Chapter 96: Family Division Lin Zhaodi wanted to laugh, but she ended up crying. ...
Lin Yushu looked young, but he was a young man who worked regularly. Lin Shu knew that he worked a lot at home just by looking at the way he chopped wood.
That’s right, I don’t think of myself as a superior just because I study.
After chopping a small pile of firewood, enough to last for three or four days, Lin Yushu wiped the sweat from his forehead and said goodbye to Lin Shu and Zhou Ye.
"Have you been reading by lamplight recently?" Lin Shu asked.
Lin Yushu shook his head first, then nodded. "I listened to Sister Shu and stopped staying up late to study. At most, I would light a lamp and read for half an hour."
Lin Shu told him to take care of himself and let him go.
Summer is still good, with long days and short nights. But in winter, the nights are long and endless. This kid is a studious boy, so he would secretly light a lamp to read.
She has sped up her teaching in the past two days. In less than a month, this kid will be able to learn the Four Books and Five Classics. It's really scary.
"Aye, how do you remember the characters I taught you today?" Lin Shu asked when she saw Aye still writing and drawing on a bamboo slip.
Zhou Ye looked up and said, "I remember everything."
Lin Shu tested him immediately and found that he could write out every word from memory, which made her feel satisfied.
Lin Yushu is a good student, but Aye is also not bad as he is willing to learn.
"A-Shu." Zhou Ye called her. He didn't know how to be polite, so he directly suggested: "Can we change the story next time?"
Lin Shu blinked and said, "Of course I have to change it. I change a short story every day. After I finish teaching you, you can teach Xiao Pu."
Zhou Ye:......
Finally, he compromised and said, "It's up to Ah Shu to decide."
Lin Shu laughed in her heart. Seeing Zhou Ye's face, which usually didn't show much emotion, showing a mixture of helplessness, compromise, shame, etc., she was inexplicably happy.
"Ashu, my hand doesn't hurt anymore. I want to work." Zhou Ye said.
Lin Shu was amused and angry at the same time. "Can't you just sit here with me and do nothing but chat?"
Zhou Ye looked at her, hesitated for a moment, and finally told the truth, "Ashu, you kissed me yesterday, and you kissed me again today. When I'm alone with you, I keep thinking about this. I think too much, and I'm afraid I'll have another dream tonight that I shouldn't have."
After hearing this, Lin Shu punched him with her fist in embarrassment, "Aye, you do it again! You should just think about this kind of thing yourself, but you actually said it in front of me! Aren't you ashamed?"
Zhou Ye endured the rain of punches from her without changing his expression, explaining, "If I don't tell the truth, you'll definitely be angry with me again. It's going to make you angry anyway, so I might as well tell the truth."
One was anger, the other was shame. Naturally, he chose the latter.
and--
Zhou Ye looked at Lin Shu's cheeks which turned slightly red due to embarrassment, and a hint of red at the corners of her eyes, making her look extremely beautiful.
Ah Shu looks so pretty when she is shy.
He loves to watch.
But Zhou Ye didn't know that after Lin Shu confirmed their relationship today, his gaze became unscrupulous.
He thought he had carefully concealed his secret thoughts, but the look in his eyes as he stared at Lin Shu was scorching, burning, and could not be ignored. It fell on Lin Shu's cheeks, causing two spots of heat on her face to linger for a long time.
"You, you should continue practicing your calligraphy!" Lin Shu glared at him fiercely, but she couldn't get angry.
If someone else said the same thing as Zhou Ye, it would definitely be considered teasing and vulgar, but Zhou Ye said it in such a serious tone, as if he was just honestly explaining the reason to her.
The ambiguous atmosphere in the courtyard did not last long. Lin Xiaopu came back and brought back the follow-up news of the Zhao family's division.
The Zhao family has already been divided, and it is not appropriate to say that it is a division, because in the end only Uncle Zhao San was separated from the old house.
Uncle Zhao's attitude of giving away the land even if he would rather get a few acres less made the two old people in the family angry, and in the end they only gave him two acres of land.
Although the Zhao family was not wealthy, they had 17 or 18 acres of land. Even if it was not divided equally, like the Lin family, the elders were partial to each other and gave different amounts of land. At least they should have received four acres. Why was it that they were only given two acres?
