Chapter 39 : Separation

Seeing that his wife ignored him, Lu Changzheng panicked. He quietly touched his wife’s finger and apologized, “Wife, I was wrong. Next time, I’ll do it at night, not during the day.”

Su Mo endured the soreness between her legs and walked forward with big strides, turning her face away, not wanting to pay attention to Lu Changzheng.

Lu Changzheng quickly moved to the other side, “Wife, I was wrong. Can you please pay attention to me? Otherwise, it will be bad if my parents see it. I’ll go back and kneel on the washboard again.”

Su Mo paused and spoke “Is this a matter of day or night? You knew you had to go to your parents’ in the morning, but you still did that. It’s so late now, how will others see me?”

“They won’t notice it much. It’s still early, only eight o’clock. We had our wedding night yesterday, they understand,” Lu Changzheng comforted.

“You still dare to say that.” Su Mo was so angry that she hit Lu Changzheng. She almost cried and felt so embarrassed.

Lu Changzheng knew that his wife was embarrassed, so he curled his lips into a sly smile, lowered his head, and whispered in Su Mo’s ear, “Wife, the later you go, the happier they will be. This means that their son is brave and they will soon have a grandson.”

Su Mo kicked Lu Changzheng and really didn’t want to pay any more attention to him, so she started walking forward.

Lu Changzheng chuckled and chased after her. His wife was so cute.

In fact, he didn’t want to be so rude, but his wife was fair-skinned, beautiful, soft, and had a beautiful voice, which was very charming. How could he resist? If his wife couldn’t bear it, he would probably have done it all night.

Lu Xiaolan was helping her mother turn over the soil that had been tamped yesterday in the vegetable garden. Seeing Lu Changzheng and Su Mo hurry over, she smiled and greeted them, “Good morning, Third Brother and Third Sister-in-law.”

Su Mo stopped and smiled a little embarrassedly “Good morning.”

Because of the tight schedule, Su Mo didn’t even braid her hair today. She just combed it and tucked it behind her ears before hurrying out.

At this moment, a gust of wind happened to blow, lifting Su Mo’s hair, revealing her white neck and the red marks on it.

When Lu Xiaolan saw this, she burst out laughing.

Her third brother was quite fierce. He bit her third sister-in-law’s neck, leaving lip marks all over it.

“Xiaolan, what are you laughing at?” Su Mo had a bad feeling in her heart.

“Third sister-in-law, pull up your collar and press your hair down.” Lu Xiaolan moved closer to Su Mo and winked, “There are mouth marks all over your neck.”

Su Mo felt a surge of hot blood rushing up, her face was red as if bleeding, and she wished there were a crack in the ground for her to crawl into.

Lu Changzheng glared at his silly sister. Was it okay to talk about such things? His wife was already angry with him, and now that she was teased like this, she must be even more upset.

“Wife, it’s okay. She works at the supply and marketing cooperative and has sharp eyes. Others can’t see it.” Lu Changzheng comforted his wife.

If she was really angry, he would have no meat to eat tonight. What should he do?

Seeing Su Mo’s face that looked like it was about to bleed, Lu Xiaolan knew that her third sister-in-law was a shy person, so she stopped joking.

“Yes, Third Sister-in-law, in fact, if you don’t look carefully, you can’t see it. Just hold your hair down.”

“There’s no way. I’ve been at the supply and marketing cooperative for a long time, heard a lot of gossip, and become thick-skinned.”

Su Mo was so ashamed and angry that she wanted to die. Fortunately, Li Yue’e heard the noise and came out to help her out.

“Are the third brother and his wife here? Then come sit in the main hall. Xiaolan, stop tilling the soil and ask Jingming to come with you to the main hall.”

Lu Changzheng quickly led his wife to the main room, and soon everyone arrived.

When Lu Guihua arrived at the main hall, she saw Su Mo sitting there with a red face, so she asked, “Third sister, why is your face so red? Are you sick?”

Every time her youngest son has a fever, his cheeks turn red.

“No, no, I was just walking in a hurry and it was hot.” Su Mo quickly denied it. Fortunately, she felt cold today and put on an extra coat.

Lu Guihua had no doubts, while Lu Xiaolan smiled secretly with her head down.

Except for the five children, all the adults in the family were sitting in the main room. Even Lu Boming was sitting upright under a thin blanket.

Because he and his father were the new and old branch secretaries, and the accountant was his eldest son, Lu Qing’an did not invite anyone to serve as witnesses and prepared to divide the family property himself.

Lu Qing’an cleared his throat. “When you were young, your family lived in poverty and had little savings. When you were older, we finally had some savings, but the eldest and second oldest got married, and then there was the three-year natural disaster. It was only after the third oldest joined the army that we started to save some money.”

