Before long, Wu Baoan rushed over. Upon learning what had happened, he was furious, his teeth chattering, and he unleashed a torrent of profanities.
"They're fucking beasts! No, not even beasts, they're worse than animals! How could they do such a heartless thing? They're utterly hopeless! Zhanliang, what do you say we do about this?!"
Suppressing his anger, Chen Zhanliang snorted coldly, "I don't have parents like that, I don't have brothers like that, I want to separate from the family."
"Dividing the family is possible, but Zhancai is now a scholar. If the family is divided, you will no longer enjoy the benefits of exemption from taxes and corvée labor. Have you thought this through?"
"I've thought it through. Although the title of scholar can bring many benefits, what's the use if I can't even protect my son?" Chen Zhanliang gave a bitter smile.
Wu Baoan nodded in agreement. "Zhanliang, to be honest, you should have taken this step a long time ago. Your family used to be the leading family in our village, but in just a few years, in order to support Chen Zhancai's education, your life has become poorer and poorer, and you can hardly afford to eat. Why are you still getting involved? If it were anyone else, they would have separated and lived separately by now."
"Yes, village head, I've thought about these things before, but what are we farmers afraid of? We're just afraid of people talking behind our backs!"
"My silly brother, as the saying goes, a big tree branches out, and a large family splits up; this is an age-old truth."
Besides, bystanders see things more clearly than those involved. Everyone in our village knows your parents are extremely biased, to the point of being grotesque. They don't even feel ashamed, so what are you afraid of?
As he spoke, Wu Baoan sighed softly.
"Zhanliang, tell me your conditions first. When they come back, I'll make the decision for you."
Chen Zhanliang frowned. "There are no conditions. As long as we can separate the family, that's better than anything else."
Hearing him say this, Madam Sun couldn't help but chime in, "Husband, we've worked hard all these years, even if we haven't made any great contributions. We should fight for what we deserve. Why should those heartless bastards get the benefits?"
“Yes, my mother is right. We must get our house and land back,” Da Bao chimed in.
Chen Zhanliang shook his head and gave a bitter smile. "If they have any conscience, they will definitely divide the property reasonably. But if they don't care about me as their son, even if they leave with nothing, we will still divide this family."
Seeing the man's resolute expression, Sun's eyes reddened. "Husband, you're right. We absolutely can't get involved with them anymore. If they can sell Erbao today, who knows what even more despicable things they might do in the future. We can't live like we're guarding against thieves!"
Wu Baoan nodded and said, "Okay, since you've made your decision, I will definitely fight for what I should fight for you. However, I think they should feel guilty about what happened and won't go too far."
******
At this moment, Old Lady Chen entered the village with her head hanging low. As soon as she reached the gate, she saw Chen Zhanliang's family and Wu Baoan sitting in the yard chatting.
Her heart skipped a beat. What was going on? Why was Wu Baoan here?
Did Chen Zhanliang really want to beat up the old couple in front of the village head?
Who cares? As long as you're shameless, you'll get what you want.
At her age, what's there to be afraid of? If things get really heated, she'll just rely on her age and seniority, and I don't believe the second son would dare to eat her.
Thinking of this, Old Mrs. Chen tilted her head back and walked straight inside as if she hadn't seen anything.
Old Chen, who was right behind him, also kept his head down and dared not look up.
Chen Zhancai, relying on his status as a scholar, didn't even raise an eyebrow and swaggered into the courtyard.
Seeing that the group wasn't going to pay attention to him, Wu Baoan quickly called out to the three of them.
"Auntie, don't come inside yet. Tell me quickly, what exactly happened today?"
Old Mrs. Chen stopped in her tracks and sneered, "Don't you already know? What else do you want me to say? What else is there to say?"
Seeing that she showed no remorse, Wu Baoan's face darkened immediately. "You are truly unreasonable. Don't you feel even a shred of guilt?"
"What do I have to feel guilty about? What is there to feel guilty about?" Old Mrs. Chen said, putting on an unreasonable act. "Erbao is my grandson. I want to find him a good family so that he can have meat to eat every day. Is that wrong?"
Veins bulged on Wu Baoan's forehead as he suppressed the urge to hit someone and shouted angrily, "You're still trying to argue! Anyone knows the consequences of selling a child to a brokerage firm: either he'll be sent to the palace to become a eunuch or he'll become a rich man's plaything. How come you're saying it's finding a good family for the child? Erbao is your own grandson! How can you be so heartless!"
Old Mrs. Chen rolled her eyes impatiently. "Wu Baoan, are you ever going to stop? If you don't agree, then forget it. The child is fine right now. The parents aren't saying anything, so what's the point of you, as the village head, saying all this? You're just meddling in other people's business."
"Alright, old woman, stop talking."
Old Man Chen couldn't stand it anymore. He felt that Old Woman Chen was going too far. If she had a bad temper, she would have given him a good beating for that kind of attitude.
He hurriedly bowed his head and admitted his mistake to Wu Baoan.
"Security guard, it's true that my wife and I were wrong in this matter. We've let Zhanliang down, but thankfully it didn't lead to anything too serious. Don't worry, my wife and I will make it up to Erbao in the future."
Before Wu Baoan could speak, Chen Zhancai put on a righteous and awe-inspiring demeanor.
“You’re getting more and more senile as you get older. I never dreamed that you would sell Erbao. I’m so ashamed for you.”
As she spoke, she looked at Wu Baoan and said, "Village head, this is my fault. If I hadn't taken Erbao to town, my parents wouldn't have had the opportunity to take advantage of me."
Wu Baoan was speechless and shirked responsibility; this person was indeed beyond redemption.
Chen Zhancai then looked at Chen Zhanliang with feigned remorse, "Second brother, it was me who almost harmed Erbao, hit me or scold me!"
"Alright, stop pretending to be a good person. I don't want to argue with you now. No matter who came up with the bad idea, you, Chen Zhancai, are the beneficiary. I hope you can live up to your parents' sacrifices and not let them down."
"Second brother, what do you mean by that?"
Chen Zhanliang said with a stern face, "It means you go your way, and I'll go mine. From now on, we'll each go our own way."
Hearing this, Old Mrs. Chen almost jumped up on the spot, pointing her finger at Chen Zhanliang, "What did you say? What do you mean by 'each living their own lives'? Explain yourself clearly!"
"Going their own way means splitting up the family. I want to split up the family, do you understand?"
"No, I don't agree." Old Mrs. Chen blurted out without even thinking.
Old Chen was also taken aback. "Second son, what nonsense are you talking about? This family can't be divided!"
Chen Zhanliang said resolutely, "We have to separate whether we want to or not. This family is going to be divided today."
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