One acre of land barely produces enough food for one person for a year. Uncle Zhao's family only has two people, but is it true that only two people can get two acres of land? If they have more children in the future, how can these two acres of land be enough to feed them?
"Xiao Pu, is this news reliable? Where did you hear it from?" Lin Shu asked with a frown.
Lin Shu had only seen Uncle Zhao once from a distance. He was a sturdy man with a serious face and a hint of sadness. He was even more serious than A Ye. He would definitely not tell anyone about the division of the family.
Aunt Lin, let alone her. She had only heard Second Sister-in-law Zhao ridiculing Aunt Lin at the Zhao family's gate the previous time, and that was enough to give her a glimpse of how Aunt Lin must have endured a great deal of injustice in the Zhao family over the years. It was hard to say whether her parents and elders had infuriated her, but these two sisters-in-law certainly had.
Although Aunt Lin has her own opinions and ideas, and will not let herself suffer any loss in her work, those verbal ridicules are like knives, how can she feel good when they pierce her body?
Even so, she never revealed the grievances and sufferings she had endured over the years.
Lin Shu couldn't help but think of He Guixiang.
Before the separation, A'niang's situation was quite similar to Aunt Lin's, but A'niang was soft-hearted, so she was fed up with the hard work. However, she felt that she was in the wrong, so she could take the verbal ridicule from her aunt and grandmother in her stride and did not feel too upset.
Lin Xiaopu said, "Sister, this news must be true. Wang Yingen gets along well with many children in the village, so he must have heard it."
"Did Grandpa and Grandma Zhao give anything else to Uncle Zhao?" Lin Shu asked.
Lin Xiaopu shook his head, also feeling that this Grandpa Zhao was too heartless. "Two acres of land, plus a bag of brown rice, a bag of grains, and a set of bowls and chopsticks. I'll move out once Uncle Zhao San builds his new house."
Lin Shu sighed. Grandpa Zhao and Grandma Zhao were clearly angry, trying to force Uncle Zhao to give in. Unexpectedly, Uncle Zhao was determined to split the family property this time, agreeing to any harsh terms.
The villagers all live in thatched houses, which are quick to build. However, even if they are thatched houses, they still need to lay the foundation and put up the beams. It is definitely impossible to do it alone, so you have to ask the villagers for help.
If they asked the villagers for help, they should at least provide them with a few full meals. Uncle Zhao and Aunt Lin only received a bag of brown rice and a bag of grains. They didn't even know if they could make it to the autumn harvest, so how could they expect to have a few full meals?
When my parents had just separated, even though Lin Yao was still alive and had secretly saved a lot of money, life was still difficult at the beginning. She had to borrow a lot of money from neighbors to get by.
If Uncle Zhao or Aunt Lin came to borrow money, I'd probably lend it to my mother, too. After all, no one understood better than my mother how difficult the post-separation period was. Besides my family, there was also Aunt Li. Aunt Li was also kind-hearted, and she had a lot of contact with Aunt Lin, so she would definitely lend a hand.
Thinking of this, Lin Shu felt that it was a good thing for Uncle Zhao and Aunt Lin to separate. They had lived too depressingly at home before. After separating, the psychological pressure would be less. Who knows, Aunt Lin might suddenly get pregnant one day.
In fact, I think it's good not to have children. I live my life on my own, isn't it enough to be comfortable? It doesn't matter whether I have children or not, but Lin Shu knows that others don't think so. The ancients attached great importance to the continuation of the family line. If they gave birth to a girl, they would be scolded as a waste of money. If they couldn't give birth to a child at all, they would be ridiculed like Aunt Lin, and a heavy yoke would be put on them.
Fortunately, Aunt Lin is strong-willed and Uncle Zhao is manly. Otherwise, Lin Shu would not dare to imagine whether a woman with a weak personality would feel unable to survive if she were in this situation.
Zhou Ye heard her sigh and guessed what she was worried about. He comforted her, "Uncle Zhao is a down-to-earth man. If he works hard, his life will get better and better. Life will be a little difficult at first, but we can help you a little."
In fact, he felt that Uncle Zhao was too indecisive. If it were him, he would have been unhappy and would have separated from the family long ago. Why wait until this time?
