The Sun family was dumbfounded when they heard this. After all, they made the mistake first, and Sun Hongmei had a bad reputation in Ping'an Village after she got married. The Liu family wanted the betrothal gift back, but they had no reason not to, so they chose to act like scoundrels.
Xia Juhua was going to leave some for Sun Hongmei? Why didn't you say so earlier?
The people of Pingan Village and Liu Liqun praised Xia Juhua for her kindness and righteousness, but chose to forget that Xia Juhua's final meaning was that she didn't want to leave anything to the Sun family. Xia Juhua didn't take other people's comments to heart, she was observing Liu Zhishuang's reaction.
Fortunately, Liu Zhishuang did not say that he did not want to return the betrothal gift. He lowered his head and no one knew what he was thinking.
Sun Hongmei's mother slapped her thigh and said, "You wanted to leave a betrothal gift for Hongmei, why didn't you tell me earlier? If you had told me earlier, I would have taken Hongmei back home."
Sun Hongmei looked at her mother in disbelief, regretting that she had just asked Liu Liqun for mercy. When she heard her father also ask Xia Juhua how much betrothal gift she could leave for him, Sun Hongmei turned around and went back to the west room.
Just by looking at the expressions of her parents, Sun Hongmei knew that she would have to get a divorce. Her parents might have been thinking of marrying her off to another family in exchange for a dowry.
It is easy to enter the house, but it is not easy to pack things up. Liu Zhishuang and Sun Hongmei have been married for a short time. Although Xia Juhua did not approve of their marriage at first, she did not go through the motions when it came to the wedding. She had all the new cabinets and new floor covers that a new house should have, including thermos bottles that are not easy to find in the countryside. They were all used by Sun Hongmei since she got married.
But these were all prepared by the Liu family, not Sun Hongmei's dowry, so she couldn't take any of them.
No, there was one more thing she could take away. Sun Hongmei gritted her teeth, went up to the kang, opened the kang cabinet, and took out a small cloth bag from the bottom, which contained Liu Zhishuang's dividends and sixty yuan earned from carrying food bags.
When Sun Hongmei first received the money, she thought about how she would spend it, but she finally accepted it. Now she is about to divorce Liu Zhishuang, so why should she leave the money to him? In the end, she doesn't know who will benefit.
Sun Hongmei stuffed the money into her inner pocket viciously and quickened her packing speed. In the end, she just packed her clothes into the package. Also put into the package was the brown sugar she brought with her and had only been brewed with water once.
"Hongmei, are you done packing?" her father asked from outside. Sun Hongmei took a last look at the furnishings in the house, turned around and slammed the door, then raised her chin and said to her father, "Let's go." She didn't even look at the Liu family.
"Captain Liu, thank you for your help." Xia Juhua thanked Liu Liqun without looking at the package Sun Hongmei had packed. Liu Zhishuang also didn't look at it and followed Liu Liqun out of the yard.
Sun Hongmei was a little puzzled. Her mother pinched her and said, "You are useless. No one wants you anymore. Why are you still clinging on? Tomorrow I will ask someone to find you a new matchmaker. Find someone who eats commercial food."
Everyone in Ping'an Village turned a deaf ear to what Sun Hongmei's mother said. If she could really find a partner for Sun Hongmei who could eat commercial food, would she still let the girl depend on Liu Zhishuang?
In addition to Liu Liqun and Liu Zhishuang, two basic militiamen pushing carts also accompanied the Sun family to Sunjiazhuang. Liu Liqun had learned his lesson this time. If a militia leader does not take a few basic militiamen with him, what kind of militia leader is he?
Halfway through the walk, Sun Hongmei quietly asked her mother, "Mom, how did you discuss this with their family?"
"Return the food to them and keep the money." Sun Hongmei's mother's tone did not reveal any sadness that her daughter was getting divorced. Instead, she sounded somewhat proud.
No wonder the two militiamen were pushing carts, they were going to bring back food overnight. As for Liu Zhishuang, under the leadership of Liu Liqun, they found the leader of the Sunjiazhuang production team, explained to him that they both agreed to divorce, and issued a divorce certificate on the spot.
