Call Me Daddy

“What time is it already? There’s a pile of work waiting in the fields, and the eldest son is still lying in bed sleeping. Do you want to work your father and mother to death, and tire out your brothers, you heartless thing!”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t hear! Do I have to come into your room and drag you out myself? Er Niang, go, go and get your father up for me!”

A sharp and piercing female voice echoed in his ears, causing Su Aobai’s head to ache as if it were exploding. Partly from the woman’s sharp scolding, and partly from the pains of his current physical condition.

He felt as if he were in a furnace, his entire body being roasted by intense flames, his head throbbing as if being relentlessly pounded by a hammer.

Su Aobai tried to move his body, but it felt heavy, like experiencing sleep paralysis. He struggled to open his eyes, managing only to crack them open slightly, vaguely seeing blurry figures.

A small, thin shadow opened the door and entered, slowly walking towards him. Before long, Su Aobai felt something cold touching his forehead.

The sensation was rough, somewhat prickly.

“Grandma, Father’s body is burning hot, he’s delirious!”

Quickly, the cold and rough thing was withdrawn, followed by a faint, urgent voice of a young girl.

Listening to the conversation, the one who had just come in was his daughter. The slightly cool and rough thing he felt was probably this little girl’s hand. But how could a child so young have such rough skin?

And the woman outside who was yelling, she must be the mother of this body he was in. Yet from her sharp and harsh words earlier, there didn’t seem to be much affection between them.

“Burning up?”

Outside, there was a clamor followed by strange cries. Then Su Aobai heard several urgent and heavy footsteps near him. By this time, Su Aobai didn’t even have the strength to keep one eye open.

He faintly heard the last part of the conversation.

“Uh-oh, second son’s fever is pretty bad, he’s delirious. Must have caught a chill while fixing the roof in the rain yesterday. Eldest, hurry and fetch Doctor Li.”

A deep, steady male voice.

“Money’s tight, can’t afford a doctor. With mouths to feed at home, Second Son is strong, he’ll be fine after resting a bit.”

A sharp female voice chimed in again.

“Freezing while fixing a roof, useless fool. Always causing trouble and never helping around the house. Eldest, don’t listen to your Father, go out to the fields. I’ll go gather some herbs later and make a hot soup to give him.”

The woman’s tone was firm.

“Off you go, everyone back to work.”

There was more shoving and the sound of footsteps grew fainter.

“So much work in the fields, and falling ill at such a bad time…”

Muttering voices faded away, and Su Aobai slipped into a deep sleep.

***

After an unknown amount of time, Su Aobai was forcefully awakened by the foul-tasting soup being poured into his mouth.

It was sour, bitter, and astringent, like broth made from foot-binding cloth worn by an old lady for years. The taste was enough to wake the dead. Su Aobai’s first conscious reaction was to push away the person feeding him soup, then he used his fingers to scrape his throat and spit out the medicine that had just been poured down.

But even after almost vomiting up his stomach acid, the taste still lingered in his mouth and nostrils, indescribable in its bitterness.

“You heartless wretch! I kindly brewed medicine for you, and you dare lay hands on this old woman! I should let those in the village who praise your goodness and honesty come see what a disobedient and unfilial beast you are!”

Li Shi was pushed to the ground, the pain in her tailbone causing her already harsh face to twist even more ferociously.

(T/N:  When a name is followed by ‘Shi’, it usually refers to their maternal family’s name. So, Li Shi would mean ‘Woman from the Li family’ who had married into the Su family.)

“Grandma, Father didn’t mean it.”

In the corner stood a small, hunched-over girl, about 6 or 7 years old, skinny and dark, like a matchstick with a big head perched atop. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, barely audible if not listened to closely.

“Enough of your pretending like I owe you all an apology. Whether big or small, both of you have disgraced our family’s fortune. Look at all the herbs I worked so hard to gather, all wasted! Humph, pushing me too. Since you’re awake enough to clear your throat, the illness must be almost gone. Tomorrow, both of you will work in the fields!”

The harsh old woman pushed herself up from the floor, glaring at her stepson still retching incessantly on the kang bed, then glanced at her timid and naturally unlucky second granddaughter. With a shake of her hand, she stormed out in a huff.

(T/N: Kang bed = platform bed which can be heated from below.)

Once the grumbling old lady had left, the room instantly fell silent. Su Erniang’s slender body pressed against the wall, her large eyes, more prominent due to her thinness, staring fixedly at the man on the bed.

“Er Niang, come here…”

Su Aobai wiped his mouth disdainfully with the back of his hand, then beckoned to the little girl.

During his coma, he had already absorbed all the memories of the original owner.

This time, he had arrived in a realm similar to an ancient feudal dynasty, yet it wasn’t present in any of his memories of alternate dynasties.

The woman who had just left was the stepmother of the original owner. The original owner’s family hadn’t yet split, belonging to a relatively prosperous lineage.

The current head of the household was Su Kuishan, the father of the original owner. Su Kuishan had two wives. The first wife, Liu Shi, bore him two sons; the eldest, Su Youtian, and the second, who was the original owner, Su Youniu.

