"Separate the family?" Chen Qin immediately exchanged a glance with Lu Yunfeng after hearing this. That would be great!
They also wanted to separate the family. Before, when the fifth son was in the army, he could send 150 yuan home a month, and the family could afford meat once a week on that money! But now, the fifth son is injured and disabled. Forget about sending money home; it's considered good enough if they don't need any from home!
Besides, the fifth son's wife is delicate and doesn't do any housework. If they don't separate from the family, won't they be supporting two freeloaders?
However, their family wasn't favored by Old Lady Li, so they had never dared to bring up the matter. Now that the eldest son, who was just as pampered as the fifth son, had brought it up, were they still afraid that Old Lady Li would object due to favoritism?
The second wife's family also hurriedly echoed the idea of dividing the family property. Lu Yunfeng, with his splayed front teeth, said:
"I agree to split up! Today, Fifth Brother knocked half of my front teeth out; if I stay any longer, he might dislocate a piece of my arm next year!"
"What are you saying!" Old Mrs. Li scolded her second son. But in her heart, she began to ponder the matter.
Alright.
It turns out that the whole family was willing to accept the money the fifth son brought back, even though his wife didn't do anything.
There were no complaints. But now, the fifth brother has only been back from military service for less than a week, and the family is already in chaos, with even blood brothers turning against each other.
Let's just split this business.
Old Mrs. Li turned and went back into the house, taking out the savings her family had accumulated over the years. The thick wad of money was wrapped in layers of coarse cloth, and the eyes of the two families, the eldest and the second, lit up as they looked at it.
They said that the money Lao Wu brought home over the years definitely wasn't all used to support the family. Our mother had been secretly saving a lot for Lao Wu and helping his family out privately!
Grandma Li unfolded the cloth and placed the change on the table. "This is our family's savings over the years, a total of one thousand yuan..."
Before she could finish speaking, Chen Qin interrupted, "Mom, take another look. How could the family only have a thousand yuan in savings?"
A thousand yuan is a lot of savings for an ordinary farming family. But Chen Qin thought that the family's savings were definitely more than that, and that her mother must have secretly set aside some money to help the eldest and fifth wives later.
Why is that?! They're both sons born of the same mother, so why is there such a huge difference?!
The second son also harbored resentment. The eldest son was his parents' firstborn son, their most valued son, and the fifth son was their youngest son, their most doted-on son. Only he, the third, and the fourth son held a mediocre position in the family, never receiving any benefits, yet all the dirty and tiring work fell on their shoulders!
"Mom, you've spoiled the fifth son for so many years, and now that we're dividing the family property, you shouldn't hide your true feelings anymore." Lu Yunfeng got angrier and angrier, so he just blurted it all out.
Grandma Li stared at her second son in disbelief. After all these years, was this how he saw her? To be fair, she did dote on her fifth son a bit, but he was also the most successful son in the family! Without him, it would be a problem for the whole family to even have meat once a year!
Old Man Lu, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up: "Second son, is that really what you think?"
Old Lu was never one to talk or get involved in other people's business. He would only get involved if someone bullied his wife.
Lu Yunfeng lowered his head, not daring to say another word.
The five brothers of the Lu family were most afraid of Old Man Lu. Since they were young, whenever they displeased Old Lady Li, Old Man Lu would pick up a thorny wooden stick and beat them mercilessly until Old Lady Li forgave them, at which point he would reluctantly put down the stick.
"In my opinion, if the family is to split up, the lion's share of this money should go to the fifth son's family," said Old Man Lu, pulling out seven hundred yuan from the pile of money and handing it to Lu Yunzhi.
This scene was witnessed by others, who were extremely anxious. Qi Ran, in particular, was unwilling to maintain her outwardly gentle and kind image. She stepped forward and grabbed Old Man Lu's hand: "Dad, are you trying to make the other four branches of the family starve to death because each branch won't get seventy-five yuan? I'm carrying the Lu family's first grandson, and this is how you're going to treat us?"
Old Man Lu was displeased at being stopped like this, and roared, "You bastard! If it weren't for Fifth Brother risking his life outside, the Lu family's savings today might not even be 100 yuan!"
This is true. Old Man Lu and Old Woman Li are both simple farmers. They toil in the fields all year round, and their savings are less than a hundred yuan. If it weren't for their fifth son working hard in the army for four years, their family's life would probably be even more difficult now! However, the other sons all have their reluctance written all over their faces.
When Shen Qianqian heard that her husband had finally been mentioned, she jumped in as a peacemaker, saying, "Dad, Mom, don't be angry. Whether or not this family is divided is not up to the eldest brother and the second brother's two families. How about this, let's vote on whether or not to divide the family first. If we do divide the family, then we can talk about how to distribute the money later."
Old Man Lu nodded, "Let's do as the fifth son's wife says! Raise your hands if you agree to divide the family property!" The eldest and second sons eagerly raised their hands, while the other three sons remained silent.
Qi Qi panicked and frantically winked at Xu Tianjing, the third son's wife, "Fourth son's wife, do you remember what I told you last night?"
Xu Tianqing buried her head almost in her chest. She remembered what her sister-in-law had told her yesterday. Her sister-in-law said that after her fifth brother came back, the two of them might try to leech off them. She and her husband were both honest people who only knew how to work hard and didn't even know if they were being schemed against.
However, she is obsessed with looks.
She thought her fifth sister-in-law's eyes were bright and sparkling, as if they held little stars, and her smile was sweet. She knew that such a person could never be a bad person.
She secretly raised her eyes and met Shen Qianqian's gaze, her ears turning half red.
A smile spread across Shen Qianqian's lips. It wasn't until she became a ghost that she realized her fourth sister-in-law liked her very much. In later terms, she was someone whose looks were everything.
“Three to two, it looks like we’ll have to continue living together.” Shen Qianqian pulled Lu Yunzhi to the side of the third and fourth wives. She wouldn’t be willing to separate the family until she got back the benefits that the first and second wives had enjoyed over the years.
Qi Ran looked at Shen Qianqian's smug expression and felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. Shen Qianqian, however, continued to talk as if she was unaware of the situation.
"Mom and Dad, you should keep the money at home. Our family still needs to make a living."
“However, Yunzhi and I probably can’t do much work right now. I fell into the water and caught a chill, and Yunzhi’s injuries haven’t fully healed, so…” Shen Qianqian smiled as she looked at the two families, “We’ll have to rely on you brothers and sisters-in-law for a while.”
After she finished speaking, Qi Ran's face turned deathly pale. Shen Qianqian, not forgetting to add insult to injury, feigned surprise.
"Oh dear, sister-in-law, you don't look well. Let's go check on her quickly, lest we lose both the big picture and the small details!"
Lu Yuncheng then noticed that something was wrong with Qi Ran and took the second wife with him straight to the hospital.
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