The Love of Passerby A

Chapter 464: A Survival Guide for Women in the Old Republic of China (3)

Su Xiangran just moved her body slightly, and a very slight sound was made, but even this weak sound immediately alarmed the person guarding the bed.

The bed curtains were suddenly opened, and a middle-aged woman with a happy face walked quickly to the bedside and said excitedly: "My dear little lady! You finally woke up!"

As she spoke, the woman kept wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.

Due to the high fever for several days and not taking any water, Su Xiangran's throat was dry and itchy, her voice was unusually hoarse, and even opening her mouth to speak became very difficult.

Fortunately, the woman seemed to understand the situation and quickly comforted her, "Young lady, you don't have to speak so quickly. You should take a good rest first.

I will ask the servants to cook some bird's nest porridge to moisten your throat."

Upon hearing this, Su Xiangran nodded slightly to show her agreement.

Watching the woman hurriedly leaving, she closed her eyes and silently said in her heart: "Receive the memory quickly..."

Before he could finish his words, a large amount of information about the original owner poured into his mind like a surging tide and continued to flash before his eyes.

It turns out that the owner of this body is the second daughter of the Su family, and the Su family is located in the prosperous and bustling Jincheng.

It is said that the Su family has been engaged in the cloth and silk business for three generations, so they are experienced and have a strong foundation.

As early as the period when the imperial court was in power, the Su family was famous for its exquisite brocade weaving skills and superb embroidery level, and even became a royal merchant specializing in supplying tribute to the royal family!

As a result, the Su family naturally became wealthy and had a prominent social status.

However, with the changes of the times, after entering the period of the Republic of China, the Su family's situation underwent subtle changes.

Although the family's wealth remains substantial, its social status is no longer as high as before.

Faced with such a situation, the best solution the Su family could think of was to consolidate their power through marriage.

So, it was under such circumstances that Su Xiangran's father married her mother, Cao Wanning.

This woman is no ordinary person, she is the half-sister of Cao Ce, the governor of Haicheng.

This marriage undoubtedly brought new hope and opportunities to the Su family.

However, this half sister did not have much interaction with her brother. Even before she got married, the two met very few times.

After this marriage, the relationship between the two families was deepened because the Su family was able to provide financial support to Cao Ce.

Although Cao Wanning was a concubine's daughter, she grew up in a secluded place with her other sisters and received the education that one would receive from a prominent family.

She herself had her feet bound due to traditional customs and wanted her daughter to follow in her footsteps.

Regarding this matter, Su's father did not express his position, but allowed Cao Wanning to do as he pleased.

However, the original owner's brother Su Yanqing, who was ten years older than him, had a different opinion.

He attended a school run by a foreign church. He was open-minded and pursued progress. He could be said to be a truly progressive young man.

Because of this, he strongly opposed his sister's foot binding.

A year ago, when the original owner was five years old, Cao Wanning wanted to bind her feet. At that time, his eldest son Su Yanqing happened to be home for vacation. When he encountered such a thing, he of course strongly opposed it.

The matter just ended there.

Originally, this matter would have passed if no one mentioned it. But the bad thing happened. Some time ago, Cao Wanning's sister came to see her and mentioned her daughter's foot binding. She also heard that the original owner was already six years old and had not yet had her feet bound.

But he found the chance to make fun of Cao Wanning severely.

He even said bluntly that if a girl from a family like theirs did not bind her feet, she would never be able to get married. Even if she could find someone to marry him, it would only be to a small family.

When Cao Wanning heard this, she could no longer bear it. As soon as her sister left, she ordered people to prepare tools to bind the original owner's feet.

In fact, it is not a good season for foot binding, because the hot weather can easily cause the wound to become inflamed, leading to a persistent high fever.

Normally foot binding began in the fall, when the weather was cooler and the wounds were less of a problem in the winter.

However, Cao Wanning was so irritated that he would not listen to any dissuasion and insisted on binding his daughter's feet now, which caused Su Xiangran to have a high fever at the beginning.

The middle-aged woman guarding Su Xiangran's bedside was none other than Cao Wanning's wet nurse, known as Aunt Hong, or Nanny Hong. She was now serving the original owner. Her identity was a bit like that of a nanny, who was specifically responsible for regulating the original owner's behavior.

In fact, Cao Wanning didn't have this kind of temper when she first married into the Su family. It's just that she gave birth to a son as her first child, and her mother-in-law passed away a few years later.

Although Su's father had other women, he always respected her. In addition, as her brother Cao Ce's power grew stronger, her obsessive-compulsive disorder began to take over.

In fact, the change in her temper can be seen from the tempers of her two siblings.

Before she gave birth to a son, Cao Wanning had not yet taken charge of the household and was not valued by her natal family, so she was tolerant in everything and was careful in what she said and did.

He had no power to discipline his son. Su Yanqing could be said to have grown up in the presence of Grandpa Su, so his personality was much stronger.

But the original owner was different. He was only five or six years old, but because his mother became increasingly arrogant and domineering, he was very afraid of his mother and had a weak personality.

Many people secretly said that Miss Su was raised as a concubine and had a petty air.

That's why Cao Wanning was so angry after being ridiculed by her sisters.