After getting the certificate, Liu Zhishuang only said to Sun Hongmei: "I'll wait for you at the commune at 8 o'clock tomorrow." Then he lowered his head again.
Sun Hongmei suddenly felt that Liu Zhishuang was very unfamiliar. Even though he was right in front of her, she couldn't remember what his face looked like. She couldn't help but laugh at herself, pinched her inner pocket, and then breathed a sigh of relief.
Liu Liqun, a brigade cadre, said to the production team leader of Sunjiazhuang: "Captain Sun, Sun Hongmei is now a member of your production team again. Tomorrow, you should remind her to bring the Sun family's household registration booklet and transfer her household registration at the same time."
Captain Sun understood that Liu Liqun was telling him that he should supervise Sun Hongmei to go to the commune to complete the divorce procedures with Liu Zhishuang tomorrow. He nodded reluctantly: "Okay, I'll remind her. Anyway, we have the proof and both parties have put their fingerprints on it. Even if Sun Hongmei doesn't go to the commune, we can still get the divorce certificate."
"It's better to get it done right the first time." Liu Liqun said, "Otherwise, we won't be the ones coming next time, and we won't have to bother Captain Sun. I'll just take Liu Zhishuang to find the Red Team, and then we'll have to take the betrothal money back with us."
Captain Sun was also severely criticized by the Red Squad today because the Sun family had hidden Liu Sizhuang's family. When he heard that Liu Liqun was going to look for the Red Squad again, his face turned pale and he quickly said that he would personally bring Sun Hongmei to the commune to wait for Liu Zhishuang tomorrow.
The Sun family didn't want to say anything until they saw the people from Ping'an Village pushing the carts away. Then they breathed a sigh of relief. Sun Hongmei's mother patted her thigh and said, "It's not a loss. Hongmei hasn't eaten at home for more than a month, so she saved a lot of food. It's also 50 yuan for nothing. Let them take the food back."
The production team had just distributed food, and Sun Hongmei's food was left in the Sun family, so the Sun family always cared about money rather than food. Captain Sun looked at the three Sun family members in disbelief, and felt that he, as a captain, had learned something new today.
The young lady was sent back to her parents' home, spitting so much that she could have drowned her. Her parents didn't even say a word of comfort, they just thought about how they had gotten fifty dollars for nothing!
Xia Juhua was also enlightened. She did not expect Liu Zhishuang and his companions to return so quickly. Considering the time, Sun Jiazhuang gave out the food and certificates without any difficulty.
Is there really no one who thinks about how Sun Hongmei will live in the future? Xia Juhua looked at Liu Zhishuang speechlessly as he was carrying food to the warehouse. She should stop thinking about Sun Hongmei and think about how her little son will live in the future.
"Zhishuang, you..."
Liu Zhishuang seemed to know what Xia Juhua wanted to say, and forced a smile at her: "Mom, I'm fine. That troublemaker is gone, and there's no one causing trouble in our family, which is good."
It was indeed a good thing for the rest of the family, but not necessarily for Liu Zhishuang. After the family had a late dinner, Liu Zhishuang stood up and wanted to leave, but Xia Juhua stopped him.
Liu Zhishuang waited for a while, and seeing that his mother didn't say anything, he had to look up at her, and his eyes met Xia Juhua's. Liu Zhishuang quickly looked away, and Xia Juhua sighed:
"Zhishuang, I know you're feeling bad right now. You still have the whole night to think about it carefully. If, if you regret it..."
"Mom, I won't regret it. If I have any regrets, it's that I didn't tell you the truth." Liu Zhishuang smiled bitterly: "I thought I had grown up and could handle my own affairs, but I didn't expect that I would still let someone..."
Hearing this, Xia Juhua shook her head and had to admit that she had not taught Liu Zhishuang well. Even at this point, he still wanted to put all the problems on Sun Hongmei, not thinking that a person's goodness or badness is not determined by what he says, but by what he does. Of course, if Liu Zhishuang really thought this way, he would not be influenced by Sun Hongmei bit by bit during their time together.
Fortunately, it's not too late.
