As Zhu Xiuhua spoke, she burst into tears, as if an invisible faucet had been turned on in her eyes. "It's all my fault for dragging you down, sob sob..."
"Mom," Fang Yan quickly pressed on, "Mom, let's separate the family."
"Separate the family?" Zhu Xiuhua murmured the two words. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, as if she had suddenly woken up from a state of confusion. She looked at Fang Yan and shook her head firmly. "No, we can't separate the family."
Fang Yan: ...
"Why?"
Zhu Xiuhua just watched, muttering, "We can't separate the family, we can't separate the family."
"Why can't we separate the family? What would happen if we did?"
Fang Yan sensed that Zhu Xiuhua's mental state seemed a bit off.
She seemed terrified whenever the topic of dividing the family property came up, as if something terrible would happen if the family were to split up.
Zhu Xiuhua just stared at Fang Yan, but refused to follow her lead and continue the conversation.
Fang Yan could only gently guide her, "Mom, I'm already married, and Grandma and the others won't be able to mistreat me anymore. Even if you don't think about yourself, you should at least think about my brother, right?"
"Your brother?"
It's unclear whether it's due to long-term abuse and mistreatment, but Zhu Xiuhua's mental state has become abnormal.
Or is it because she was chronically hungry, malnourished, and lacking in proper nutrition that her mind became sluggish?
She often stares blankly, as if she is immersed in her own world. Only when the original owner and Fang Jie are mentioned can Zhu Xiuhua briefly come back to her senses.
It was only when Fang Yan mentioned Fang Jie that Zhu Xiuhua came to her senses and looked at her, asking, "What happened to your brother?"
Fang Yan: ...
I'm mentally exhausted.
"Mom, my foot needs to rest for at least seven or eight days before I can put it on the ground, otherwise it will still get infected."
Zhu Xiuhua said "Oh," and then added, "Then let him stay at home to recover."
Fang Yan bombarded her with three probing questions: "Would my grandma agree? Would my uncles agree? Could you finish all the work in the fields by yourself before the first frost?"
This question left Zhu Xiuhua speechless.
Having lived in the Fang family for over twenty years, she knew without even thinking that this was impossible.
“If my grandma doesn’t agree, she’ll be cursing my brother every day. Do you think my brother can take care of him in peace?”
Furthermore, do you think my brother would just stand by and watch you work yourself to the bone, leaving early and coming home late, while he stays at home recovering from his injury?
Zhu Xiuhua hesitated, "Then... what should we do?"
"Separate the family!" Fang Yan brought it up again.
She was determined to fight for it and divide the family property today.
Because from now on, she may not have time to visit her parents' home every day.
Fortunately, Fang Jie was handling the three outside.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Fang Yan quickly "brainwashed" Zhu Xiuhua.
Unfortunately, Zhu Xiuhua seemed to have been brainwashed beforehand. The words "cannot separate the family" seemed to be engraved in her mind. Whenever they were mentioned, she would subconsciously want to refute them, "No...cannot...separate...the...family."
Fortunately, this time, her rebuttals were not as firm as the previous two times.
This is a good omen.
Fang Yan quickly pressed her advantage, "Mom, don't you remember how old my brother is?"
“How could I not remember how old your brother is?” Zhu Xiuhua glared at Fang Yan, a little angry. “He’s twenty-three this year.”
You are twenty years old this year.
To prove that she remembered their ages, Zhu Xiuhua also repeated the original owner's age.
"Yes, you remember very clearly, but in our village, men can start getting married at the age of twenty. My brother is already twenty-three. Have you ever seen Grandma think about arranging a marriage for my brother?"
Fang Yan pressed closer and closer.
Zhu Xiuhua was stunned by her question.
She hadn't really noticed before, but now that Fang Yan brought it up, she remembered that over the years, Old Madam Fang had never even mentioned arranging a marriage for Fang Jie, let alone doing so.
Zhu Xiuhua opened her mouth, but in the end, she couldn't utter a single word.
She couldn't speak, but Fang Yan still had something to say. "Mom, Grandma, Uncle, and Aunt don't want my brother to get married at all. If another wife comes in, it'll be another mouth to feed. The food we give you two is so bad, how can they bear to feed another mouth?"
Besides, if we marry a wife, who knows how many children she'll have in the future? Would Grandma and the others agree to let us use the family's food to support my brother's children?
So the simplest and easiest thing to do is to let my brother remain a bachelor for the rest of his life.
"How can this be allowed!" Zhu Xiuhua exclaimed excitedly.
No mother would be willing to watch her son remain a bachelor for the rest of his life.
Moreover, Fang Jie's decision to remain single is not due to his own fault.
And those who are deliberately prevented from marrying.
How could Zhu Xiuhua accept this?
After all that effort, we finally managed to get her emotions in check.
Fang Yan immediately seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire, saying, "Mom, if you insist on refusing to separate the family, my brother's life will be ruined. He won't be able to find a wife, and he won't have any descendants. You will be the sinner who cuts off the lineage of our second branch. After you pass away, will you have the face to meet my father?"
It could be said that, as a daughter, her words were far too harsh.
However, Zhu Xiuhua's mind was truly like it had been brainwashed; only strong medicine could work.
Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, Zhu Xiuhua suddenly stood up. "It wasn't me! I'm not a sinner, it's your father! It was your father who wouldn't allow the family to separate."
ah? ! !
Wasn't the original owner's father deceased many years ago?
Can he still control the current situation?
Fang Yan's eyes widened. "Mom, Dad's been gone for so many years, how could he still be..."
Before she could finish speaking, Zhu Xiuhua, with tears welling up in her eyes, cried out, "It was your father...it was your father who, before he died, made me kneel down and swear to heaven that we could never separate from the family, otherwise, you would suffer a terrible death."
Holy crap!
Fang Yan didn't know what to say.
Was the original owner's father missing a huge hole in his brain?
Why would you do this to harm your wife and children?
He wanted to be filial to Old Madam Fang and Uncle Fang's family. He shouldn't have died so young. He should have stayed up all night to take care of them instead of eating, drinking, and sleeping. Why did he have to cause Zhu Xiuhua and Fang Jie such a terrible situation?
Sigh, Fang Yan was so angry that she felt a lump in her throat, making it hard for her to breathe.
"Mom, how could you be so silly?"
Fang Yan didn't know what the original owner's father was thinking, that he would dig such a big pit for Zhu Xiuhua before he died, but now she just wanted to pull Zhu Xiuhua out of the pit.
She had to persuade Zhu Xiuhua.
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