“The third child joined the army in October 1964, and it has been exactly seven years now. Except for the first two years when he sent back 5 yuan a month, he sent 20 yuan a month in the next five years, and a total of 1,320 yuan was sent home.” Lu Qing’an said, looking at the account in his hand.

“I’ve kept the remittance slips. If you have any questions, you can take a look at them later.”

“Then let’s talk about the second child. He went to work at the commune’s timber processing factory two years ago. After he started working, he also paid 20 yuan per month to the family. He paid for 23 months in total, a total of 460 yuan.”

“There is also Xiaolan, who worked in the commune supply and marketing cooperative for three years. Before she got married, she also paid 20 yuan a month to her family. She paid for 26 months in total, a total of 520 yuan.”

“I officially took over the position of brigade secretary in 1967. The secretary received a monthly subsidy of 7 yuan. I have received it for 5 years and 9 months so far, a total of 483 yuan.”

“Although the eldest son didn’t pay any money to his family, he has served as the village accountant since 1961. Every year, his work points are settled equally according to the person with the highest work points in the brigade. He contributes nearly 2,000 work points to the family every year. Based on the average unit price of the brigade’s work points of 5 cents in recent years, he has contributed a lot to the family over the years.” Lu Qing’an did not forget to praise his eldest son.

After hearing this, Lu Xingjun felt relieved.

“At the end of the year, the brigade distributed 61.75 yuan, excluding the grain and meat. In 1964, the brigade distributed 83.27 yuan in 1965, it distributed 91 yuan; in 1967, it distributed 98 yuan; in 1968, it distributed 115.5 yuan; in 1969, it distributed 100.3 yuan; in 1970, it distributed 108.43 yuan. The distribution in the last two years was less because Lao Er and Xiao Lan both went to work, leaving two fewer laborers.”

“In the past seven years, the brigade has distributed dividends, and my family has received a total of 658.25 yuan.”

“This is the source and amount of our family’s income over the years. I have the account book here, and the boss can calculate it later.”

“The third child paid 1,320 yuan, the second child paid 460 yuan, Xiaolan paid 520 yuan, the family dividend was 658.25 yuan, and my salary subsidy was 483 yuan, for a total income of 3,441.25 yuan.”

“Now that we’ve talked about income, let’s talk about expenditure.”

“First, we built a house. The house we live in now cost 986.94 yuan, not including our own labor and wood. The family also gave 300 yuan to build the house for the third child. The total cost of building the house was 1,286.94 yuan.”

“Then, it’s time to buy big items. There are three big items in the house: two bicycles and a sewing machine. The two bicycles cost 280 yuan, and the sewing machine cost 138 yuan. The total cost for the family is 418 yuan.”

“When Xiaolan got married, your mother and I let her take all the gifts she received back home. We also bought her a bicycle and 100 yuan as a dowry. We consulted the eldest and second sons about these matters. Xiaolan’s wedding cost the family 258 yuan.”

“When Lu Xiaolan got married, she also bought a Forever 26-model bicycle for 158 yuan.”

“When the third child got married, the family gave him 200 yuan as a gift and bought him a bicycle, which cost the family 358 yuan.”

“These are the relatively large expenditures in recent years, totaling 2,320.94 yuan.”

“The rest is the usual expenses for making clothes, shopping, buying meat, and other necessities. Our family didn’t keep track of it, but there must be several hundred yuan. In recent years, except for buying some white flour occasionally, we have basically not bought any grain.”

“Now, there is 573.61 yuan left in the family account.”

“Your mother and I want to divide the money into four parts. We old guys and your three brothers and their families will each get one part. Xiaolan won’t get any. Do you have any objections?”

Lu Qing’an mainly looked at Lu Changzheng. If the family was divided like this, the third child would suffer the most. But there was no other way. The third child was the most promising, so he could only let him contribute more.

Lu Changzheng quickly waved his hand, “I have no objection.”

He never thought of taking back the money he sent home.

Lu Xiaolan also quickly expressed that she had no objection. When she got married, she not only brought back the betrothal gifts, but also a very generous dowry, so her in-laws have always respected her, and she is also very grateful to her parents.

Lu Xingjun and Lu Weiguo naturally had no objection.

“Okay, then the 573.61 yuan will be divided into four parts. Each of you three brothers will get 143 yuan, and the rest will be given to us old couple.”

Lu Qing’an quickly counted out three portions of 143 yuan and gave one portion to each of the three brothers.

“After the money is divided, the houses will be easy to divide. Just divide them according to the ones you live in now. Three brothers, three rooms each. The middle one belongs to us three old guys. As for what to do in the future, you three brothers can discuss it when the time comes.”

“For the big items, the eldest and second brothers can each get a bicycle, and the sewing machine is here with us old guys. Whoever wants to use it can come and use it.”

