Li Suhua

Biodata

Background / History

Li Suhua raised her adopted son, Pu Zhiming, by scrimping and saving. By the time Pu Yu seeks her out, they have long been estranged: Pu Zhiming dismisses her as an old woman unrelated to his family, while Li Suhua avoids mentioning his name to her neighbors 1 4 40.

Their estrangement stems from Li Suhua’s refusal to let Pu Zhiming reunite with his biological parents. They sought him out because their younger son was seriously ill and needed a matching family donor; their intention was to keep Pu Zhiming as a backup donor rather than welcome him out of affection. Having raised him from infancy, Li Suhua stopped them and even confined him at home to prevent contact. Pu Zhiming believed she had obstructed his chance at a wealthy life because she wanted the money his biological parents offered for raising him. She kept the truth from him out of pity, enduring his resentment for decades 147 164.

Despite having little enough to eat herself, Li Suhua provided Pu Zhiming with food, paid for his schooling, and helped him obtain factory work. By the time she learns that he has terminal cancer, she no longer wishes to see him or forgive him 163.

She remained fond of Pu Yu’s mother, Lin Qian. When Lin Qian married into the family, Li Suhua offered her sewing machine as a betrothal gift, but Lin Qian refused because it provided Li Suhua with a livelihood. Despite declaring that she wanted nothing more to do with the family, Li Suhua made little clothes for Pu Yu embroidered with “safe and sound.” Before her death, Lin Qian told Pu Yu to seek shelter with Li Suhua if she ever had nowhere else to go 3 8.

Appearance

Li Suhua is a small, thin elderly woman with graying hair and a slightly stooped back 3.

• Eyes and hands: Clouded eyes and rough fingers, described when she examines Pu Yu’s counterfeit money 7.
• Voice: Slightly raspy; often sharp or impatient in conversation 2 3.
• Hearing: Hard of hearing; Yuan Su explains that visitors must knock loudly 2.
• Physical ailments: Long-standing rheumatism in her legs and an aching lower back, though she continues sewing and harvesting persimmons 26 40.
• Spinal condition and recovery: Her back pain worsens until she collapses at school. She requires spinal surgery, with screws implanted in her lower back and at least four weeks of bed rest afterward. Her recovery progresses well, although she is instructed not to stand for long periods or lift heavy objects; her back has improved considerably by Pu Yu’s later summer holiday 62 67 68 71 76 84 91.

Personality

Li Suhua’s habitual frown and cutting remarks conceal considerable affection. She often disguises generosity as a transaction, telling Pu Yu that money for tuition and school supplies must eventually be repaid with interest. Pu Yu recognizes that her grandmother would never have the heart to collect it 8 18.

Her temper can make her misread distress. When Pu Yu asks to return to the city, Li Suhua initially assumes that she looks down on her home and the town school. Once she learns about the counterfeit money, her anger turns toward Pu Zhiming, and she firmly prevents Pu Yu from returning to a household where she fears the girl could be forced into marriage 7.

She is frugal without being indifferent to others’ happiness. Although she complains that Pu Yu’s birthday cake is wasteful, she eats some and secretly slips twenty yuan into Xu Suiran’s schoolbag rather than let a friend bear the expense of her granddaughter’s celebration 49.

Her generosity extends beyond her granddaughter. When Lu Zhen’s treatment is threatened by a lack of money, she lends Yuan Su savings intended for Pu Yu’s college tuition. She insists that a life matters more than money and warns him against loan sharks, selling blood, or sacrificing his future. As with Pu Yu, she disguises her help as a debt, jokingly demanding a big house, a Butterfly sewing machine, and daily braised pork as repayment 56.

She rejects the idea that children should be condemned for their parents’ wrongdoing. At a parent meeting, she openly challenges adults who blame Yuan Su for his father’s actions, denouncing compulsory repayment of a father’s debts as outdated thinking and crediting Yuan Su’s tutoring for Pu Yu’s academic improvement 67.