The Zhao family that Lin Shu and Zhou Ye mentioned was in a very depressing atmosphere.
None of the men in the Zhao family went to the fields today. After something like this happened, how could they have the mood to work?
After the head of the village left, the old couple, Grandpa Zhao, stayed in their room and refused to come out. They were very angry. The eldest son Zhao and his daughter-in-law tried to persuade them in the room.
On the second side, Zhao Ersao had two slap marks on her face, one from Zhao Laosan, who never hit a woman, and the other from her own man, Zhao Laoer.
She covered her face and sobbed, and the two children at home also sobbed.
"Cry, cry, cry, you just know how to cry! If you hadn't instigated discord, would my third brother have made such a fuss because of his wife? Would my father and mother be so angry? Now everyone outside is laughing at our family, I don't even have the face to go out! Why did I marry a woman like you!" Zhao Laoer said with a cold face.
Mrs. Zhao looked up at him, her eyes welling with tears. "What's wrong with me, your wife? I'll take good care of you every day you come back. Have you ever taken care of the household affairs? My hands were so delicate and tender when I was at my parents' home, but after marrying into your Zhao family, I have to wash clothes and cook every day, and my hands have become rough from all the work! Have I ever complained?"
Zhao Laoer disagreed, "Which woman doesn't cook? Are you the only one who's special? My eldest sister-in-law, you, and my third sister-in-law take turns cooking, so how come you end up doing it every day?"
Mrs. Zhao Er cried, "Today I'm cooking, tomorrow I have to wash clothes and dishes, and the day after tomorrow I have to feed the chickens and ducks. I can't rest all day, and I have to take care of two children. Do you think you're the only one who's tired from working in the fields? No matter how hard or tired you are, I will put on a smile and massage your shoulders and legs when you come back. Today I just said a few more words in front of Lin Zhaodi, and my third brother was unreasonable and slapped me, so why did you slap me too? What did you say to me when we were together? You said that if I married you, you would never let me suffer. Is this what you said about not suffering?"
Zhao Laoer's anger subsided a little after hearing this, but was replaced by a more irritable mood.
He would feel guilty if he said this once or twice, but after hearing the other party say it over and over again, he started to get annoyed.
He did say that back then, but wasn't he good enough to her?
Other families' wives would go to the fields during busy farming season, but he had never asked his wife to do that once in all these years. It was just ordinary laundry and cooking, and she was complaining about it? If she really didn't want to do any work at all, why would she marry a farmer? She could just become a concubine to some town master!
But now, Zhao Lao Er didn't dare to say these things. If he did, the woman would make a scene again, which would make him even more upset. At this moment, he just sneered and accused: "Why do you have to gossip about me in front of my third brother's wife? You know how much my third brother loves his wife!"
Mrs. Zhao sobbed and said, "How can this be considered gossip? Isn't what I said what I meant? Do you dare to say that my father-in-law and mother-in-law don't want my third brother to marry again? Because the family can't raise the money for my third brother to marry again, they are thinking of adopting a child. But are you willing to let our child call your third brother dad and call you second uncle? You are willing, but I am not! If Lin Zhaodi was more respectful to me, I might consider it, but you can see that she has always been unfriendly to me. I was so angry that I let it slip."
Zhao Lao Er's expression softened a bit, "Then you shouldn't have said that Third Brother agreed to the adoption. Third Brother had no idea about the adoption at all."
Mrs. Zhao said aggrievedly, "How would I know? I thought my parents had told my third brother first before asking us."
Zhao Laosan finally calmed down. "Okay, stop crying. Things have come to this point. What else can we do? It's just because you didn't keep your mouth shut that my third brother has lost his temper with me. In the future, alas..."
In the future, when the third brother moves out of the family, the relationship between the brothers will probably become more and more distant.
While Zhao Laoer and his wife were arguing, Zhao Laosan and Lin Zhaodi also locked themselves in the room and gossiped.
But unlike the crying and noise over there, the atmosphere in this room was too quiet.
In fact, for a long time, Lin Zhaodi felt like she was dreaming.
Split up the family? She and Zhao San actually split up...
Lin Zhaodi wanted to laugh, but she cried instead.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
