided into eight portions, just enough for one each.

Before they could refuse, Su Guan preemptively said:

"A family should learn to share, everyone should enjoy good food together!"

She, a young lady of a wealthy family, was willing to share sweet potatoes and wild vegetable cakes with them and seemed to enjoy it. Maybe it was a novelty for her after having exotic delicacies all the time, but she might get tired of it after a while.

After the meal, the parents had to go back to work in the mines. The family's yearly grain supply was insufficient, and they mostly had to buy rice, flour, and oil with money. The children grew every year and needed new clothes and shoes. The sons also needed to save money to get married, which was no small burden.

"Guan Guan, your father and I have to go out and won't be back until the end of the month. You should listen to your brothers at home, and when Mom returns, I will buy you something delicious!"

Every time they left, they said this to Gu Yue, and now to Su Guan too. It was a habit they couldn't change.

Su Guan obediently nodded in agreement.

After their parents left, the five brothers had to work in the fields. The harvested rice had to be threshed, dried for a few days, and then hulled.

Each brother took a sickle, and Su Guan certainly couldn't be lazy. Returning home meant working and staying grounded, which would make a deeper impression on her brothers.

"Is there another sickle? I want to go harvest rice with my brothers too!"

Faced with Su Guan's question, the five brothers looked at her simultaneously, hardly believing she was capable of working in the fields.

"Guan Guan, the five of us are enough to harvest the rice. It's too hot, you should just rest at home!" Even Su Jing couldn't believe she could cut rice, as she was not even as tall as the rice plants!

Su Guan didn't know what he thought, and if she did, she would certainly not agree.

Was it so exaggerated? She was still quite taller than the rice plants. In the Su family, there was no precedent for letting the younger sister work in the fields.

"Don't go and add to our troubles. If you go and then keep asking to come back, it will delay our work. And if you get a heatstroke and faint, we don't have spare money at home to get a doctor for you!" Su Yun curled his lips, still somewhat disdainful of Su Guan, feeling she would only be in the way.

"Does Fourth Brother look down on people?"

Su Guan pouted, looking adorably indignant. "It's not that I look down on you. You're the only girl in the family, and we have five brothers. How can we just be decorations? Why should you work in the fields? Even Yue Yue never had to do that!" Su Yun was speaking the truth.

"Guan Guan, my little sister, your skin is delicate. Don't get sunburned or hurt. If our parents come back and find you harmed, they might blame us brothers for not taking good care of you!"

The speaker was Su Yi, leaving Su Guan at a loss for a rebuttal.

In the end, Su Guan was left at home. The September sun was harsh, and working under it could leave one itching and reddened from the wheat sticking to their skin - a very uncomfortable experience.

Since her brothers insisted she shouldn't work in the fields, she decided to cook and clean at home, showing them she wasn't just a delicate young lady.

While walking around the house, she found a large clump of wild licorice, also known as candy grass, in the backyard of the Su family's home. Its root is sweet, and boiling it in water makes a sweet licorice tea. Su Guan immediately took a hoe to dig some up, cleaned the roots, and then boiled them.

The weather was hot, and drinking sweet water after working under the sun could prevent heatstroke. There was a well in the village where everyone fetched water. The book mentioned that Gu Yue always remembered the sweet, cool well water whenever she returned to the countryside.

After boiling the licorice water, she cooled it in the well and then took it to quench her brothers' thirst.

Ten minutes of boiling was enough for the licorice water, which looked like light tea. Although it had a strong taste of grass roots, it was sweet.

She filled a clean water jar, closed the gate of the fenced yard, and went to find the well.

Being unfamiliar with the area, she didn't know which way to go. But she remembered hearing the sound of a spring when she returned with Su Jing the night before, so she took the jar and went right.