Her determination not to burden Pu Yu can become self-destructive. Faced with expensive surgery, she attempts to sever their relationship and send Pu Yu away rather than consume the money needed for the girl’s education. Pu Yu’s pleas and Yuan Su’s intervention finally persuade her to accept further medical assessment 68 69.

Although sharp-tongued, she can offer gentle, practical consolation. After Yuan Su disappears, she urges Pu Yu to keep living rather than stop moving forward because someone has left. She later accepts that Pu Yu still loves him, advising her to remember him without neglecting food, sleep, or her own well-being 81 82 91.

She is strongly attached to familiar possessions and routines. She refuses to move without the old sewing machine that supported her household, and, upon arriving at the Dongzhou villa, immediately begins planning a vegetable garden in its yard 164 165.

Abilities & Skills

Sewing and Needlework

• Earns money through sewing, clothes-mending, and orders such as embroidered pillowcases 8 18 40.
• Accumulates more than a thousand yuan in savings from years of sewing work 8.
• Can continue stitching by hand when her machine breaks, but cannot complete a large order that way within the required time 40 47.

Cooking and Household Care

• Prepares everyday meals including porridge, flatbreads, noodle soup, and pickled vegetables 11 13.
• Makes sweet glutinous rice dumplings for the Start of Winter 37.
• Marks Pu Yu’s birthday with longevity noodles, two fried eggs, scallions, and a little usually precious sesame oil 48.
• Brings porridge and buns to Yuan Su after his father takes the household’s money 56.
• Tends Pu Yu during her fever after Yuan Su’s departure, staying beside her with a damp towel and later preparing soft millet porridge 80 81.
• Brings Pu Yu brown sugar ginger tea and urges her to rest when she continues writing while recovering from her shoulder injury 148.

Practical Experience

• Recognizes counterfeit hundred-yuan bills by touch, drawing on a lifetime of handiwork and handling money 7.
• Helps Pu Yu learn the route to school by choosing the wider main road and pointing out landmarks rather than using winding local shortcuts 8.
• Provides household care for Yuan Su after the storm, including hot ginger soup and breakfast. When he develops a fever, she checks on him and tells Pu Yu to fetch her if it does not break or anything seems wrong 31 32 34 35.
• Sees through the attempted concealment of Pu Yu’s shoulder injury, waits until her visitors leave, and insists on examining the bandage herself 146.
• Plans the Dongzhou villa’s vegetable garden with rows of scallions, a cucumber trellis, tomatoes along the wall, and fertilizer to improve the soil 165.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Old treadle sewing machine — Her principal means of earning a living. Its discontinued model makes replacement parts difficult to obtain; Yuan Su eventually restores it with a brass gear found in Nanhua City. When preparing to move to Dongzhou, she refuses a replacement and insists that Yuan Su arrange to transport the original machine, explaining that it supported her, Pu Yu, and him 8 40 41 47 164.
• Secondhand desk lamp — Acquired from a scrap dealer in exchange for cardboard boxes and empty cans. Pu Yu uses it to study, and Li Suhua directs her to Yuan Su when it fails 11.
• Insulated lunchbox — Used to send hot glutinous rice dumplings to Yuan Su on the Start of Winter 37.
• Deep purple padded jacket — A gift from Pu Yu, made in a Chinese style with dark red cloud-pattern embroidery at the collar and cuffs 65.
• House deed and funeral savings — Before surgery, she offers Pu Yu the deed to her town house and a bankbook containing a few hundred yuan saved for her funeral. She intends them as security if she dies, instructing Pu Yu not to sell the house unless absolutely necessary; Pu Yu puts the deed back 75.
• Phone — Bought for her by Pu Yu so they can remain in contact after Pu Yu leaves for university 84.

