Du Lianqiao decided to speak frankly about some things. He said, "You may not know this, but Yuhan is not our Du family's biological daughter at all. She was entrusted to our Du family by a revolutionary soldier couple, who also gave us a sum of money for raising her."
But my stepmother didn't give Yuhan a single penny, and she made Yuhan do chores from the time she was a few years old, without even feeding her.
If that couple were still alive, they would definitely be high-ranking officials. How would they feel if they found out one day that their daughter had been treated this way?
Everyone present was shocked by Du Lianqiao's words. It turned out that Du Yuhan was not of the Du family bloodline. No wonder Liu Cuilian treated her so harshly.
Du Yuhan was also surprised; she hadn't expected her father to reveal her true identity at this time.
Du Dachuan and Liu Cuilian never expected that Du Lianqiao would reveal Du Yuhan's background in front of so many people.
Liu Cuilian angrily said, "I raised her all these years, she should repay me."
Du Lianqiao retorted, "But you also received a bag of silver dollars from them back then, enough for Yuhan to eat and drink for all these years. Besides, Yuhan started working when she was just a few years old. She ate her own food and the food rations of our second branch of the family. She didn't eat a single bite of your food."
Liu Cuilian said fiercely, "No matter how much you talk, it's no use. It's the parents' decision and the matchmaker's words. I'll make her marry whoever I want her to marry."
Du Yuhan knew it was her turn to step in. She walked up to everyone and said, "Captain, this is a new society now. Doesn't the country advocate freedom of marriage and oppose arranged marriages?"
The captain nodded and said, "Yes, arranged marriages are illegal and can lead to imprisonment."
The brigade leader also disapproved of Liu Cuilian's behavior and deliberately spoke harshly to scare her.
The women's director also said, "Yes, now that women are liberated, it is forbidden to persecute women. That is illegal. You will go to jail and be criticized and denounced."
Liu Cuilian was frightened when she heard she would go to jail. But she was truly unwilling to lose the bride price that was about to be hers. Her youngest son was even pointing at the bride price and saying, "What about my future wife?"
Du Yuhan, seeing Liu Cuilian's darting eyes, seized the opportunity to say, "Grandma, if you agree to let our second branch of the family separate, I will agree to this marriage. Then you won't be considered to have arranged a marriage, and you won't have to go to jail."
Du Lianqiao felt ashamed when he heard that his daughter was really going to trade her lifelong happiness for the freedom of her second wife, and he wanted to object on the spot.
As soon as Du Lianqiao was about to speak, Du Yuhan grabbed his hand tightly and shook her head.
Du Lianqiao finally closed his eyes and remained silent.
He was conflicted, unsure if letting his daughter marry into a city family was the right thing to do. If there were a major famine, at least in the city there would be food supplies and a chance to survive.
In this era, rural people yearn to become city dwellers, so they don't have to toil in the fields every day.
Wang Yuqiao, standing beside her, covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face. She knew all too well that her daughter had traded her own lifelong happiness for the chance to live for the second branch of the family. And this was even after her daughter knew she was an adopted daughter.
Liu Cuilian had a dark look on the second wife's eyes all day long. If it weren't for their food rations to supplement the family income, and for the second wife to work for the family to earn work points, she would have kicked the second wife aside long ago.
Liu Cuilian was quickly weighing the pros and cons in her mind. The three sons of the second wife were growing up and would eat more and more in the future. She would also need to find wives for them, and she wouldn't get much benefit from the second wife's family in the future. It would be far less than the dowry money this time.
Besides, her youngest son is about to get married, and she's waiting to use the dowry money to help him find a wife.
Liu Cuilian kept giving Du Dachuan meaningful glances. Du Dachuan, of course, understood what the old woman meant.
Du Dachuan also thought about what his second son had just said. If Du Yuhan's biological parents were still alive, they would definitely be high-ranking officials. Because when he entrusted Du Yuhan to their family to raise, the two of them were already quite high-ranking officers in the military.
Du Yuhan's marriage this time was voluntary, and even if her biological parents come looking for her in the future, they won't be able to say anything. The Du family will even get a dowry.
Otherwise, I, this old woman, will have to find someone for Du Yuhan again in the future. If Du Yuhan is unwilling, it will be troublesome in the future. It's better to resolve this now.
As for the second son's family moving out, so be it. He has plenty of sons; one more won't make a difference. As long as they give him filial piety money on time every year, that's fine.
After thinking it over, Du Dachuan tapped his pipe and said, "Then let's divide it. The second wife will be separated from the family, and she'll give us, the old couple, fifty catties of cornmeal every year. That's the gist of it; I didn't ask for more."
Du Lianqiao saw that his father showed no affection for his second wife and clearly wanted to use his daughter to buy a dowry. But now that things had come to this, he couldn't say anything.
Liu Cuilian then added conditions, "Now that the family has separated, there are two separate households. You, the second branch, can no longer live in the main house and have to move out. You can take your belongings from your house, but you won't get anything else."
Liu Cuilian was also thinking that the family's housing was tight, and they needed to prepare a new house for her youngest son's wedding. The second room could be renovated and used as a new house.
Du Yuhan was just thinking about how to move out of the Du family home when Liu Cuilian's request was exactly what she wanted. Ideally, the two families would live far apart, so that she wouldn't have to worry about the Du family finding out what she ate at home.
Du Yuhan quickly tugged at her father's hand, signaling him to agree.
Seeing his daughter's gesture, Du Lianqiao had no choice but to say, "Okay, I'll talk to the village leaders later and borrow a house first before moving out."
Du Yuhan said, "Then please ask the village leaders to write a certificate for our second branch of the family. That way, it will be easier to talk things over in the future. This year's food rations should also be allocated to our second branch. I will also keep my promise and agree to the marriage in the city that my grandmother proposed to me."
When the village leaders saw that Du Dachuan and Du Lianqiao had both nodded, they wrote three identical certificates according to the conditions they had just agreed on. After signing and pressing their fingerprints, one copy was given to Du Dachuan, one to Du Lianqiao, and one to be kept by the brigade.
The second wife's household registration will also be separated into a separate household, completely separating her from the Du family and becoming an independent family.
After the certificate was written, Du Lianqiao discussed with the village leaders about borrowing an empty house in the village for temporary accommodation.
There are indeed several empty houses in the village, left behind by elderly people who died without children. Most of them are dilapidated and in disrepair.
The village decided to lend a decent house to Du Lianqiao's family.
Although Du Lianqiao got his wish and was separated from his daughter, he was not happy. This was because his daughter had traded her lifelong happiness for it. How could he be at peace with himself?
However, not wanting his daughter's efforts to be in vain, Du Lianqiao did not waste a moment. He and his family tidied up the house that the village had lent him, pulled out all the weeds in the yard, and cleaned up the roof, doors, and windows so that it was habitable.
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