Chapter 16: Split up the family! This is the only way to survive!
Feng Lan's heart felt like it was soaked in bitter water, a mixture of emotions. She hugged her daughters, feeling the trembling of their frail bodies. Images from her past life, which she had deliberately ignored, flooded back to her mind like a tide.
She remembered that in order to save food for her younger brothers, Daya lied that she had eaten out, but was so hungry that she had to drink cold water to fill her stomach at night.
She remembered that in order to protect her younger sister from being bullied by her cousins, Erya stood in front with her small body. She was pushed to the ground and her head was broken. Half of her face was bleeding, but she didn't even dare to cry.
She remembered that every time she and her husband brought back something good from outside, it would be divided up by several families before it even entered the house, and her daughters didn't even have a chance to take a look at it.
They are blind, their hearts are blinded by greed! They treat wolves as relatives and their own flesh and blood as grass.
"Da Ya, Er Ya... listen up." Feng Lan's voice was thick with nasal sounds, but it was remarkably clear. "You were wrong before, because of you. We thought that if we treated our uncles and aunts well, when we got old, there would be people to look after us, and people to support you sisters. We...we were wrong, so wrong."
She did not say those shocking words about rebirth, but simply used the simplest words to open her heart.
"We mistook wolves for dogs, thinking they wouldn't bite if they were well-fed, but we forgot that wolves' nature is to eat meat and drink blood. It's because of our stupidity and foolishness that you've suffered so much."
Chen Kangbo stood nearby. This usually taciturn man now had red eyes and tears in his eyes. He walked over, clumsily extended his calloused hands, and gently placed them on his daughters' heads.
"Dad... is useless." He squeezed out these three words from between his teeth, each word weighing as heavy as a thousand pounds.
Daya raised her head. For the first time, fear and numbness vanished from her tear-swollen eyes, replaced by a cautious, searching gaze. She looked at her parents, who seemed to have been transformed overnight. Her lips moved as she softly asked, "Mom... then... what should we do next? Grandma and Uncle... they won't let us go."
In a word, the question hits the most crucial point.
Yes, they had a scene today, but as long as they still lived under the same roof, as long as they hadn't torn off the last layer of their friendship, the Chen family would have countless insidious ways to torture them. It's easy to dodge an open spear, but it's hard to guard against an arrow from the dark.
Feng Lan helped her daughters up and made them sit down beside the bed. She wiped the tears from her face, and her eyes became sharp as a knife again.
"So, we have to split up!"
As soon as the word "separation" came out, the air in the whole room seemed to freeze.
In rural areas, unless brothers are at loggerheads, it's rare for them to separate while their parents are still alive. This not only represents a blatant challenge to their parents' authority, but will also lead to criticism and condemnation from the entire village as unfilial.
Daya and Erya were both stunned. Although they were young, they understood the weight of these two words.
"Mom, we're splitting up... Where are we going to live? What are we going to eat?" Daya's brows furrowed, worry written all over her face. She wasn't afraid of hardship, but she was afraid her parents would be isolated by the whole village because of this decision.
Feng Lan looked at her daughter's precocious and sensible appearance, feeling both distressed and relieved. She reached out to smooth her daughter's frown, but her tone was firm.
"Your father will build a place to live. Even if he builds a thatched hut first, it's better than living in this cannibalistic yard! As for food, your parents have hands and feet. Can they really starve you to death?"
She paused, looked at her daughters, and said word by word, "If we divide the family property, our lives will probably be very hard, even harder than they are now. We might not be able to eat white flour buns or wear new clothes for a long time. We will have to do all the housework ourselves. Are you... afraid?"
The girls looked at each other, and finally, Daya spoke first.
"I'm not afraid!" She straightened her small back, her eyes gleaming with a light she had never seen before. "As long as I can be with Mom and Dad, as long as... as long as my sisters are all together, even if I have to eat coarse food, I'm willing to do it! I can work, I can help Mom share the burden!"
"I'm not afraid either!" Arya shouted, clinging to her sister's clothes. "I can feed the chickens and pick wild vegetables!"
"I... I can make a fire!" San Ya raised her little hand timidly.
The two youngest girls didn't understand what it meant to divide the family. They just followed their sisters' example and cried out in baby voices, "Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid!"
Looking at their daughters' expressions, Feng Lan and Chen Kangbo looked at each other and saw the determination to fight to the death in each other's eyes.
Feng Lan stuffed the ten cents back into Daya's hand, and this time, Daya did not refuse.
"Here. Tomorrow morning, at daybreak, take your sisters to town. Remember what mother said, don't skimp on your money. Buy some delicious food, go to a teahouse and listen to storytellers, and do whatever makes you happy. Leave the household affairs to your parents."
She knew tomorrow would be a tough battle. The Chen family would never let them split up easily, and the village head wouldn't necessarily be so easy. She had to get her daughters out of this vortex first.
That night, the oil lamp in the main house stayed on for a long time before it went out.
The other houses in the Chen family compound also stayed awake all night.
In the east wing, Chen Kangyun's moans and the old lady of the Chen family's curses were intertwined.
"What a damn jinx! What a black-hearted slut! Wait till I calm down, and see how I'll deal with her!"
"Mom, it hurts... my leg... Dad, you have to think of a way. You can't really let Big Brother report this to the police! My life will be ruined!"
In the main room, Old Man Chen puffed away on his pipe, his face shrouded in smoke, his expression uncertain. His second brother, Chen Kangzhong, covered his mouth, where his teeth had been knocked out, and mumbled something to fan the flames.
"Dad, look at the attitude of my eldest brother and his wife. They are determined to break off relations with us. They are going to rebel and take over our heads!"
"Isn't the fourth brother working in the county government? Let him think of a way to suppress this matter!"
"Yes, yes, let the fourth one come forward!"
Old man Chen knocked his pipe against the table suddenly, and the ashes spread all over the table.
"Shut up, everyone!" He growled, a sinister glint in his eyes. "Report to the police? I won't let him do that! Split up the family? I won't let him even split the door!"
He lowered his voice and gave his sons instructions. A more sinister plot against the eldest son's wife was quietly brewing in the darkness.
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