Relationships

• Pu Yu — Granddaughter through adoption and a member of her household. Li Suhua provides shelter and supports her schooling; Pu Yu helps with housework and sewing, promises to care for her after finding work, and begins writing for publication to ease her financial burden. During Li Suhua’s medical crisis, Pu Yu insists that she is family rather than a burden and takes leave from school to care for her. Li Suhua later comforts her through Yuan Su’s disappearance, supports her departure for university, and eventually moves to Dongzhou to be closer to her 3 4 18 47 69 76 80 81 84 163 165.
• Pu Zhiming — Estranged adopted son. Li Suhua condemns both his attempt to marry Pu Yu off for a bride price and his deception with counterfeit money. Their estrangement arose from her attempt to protect him from biological parents who wanted him as a backup donor. He refuses to help fund her surgery, continuing to blame her for separating him from them. In the extras, she visits him while he is terminally ill but does not reconcile with him 1 3 7 40 71 147 164.
• Lin Qian — Late daughter-in-law. Li Suhua remembers her refusal to take away the sewing machine and explicitly credits her when helping Pu Yu financially 3 8.
• Yuan Su — Neighbor whom she remembers as a cheerful child before his family’s troubles. She describes him as cold outside but warm inside, cares for him after he repairs her roof, and later welcomes him to lunch after he fixes her sewing machine. She lends him money for Lu Zhen’s care, defends him at school, and receives his help when she collapses and needs surgery. He later persuades her to move to Dongzhou and arranges to bring her sewing machine 12 31 34 35 47 56 67 68 69 163 164 165.
• Xu Suiran / Suisui — Pu Yu’s friend. Li Suhua asks Pu Yu to share persimmons with her and quietly contributes toward the birthday cake she brings. Even while resisting the move to Dongzhou, she asks Yuan Su to take good persimmons to Xu Suiran because she enjoys them 26 49 163.
• Lu Zhen — Neighbor and Yuan Su’s mother. Li Suhua knows her household habits, and Lu Zhen remembers Grandma Li while recalling their former neighbors. Li Suhua lends money to prevent her medical treatment from stopping. On arriving at the Dongzhou villa, she immediately asks whether Lu Zhen has moved in and is reassured to learn that she is doing well and has made a friend at her care facility 34 40 56 165.
• Song Jinnian — Helps Xu Suiran bring the injured Pu Yu home and supports their false account of a hiking accident. Li Suhua serves the visitors a large meal before privately questioning Pu Yu about the injury 146.
• Aunt Wang — Neighbor who offers to visit Li Suhua after Pu Yu leaves for university. Li Suhua later diverts her intrusive questions about Pu Yu’s romantic life by reminding her about food cooking on her stove 84 90.
• Pu Zhiming’s biological parents — Li Suhua prevents them from reclaiming Pu Zhiming for use as a backup donor for their younger son. Her distrust extends to warning Pu Yu never to accompany anyone claiming to be her biological grandparents 75 147.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Taking Pu Yu In

After Yuan Su helps Pu Yu reach the correct door, Li Suhua lets her inside and serves noodles. Learning about the proposed marriage and reading Lin Qian’s letter, she agrees to help Pu Yu continue studying. The following morning, she accompanies her to Tingnan Middle School and bluntly explains the family circumstances to Cheng Siyi, who processes the transfer 2 3 4.

When Pu Yu discovers that the two thousand yuan supplied by her father is counterfeit, Li Suhua stops her from returning to confront him. She instead gives her more than a thousand yuan of her own savings for tuition and living expenses 7 8.

Household Life and the Storm

Li Suhua gives Pu Yu fifty yuan for a National Day trip, specifically allowing for school necessities. Later, she harvests the best persimmons for market and asks Pu Yu to share fruit with her classmates 18 26.

A violent nighttime storm damages the old house’s roof and nearly causes Li Suhua to fall. Yuan Su secures a tarpaulin over the leaks; afterward, Li Suhua insists that he drink ginger soup. She and Pu Yu spend nearly two hours clearing the water, and she subsequently helps care for Yuan Su when he falls ill 30 31 32 34 35.

