Houshui Village is a village with various surnames. The ancestors all came here to settle down after fleeing famine. The village head is surnamed Zhang and is less than fifty years old. He is highly respected by the villagers because of his fair dealings.
The Zhang family's house was only a few houses away from the Chen family's, and they arrived in no time.
"Chen An injured his leg, why are you separating the family now? Sister-in-law, aren't you afraid of being gossiped about behind your backs?"
When Li Manying told him about the family division, Zhang Lizheng strongly disagreed. He knew what kind of people the Chen family were, but to do things so ruthlessly was heartless.
Zhao was scolded but couldn't refute it, so she could only give Chen An a meaningful look.
Chen pretended not to see and said, "Uncle Village Head, I want to divide the family property. I don't want to drag my family down and make their lives difficult."
Zhang Lizheng sighed, "You are a kind, righteous, and filial person. I'm just afraid that life won't be easy after the family separates."
“Uncle Village Head, my mother and elder brother gave me an extra share of the property. My mother also said that she wouldn’t let me worry about anything in the future, and she wouldn’t even need to give me any money as a filial offering. If we work hard, things will get better.”
They've even waived the money they were supposed to give as a sign that they're cutting off all contact.
Zhang Lizheng didn't know what to say. He knew about the Chen family's situation, and it might not be a bad thing for Chen An's family to separate.
"Chen Ping, you know to give an extra portion, that shows you have a conscience."
Chen Ping breathed a sigh of relief and immediately stated, "We are brothers after all, family. As the older brother, I naturally have to love my younger brother."
Zhang Lizheng glanced at Chen Ping but didn't say anything. He lowered his head and wrote the contract. The hillside and fields had already been agreed upon, and the remaining land to be divided was also easy to discuss.
After the fields and hills were divided, the other miscellaneous items were also easy to divide, which were nothing more than pots and pans, tables and chairs, and the grain that the family already had.
Zhao was very careful with the grain, only taking out twenty catties each of sweet potato flour, corn grits, and coarse flour, as well as fifty catties of wheat bran. Cheng Yue had plenty of grain in her space, so she didn't care.
When Zhang Lizheng wrote about the livestock, Cheng Yue reminded him, "Uncle Lizheng, there are also two old hens and a piglet. Mother said to give them to my husband to help him recover from his injuries."
Zhang Lizheng didn't even look up. "That's natural. That's what a mother should do."
Zhao was furious. Her old hen was kept to lay eggs, and she couldn't bear to kill and eat her two grandsons. Did her second son even deserve to eat this precious old hen?
But since the village head has already spoken, she can't say anything. Eat, eat, eat! Eat him to death!
Cheng Yue didn't care what Zhao Shi looked like; the angrier they were, the happier she was.
As for other miscellaneous items, Cheng Yue's family received a kitchen knife, a sickle, and two hoes.
There were also five rough earthenware bowls, a small earthenware pot, a large wooden basin, a gourd ladle, and two sorghum stalk combs.
Cheng Yue didn't forget the wooden planks for setting up the bed, but she didn't want the quilt, which was stiff and hard, and she thought it was sloppy.
There was another table with four stools, but Chen An shook his head and didn't take it.
Seeing Chen An's calm and composed demeanor, Cheng Yue felt that something was off about him.
After everything was divided up, Zhang, the village head, also made sure to write down what Zhao had said about not needing any filial piety from the second wife or troubling them in their old age.
Chen An was illiterate, but Chen Ping and Cheng Yue were literate. Seeing that there was nothing wrong with the contract, they pressed their fingerprints on it.
The Zhao family gave Chen An the deeds to the fields, hills, and ancestral home, along with ten taels of silver, thus finalizing the division of the family property.
It was already late, so they just had to wait until tomorrow to move out.
The next day, as soon as the rooster crowed, Cheng Yue got up.
The main problem was that she didn't sleep well all night. The five of them were crammed into a broken bed that creaked and groaned with the slightest movement. It was difficult to even turn over, and her arm was stiff from sleeping on her side all night.