Xia Juhua admitted that she was just an old lady from the countryside and couldn't say anything profound. She just said, "You will meet all kinds of people in the future. Just be careful when you see how people are and don't just listen to what they say."
Liu Zhiquan nodded as usual, and Liu Zhishuang kept silent. Wang Caifeng looked around but couldn't wait for anyone to speak, so she couldn't help asking, "Mom, we have enough food at home, why do you want food instead of money?"
Here they come again. Xia Juhua glanced at Wang Caifeng and said, "Do you think we should get the food and money back together?"
Wang Caifeng didn't respond, but you could tell from her expression that this was what she meant. Xia Juhua said helplessly, "Even a cornered dog will jump over the wall. If we don't leave anything for the Sun family, what if they shamelessly drag their feet and refuse to divorce Zhishuang?" They were a shameless family to begin with, so the possibility was very high.
Wang Caifeng thought that was not possible: "But they can still go to the commune to seek justice. The Sun family doesn't want to join the Red Team either."
Xia Juhua was amused: "Of course they didn't want to go to the Red Team if they could. Don't forget, Zhishuang and Sun Hongmei each have their own reasons, and no one saw what happened at the time. Do you know who the Red Team believes?"
Seeing that Wang Caifeng was a little unconvinced, Xia Juhua had to tell her that the Red Team might be thinking about the fried peanuts in the previous house. Although the director of the supply and marketing cooperative had promised that it was okay, she didn't want to take the initiative to run into the Red Team's gun.
When the others heard about this, their faces turned pale. Xia Juhua had to comfort them with the words of the director of the supply and marketing cooperative, but she also warned the three of them to work honestly in the next few days and not to argue with outsiders even if they made a few sarcastic remarks.