Saving the Sewing Machine

A broken gear threatens Li Suhua’s end-of-month pillowcase order. She initially intends to travel to the city herself, but agrees to let Yuan Su and Pu Yu go together over the weekend, supplying money for Pu Yu’s fare and meals 40 41.

Their delayed return leaves her anxious and sewing by hand. Yuan Su installs the replacement gear, restoring the machine; Li Suhua immediately resumes work to recover the lost time. Watching her grandmother work extra hours motivates Pu Yu to seek paid writing opportunities 47.

Pu Yu’s Eighteenth Birthday

On December 31, Li Suhua prepares longevity noodles while pretending that she is merely using eggs before they spoil. That evening, she joins Pu Yu and Xu Suiran for cake and secretly contributes twenty yuan toward it—a substantial expense by her standards 48 49.

Helping Yuan Su Through a Financial Crisis

After Yuan Su’s father takes all the money intended for Lu Zhen’s medical care, Pu Yu tells Li Suhua what has happened. Li Suhua unwraps savings consisting of recent pillowcase earnings and money saved on daily expenses, originally intended as the first installment of Pu Yu’s college tuition. She brings Yuan Su porridge and buns and insists that he accept more than a thousand yuan as a loan 56.

She warns him not to seek money through loan sharks, selling blood, or anything that could ruin his future. To make the assistance easier to accept, she declares that both he and Pu Yu must eventually repay her through a comfortable home, a new sewing machine, and good food 56.

Before the New Year, Yuan Su brings eight hundred yuan as partial repayment. Li Suhua initially tells him to keep it for himself and his mother, but accepts when he insists. During the same visit, he notices her severe back pain and takes over carrying the pot of paste used for the New Year couplets 62.

Collapse, Surgery, and Recovery

At Pu Yu’s parent meeting, Li Suhua takes pride in her granddaughter’s results while concealing her delight. When other parents insult Yuan Su and blame him for his family’s troubles, she defends him, praising his academic ability and his help with Pu Yu’s studies. Xu Suiran’s mother supports her. Yuan Su overhears the exchange from the corridor 67.

Li Suhua hides worsening back pain throughout the meeting, but collapses outside the classroom building afterward. Yuan Su carries her to the town hospital. The initial estimate for surgery, hospitalization, and rehabilitation is at least ten to twenty thousand yuan, and the town hospital cannot perform the operation 67 68.

Unwilling to jeopardize Pu Yu’s education, Li Suhua claims that they are not family and orders her to return to her parents. Pu Yu kneels by her bed and refuses to leave. Yuan Su reminds Li Suhua that sending her away could expose her to homelessness or forced marriage, then offers money for the county hospital tests and initial stay. Li Suhua finally agrees to await the results and an estimate 68 69.

At the county hospital, the doctor confirms that her severe spinal condition requires surgery and at least ten thousand yuan upfront. Pu Zhiming refuses Pu Yu’s appeal for help. Yuan Su eventually provides the surgery money, although Pu Yu tells Li Suhua that she borrowed it from a wealthy former classmate 71 75.

Before the operation, Li Suhua offers Pu Yu her house deed and funeral savings, worried about leaving her without protection. She asks Yuan Su to care for Pu Yu if she dies; he declines, saying that Li Suhua herself can look after her best. She also makes Pu Yu promise not to trust anyone claiming to be her biological grandparents 75.

The surgery succeeds, but Li Suhua requires screws in her lower back, at least four weeks of bed rest, and assistance with basic activities. Pu Yu takes extended leave from school to care for her while continuing to write and study at night, and Yuan Su visits with meals and help whenever he can. As her condition improves, Li Suhua firmly sends Pu Yu back to sit her mock exams 76.

She later returns home to recover. Cheng Siyi permits Pu Yu to leave school as needed to look after her, allowing her to balance caregiving with preparation for the college entrance examination 77.

