Zhao almost choked on her breath. How dare they curse them to beg for food! She immediately stepped forward, pointed at Cheng Yue's nose, and began to hurl insults:
"You damned wicked woman! You shameless slut, may your whole family die and turn to ashes, while I'm still alive and well, much luckier than you... Ah!!!"
Since she'd practically offered her an arm, Cheng Yue wasn't about to disrespect her by not pinching her. So she gave her a hard twist. "Oh, Mother-in-law, what's wrong? Why are you crying all of a sudden!"
"Mother, are you alright?"
Zhao was in so much pain that tears streamed down her face. Chen Ping and Li Manying finally saw clearly that Cheng Yue actually dared to be so ruthless towards her mother-in-law.
"What's going on now!"
Zhang Lizheng told his family last night about Chen An's plan to divide the family property. His two children, who have been close to Chen An since childhood, came over early this morning with a cart to help.
As soon as he entered the door, he heard Zhao yelling at the top of her lungs, which startled him.
“Uncle Village Head, you’re here. My mother-in-law just cried because she was worried about us. She said we won’t have enough to eat in the future.”
Chen Ping retorted angrily, "Bullshit! You're the one who hit your mother!"
Cheng Yue looked aggrieved. "Big brother, how could you accuse me like this? You said I hit my mother-in-law, so let everyone see the wound."
Zhao was panting heavily, her chest heaving. Her injuries were almost up to her armpits. If she took off her clothes and showed them to everyone, how could she face anyone to live?
When the village head saw that they didn't move, he glared at them fiercely. There was never a moment of peace and quiet. They had already separated their families, so he didn't know what they were making such a fuss about!
“Chen An’s wife, have you packed your things? I came with a cart. In a bit, I’ll have your brother Da Shan and brother Da Jiang lift Chen An onto the cart, and they’ll help you move it over.”
Cheng Yue was very grateful to Zhang Lizheng for his thoughtfulness.
"Thank you, Uncle Village Head. I was just worried about how to move. I'll remember your kindness and will definitely repay you in the future!"
Cheng Yue's attitude was sincere, which pleased the village head. He thought Chen An's family were good people, and he would help them if he could, without expecting anything in return.
He waved his hand casually and said, "No need to be polite, Dashan, Dajiang, go and lend a hand."
"Okay!" Zhang Dashan and Zhang Dajiang looked honest and reliable, so Cheng Yue quickly thanked them.
The Zhang brothers were efficient; they lifted Chen An onto the cart and then easily loaded all sorts of other belongings onto it as well, without Cheng Yue having to lift a finger.
Liu Chunlai, who lived next door, heard the commotion and ran over. He immediately realized that Chen An and his family had separated, so he quickly helped them out.
Cheng Yue looked at the newly sprouted vegetable seedlings in the yard, and without caring what kind of vegetables they were, she took a shovel and dug up several pieces, which made Zhao Shi's eyes turn green with anger.
Zhang Lizheng watched the whole thing from the sidelines, not thinking there was anything wrong with it. He knew they couldn't do without some vegetable seedlings; they couldn't eat wild vegetables every day.
Finally, the Zhang brothers pushed the cart one after the other, Cheng Yue and her three children walked beside them carrying vegetable seedlings, and Liu Chunlai followed behind carrying two old hens and herding pigs, all heading towards the old house.
Seeing that there were enough people, the village head didn't follow along and instead went to take a walk around the fields.
Along the way, Chen Lin and Da Ni and Er Ni were overjoyed, unable to stop smiling. Even if they didn't have enough to eat in the future, it didn't matter. Being able to leave this home was the best thing.
“Brother Chen, splitting up the family is a good thing, don’t be sad. The doctor said your leg isn’t serious, and it will get better if you take good care of it.”
Liu Chunlai, fearing that Chen An might overthink things, stepped forward and offered some words of advice.
"Chunlai, I heard from your sister-in-law that you were the one who went to invite the doctor. I haven't thanked you yet."
