Chapter 101: Divide
Split up? Or not split up?
Zhang Juhua was indeed a little hesitant.
Now, when she looked at Xiang Yao, she instinctively felt a splitting headache. Not only did she have a headache, but her heart also ached. She couldn't decide in her heart which one was more uncomfortable because she would lose face if the family split up, or because the couple would move in and stir up trouble if they didn't split up.
She absolutely believed that if this plague-like granddaughter could say it, she would definitely be able to do it.
If she really moved in with a man, how could the Xiang family have a good life in the future?
Xiang Yao fell silent after saying that, and no one else spoke either. They secretly looked at Zhang Juhua, waiting for her final decision. For a moment, the air was stagnant.
Ye Fang couldn't help herself. She pulled her daughter, who had no idea what the adults were talking about, and bit her lip, her tone rather uneasy. "Xiang Yao, I know you're unhappy with me, Mother, and Grandma for forcing you to get married, so you're doing this to get back at us. I'm sorry, it's all my fault as your sister-in-law. I apologize."
Xiang Yao glanced at her indifferently and asked, "Do you truly feel sorry for me, or are you afraid that if I move in, you'll lose out? You're not only treating me like a commodity, you're also treating me like a fool. I don't accept your apology."
Ye Fang raised her eyes with tears in them. "I really do feel sorry for you, really. Just ask me to apologize in whatever way you want. But, Yaoyao, I do have selfish motives. I've been with your brother for so long, and we only have one child, Xiaoyi. We also want a separate house. Everyone knows that although the Nie family's background isn't good, they can afford a bicycle, so they must be rich..."
Xiang Yao smiled: "Yes, you want a separate room, so you set your sights on me. That's great."
Seeing that Ye Fang wanted to speak, she waved her hand and said, "Stop talking. Whether my husband's family has money is his family's business. It's not a reason for you to bring this up."
Ahem, that’s what she said, but who could have known that Nie Baichuan would hand over all his belongings to her.
Xiang Yao suppressed the sudden thought in his mind and continued, "This house was originally allocated to my parents. If any of you want to live in it, sure, give me the money and I'll transfer it to you. I don't want much, just fifty yuan, which is much cheaper than building a house for you."
Zhou Aihua stood up and interrupted Xiang Yao loudly: "Yao girl, you are so unreasonable! Fifty yuan! How can we afford that?"
Xiang Yao looked at her and said nothing.
Look, these people just want to get something for free, without paying any price. That's right, people like them are just like that.
"This house was renovated twenty years ago, right? I heard from my father that when my grandfather was still alive, he said that each family of three brothers would have one room. Even if I'm the only one in this room, or I don't live there, if anyone of you wants to move in, you have to ask for my permission first."
This was a passage he dug out from his original body's memory. At that time, it was said that whoever owned the house would own it, and not everyone could have it easily.
Xiang Yao looked around and said, "Anyway, I came here today with two requests. First, we want to split up the family. I don't want anything from you, neither money nor food. Grandma, is this okay with you?"
Zhang Juhua snorted coldly when she heard her words, knowing that this family had to be divided, and said, "Okay, you said it, I don't want anything."
"Well, I don't want anything," Xiang Yao nodded. "Secondly, it's my room. As I just said, whoever wants it wants fifty yuan. I don't want more, and I won't accept less either."
Zhang Juhua said, "This is my old Xiang family's house! How can a little girl like you make the decision?"
Xiang Yao smiled and said, "If I can't decide on this room, then we should follow the normal rules of dividing the family in Xiangjiawan. Food, money, all of which must be divided. And if I want to come back and live here one day, then this room will be mine..."
Zhang Juhua interrupted immediately: "No!"
Seeing that they were at a stalemate again, no one in the Xiang family was willing to pay, and Zhang Juhua thought that Xiang Yao's request was simply ridiculous.
For a moment, no one spoke.
"Oh, they're all here." A deep, loud voice broke the silence.
Everyone looked towards the gate of the courtyard and saw that it was the team leader Yang Youliang, and walking side by side with the women's director Zhang Xiaoxia. They couldn't help but wonder why the team leader was here?