When the original owner was 2 years old, Liu Shi fell seriously ill and passed away not long after. The following year, Su Kuishan remarried under the matchmaking of a matchmaker, marrying Li Lanhua from a neighboring village, who hadn’t married until she was 22 due to mourning her parents. She was the harsh stepmother mentioned earlier.

It was said that with a stepmother comes a stepfather, and this was especially evident in the case of the original owner. The eldest, Su Youtian, fared somewhat better being the firstborn, as in rural families where the eldest son was generally favored. Su Youtian had his biological father and other elders of the Su family to look after him. Moreover, when Li Shi married into the family, Su Youtian was already 5 years old and somewhat understanding, with clear speech. Li Shi didn’t dare mistreat him behind Su Kuishan’s back.

In contrast, the original owner suffered. When his biological mother passed away, he was still young. By the time he was old enough to understand, he thought of Li Shi as his own mother and even admired her deeply at one point.

Moreover, in the second year after Li Shi’s marriage, she became pregnant and quickly gave birth to her own son. With an elder son from Su Kuishan’s first marriage and a younger son from his second wife, the original owner completely faded into the background in this household.

Over the years, Li Shi gradually added two more sons to the family. The third, was Su Youliang, and the fourth, was Su Youwen.

It’s said that when the fourth son was born, a Taoist priest came to their doorstep asking for water. After drinking the water poured by Su Kuishan’s eldest daughter-in-law, the old Taoist smiled and told Su Kuishan that their family would have great fortune and that an exceptional person would emerge in the future, destined for greatness.

Shortly after the Taoist left, they heard Li Shi scream in agony, followed immediately by the cries of a newborn baby.

Su Kuishan immediately recalled the Taoist’s words.

Because of this Taoist’s prediction, Su Youwen became the only child in the family to receive an education.

Originally, Su’s family was relatively well-off, living in a house with seven rooms made of blue bricks and gray tiles. They owned over 20 acres of land and an old yellow ox. Otherwise, Su Kuishan wouldn’t have had a matchmaker knocking on his door immediately after his first wife’s death, proposing another marriage. Though the second wife was somewhat older, she was still considered a good match.

However, due to the expenses of sending the youngest son to school, the family had been living hand-to-mouth for years, usually eating plain meals and only having meat during festivals. Even then, it was reserved for those of higher status in the family.

As for the marginalized original owner, he had never tasted meat in his entire life.

***

The eldest son, Su Youtian, married a woman surnamed Zhang. Su Youtian was astute and secretly courted a girl from the same village where there were many male sons. Because of that, Li Shi didn’t dare to bully the eldest son casually. Moreover, Su Youtian was the favored eldest son of Su Kuishan, so life in the eldest household, although not as privileged as Li Shi’s own sons, was bearable.

Over the years, this couple had several children; the eldest grandson, Su Laibao, the eldest granddaughter, Su Yuanniang, and the second grandson, Su Laijin, all born into the main branch of the family. With these grandchildren occupying prominent positions in the family, the status of the eldest branch in Su Kuishan’s heart became even more secure.

The original owner, on the other hand, was ignored.

He was of a dull temperament and not favored by his biological father. Moreover, from a young age, Li Shi brainwashed him into believing that she had raised him as her own, without giving birth to him but raising him out of kindness. Therefore, if he were disobedient, divine punishment awaited him.

In this household, the original owner was as useful as the old yellow ox, performing the most laborious and tiring tasks, yet he was disregarded by everyone in the family.

When it came time for him to marry, neither his father nor his stepmother made any arrangements for him. In the end, it was his biological mother’s family who couldn’t bear to see him neglected, so they took the initiative to find Su Kuishan and married one of Liu’s girls to the original owner; a cousin marriage, which was considered a closer kinship.

The Liu family didn’t ask for a dowry, and Li Shi happily agreed.

However, when this daughter-in-law really entered the household, Li Shi looked down on her because she was from the Liu family. She felt that the Liu family had ulterior motives, sending a girl back to make her husband remember his late wife.

As a result, among the four daughters-in-law, Xiao Liu Shi became the most bullied.

(T/N: adding ‘Xiao’ before a name that ends with ‘Shi’, is usually for a family with multiple women from the same maternal family.)

Like the original owner, she was assigned various tasks by Li Shi and wasn’t idle even during pregnancy. Finally, while preparing to feed the pigs after burning pig feed, she slipped and fell prematurely at 8 months pregnant. She struggled for 2 days after giving birth to a daughter but eventually passed away due to excessive bleeding.

Li Shi, fearing criticism from outsiders about her harsh treatment as a stepmother, spread rumors that this second granddaughter was born with an inauspicious fate, destined to harm her mother.

This rumor was widely believed, and most children in the village were forbidden by their parents to play with this ‘jinx’ from the second household. Due to the surrounding rejection, Su Erniang developed a timid temperament, much like the original owner, unaware of how to resist and only capable of silently working hard.