Chen An was not sad; on the contrary, he was full of expectations for the future. He had wanted to separate from the family for a long time, and now that his wish had been fulfilled, he just felt a little unbelievable.
Liu Chunlai chuckled sheepishly, "It's nothing, why are you being so polite with me? Once you're better, helping me weed an acre of land will be your way of thanking me!"
Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but laugh.
Zhang Dashan also said with a smile, "Thanking you isn't the priority. What's urgent is the ten mu of land that your brother Chen An was allocated. The wheat can be harvested in another month, and you'll have to help with the harvest!"
Cheng Yue thought to herself, "It's the end of March now. If we harvest wheat in May, it'll be autumn wheat, just like in my hometown, where it's sown in September or October."
After harvesting the wheat, it's time to plant corn, also known as maize, so the two crops can be grown in rotation.
However, Chen An's leg was too bad to harvest wheat, and his three children were still young, so he felt bad asking for help.
She can work, but it's ten acres of land, and she'd probably be exhausted if she had to harvest it all.
There's still over a month left, it seems I'll have to hire someone to collect it then. Luckily, I have some money on hand.
Liu Chunlai tilted his head and hummed, "I'll definitely help Brother Chen An collect it, but Brother Dashan and Brother Dajiang, you two won't escape either!"
"Of course you need to tell me! We've been through thick and thin together since we were kids. If Brother Chen An is injured, of course we have to help!"
Zhang Dajiang was holding onto the cart and couldn't free his hands, otherwise he really wanted to slap Liu Chun for looking so smug.
Yesterday, when the Chen family was making a scene, the two brothers went to the fields and couldn't come to help. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been a chance for Liu Chunlai.
Houshui Village doesn't have a large population, only about forty households. There are many people of Chen An's age, but the two best friends are Liu Chunlai and the Zhang brothers.
"Okay, then I'll have to trouble you all. Once I'm better, I'll help you hoe the fields one by one!"
Chen An was touched. Each of these three brothers was better than his own elder brother, which showed that blood ties could be unreliable.
Cheng Yue wanted to offer to pay, but seeing how Chen An interacted with them, she knew it would be inappropriate to say so, so she kept quiet.
The group chatted and laughed, attracting much discussion among the villagers who were passing by on their way to work in the fields.
"Hey, where's Chen An going with his family?"
"Where else can we go? To the ancestral home! This is a family division."
Aunt Li happened to be passing by. She had heard the commotion over there all morning, and if it weren't for the local officials in charge, she would have definitely gone over to say a few words.
"Huh? Chen An's leg is like this and he still wants to split up the family? What will he eat and drink in the future? But seeing that they have split up the family makes me happy."
A woman gestured towards the Chen family's direction with her lip, "How could we not be happy? People like Zhao and Chen the eldest can't live together even if they don't separate. They might even be better off after they separate."
"That's true. The eldest Chen family is all fat and bloated, while the second Chen family is so skinny. Chen Lin's pants are practically showing his butt, and his two daughters are so thin."
"I just don't know if Chen An's leg will get better. If it doesn't, Chen An's wife will have a heavy burden. I don't know if she can handle it."
"..."
After some discussion, some felt that Chen An would suffer if the family split up, while others felt that the family would only get better after splitting up. Cheng Yue and her group, of course, were unaware of this.
The group pushed the cart uphill and soon arrived at the location of the Chen family's ancestral home.
The houses in the village are all located halfway up the mountain, but the Chen family's ancestral home is situated higher than most other houses, offering a very open view.
The area around the house isn't very flat, as it's a slope, surrounded by two acres of somewhat abandoned dry land on either side, with a dirt road extending to the top of the mountain.
Behind the house, there are large pine and cypress trees, as well as some not-so-tall miscellaneous trees, and further away, various wild grasses and wildflowers.
A cool breeze blows by, carrying a delightful fragrance.
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