chapter 4

Su Qing's family was having dinner, specifically rice and chicken soup, with the doors closed when Chen Jinlian, who is Su Qing's grandmother, entered their home in a hurry. It is unclear why Chen Jinlian entered the house in a hurry.

Chen Jinlian, saw a table packed with rice and chicken soup. However, she did see the family eating chicken soup and accused Su Wei of being unfilial for not sharing the rations, including the chicken soup, with her and her third son.

Su Wei is frustrated with his mother's accusations because he knows that she is the one who always comes to grab rations from his wife and children. He has been enduring her behavior because she is his mother and has raised him, but this time she has gone too far by taking away all the rations meant for his own children, possibly putting them at risk of starvation.

Su Qing observed that her father, Su Wei, was angry because he was being accused by his grandmother of being an unfilial son.

She accuses her son of beating her and being an unfilial son. She also accuses him of taking their family's food and falsely accusing her of doing the same. She threatens to go to the commune to sue him, but she is unable to find anyone to accompany her.

Su Xiu, kneels down and begs his grandmother to find a way for their family to survive.

The people watching outside the courtyard wall feel sympathetic towards the family. Chen Jinlian of favoring her third son and not caring about her other sons.

Su Qing is confronting her grandmother's accusation that her father, Su Wei, is being unfilial by not sharing their family's food with her and her third son. Su Qing is reminding her grandmother that she herself had come to their home and taken all their food two days ago, despite Su Qing's mother begging her to leave some for her to give birth.

Su Qing is also pointing out that her eldest nephew is still hungry at home, indicating that their family is also struggling to survive.

Su Qing's statement revealed the old white woman's hypocrisy and exposed her actions of taking food from their family. The neighbors, who were watching the scene, believed Su Qing's words and realized the truth about the old white woman's behavior.

It was common knowledge that the old white woman always goes to her eldest son's house to take things, and people knew that food was scarce in those times. The old white woman's reaction showed her frustration and inability to face the truth, resulting in her making a threat to Su Qing.

When the argument between the su Qing and the old white woman was getting heated, brigade head Su Jianping and Secretary Su Tao arrived at the scene and and questioned the bystanders about why they were not working in the fields.

They threatened to cut their work points if they didn't immediately go back to work. As a result, everyone quickly dispersed and went back to their work.

Su Jianping asked what was happening. Chen Jinlian quickly responded, claiming that her son was not filial and refused to give her any ration. Su Qing then spoke up and explained the situation to Su Jianping, telling him how her grandmother had been stealing food from their family and accusing Su Wei of being unfilial.

Su Wei spoke to Su Jianping and expressed his desire to cut ties with his own father and mother (Su Qing's grandparents), which shocked Su Qing. She had assumed that she was trying to push his father to cut ties with the grandparents, but she did not expect that Su Wei himself would suggest it.

It appears that Su Wei is willing to sever ties with his own parents in order to avoid further conflicts and protect his own family's interests.

When Chen Jinlian heard that Su Wei wanted to cut ties with the family, she sat on the ground and started howling loudly, claiming that his son was being unfilial.

Su Jianping asked Su Wei if he was certain about cutting ties with his family, as it was not a small issue. Su Wei confirmed that he really wanted to cut ties. However, at that moment, su Wei third brother Su Xiangnan arrived and accused Su Wei of being cruel for wanting to cut ties with their mother.

Su Qing is suggesting to her father to offer double the filial payment to her uncle in exchange for cutting ties with Chen Jinlian, the grandmother. The idea behind this is that Su Xiangnan, the third brother, may be motivated by greed for money and would agree to the proposal.

When Su Xiangnan heard that the filial payment would be doubled, he immediately went to his mother and told her that her eldest brother was getting 6 yuan and 20 catties of grain every month. Chen Jinlian listened to her third son's words and agreed to cut ties with her eldest son, Su Wei.

When Su Jianping learned that Chen Jinlian had agreed to cut ties with Su Wei, he sighed and proceeded to write a document to formalize the separation. One copy of the document was given to Su Wei, another was given to Chen Jinlian, and the third copy was kept by the secretary as proof of the agreement.