Chapter 9
Cheng Hui was shocked: "Mom, hasn't she always been with us?"
"Then it's time for you to make a decision."
"You mean... divorce?"
Tao Zhi flatly denied: "I never said such a thing."
Cheng Man couldn't bear it any longer, so she pulled Cheng Hui and said, "Brother, what Mom means is, as long as my sister-in-law doesn't come in, you can do whatever you want."
"What if I don't want a divorce?"
Tao Zhi was very calm: "A son is no longer under the control of his mother. Then you should move out."
"How can that be possible?"
"Why not?"
"As the eldest son, I should serve my parents."
"There's no such thing as the eldest son or the legitimate grandson in our family. As long as the child is doing well, your father and I don't need anyone else to take care of us."
"But...but..." Cheng Hui couldn't say anything for a long time.
Tao Zhi spoke for him, "You take care of your own family, and Mom and Dad have to take care of everyone else. We're both right. But for the sake of family harmony, we have to live separately. Mom, do you understand what I'm saying?"
Cheng Hui was dejected, but no one sympathized with him.
When they were little, Tao Zhi had praised him for his composure and refinement, but now he seemed rather conservative and pedantic. She had come to terms with it, after all, she had been wrong about more than one thing.
Everyone was filled with joy, ready to embrace a new life. The family was busy packing, meeting up, and saying goodbye to friends and family.
On the eve of the move, Tao Zhi called Cheng Hui over and asked him, "What are your plans?"
"Mom, you all moved to the city. Can Li Min and the others come back to live with us?"
Tao Zhi decisively rejected him: "Your father still lives in the factory."
Cheng Hui lowered his head.
"What did your father-in-law say?"
"I didn't tell them we were moving."
Tao Zhi felt relieved that he had finally made some progress.
She said, "Your father and I have discussed this and have decided to divide the family first, giving equal treatment to all four children. Do you have any objections?"
Cheng Hui knew in his heart that if he dared to say yes, Ms. Tao would not give him a penny, so he quickly shook his head.
"I bought three plots of land in the city, one each for Xingxing and Manman, worth a hundred thousand. Adding to that the cost of building a house and buying furniture, I also scraped together a hundred thousand. That means each of us gets two hundred thousand."
"Cheng Jun used his money to buy a car, and he has 20,000 left. I'll give it to him when I have enough money. If he wants to move out in the future, he'll have to find a place to live on his own."
"As for you, it's also 200,000 yuan. Our family treats everyone equally. It's clearly your responsibility, not mine or your father's, so I won't give him any money. Not to mention my daughter-in-law. I have a daughter of my own and I'm not interested in raising someone else's daughter. Do you plan to take the 200,000 yuan all at once, or just take part of it first?"
Cheng Hui asked: "If we take a part first, what about the rest?"
"I'll save it for you."
Cheng Hui hesitated, "Then I'd better take them all."
Tao Zhi said earnestly, "Hui'er, your father and I have taken out all our savings for our coffins and divided them up this time. I'm going to build my own house, so I might even have to go into debt. The next time we divide our property will be after I'm gone. So Mom hopes you'll keep this money well, don't spend it lavishly, and don't give it to others. Money is a person's courage, especially for men. If you want to achieve something, you can't do without money."
Cheng Hui kept nodding, but only he knew how much he had understood.
Tao Zhi said this and agreed to go to the bank tomorrow to give all the money for the division of the family first, and then, when the whole family was together, each child would have to sign the division document.
This was to shut up some people with ulterior motives and to prove that Tao Zhi was determined. She used real money to prove that her daughter had the same inheritance rights and outsiders had no right to interfere.
The whole family was ready to go. The Qin family, who had heard the news, came to visit again. This time, without Old Man Qin and the young strong men, they looked very weak and no longer had any arrogance.
This time, it was Old Lady Qin who stood in front, her face wrinkled like a chrysanthemum, smiling: "My dear, we are here to see you off."
Tao Zhi could only think of one sentence: "The weasel is paying New Year's greetings to the chicken." She was about to get into trouble for no reason, so she had better get in the car and run.
The car beeped twice to alert people on the roadside and slowly drove onto the road.
Mrs. Qin was so angry that she slapped her thigh. She asked Cheng Hui, "Your father is still in the police station. What are you going to do now?"
"There's no point in looking for my mom. She's not from the Public Security Bureau."
"Doesn't she know someone at the police station? If she can get someone in, she can definitely get them out."
Qin Liming pulled his son over and pushed him next to Cheng Hui, saying angrily: "You have to find a way to deal with the problem your mother caused." After that, he called Qin Dabao and left with Old Lady Qin.
Cheng Hui stood there, scratching his head with a wry smile on his face.
There was no one at home now except him. Although the factory was still operating, he was worried about leaving his son behind, so he had to take Cheng Mingcheng with him and ride his motorcycle to the police station to find Cheng An.
As soon as he arrived at the police station, Cheng An and his colleagues hurried out of the station.
Cheng Hui called him: "Brother An."
Cheng An took a closer look and said, "Huizi? What's the matter with you coming to the station?"
Cheng Hui nodded: "Brother An, I have something to talk to you about."
Cheng An kept walking. He pointed at his colleague and said, "It's not a good time now. Why don't you wait until I get back from the patrol?"