And why are Xiang Gensheng and Xiang Ming following behind? When did these two return?
When Xiang Yao saw Xiang Ming, his eyes lit up and he whispered, "Brother Ming!"
Xiang Ming stood behind Yang Youliang and glared at her, but his face did not look angry.
He ignored Xiang Yao and turned to look at Nie Baichuan, looking him up and down with a difficult and complicated expression.
Xiang Ming had never expected that such a big thing would happen at home after he had been away for just a few days. If he had not just returned to the brigade and met the brigade leader and Director Zhang on their way home, and if they had not told him the whole story, he would have had no idea about it at all!
After knowing this, he knew that asking his father to come to him to apologize to his former apprentice's master was simply a way to get him and his father away so that Xiang Yao could marry into the Zhou family.
But he couldn't persuade his father, so he went there after all. It wasn't to apologize, but just to let his father know that he would never come again after this time.
Xiang Ming looked at Xiang Yao holding Nie Baichuan's arm and regretted it very much. He shouldn't have gone out.
In just a few days, the partner he just started working with turned out to be his brother-in-law. He still hasn't figured out the background of the Nie family yet...
Why!
On the other side, Zhang Juhua saw that the team leader had actually come, and was wondering which shameless person had gone to complain.
She glanced around and saw Zhao Erhua next door, leaning over the fence and watching. She immediately guessed that it must be this old pig woman who reported it!
See if she doesn’t turn around and tear Zhao Erhua’s big mouth apart!
Zhao Erhua saw Zhang Juhua looking at her with gritted teeth, and was puzzled: Why is the family in such a mess? This person still has the mind to stare at me, it's really funny.
But she is not afraid of Zhang Juhua. She not only wants to watch the fun, but also wants to spread the news to the whole team later!
Zhang Juhua quickly turned her gaze away, her face bitter, and she began to accuse:
"Oh, Captain, you've come at the perfect time! Look, my granddaughter is so ignorant! I'm still alive, but she's already clamoring to split up the family business. I'm too embarrassed to live in Xiangjiawan anymore!"
She pretended to wipe tears from her cloudy eyes and said in a very miserable voice:
"I can honestly say I've done nothing wrong in my life. I raised my sons and daughters with great care and even married them off with wives and sons-in-law. My second son's family was useless, so they only had a little girl. Now, this girl is completely disobedient. She goes in circles when I tell her to, so she found someone to marry herself off!"
"How could I, as her grandmother, harm her? I just want her to live a good life!"
She pointed at the young couple and said harshly, "I'm not saying anything more than a secret marriage, and our family didn't even get a penny of the betrothal gift! Look, the new son-in-law came today and showed no courtesy at all. He actually came to help her divide the family property!"
"We, the Xiang family, have raised her for over ten years, and it seems like all that was for nothing! Now she's calling for a family separation. How could a girl want to split up the family? This is completely unreasonable. I, an old woman, have never heard of it before!"
She was crying and slapping her thighs, covering her heart. If someone who didn't know her saw her, they might think she was so miserable!
Xiang Yao glanced at Nie Baichuan with a helpless expression.
She dislikes this kind of situation the most, because the one who cries and makes a fuss is usually the one who is right.
But, Zhang Juhua is not the only one who cries and makes a fuss.
Nie Baichuan was just patting Xiang Yao's arm, wanting to comfort her, when he saw the girl loosen her arm, curl her lips, wrinkle her nose, and clear tears instantly flowed down like a small ditch beside the field, leaving two wet marks on her fair face.
"Grandma, you said you've never done anything wrong, but you want to marry me to that Zhou Lame who hits people at every turn! The Zhou family is a den of tigers and wolves, a huge pit of fire, and you insist on forcing me to jump in!"
Xiang Yao looked distraught, tears streaming down her face, yet she pretended to be strong. "I had no choice. I'm the only daughter my parents have, and I can't live such a miserable life. Even if my father died, I wouldn't be at peace, and my mother would worry about me every day. So I had no choice but to run away from the marriage. If Comrade Nie hadn't been willing to marry me, how could I have a good life?"
