Chapter 83: Separation
The group of people in the west courtyard were as aggressive when they came and as embarrassed when they left.
Chen Kangshu was half-supported, half-dragged by his wife, groaning all the way. His arm dangled at an odd angle, clearly broken. But the people on the street no longer had any sympathy for him, only contempt and ridicule.
He broke his hand when he failed to rob someone, and now he wants to extort twenty taels of silver from someone, and even wants to take over the other person's shop. He is so greedy that he deserves it!
Back in the west courtyard, Chen Kangshu's wife threw him onto the bed. She didn't care that he was sweating from the pain, and sat down on the floor, and began to scold him: "You useless thing! Your hand is broken, you didn't get the money, and your shop is gone! Look at Chen Kangbo, how powerful he is now! And look at you!"
The families of Chen Kangji and Chen Kangzhong had heard the noise outside a long time ago and were now gathered in the house with gloating smiles on their faces.
Qian even spoke directly and sarcastically, "Oh, Third Brother's wife, don't blame Third Brother. With his brain, how could he be a match for Feng Lan? He was fooled around and even lost his arm. He really lost both the wife and the army!"
"You!" Chen Kangshu's wife was so angry that she jumped up and down. "You are just saying such sarcastic things! If you have the guts, go and ask for it! You are just jealous of the benefits we get from the old lady!"
"Benefits?" Qian sneered. "With your brain, what benefits can you get? I wonder who will get the old lady's treasure in the end!"
The women started arguing right in front of Old Lady Chen, spit flying everywhere, neither of them willing to give in. They all felt that the other was trying to keep the treasure for themselves, and that they were being badly hurt.
Old Mrs. Chen was getting a headache from their noise. She banged her cane on the ground and said, "Shut up, everyone! Isn't this embarrassing enough?"
But this time, no one listened to her.
Chen Kangshu's wife wailed and suddenly said, "Mom! Don't you have a treasure? Where's that hundred-year-old ginseng? Take it out and use it to heal my master's hand! Don't you love him the most?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the room became quiet instantly.
Everyone's eyes turned to Mrs. Chen.
That's right! Doesn't the old lady have a treasure? If she loves her son so much, why doesn't she take it out? Just now on the street, Feng Lan said she wanted to pay for the doctor, why did the old lady refuse to agree? There must be something fishy going on here!
A terrible thought popped up in the minds of several daughters-in-law at the same time.
Chen Kangshu's wife's mind raced, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. She stood up suddenly and stared at Old Lady Chen: "Mother, tell me the truth, don't you have any silver ingots at home? And that ginseng, is it fake? You're using this as an excuse to trick us into taking food from your mother's house to feed you!"
These words, like a thunderclap, exploded in the west courtyard!
The sons were also stunned. Although they were stupid, they were not fools. After being enlightened by their daughter-in-law, they immediately came to their senses.
Yes, if she really had money, would she have fainted from hunger? If she really had money, why would she not even bother to hire a doctor when the third child broke his hand?
Mrs. Chen's face turned pale instantly. She had never expected that her carefully woven lie would be exposed so easily.
"You...you are talking nonsense!" She still wanted to be stubborn.
"Whether it's nonsense or not, we'll know if we just search it!" Qian had disliked her for a long time, and today she seized the opportunity and rushed up first.
"Yes! Search!" The other two daughters-in-law also reacted and immediately joined the battle.
They rushed into Mrs. Chen's room like crazy, rummaging through everything, flipping the bed covers to the floor, opening the old wardrobe, and throwing the few tattered clothes inside everywhere.
"Found it! Found it!" Qian suddenly screamed and dragged out a dusty earthenware jar from under the bed.
Everyone gathered around, greed glittering in their eyes.
Old Mrs. Chen's heart sank to the bottom.
Qian excitedly opened the earthen jar, and when she saw what was inside, she was completely stunned.
In the earthenware jar, there were no golden silver ingots, only a piece of strangely shaped old ginger with some hairy roots! The so-called century-old ginseng was this thing!
"Ginger...is it a piece of ginger?" Qian couldn't believe her eyes.
"What?!"
Everyone was dumbfounded. They had spent so much effort, fought so hard, and even went so far as to cheat food from her mother's family to bring back as a filial gift, and in the end, all for such a piece of ginger?
"Chen family! You old bastard! How dare you lie to us!" Qian reacted, threw the old ginger in her hand to the ground, pointed at Old Mrs. Chen's nose and cursed.
"You old hag! You're making fun of us! You've tricked us into giving you food from our mother's house. You're eating and drinking well, but what about us? What do we want?"
"Give us back the money! Convert the food and chickens we sent into cash and return them to us!"
The daughters-in-law were completely crazy. They surrounded Old Mrs. Chen, pushing and shoving her, and their saliva was almost spraying on her face.
Old man Chen wanted to step forward to stop them, but was pushed aside by his sons who were instigated by their wives and were so angry that their eyes turned red.
"Dad! What on earth is going on? You must give us an explanation!"
"That's right! We worked so hard to get the food, and we're just feeding you two liars?"
The West Courtyard was a complete mess. The sounds of crying, cursing, and shouting filled the air, practically blowing the roof off the house.
"We have to split up! We have to split up!" Qian suddenly screamed. "This life is unbearable! I don't want to live with these two old liars anymore!"
"Yes! Split up the family!"
"Separate the family!"
This proposal was immediately unanimously agreed by all the sons and daughters-in-law. They finally understood that if they followed these two old people, they would not only not have children, but they would not even have enough to eat and would have to pay for their livelihood.
Old Man Chen looked at the out-of-control scene before him, at those people who wanted to eat his son and daughter-in-law, and the last bit of hope in his heart was shattered. He knew that this family was over.
He felt exhausted and leaned against the wall dejectedly. He closed his eyes and said in a hoarse voice, "Okay...divide...all divided..."
That afternoon, the village head Chen Dequan was invited to the west courtyard.
When he saw the miserable state of the west courtyard, which looked like it had been looted by bandits, and the way that family was glaring at each other with hatred, he couldn't help but sigh.
Finally, under the witness of the village head, the west courtyard was divided.
The house is bare and there is nothing to divide.
There are several dilapidated houses, one for each person.
The meager food rations were snatched away by his sons and daughters-in-law. As for the dozen acres of land, no one wanted it. Everyone knew that it was useless to grow food and it would be a waste of effort to take it.
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