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. The reason for their earlier falling-out is not explained in the provided chapters 1 4 40.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 8 40 41 47.
• 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.

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 3 4 18 47.
• 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 1 3 7 40.
• 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 12 31 34 35 47.
• 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 26 49.
• 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 34 40.

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.

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