"As for dividing the family, you kicked my mother out and forbade her to return. She's still living at my grandmother's house, living at the mercy of others. What can I do? As long as I don't divide the family, my mother won't be able to follow me legitimately. As a daughter, how can I not be filial to my mother?"
Zhang Juhua didn't expect that this girl actually mentioned her mother. In front of the team cadres, she felt a little guilty and didn't know what to say for a moment. She just kept covering her heart and groaning, "Ouch, ouch."
Yang Youliang looked around and said while smoking, "Logically, we shouldn't get involved in the division of the team, but since Xiang Yao is Liang Sheng's only daughter, and Liang Sheng is gone now, I'm also her uncle, and I can't just sit back and do nothing about it."
He did not say that he was invited by Xiang Yao and Nie Baichuan to witness the separation of the family. He only said that Xiang Liangsheng was also a good captain and they remembered his kindness.
Zhang Xiaoxia also spoke at this time. She had been watching for a long time and had something to say.
She is not like Yang Youliang who talks about feelings and reason. She just can't stand that Xiangjiawan is forcing children to get married!
"Aunt Juhua, I think your thinking hasn't been reformed yet. You're still stuck with the old ways of arranged marriage!"
"Ever since I found out about your family's situation, I've been asking around. That young man from the Zhou family, the one who was about to get married, ended up getting beaten away by him. Everyone there knows about this! I don't believe that the family you're marrying off hasn't inquired about this and doesn't know about it!"
If they hadn't inquired, it would mean that the Xiang family was only interested in the Zhou family's conditions and were eager to sell their daughter. If they had inquired, the Zhou family's affairs would have been spread everywhere by the girl, and there was no reason why the Xiang family couldn't find out.
So the conclusion is obvious, what the Xiang family did was really not fair!
Zhang Juhua stiffened her neck and argued, "Which girl is like this? How can this be called an arranged marriage? I'm an old woman with little education, I've never been to school, so I don't know! I just know that every family is like this, and when you get married, you have to obey the elders!"
Zhang Xiaoxia glared at him. "Then you are illiterate! Legally illiterate! So stubborn! You need to be reeducated with new ideas!"
Zhang Juhua was really furious now. She puffed her chest and pointed at Zhang Xiaoxia, "Bah! You're just a women's director. You're just relying on your position to control us. I'm decades older than you! When I married my daughter off, you were still a baby. You know shit!"
Zhang Xiaoxia has seen a lot of unreasonable people like this. These people usually know that they are in the wrong and cannot win the argument, so they start to throw a tantrum. Humph, she won't be scared!
"Anyway, this whole thing was caused by your Aunt Juhua. It's a good thing they didn't arrest you for re-education. Your granddaughter and Comrade Xiao Nie are in a legal marriage. These days, freedom of marriage is important, and you're not making sense on this point!"
She added, "I believe you knew this yesterday, so let's skip it for now. Now, it's because of this that Xiang Yao wants to separate the family. Her request is reasonable. Since you don't treat her as your own granddaughter, then it makes sense to separate the family!"
Zhang Juhua looked at Yang Youliang and said, "Captain, that's not what you're saying! This girl not only wants to split up the family, but she also said that if we want to use her room, we have to pay her fifty yuan! How can that be possible?"
Xiang Yao explained, "Captain, Director, this house belongs to my father. I've made it clear before. I don't want anything from this house, neither food nor money. But whoever wants this house has to give fifty yuan. Otherwise, no one except me and my mother can occupy it."
"Of course, I've changed my mind now." She glanced at Xiang Ming, whose expression was still grim, and suddenly laughed, saying, "I'm giving this room to Brother Ming. No money required."
Xiang Ming suddenly looked at Xiang Yao, and the eyes of the others were the same, falling on Xiang Yao with shock and surprise.
Xiang Yao's eyes curved, he looked around, and confirmed, "Yes, that's it."
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