Chapter 25: Granddaughter Fulfilled Her Mission
Old Man Su nearly dropped his pipe—what?!
Su He (Su He) really brought the “Iron Ox” (the tractor) back?
Was he dreaming?
At that moment, everyone inside the house rushed out like a swarm of bees.
Old Man Su took a deep breath to steady himself, took a shaky puff from his pipe, and then walked out with his hands behind his back.
Su He opened the cab door and jumped down.
“Everyone’s here? Did you all hear from my grandpa that I went to borrow a tractor, so you’re here waiting for me?”
People looked a bit awkward—after all, just moments ago, they were forcing Old Man Su to apologize to Zhang Lianxiang’s family.
Just then, Old Man Su arrived at the gate, and everyone moved aside to make a path for him.
Old Man Su had never in his life experienced such treatment—his legs even felt weak, like he was walking on clouds.
Su He smiled brightly, like a blooming flower. “Grandpa, your granddaughter didn’t let you down—I brought the tractor back!”
At that moment, Old Man Su felt like he was the emperor on the golden throne, and his granddaughter was the victorious general returning from battle!
All the resentment and frustration he’d bottled up inside instantly turned into pride and satisfaction.
For a moment, he didn’t know what to say—he just kept repeating, “Good! Good! Good!”
Su He then introduced Master Sun, the tractor driver, to Old Man Su and the village leader, Chen Youde.
Normally, Master Sun wouldn’t bother with rural villagers. But right now, his attitude was surprisingly friendly.
The reason was simple—on the way back, Su He had put her full “social skills” to work and charmed Master Sun thoroughly.
If Master Sun’s son weren’t already married, he might’ve considered taking Su He as a daughter-in-law!
Old Madam Su pinched her own thigh hard and winced in pain—okay, she wasn’t dreaming.
Good heavens! The girl actually brought the Iron Ox back!
Thinking of all the humiliation and pressure they had endured earlier, Old Madam Su stood akimbo and yelled:
“That little tramp Zhang Lianxiang wants me to apologize and give her money? She’s dreaming! So what if they have a few lousy cows? Big deal! We’ve got an Iron Ox! One of ours is worth a hundred of theirs!”
“What’s wrong with our Su family showing off? We’ve got the qualifications! My old man foresaw this and sent Su He to borrow the tractor early on!”
“Our Su He is not only pretty, she’s capable! Barely put in any effort and got the Iron Ox back! There’s no one more impressive in all the nearby villages than my precious granddaughter!”
Saying that, Old Madam Su grabbed Su He’s hand and wouldn’t let go.
“My precious Su He! I knew you’d amount to something! You were gone for just a couple days, and I missed you so much…”
Su He: “…”
Grandma’s love is like a tornado—comes out of nowhere and sweeps you away!
Su Yongguo and Zhao Cui’er were all smiles too, feeling proud beyond words.
Even the commune leaders hadn’t managed to get the tractor—but their daughter did!
She was incredible!
Su He told her father, “Dad, there’s also Master Zhang, who’s taking the minibus over. He should’ve arrived in town by now. I asked him to wait at the State-owned Mall. Can you ride your bike over to pick him up?”
Su Yongguo agreed and rode off.
Before he left, Su He slipped him a meat coupon to buy some pork.
He didn’t ask where it came from, assuming Su He had gotten it from the Shen family.
Su He invited Master Sun inside to rest, while Old Madam Su and Zhao Cui’er busied themselves cooking a meal.
The villagers didn’t leave either—they stayed around the tractor, chatting and laughing.
Every spring, Huangxi Village was always the last to start plowing. Now they could finally hold their heads high!
Master Sun was very accommodating. Without even waiting for Master Zhang to arrive, he started plowing right after lunch.
Plenty of villagers followed along just to watch—the village was as lively as New Year’s!
Even the village elementary school gave students a half-day off to go watch the tractor in the fields. Word was, they were going to write essays about it.
Surrounded by a crowd of elementary school kids, Su Xiaoman was strutting like a boss.
Even the little tuft of hair on her head seemed to radiate kingly energy!
“See that? That’s the Iron Ox my big sister borrowed!”
“I’m Su Xiaoman! That’s my real sister!”
*
Huangxi Village was buzzing like it was New Year’s, but Zhangjia Village was deflated.
They had been expecting Old Man Su to come crawling and apologizing, but instead, they got a shocking piece of news:
Huangxi Village had borrowed a tractor—and was already plowing!
How could this be?!
Even Huaihua Commune couldn’t get a tractor. How could that Su He girl pull it off?
Some people in Zhangjia Village started blaming Zhang Lianxiang and her father.
In previous years, Huangxi Village paid when borrowing oxen—it wasn’t free. They’d offer a little money, and everyone in the village got a share.
Now what? They had a tractor! They wouldn’t be borrowing oxen again!
And all this was because of Zhang Lianxiang!
Why go stir up trouble at the Su family’s house for no reason?!
Even Su Yongzhen was regretting things.
Su He clearly had connections—big ones.
If they hadn’t made a scene, they might have gotten some benefits. But now? No chance of even sucking up!
And it wasn’t just him—back in the county, Su Yongshi and his wife were also beside themselves with regret!
They had just found out that yesterday, Engineer He had taken Su He out to eat, even had the canteen make four special dishes!
When she left, he even personally escorted her to the textile factory gate!
If Su He had said a few good words to him on their behalf, getting their jobs formalized would’ve been easy!
Now the couple was blaming each other. Su Yongshi blamed Cao Hongmei for being petty and not treating Su He better.
Cao Hongmei blamed Su Yongshi for being useless and driving Su He away!
In a fit of anger, Su Yongshi let slip about the bicycle incident—and got clawed all over the face by Cao Hongmei…
*
Meanwhile, Su He was hosting commune leaders at home.
Turns out, Zhang Lianxiang’s father, Zhang Zhanfa, had gone to the commune and filed a complaint.
He implied that what Su He did had embarrassed the leadership.
The leaders couldn’t get a tractor, but she did? Wasn’t that saying a young girl was more capable than the officials?
That was practically a slap in the face!
So when the leaders arrived, they didn’t look pleased.
Old Man Su started to panic. Old Madam Su shrank into a corner like a quail.
Zhang Zhanfa looked at Su He with a sneer—this girl’s causing all the trouble!
The tall tree catches the wind—let’s see how cocky she stays now!
But then… he saw Su He wasn’t flustered at all.
In fact, there was even a hint of joy on her face.
Zhang Zhanfa was dumbfounded—why the hell is this girl so happy?