“The pots, pans, and utensils in the house will be divided into three parts. We old guys and the eldest and second sons will each get one, and the third son will not get any.”

“The same goes for food. We still have about 200 kilograms of corn grits, 70 to 80 kilograms of cornmeal, 10 kilograms of flour, and about 200 kilograms of sweet potatoes. We divide all of them into three parts. We and the eldest and second families each get one part, and the third family gets none.”

“The vegetable plot at the door has five mu of land in total. The eldest and second families have two mu each, and we old guys have one mu.”

“Do you have any objection to this division?”

Lu Changzheng said he had no objection, and Lu Xingjun and Lu Weiguo also said no.

“Okay, if you have no objections, I will write a document in five copies, and you will all sign it. We will keep one copy for each of the four families, and the brigade will keep one copy.”

“Dad, there’s still the issue of retirement that we haven’t discussed yet,” Lu Xingjun quickly reminded.

“Your mother and I are still able to work now, so we don’t need you to support us in our old age for the time being. When we can no longer work, you three brothers can just give us food according to the market conditions at that time,” Lu Qing’an said.

“How can that be possible?” Lu Xingjun disagreed. Supporting the elderly is a natural thing to do.

Lu Qing’an smiled, feeling somewhat comforted. Although the eldest brother looked the least promising, he was actually a good person and was kind to his brothers and sisters.

“Okay, your children are still young now, and your mother and I are still able to work, so we won’t tire you out. Just take care of your own little family. As for the elderly care, we can talk about it when you are really needed to take care of them.”

“If you are really filial, you can bring a bowl of delicious food to us old people.”

“Okay, I’ll write if you have no objection,” Lu Qing’an picked up the pen and started writing.

After much calculation, Lu Guihua always felt that her family had lost out. Her husband paid 460 yuan, but in the end, he only got 143 yuan, which was less.

Moreover, she always felt that each family should not get only 143 yuan. In her imagination, each family should get at least 200 to 300 yuan. It must be that the income was undercounted.

Lu Guihua counted over and over again, and when she looked up she saw Lu Boming. An idea suddenly struck her, and she said what was missing.

“Dad, wait, you missed out on some income. You missed out on some of our grandpa’s.” The old man does receive a disability allowance, which has been 18 yuan a month since a few years ago.

The atmosphere in the main room suddenly stagnated, and everyone looked at Lu Guihua in disbelief.

What kind of people are these? Not only do they not respect their elders, but they also want to take their money and divide it among themselves?

Lu Weiguo’s face first turned red and then blue. He felt embarrassed and angry. Does this woman have no sense of shame?

“Shut up right there,” Lu Weiguo yelled, “You’re targeting me, are you still a human being?”

Lu Guihua was puzzled and a little aggrieved, “What’s wrong with me? Isn’t our grandfather also a member of our family?”

“The money our grandpa gets is a subsidy from the state. If you dare to have any ideas about it again, just go back to your parents’ home,” Lu Weiguo was furious when he saw Lu Guihua acting as if it was a matter of course.

“Dad, don’t worry about her. Just keep writing. We have no objection.”

Li Yue’e sneered, but everyone seemed to know Lu Guihua’s character and ignored her. After Lu Qing’an finished writing, the three brothers came forward to sign.

Lu Qing’an stamped all five documents and gave one to each of the three brothers.

“Then this family will be divided into two parts, the first and second families. You two will divide the food and kitchen items with your mother later.”

Then he explained again.

“In half a month, the brigade will also settle accounts. This year, each of you will go and collect the accounts yourself.”

“Only the second son’s wife works in the second family, so there is definitely not enough food. We can go to the production team to buy food when the time comes. After the family is divided, the two boys should also be used to collect pig grass and earn some work points.”

“The third family… the third family, remember to buy food from the production team.” The third family’s work points might not be enough to satisfy the famine.

Several families responded, and just as everyone was about to leave, Lu Boming spoke.

“Wait a minute. As your grandfather, I don’t have anything to give you. Since we have separated, just live your own life well.”

Lu Boming took out a wad of money from his pocket and said, “Here are 400 yuan. Each of you four brothers and sisters will get 100 yuan. This is my support for your family.”

Lu Weiguo wanted to find a hole to crawl into, “Grandpa, don’t listen to that bitch. How can we take your money?”

His grandfather is in a lot of pains, and it costs a lot of money to see a doctor and buy medicine. It’s bad enough that they, the younger generation, don’t show any filial piety, but how can they ask the old man for money again?

Lu Boming stuffed the money into Lu Qing’an’s hand and said, “Give it to them brothers and sisters.”

No one wanted it.

Finally, it was Lu Qing’an who spoke up: “Your grandfather’s kindness, please accept it. Just buy more things to honor your grandfather in the future.”

Then gave the money to them.