Back to the 1970s: Building My Fortune Through Time Trading

Chapter 186: Beating Means Caring, Scolding Means Love

Su Xiaoxiao didn’t have time to think about anything else. To save Old Five’s dog paws, she directly kicked him away.

With a dull "thud," Su Jianwu was kicked out of the threshold, landing in the yard and raising clouds of yellow dust.

The air was momentarily stagnant.

Once Su Jianwu realized what happened, he spat out the dust from his mouth and crawled up with a resentful expression: "Third sister, why did you suddenly kick me?"

His butt hadn’t fully healed, and now he had new injuries, truly injury upon injury.

Su Xiaoxiao was fierce: "If I hadn’t kicked you, your dog paws would have been shredded by the washing machine!"

"Do you know how dangerous this thing is when it’s working? And you just stuck your paws in there?"

"Do you think your paws are made of stainless steel or diamond?"

Su Jianwu, thoroughly reprimanded by her, felt his anger turn into gratitude—if not for her, he hadn’t realized how powerful that washing machine could be.

However, before he could fully appreciate her gesture, Su Jianwen quietly said, "Third sister, couldn’t you just warn him directly? Why did you have to kick him?"

Ah, this.

Su Jianwu’s sense of gratitude froze midway.

Yeah, Third Sister could have just told him, why did she kick him so hard?

Maybe he’s no longer her favorite fifth brother?

He looked at Su Xiaoxiao with a resentful tone: "Third Sister, am I still your most dear younger brother?"

Su Xiaoxiao’s conscience tingled for a second: "Of course, as the saying goes, hitting is love, scolding is affection. It’s because I care and love you that I kicked you."

Su Jianwu: "..."

The reasoning actually makes sense, leaving him speechless.

Dammit, he actually questioned the sister who loves him the most earlier. It must be because of that, which is why sister kicked him—yeah, it must be that.

Su Jianwen started to speak again, but Su Xiaoxiao quickly grabbed his mouth: "Shut up!"

Old Five might be slow-witted, but Old Four is a smart cookie; he absolutely mustn’t open his mouth again.

Actually, she hadn’t really intended to kick Old Five just now; her body had just spontaneously reacted before she could think.

With his mouth covered, Su Jianwen mumbled, "Hubububu."

Su Xiaoxiao: "Deal, now zip it."

Su Jianwu, foolishly holding his waist, came over: "Third Sister, Fourth Brother, what are you two whispering about?"

"None of your business, have you finished your homework?"

With those words, Su Jianwen remained cool as a cucumber, while Su Jianwu visibly panicked, reaching out to cover Su Xiaoxiao’s mouth.

He originally wasn’t much shorter than Su Xiaoxiao but had just hurt his waist, so he couldn’t quite reach her.

Seeing his constipated expression, Su Xiaoxiao understood: "You haven’t finished, have you? Don’t worry, I won’t tell mom."

"Thank you very much!"

Su Jianwu gritted his teeth, uttering each word.

As he spoke, behind him came a chilling female voice: "Oh really, all this time, and you’ve done nothing?"

Su Xiaoxiao turned around and saw their mother, Liu Cuilan, furiously coming over with a feather duster, quickly setting upon Su Jianwu.

After a bout of wailing, Su Jianwu, looking utterly defeated, got tossed into the room by Liu Cuilan: "Hurry up and finish it, no sleep until it’s done."

After tossing him in, the washing machine happened to stop.

Su Xiaoxiao swiftly took out the clothes, threw them into the spinner, and turned on the button.

The "buzzing" sound vibrated throughout the room, leaving Liu Cuilan a bit puzzled: "What’s this thing doing?"

Su Xiaoxiao: "Mom, this is spinning, wait till the clothes come out, they’ll be half dry."

"That’s amazing?"

Impressed, Liu Cuilan exclaimed, as the weather was getting colder lately, making clothes dry slower; if they had this washing machine, clothes wouldn’t remain damp anymore.

At this moment, the spinning stopped, and Su Xiaoxiao swiftly opened the lid and took out the clothes.

The freshly washed clothes were not only clean but also carried a slight floral fragrance.

Liu Cuilan touched them, finding that Third Sister hadn’t lied; the clothes were indeed almost dry.

She displayed a "metro grandfather looking at a phone" expression: "This washing machine is so incredible, putting things in and taking them out not only cleans them but dries them nearly completely."

With a "dong," the wall clock chimed, and as Liu Cuilan looked up, she realized it was already eight in the evening.

Noticing the room was brightly lit, she changed expressions instantly: "Oh no, it’s this late! Hurry up and turn off the lights, how much electricity does that cost!"

Her heart almost bled with pain as she immediately chased everyone back to their rooms.

In his room, Su Jianwu was bent over, scribbling away at his homework, when suddenly the lights went out with a "snap."

He was puzzled for a moment: "Mom, did our house have a power outage?"

Su Jianwen brought in a candle; the flickering fire cast shadows on his face, making him look rather eerie.

Su Jianwu nearly jumped up in shock, shouting: "Ghost... ghost..."

"Ghost your face."

Su Jianwen smacked him, placing the candle on the table, "No power outage, mom just turned off the breaker because of the electricity bill, keep writing. She says even the candles need to be saved."

Su Jianwu: "..."

As the two stared at each other, the door suddenly cracked open a bit, and a beam of light illuminated the room. Following it, they saw a pale face with disheveled hair.

Two shrieks echoed through the room.

"Ahhh... ghost... ghost..."

Su Xiaoxiao placed a small electric pot on the table: "Stop yelling, if mom hears, you won’t get to eat."

As soon as food was mentioned, Su Jianwu manually shut himself up, covering his mouth tightly.

Su Jianwen’s mouth twitched, muttering quietly: "Who uses a flashlight on their face, almost scared to death."

"Old Four, what did you say?"

Su Xiaoxiao shot him a look.

Su Jianwen promptly buttered her up: "I was saying how lucky we are to have such a beautiful, smart, and kind-hearted sister."

"That’s more like it, good sycophancy, your sister is very pleased."

Su Xiaoxiao said, handing him the small pot: "Here, as promised, the marinated egg is a friendly gift from your dear sister."

After speaking, she turned to leave, stopping after a few steps: "Remember to clean that pot before returning it."

Su Jianwu smelled the familiar aroma, his mouth watering, as he blinked his innocent big eyes at Su Jianwen: "Fourth Brother, my dear handsome Fourth Brother, can I have a taste?"

...

The next morning, Su Xiaoxiao, as usual, overslept, mechanically picking up the broken alarm clock, getting dressed, and biting into a bun before riding her bike at full speed.

When she reached the department store entrance, ready for a slick maneuver, a silhouette suddenly darted out beside her.