Liu Zhishuang knew that his mother was talking mainly to him, so he nodded first. Xia Juhua then looked at Liu Zhiquan and his wife and said, "I know you feel bad about the fifty yuan, and you're afraid that Zhishuang will have to use your family's money to pay for the bride price next time she gets married. I'm putting this on the table. From now on, the money we earn will be divided the same way as the last two times. If Zhishuang marries again, he will pay for the bride price himself."
劉志全連忙搖頭擺手的說他沒那麽想，連王彩鳳也不停的保證将來劉志雙再娶的話，家裏給出彩禮她絕對沒有意見。
夏菊花快把這兩口子的話當成樂子聽了，等他們保證完了就趕人回屋睡覺去。不過在三人離開之前夏菊花也說了，既然劉志雙下次再娶他自己出彩禮，那麽這次從孫家拿回來的糧食，也由他自己收着，讓劉志雙一會兒先跟她搬了麥子再睡覺。
王彩鳳本想反對一下，被劉志全一眼給瞪的不說話了，回屋之後才說：“那本來是家裏出的糧食，咋都讓志雙一個人收着呢。”那可是五十斤麥子，不是五十斤玉米。
“你就知道算這點雞毛蒜皮的。”劉志全不耐煩的瞪媳婦一眼：“娘說話向來算數，她說将來志雙的彩禮自己出，就一定不會動家裏的錢和東西。你要是還分斤掰兩的惹娘不高興，娘讓你把咱們房裏的糧食自己管着，你樂意？”
本想說自己樂意的王彩鳳，張開口後又把話咽了回去。
自己沒有婆婆的本事，王彩鳳不得不承認這一點。她早就發現婆婆安排起家裏的糧食來，有她自己的一套：閑時喝稀忙時吃幹是一定的，喝的稀與吃的幹又別有講究。
稀裏不時摻一點過南瓜、紅薯，不多，還是玉米糁或高粱米為主，卻粥裏增了味，主糧省下些。幹的更是兩摻的時候多，只是或摻點兒小米面或摻點兒紅薯面、高粱面，樣樣仍不多，不知不覺家裏口感不好的紅薯面和高粱面就吃完了，家裏的玉米面還能吃到下年秋收。
至于春天的野菜、秋天地裏溜的癟籽，都被婆婆安排進最适合的飯菜裏，即省了糧食還增加了飯菜的味道。
雖然跟着婆婆做了三年的飯，王彩鳳仍然不認為自己已經把婆婆的本事都學會了，比如婆婆正在炒的糖霜花生，她已經看了這麽長時間，還是不敢自己上手。而且王彩鳳通過婆婆編新花樣的席，看出她不知道還有什麽本事，真讓婆婆生氣不教給自己，那才叫個虧。
還有保國的米糊，唉，五十斤麥子換回來的米糊，夠保國吃多長時間呀，王彩鳳十分惆悵的想着，婆婆是從誰那兒換來的呢？
劉家老院裏也在說着糧食的事兒。
孫氏看仇人一樣看着劉二壯兩口子，用力拍着炕桌問：“你們真不去給四壯他們送飯？”
沒人吱聲，孫氏不想拍桌子了，改拍大腿：“老天爺，我怎麽生了你這麽個東西，一點兒人味都沒有。四壯可是你親弟弟，你把他送到紅小隊也就算了，還不給他送飯，你是想餓死他呀。是不是把他也餓死了，你就把糧食都霸占了？”
劉二壯沉默，李大丫不語。孫氏哭鬧不休。
窗戶底下聽着的安寶玲撇了撇嘴進屋，娘也不叫，直直看着孫氏說：“把我們家的糧食分給我們，從明天開始我們自己單做。”
“美的你，你這個敗家娘們，有你這麽當嫂子的嗎，四壯怎麽對不起你了你上公社告他，現在還想分糧食，沒門。”孫氏終于有了對手，沖着安寶玲張口就來。
安寶玲冷笑一下，理都不理孫氏，只對劉二壯說話：“一人一年三百六十斤糧食，咱們生産隊主糧二百雜糧一百六。我們家四口人，應該拿八百斤主糧和六百四十斤雜糧。二哥，我算的沒錯吧？”
“我還沒死呢，這個家還是我當。有我在一天，誰也別想拿走一粒糧食。你願意單做就單做，我沒糧食給你。”孫氏對安寶玲無視自己十分不滿，嘴裏說着狠話，眼睛看着劉二壯。
劉二壯竟然點了頭！
孫氏站起來沖着劉二壯的臉就是一巴掌：“你是不是也想分家？”
單看劉二壯的表情，孫氏那一巴掌好象打到別人臉上一樣，他除了歪了下頭外再沒有別的動作，頭正後定定的看着孫氏，竟把孫氏看的發起毛來，不由擡起巴掌想再給劉二壯一下子。
孫氏想着，劉二壯應該不會再接自己一巴掌，那樣自己就有理由向外人哭訴劉二壯不孝順，再威脅他自己已經去大隊告狀琮，他想繼續當生産隊長，還敢同意安寶玲分糧食單做？
哪兒知道劉二壯就那麽看着孫氏，身子一動都不動的等着她的巴掌落下來。李大丫已經站到劉二壯身邊了，想拉他躲一躲被劉二壯喝住：“讓她打。”
聲音是冰冷的，沒有一點顧念的溫度，甚至連起伏都沒有，孫氏的手反而打不下去了。等了一會兒，劉二壯才問：“娘，你咋不打了？今天你想怎麽打，我要是躲一下就不是我爹的兒子。”
啥話，這說的叫啥話？孫氏氣的快翻白眼了，就聽劉二壯還在說：“娘要是不打的話，那我就把話說明白了。不光老三媳婦想把自己房裏的糧食分出來，我們也要把糧食分開，以後都自己吃自己的吧。”