Although Cheng Hui was reluctant, he knew that official business was important, so he said, "Then I'll come back tomorrow."
Cheng An patted his shoulder and left like a gust of wind.
Cheng Hui returned home with his son, but the workers had already left. Overtime was rare these days, and most people left on time. The cook wasn't responsible for dinner, so she went home early.
After the Qin family's previous attack, Tao Zhi hired two security guards for the factory. They looked like seasoned veterans. It's unclear how Tao Zhi got them, but I heard they paid a high price. Tao Zhi said she wouldn't let the Qin family in, and Qin Limin wouldn't even be allowed through the main door. Whoever paid the money was the boss, and they wouldn't even recognize the Cheng family's daughter-in-law.
In short, the Qin family was furious, but Tao Zhi was delighted, feeling that the money was well spent. Look, not having to see those annoying people reduced how much trouble she had.
So, now there are only Cheng Hui and his son living in the two big houses.
Cheng Hui asked Cheng Mingcheng: "Mingming, are you hungry?"
Cheng Mingcheng touched his belly and said, "I'm hungry. Dad, where's my mom?"
Cheng Hui carried him to the children's dining chair and said, "Grandpa is not at home, your mom is with grandma, can dad stay with you tonight?"
"Where is Grandpa? I haven't seen him for a long time."
"Grandpa went to work far away and has to finish his work before he can come home."
"Just like I have to finish writing the big characters before I can eat?"
Cheng Hui patted his head and said, "That's right, Mingming is really amazing. He can even guess this."
Cheng Mingcheng puffed out her chest proudly: "Teacher Zhang said that I am the best kid in the kindergarten."
"The best kid ever. Can we have noodles tonight?"
Cheng Mingcheng nodded vigorously and said loudly: "Okay."
Cheng Hui smiled as he washed the vegetables, then grabbed two handfuls of noodles and put them in the pot to cook. There was no other way, this was the only food he could cook. Thinking about how his parents had never let him do any housework since he was a child, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
Cheng Mingcheng called him: "Dad, Dad, the soup is coming out."
Cheng Hui came back to his senses and looked down. He saw that the noodle soup was overflowing. He quickly opened the lid and took a rag to wipe the stove. As a result, he accidentally dropped the rag into the pot. Cheng Mingcheng burst into tears: "Dad is stupid, Dad is a big idiot."
Cheng Hui hurried to hug Mingming, but couldn't find a handkerchief, so he just used his sleeve to wipe his tears. As a result, his little face turned red, and Cheng Mingcheng cried even louder.
Cheng Hui lifted him off the chair, squatted down and said to him: "Mingming, don't cry, Daddy will take you out to eat delicious food."
Cheng Mingcheng's sobs gradually subsided. He peered out from between his fingers, his large eyes still brimming with tears. They were like the clear sky after rain, making one's heart soften, as if being gently brushed by a feather. Like the tyrant emperor, he agreed to anything he was told.
Cheng Mingcheng asked, "Dad doesn't lie?"
Cheng Hui nodded seriously: "A liar is a puppy."
"Hook?"
"We'll make a promise and stick to it for a hundred years."
Cheng Mingcheng felt relieved, wiped away his tears, and waited for his father to leave.
Cheng Hui fished out the noodles and dumped them out. Back then, people still collected the slop, so the factory didn't waste any leftovers. He washed the rag, wiped the stove, and rode his bike with Cheng Mingcheng to the county town to start cooking.
He found a restaurant that the factory often went to for dinner. It was clean and the food was pretty good. Cheng Hui sat down and ordered egg custard for Mingming, stir-fried peas, corn, and carrot cubes, and steamed lotus root meatballs. Finally, he added a serving of fried rice for himself.
The child didn't eat much, so Cheng Hui packed up the rest. The plate was completely cleared, and both father and son were stuffed to the gills.
When it came time to pay the bill, Cheng Hui's heart ached as he was spending his own money, which was usually fine. He then realized that his father had to independently support a factory, take care of so many people's food and drink, and even in his fifties and sixties, still attract business and work hard to generate income and pay salaries. It was actually not easy.
Walking out of the door, Cheng Mingcheng was very satisfied: "If the food is this delicious every day, I will be so happy."
Cheng Hui patted his little head and said, "If you keep eating like this every day, I can't afford to support you as your dad."
At this point, Cheng Hui's heart skipped a beat. Speaking of which, the two hundred thousand yuan seemed like a lot at first glance, but Ms. Tao had clearly stated that she wouldn't receive any more of it until she was a hundred years old. Qin Limin couldn't even get into the factory, so with this money, besides buying a house and supporting his wife and children, his wife's family would occasionally take some of it, and his brother-in-law would constantly ask for money, it was barely enough to spend.
Cheng Hui couldn't even imagine what it would be like to have another child if his income disappeared... not to mention the expenses of his son's education, work, and marriage. He felt a distinct sense of crisis, the prospect of running out of money. He had considered going to the police station to arrange for it, but before he secured a house, he hesitated to act rashly.
Cheng Hui stood there, frightened and breaking out in a cold sweat. He finally began to understand his parents a little. Earning money was so hard, and no one wanted to be taken advantage of, spending money carelessly, even if that person was their own son. For the first time, he felt ashamed of the Qin family's coercion.
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