Xia Wan dragged her tired body home. As soon as she entered the house, she saw a depressing atmosphere permeating the room.

Xia Jianjun sat with his legs crossed in the chair, looking at Xia Jianguo with disdain, muttering, "Can't even come up with a thousand yuan, what are you pretending to be tough for?"

Xia Wan frowned and looked at her father, Xia Jianguo. He was clenching his fists, and veins were bulging on his forehead. He was clearly trying his best to suppress his anger.

"Xia Jianjun, don't go too far! Why should we give you a thousand yuan?" Xia Jianguo slammed his fist on the table and shouted.

Xia Jianjun curled his lip and snorted, "What? These are the conditions our father agreed to for severing ties. He raised us all these years, shouldn't he ask for some retirement money? If you don't give it to him, don't even think about holding your head up in the village anymore."

"This is extortion!" Xia Jianguo glared angrily.

Captain Wu Guohua and accountant Wu Sangui sat to the side, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Wu Guohua coughed lightly and advised, "Sit down and talk it over properly. Severing ties is no small matter. If we settle the money issue, we can go our separate ways in the future. However, a thousand yuan is indeed too much."

Xia Wan glanced at everyone present, put down the bag in her hand, and then said, "You're saying you want money to sever ties because Old Man Xia and Old Lady Xia supported my father? My father and brother's wages to the family must have been more than a thousand, right? You're calculating so clearly, shouldn't you give some back?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Jianjun was about to object when Xia Wan quickly added, "If you don't agree, then let's not talk about this anymore. At worst, we can move back to the Xia family home without severing ties."

Xia Jianjun heard her say that they could move back, but how could that be possible?

They're going to Beijing to live a good life, they can't drag this family down with them!

Xia Jianjun gritted his teeth and shouted, "Then... then it's five hundred, otherwise don't even think about severing ties!"

His father also said he wanted 500 yuan to sign some kind of severance agreement with them, but he wanted to see if he could ask for more, so he doubled the amount!

Xia Wan glanced at her father, and seeing that he looked like he was about to refuse, she quickly said, "Okay, then it's five hundred. I just borrowed some money from someone when I went into town today!"

The amount of money isn't the issue; even if they get it, they might not be able to spend it. The most important thing now is to sever ties. The red armbands might arrive first thing tomorrow morning, and they absolutely cannot be dragged down by that family!

After reaching an agreement, Wu Guohua produced a pre-prepared letter severing ties, which both parties signed and sealed.

Xia Wan glanced at the signature on it, and only felt relieved after confirming that Old Man Xia's signature and fingerprint were both there.

Both sides got a satisfactory result, and this farce has come to a temporary end.

After everyone left, Xia Jianguo looked at his daughter and frowned, saying, "Why did you actually give them money? Since they've already decided to go to Beijing, I believe they would be willing to sever ties even without money."

This is his daughter's hard-earned money; he feels like he's losing out if he gives it to those people!

"Even if we give it to them, they might not be able to spend it. I'll go to the Xia family tonight and get the money back! I submitted a report today, and I believe that after tomorrow, Old Man Xia and his gang won't be around in Huaihua Brigade!"

After hearing his words, Xia Jianguo felt a little better. Since his family hadn't suffered any losses, he didn't want to say anything more.

After dinner, Xia Wan did not go back to her room to rest.

She kept thinking about what happened during the day, especially the greedy faces of the Xia family, which made her furious.

She quietly slipped out of the house and headed towards the Xia family's residence. The moonlight, like water, spilled onto the country road, but it couldn't illuminate the gloom in Xia Wan's heart.

When Xia Wan arrived at the Xia family home, she found the lights still on and could faintly hear arguing. She leaned closer to the window and heard the Xia family discussing their trip to Beijing.

“Jianlin hasn’t sent any news yet. We can’t just go there like this. What if things aren’t handled properly?” Old Mrs. Xia said disapprovingly.

Xia Jianjun retorted, "Didn't my dad say that killing Xia Jianguo would allow us to go to Beijing? That means my third brother has made arrangements. Even if things aren't arranged by my third brother after we get there, we can still check it out and come back."

Li Cao grabbed Old Lady Xia's arm and said, "Mother, you and Father haven't seen Third Brother for so many years. Don't you miss him? Can you rest easy if you don't see him?"

Her words struck a chord with Old Mrs. Xia, who hesitated before looking at Old Mr. Xia: "Old man, what do you think?"

Old Man Xia seemed to be considering it for a while before finally speaking: "Then let's go. We have money and we won't bother Jianlin. We'll go to the brigade leader tomorrow to get a letter of introduction!"

Seeing that he agreed, everyone in the Xia family's house smiled, and Xia Jianjun was so excited that he almost jumped up!

Xia Wan, standing outside, curled her lips into a mocking smile, thinking to herself, "Want to go to Beijing? You'd be better off in a labor camp!"

She carefully went around to the back of the house and took out the "gift" she had prepared from her pocket.

This is crucial to tomorrow's big show. It's just a pity that Qiao Qiao no longer lives at the Xia family's house, otherwise she might have been able to bring along an unlucky guy!

Xia Wan tiptoed into the house through the window and placed the things in the bedroom of Old Man Xia and Old Woman Xia.

I also rummaged through the cupboards and put the five hundred yuan I had just given away back into my storage space!

Because she was terrified of being discovered by the people in the next room, she made every movement as soft as possible, like a cautious cat, afraid of making the slightest sound.

However, just as she was concentrating on keeping quiet, a soft but clearly audible footstep suddenly came from the doorway. In an instant, Xia Wan's heart leaped into her throat, and her body trembled uncontrollably. Without thinking, she rushed to the window as fast as she could and nimbly flipped out.

Just then, Xia Jianjun was carrying Old Man Xia slowly into the house. When they saw the open window, they were both taken aback. Xia Jianjun frowned in confusion and muttered to himself in a low voice, "Why is the window open? The wind isn't even that strong today!" Old Man Xia casually replied, "We'll find some time tomorrow to fix this window properly. Otherwise, if it stays open like this on winter nights, people will freeze to death."

Hearing this, Xia Jianjun laughed nonchalantly, "Hey Dad, don't worry! We're going to Beijing to live a good life in the next couple of days, who cares about this old, run-down house? Why bother repairing it?" With that, he reached out and closed the window.

Xia Wan, who had already fled far away, could no longer hear the father and son talking as the distance gradually increased.

She breathed a slight sigh of relief, thinking to herself: It seems these two people didn't suspect anyone entering the room at all. In that case, the things she secretly placed there, and the items she took along the way, would most likely go unnoticed. With this thought, Xia Wan's tense nerves finally began to relax.