“別想！”孫氏除了這兩個字，說不出別的來。她發現自己看不懂劉二壯了，眼前這個用看陌生人一樣的真是一向對她言聽計從的二兒子嗎？
李大丫跟安寶玲對視一眼，都坐到炕沿上不說話，劉二壯則不管孫氏說什麽，只說自己的：“這麽些年，我們兩房對四壯他們怎麽樣，娘你心裏有數。我們家的孩子吃的是什麽，四壯家的孩子吃的是什麽？我們家的孩子穿的是什麽，四壯家的孩子穿的又是什麽？”
“四壯兩口子一年掙多少工分，夠不夠讓他家孩子比我們的孩子吃的飽、穿的好，娘你心裏真不清楚也好，裝不知道也好，都是過去的事兒我也不說了。”
“可眼見着我們家志富、志貴還有老三家的志軍、志國都該娶媳婦了，我不能看着我孫子吃穿還不如四壯家的吧。”
“所以不管娘你願意不願意，這個家都得分，不光得分，還得請大隊的幹部來一起分。咱們就算前五年的帳，我們的分紅該是多少、花了多少，還剩下多少，娘你得給我。要不我兒子沒法娶媳婦，我不能讓我兒子打光棍。”
孫氏看着陌生的二兒子，竟有些啞口無言的感覺，強撐着說：“你就是想趁着老四不在家，要搶他們的糧食。好呀，你搶你大哥的餅子把你大哥餓死了，現在又想活活餓死老四一家子。我要上大隊、上公社告你去，到時候別說糧食你別想分着，生産隊長也別想當了。”
李大丫沖着孫氏的側影挖了一眼，聽到劉二壯說：“不當就不當。要不是我大哥原來是生産隊長，我願意當這個生産隊長？”天天活不少幹，心不少操，除了能讓劉四壯兩口子磨洋工外，他自己得什麽好處了！
孫氏傻眼了，劉二壯竟然不把生産隊長當回事，是不是在詐她？
李大丫倒覺得劉二壯說的是真話，看着如釋重負的男人，心裏嘆了一口氣，忍不住對孫氏說：“娘，你上午不是已經到大隊告了二壯一回，他這個生産隊長早就當不了了。”
孫氏去大隊沒背着人，當時也覺得自己理直氣壯，現在卻覺得劉二壯是不是因為自己去大隊告他才傷了心。她一直知道自己将來得靠劉二壯養老，待他們一房比劉三壯一房好點，就是怕劉二壯真跟自己離了心。
沒想到自己就去大隊說了說他不管自己兄弟，他就記恨上自己，還說不想當生産隊長？要真不把生産隊長當回事的話，咋平時那麽對他他都不說啥，就這次想着分家了呢？
“行，你翅膀硬了，不願意養老娘了，分就分。咱們可說好了，只要一分家，你們就趕緊從院裏搬出去，省得我天天看着你們氣死！”孫氏不是一個輕易服輸的人，拿出自己最後的殺手锏。
劉二壯神情古怪的看着自己的親娘，冷笑了一下沒吭聲。李大丫同樣冷笑了一下，看了看安寶玲。
安寶玲沒冷笑，只冷冷的問：“娘，三壯現在還躺在炕上呢，你真要這麽把我們兩家攆出去？”
“是你們不養活我，想分家單過，咋成了我攆你們呢？噢，你霸占糧食還不夠，還想霸占我的房子？我告訴你，這房子是我蓋的，我願意讓誰住就讓誰住。我不想讓誰住，誰就得給我滾蛋。”
“行，娘這房子是你蓋的，裏頭用了誰的錢最多我沒臉說，誰讓我大哥已經不在，當初我嫂子搬出去的時候都沒提呢。咱們就當你這個從來沒下過地的老太太，自己能蓋得起房子。我們搬走，咱們現在是不是得把糧食稱一稱了？”
這也吓不住？孫氏不得不使出自己最後一招，躺到地上哭嚎起來。劉二壯看了自己媳婦和安寶玲一眼，率先出了門，那兩人跟他的腳步跟的那叫一個緊，誰也沒管哭的鼻涕一把淚一把的孫氏。
Sun was completely dumbfounded, and stopped crying. She got up and called out, "Second brother, second brother, are you really not caring about your mother?"
Liu Erzhuang asked without even turning his head: "Mom, where is the key to the warehouse?"
Sun pressed the key on her waist and said, "No, you can't take the food away. I'll let you cook for yourselves and I'll weigh the food for you for every meal."
Li Daya couldn't help it and sneered again. Sun was about to curse, but she thought of Liu Erzhuang who didn't even turn his head, so she held it back. She had been so submissive, but Liu Erzhuang still didn't give in: "Mom, if you don't give me the key today, I will break the lock, believe it or not."