And with a grown man lying next to me, it's no wonder I couldn't sleep well.
When Cheng Yue got up, the three children and Chen An also woke up.
The three children were especially excited about moving out today and immediately got up to pack their things.
Actually, there wasn't much to pack. They only had two sets of clothes, both of which were worn by their uncle's family and shouldn't be altered. They were patched upon patched, and the fabric was so worn out from washing that it would tear easily, but it was still better than having nothing to wear.
The children were busy packing up their things, and Cheng Yue wasn't idle either.
Chen An couldn't help, and watching Cheng Yue come and go, he said "Thank you for your hard work" several times.
Cheng Yue found it quite interesting that many modern men think it's a woman's duty to take care of children and do housework, and how many of them can understand the difficulties women face? Let alone provide any emotional support.
Chen An seems to be a decent person for now…
Cheng Yue smiled at him and continued packing, hoping to move out sooner so they could start cooking and eating.
Chen An felt that Cheng Yue's personality had become better, but she always had a strange distance from him. It didn't seem like she disliked him. What had changed?
Cheng Yue tidied up the kitchen with a lot of clattering and clanging, which made Zhao Shi and Chen Ping's heads ache. They were already so angry about the family division yesterday that they couldn't sleep well.
Now I can't sleep at all, so I can only get up angrily.
Li Manying stood at the door, yawning and watching the spectacle unfold. "I say, sister-in-law, why are you in such a hurry to pack? Anyone who didn't know better would think you're going to have a good time. I'm afraid you'll be crying later."
She was the only one in the family who was happy; she was just glad that the family had separated.
If your husband can earn money, you can make up for the losses in a few months. Separating from the family means getting rid of a lifelong burden.
"Whether we live well or not is none of your concern, sister-in-law. You should take care of your brother and the two children when you have time."
"Brother, he's handsome and capable. You'd better keep a close eye on him. If he gets seduced, your wife will be crying!"
"Oh, and my two nephews too, you should discipline them properly. Right now they've harmed their own uncle, who knows what they might do to others in the future..."
Cheng Yue wasn't going to back down either. Li Manying had bullied the original owner quite a bit, and since she was about to leave, she kindly planted a landmine for her so that her life wouldn't be too uneventful.
Thinking of how Chen Ping had refused to be intimate with her the night before, Li Manying retorted angrily, "Stop trying to sow discord! My husband treats me very well!"
Cheng Yue gave a nonchalant "Oh," which was enough to drive anyone mad, and let them prove it themselves.
Chen Ping's eyelids twitched, and he stepped out as well. "Sister-in-law, your sister-in-law is just concerned about you. I've already given you more of the property, which is more than enough. How can you still speak such wicked words and curse the children!"
Cheng Yue shook her head. "Brother, you're wrong. We all know why you're giving more land to us."
As for cursing children, I wouldn't dare accept that. I was just offering a well-intentioned reminder, how could you be so ungrateful!
Chen Ping was too lazy to argue with Cheng Yue. In short, the family had separated, and the rest of the family was either disabled or weak. He was just waiting to see them suffer and become poor!
"Second son's wife, don't try to be so arrogant. Now that we've separated the family, we'll each live our own lives. If you offend your elder brother and sister-in-law, you'll be starving and have to beg at their doorstep, and they won't even have a bite to eat!"
Zhao was determined to follow Chen Ping's family; since they had already broken off all pretense, she didn't bother pretending anymore.
Thinking of the two old hens and the little piglet that were separated from them, he spoke with a fierce pain in his heart.
Cheng Yue chuckled, "Then I hope my mother-in-law remembers what I said today. When you're down on your luck, please don't come begging at my door. I can't bear the shame."
This isn't just something she made up. This family is a mess. The old ones are unkind, the young ones are brainless, and the two in the middle are selfish. Who knows what they'll be like in the future?
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