Supporting Pu Yu After Yuan Su’s Departure

When Yuan Su vanishes, Li Suhua comforts the distraught Pu Yu and stays beside her during the fever that follows. Afterward, she urges her granddaughter to recover and continue forward, acknowledging that neither she nor anyone else can remain beside another person forever 80 81.

When Pu Yu grieves over the unfairness of Yuan Su’s life and lost opportunities, Li Suhua encourages her to live out the future he gave up, both for him and for herself 82.

On the night before Pu Yu leaves for Dongzhou, Li Suhua repeatedly checks her luggage, packs medicine and household necessities, and presses a little over three hundred yuan into her hand. Pu Yu leaves the money behind after she falls asleep. The next morning, Li Suhua insists on accompanying her to the bus station 84.

During Pu Yu’s holidays at home, Li Suhua protects her from unwanted matchmaking questions and accepts her continuing feelings for Yuan Su. Rather than demand that she forget him, she tells Pu Yu to keep him in her thoughts while continuing to eat, sleep, and care for herself 90 91.

Revealing the Family Estrangement

After Pu Yu finds Yuan Su again, Li Suhua is delighted but worries about his life far away. Unaware of the debt crisis trapping him, she offers to send clothing and other necessities if he and Lu Zhen need them 131.

When Xu Suiran and Song Jinnian bring Pu Yu home with a bandaged shoulder, Li Suhua does not openly challenge their story of a hiking accident. Once they leave, she insists on examining the wound and asks whether Pu Yu’s biological grandparents forced her into donor matching 146.

Pu Yu’s confusion leads Li Suhua to reveal the truth about Pu Zhiming’s biological parents and their intention to use him as a backup donor. Pu Yu realizes that her grandmother’s protective intervention caused the estrangement for which her father still blames her. After learning that Yuan Hongzheng actually caused Pu Yu’s injury during his arrest, Li Suhua expresses concern for Yuan Su rather than blaming him 147.

Moving to Dongzhou

Li Suhua initially refuses Pu Yu’s requests to move to Dongzhou, eventually switching off her phone to end the argument. Yuan Su travels to Whitebank Town to persuade her, first helping her pick persimmons and then explaining how remaining apart will keep Pu Yu worried and traveling between the two places 163.

He also tells her that Pu Zhiming has terminal cancer and could seek help from her or harass Pu Yu. Recognizing the risk, Li Suhua angrily agrees to leave. While packing, she makes transporting the old sewing machine a condition of her move, rejecting Yuan Su’s offer to buy a new one 163 164.

Before departing, Li Suhua visits Pu Zhiming in hospital with Yuan Su. Pu Zhiming begs her to save him and promises to become a good son, but she confronts his lifelong resentment and leaves without reconciling. Afterward, she feels relieved and asks Yuan Su to protect Pu Yu’s interest in the house, insisting that she must not lose a single cent 164 165.

She overcomes her initial resistance to flying and travels to Dongzhou, humorously calling the plane a “big iron bird.” At the lakeside villa, she checks on Lu Zhen’s circumstances and is reassured that the care facility is benefiting her. Seeing the sunny yard prepared for her, she begins planning rows of vegetables 163 165.

Notable Quotes

“If the sky falls, someone taller will hold it up. What does a little girl like you need to worry about?” 7

“What are you thanking me for? Thank your mother.” 8

“If it weren’t for him, who knows how badly this house would be leaking? We ought to be grateful.” 35

“Money’s just money. A life matters more.” 56

“His father is his father, and he is himself!” 67

“You can’t stop where you are and refuse to move forward just because someone leaves.” 81

“He’s a good boy. He’s just had a hard life. But people who’ve had hard lives need someone to keep them in their thoughts all the more.” 91

“This big thing kept me fed, kept Little Rain fed, and kept you fed too. It has to come with me.” 164

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