Chapter 33 033 Brotherhood, Sisterhood

The old Su family.

Qin Aiguo and his wife were sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) in Grandpa Su's room. The four old people sat together, chatting in pairs.

Qin Aiguo took a drag of his cigarette. "They broke up just like that?"

Grandpa Su gave a helpless bitter smile, "We've split it up. It'll save us a lot of trouble."

"I advised you to separate long ago, but you wouldn't listen. Wouldn't it be better if each family lived their own lives? Why did you have to fight so much before you separated?"

"While our parents are alive, we don't separate the family; it's an old tradition. I'm not dead yet."

“Even if he’s not dead, you can’t control him. The children are grown up and will eventually have to live separately. Even ten fingers are not all the same length. It’s normal to favor one son, but the other sons are also hurt.”

Grandma Qin chimed in at the right moment, "That's right. I've advised you two so many times. Look at our family. On the surface, it looks like we haven't divided the property, but in reality, we've already divided it all. We've had such a worry-free life all these years."

Although the Qin family has not officially separated, they have in fact separated.

The house in the village was built with Qin Aiguo's money and has nothing to do with his three sons.

The eldest son is by their side and has his own salary; the second son lives in the county town and is living a more comfortable life than them; the third son is gone, leaving only a little granddaughter for them, who has now returned.

When they pass away, the family's money will be divided up, the house will be divided directly, and even the third branch represented by Qin Xiaoxiao will receive a share.

If Qin Feng wants the house, he should just give Qin Hai and Qin Xiaoxiao a share of the money; that way, the brothers won't turn against each other.

Grandpa Su sighed, "It's only because my older brother and sister-in-law are living comfortably that they're considering a divorce. And it's also because of my little Jiu..."

His older brothers and sisters-in-law all had complaints about him, feeling that he didn't work in the fields to earn work points and was eating the food they earned. But they didn't think about it: which month didn't Xiao Jiu bring money home? With the children going to school, building houses, and the children and the two of us old folks having snacks and treats?

They can't even figure out who's taking advantage of whom; they're a bunch of idiots.

Old Master Su knew that Su Lu was capable, and since he was from the third branch of the family, he wanted the third branch and Su Lu to help the other branches. If anyone was biased, it was his other sons, not the third branch as they thought.

But no one understood his thoughts or his intentions. They were all his sons and grandsons, so he couldn't go too far!

That's why he abandoned his several sons who were as stupid as pigs, hoping to see his third wife succeed before he died.

I hope that by personally breaking free from these shackles, the third wife will have a better future.

Qin Aiguo glanced at his good brother and said nothing more.

When he left home to fight in the army, he entrusted his wife and children to this brother. At the time, he also intended that if he died, his brother could marry his wife.

But he was quite different. He wanted to help his wife, but he was afraid of what the villagers would say, so he got married less than ten days after he left.

Qin's wife always took the lead in handling matters in the Qin family, while he always stayed behind to help, avoiding any suspicion and never overstepping his bounds. Even after he returned, he did not set foot in the Qin family's home, which greatly shocked him and made him deeply feel the affection his brother had for him.

Therefore, his family and the Su family have been very close over the years. He always takes the initiative to help the Su family with anything. In fact, all the houses in the Su family's house were built with the help of him and his son Qin Feng, along with the able-bodied men in the village.

The two old sisters on the other side were chatting even more enthusiastically.

"Big sister, you have no idea how chaotic things are at home. We have no choice but to divide everything up."

Grandma Qin glanced at Grandma Su and said, "You're still so soft-hearted. Old Qin and I told you two a long time ago that you should just break up, but you were worried about this and couldn't bear to part with that. In the end, what happened? You almost ended up pleasing neither side, didn't you?"

Alright, stop thinking about it. If it's going to be a split, it's going to be a split sooner or later. While you're still around, let's arrange the division so they're satisfied, and avoid the brothers turning against each other in the end.

That way they can't say anything about favoritism or anything. Haha, so they're not biased? Which family doesn't have sons and daughters? I don't believe they're not biased.

Surely one of them is their darling?

Grandma Su wiped away her tears. "That's right. If we're going to separate, then we're going to separate. It saves me from worrying about this whole family. I just feel sorry for my third son."

Over the years, our family has been so fortunate to have our third son. If it weren't for his salary and the occasional subsidies from Xiao Jiu, we don't know what our lives would have been like.

Grandma Qin smiled and patted Grandma Su's thigh, "It's good that you understand. As for Zhiyuan, you don't need to worry about him. You said yourself that he has a salary, so what's there to be afraid of?"

Now that the business has been divided up, he'll have fewer expenses and will be able to build up his own fortune sooner or later.

Grandma Su laughed, "That's right, the third son is very shrewd. If it weren't for his brothers, he would have made it through long ago, and he wouldn't be without the money to build a house."

After thinking for a moment, Grandma Su leaned closer to Grandma Qin and said, "Sister, I want to talk to you about something."

Grandma Qin rolled her eyes at Grandma Su, "Say what you have to say. What can't we sisters say? Hurry up and stop dawdling."

Grandma Su smiled and said, "Well then, I'll say it. It's like this: the third son definitely needs to build a house and move out, but I know he doesn't have any money. I was thinking, if he asks, could you and the eldest brother lend him some money? Let him build the house first, so he'll at least have a place to live!"

Grandma Qin glared at Grandma Su with annoyance, "Do you even need to tell me that! Let's not even talk about how we are his grandparents, the ones who watched him grow up. Even my eldest son wouldn't just stand by and watch his brother have no house to live in."

Don't worry, it's nothing. If the boss can't raise the money, we have some on hand, more than enough!

Grandma Su was relieved to hear this and said with a smile, "Then I'll thank you in advance, elder sister."

Old Mrs. Qin was annoyed and slapped Old Mrs. Su on the leg. "Thank me my ass! You're acting like an outsider to me. Although we weren't born of the same mother, we're closer than sisters. We grew up together in the same village. Even without the Qin and Su families, would I have watched you suffer?"

Grandma Su nodded with a big laugh, "I know, my sister still loves me the most."

Grandma Su and Grandma Qin grew up together. Grandma Qin was a year older than Grandma Su. Only a year after Grandma Qin married Qin Aiguo, Grandpa Su took the initiative to propose marriage. He made it clear that he was doing so to take care of his older brother's wife and children and to avoid gossip. Moreover, the two were best friends, so it was understandable that he would take care of his sister before she got married.

Originally, Grandma Su was angry that Grandpa Su's intentions were impure, but when she heard that the other party's wife was Grandma Qin, Grandma Su agreed without saying a word. The next day, she went to the Su family to become a daughter-in-law with a small bag in her hand.

When the elderly couple Su first got married, their relationship was just so-so. But as time went on, they felt more and more that the other was a rare person they wanted to marry. As a result, by sheer chance, they actually developed genuine feelings for each other.

(End of this chapter)