"I want to separate from the family." He lowered his head. "I don't want Hua Niang to suffer with me anymore."

Then his voice became firm and powerful: "I want to separate from the family."

Shulan was pleased: "That's how it should be."

But then he asked, "If you separate the family, what will happen to Hua Niang?"

His parents would never let him live at home again, much less help him take care of others.

Chen Erlang lowered his head and said, "I want to ask Aunt Zhu to help take care of me. I can only stay in the thatched hut at Brother Zhao's house for the time being. I can only build a house after I have earned some money."

When Dr. Shu told him, he made up his mind and told Hua Niang about it.

Then, Chen Lishi, who was already seething with anger, began to say in a sarcastic tone that Hua Niang was lucky, as she had given birth to two sons for the Chen family but didn't receive the same treatment.

Chen's mother also made a veiled criticism, saying that she didn't know if the child could be saved, and that the baby had to be kept busy even before it was born.

After Chen Erlang and the others left, he asked his wife, who was lying on the bed, "Hua Niang, are you willing to separate from the family?"

He knew his parents wouldn't give him money, and they might not even have a place to live.

They might not even have enough to eat after they split up, but he still wants to split up.

Hua Niang was taken aback, but quickly replied, "I'm willing."

Clearly, she couldn't stand her mother-in-law and sister-in-law's constant sarcastic remarks.

The couple discussed it and Chen Erlang kept thinking about this issue on his way here: when would be a good time to separate the family, and where he would go to earn money after the separation.

But for some reason, the thought of separating the family property made his steps feel less heavy.

It is said that as long as parents are alive, the family does not separate.

But seeing that Hua Niang had never had a good day since marrying into his family, he felt very sorry for her.

He said somewhat embarrassedly, "But Dr. Shu, I may not be able to pay you back for the medicine all at once, but don't worry, as long as I have the money, I will definitely pay you back immediately."

Shulan waved her hand: "No rush."

Then he went to the counter, took out more than ten taels of silver, and said, "Take this and use it to build a house."

Upon seeing this, Chen Erlang quickly refused, "No, no, Doctor Shu, you have already helped us too much. I cannot accept this money."

Shulan insisted on giving it to him, saying, "This is a loan to you. You can pay me back when you have the money. Right now, Hua Niang is heavily pregnant, and she can't stay in that shed forever. It's not good for the pregnant woman and the baby."

Chen Erlang hesitated when he thought of his wife and children.

She said, "Go build a house, somewhere far away from your parents. You can pay me back when you have the money."

Chen Erlang trembled as he accepted the several dozen taels of silver, his eyes reddening, and he kept saying thank you.

Shulan patted him on the shoulder and said, "Keep it up, take on the responsibilities of a husband and father."

"good."

By the time I got home with the medicine, it was already afternoon.

Seeing his wife lying in bed with her lips chapped, it was clear that he hadn't been able to get her to drink water as instructed by his mother.

While looking at the medicine, Chen's mother was still complaining about wasting money.

Suddenly, Chen Erlang felt an urge to not stay any longer and said, "Mother, since you think we're wasting money, let's separate the family."

Upon hearing this, Chen's mother became so angry that she grabbed a broom and started hitting him: "What did you say? I'm not dead yet!"

Chen Erlang let her hit him, only saying, "Since you think Hua Niang is just a gossip and a waste of her time, then let's separate the family. If our children are missing limbs in the future, it will only be others pointing fingers at us, it has nothing to do with you."

He knew that this was what his mother disliked.

I'm not good with words, and my older brother is better at coaxing our parents.

He used to never complain about how hard or tiring it was to work alone, but now he's tired.

Upon hearing this, Chen's mother paused for a moment.

She really didn't want her daughter-in-law to give birth to this child, fearing it would be born with a defect and cause their whole family to be ridiculed.

Can the family separate?

She looked at the head of the household.

Father Chen sat there silently, while Madam Chen Li said sarcastically, "Oh, second brother, you've really made something of yourself. You keep talking about dividing the family property. Dividing the family property is fine, but your brother has contributed the most to this family. He's the one who earned all the money in the family. We can't let you take it all."

Chen Erlang never thought he could get a single penny from his family, and he was too lazy to argue about who contributed more or less to the family.

He simply said, "I don't take a single penny from my family, but I won't take care of my parents' support."

This is what Dr. Shu told him.

He said, “This isn’t being heartless. Since your parents aren’t giving you anything, then you shouldn’t support them. If they share some of their wealth with you, then you should support them—that’s only right. But if they don’t share, then you shouldn’t support them. You can’t let your older brother get all the good things.”

He used to feel reluctant, but now he thinks Dr. Shu is right.

Just as Chen's mother was about to scold him, Chen's father said, "Fine, you can leave. We, the Chen family, will pretend we don't have a son like you."

Upon hearing this, Chen Erlang knelt down and kowtowed three times to his parents.

Then he strode into their room, took nothing but a few clothes, and carefully carried his wife away.