Sure enough, after waiting for a while, Zhao Datian opened the door and came out of the house.

“Coming, coming,” he replied while quickly walking toward the gate.

“Creak~”

The wooden door opened, revealing an elderly face full of wrinkles.

When Wang Qingsong saw Zhao Datian, he smiled and greeted him, “Third Grandpa~”

Beside him, Xiao Mai also obediently followed with a greeting.

Although Zhao Datian was only around fifty years old, his seniority in the family was high.

Zhao Datian glanced at the two shivering figures and sighed, “Alright, come in and talk. It’s cold outside.”

After saying this, he turned and walked inside.

Seeing this, Wang Qingsong pulled Xiao Mai and followed him.

Once inside, Wang Qingsong greeted the people sitting in the main room, “Third Grandma, Uncle, Aunt~~”

Li Guizhi, seeing the two enter, smiled and said, “Qingsong, take a seat!”

As she spoke, she took a black cornbread from the basket, broke it in half, and handed a piece to each of them.

“You must be hungry. Eat!”

Wang Qingsong glanced at the table.

It was also porridge, but slightly thicker than what they had at home. There was also a piece of cornbread on the table.

He understood that this wasn’t extra food.

Everyone’s portions were carefully calculated.

Moreover, the team leader’s household had three and a half laborers, and Zhao Datian was a semi-cadre, so their meals were naturally a bit better.

He handed half of the cornbread to Xiao Mai and returned the other half, saying, “Third Grandma, I’m not hungry. Xiao Mai can have half.”

Seeing his action, Li Guizhi sighed.

She didn’t insist.

The family’s food supply was limited.

Xiao Mai took the cornbread, glanced at her brother, and began eating hungrily.

Wang Qingsong didn’t intervene further. Instead, he turned to Zhao Datian, who was packing tobacco into his pipe, and said, “Third Grandpa, the family must be divided today. If it doesn’t happen, I’ll take my sister to the commune, to the county. I refuse to believe no one will handle this matter.”

Hearing this, Zhao Datian paused his movements.

After packing the tobacco, he went to the stove used for heating the kang, lit the pipe with the embers, and took a puff.

Returning to his seat, he motioned for Wang Qingsong to sit down and then said, “Qingsong, you’re the only child in the village who’s attended junior high. I know your situation, but have you thought about it? If you divide the family, you won’t have a place to live. You don’t have clothes, bedding, pots, or pans. How will you manage? You still need to go to school. You can’t possibly take Xiao Mai with you, can you?”

Wang Qingsong didn’t hesitate. “Team Leader, no matter what, the family must be divided today.”

Zhao Datian didn’t respond immediately, continuing to smoke his pipe.

The smoke emitted a strong, pungent odor.

This wasn’t tobacco.

It was some kind of leaf, shredded and used as a substitute for tobacco.

Wang Qingsong stared firmly at Zhao Datian and said, “Third Grandpa, if you don’t agree, my sister and I will stay at your house. If you don’t mind us starving to death, then just ignore us.”

“You… you little rascal, trying to strong-arm me, huh? If I really let you divide the family, I’d be doing you a disservice.”

Zhao Datian said angrily.

But he was telling the truth. Sun Xiuhe was indeed difficult to deal with, and it was better not to provoke her.

However, as the team leader, handling this matter would only be a minor headache for him.

But if he agreed to let them divide the family, he believed it would harm the two of them.

He was clear about this.

Seeing Zhao Datian’s expression, Wang Qingsong pleaded earnestly, “Third Grandpa, don’t worry about this. I wouldn’t do something so reckless.”

“Oh? Explain,” Zhao Datian said, his interest piqued.

Wang Qingsong didn’t answer immediately but asked instead, “Third Grandpa, you know how much grain each person in our family gets, right? About three liang a day, correct?”

Zhao Datian nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

“My sister has a grain ration of three liang. I get 32 jin a month for school in the county, about one jin a day. My second brother gives me five yuan a month.”

After saying this, he continued, “As for a place to live, Old Wang Xi’s house at the village entrance is empty. We’ll stay there for now and make do. We’ll gradually acquire other things later. I’ll get some from my eldest and second brothers.”

Zhao Datian nodded repeatedly.

This seemed like a feasible plan.

But when he heard about Old Wang Xi’s house, his brow furrowed.

“You want to live in Old Wang Xi’s house? That… that’s…”

He didn’t finish his sentence.

Wang Qingsong smiled. He knew what Zhao Datian was concerned about.

The house had been left by a lonely old man not long ago, just a few years before the founding of the country.

Now, it was dilapidated, with many large holes in the roof.

Despite its condition, the villagers had initially been envious because the house was made of bricks, even though the roof was in terrible shape.

The man who had lived there was somewhat of a legend.

It was said that he had been a poor, down-and-out bachelor in his fifties, struggling to make ends meet.

But suddenly, one day, he no longer worried about food or clothing.

He even built this courtyard.

Everyone suspected he had stumbled upon some treasure.

He had planned to marry a beautiful wife, but an accident took his life.

At first, many people clamored to take over the house, but later, rumors of it being haunted drove them away.

Several families had tried living there, but all left for the same reason.

It was a shame to let it go to waste, so it was used as a production team warehouse. But strange noises often occurred inside.

Over time, even the caretakers couldn’t stand it.

Eventually, everything was moved out.

Gradually, the matter was dropped.

The house had been empty for many years and was now in disrepair.

As the team leader, Zhao Datian was too embarrassed to say outright that the house was haunted.

Wang Qingsong smiled and said, “Third Grandpa, it’s fine. That house isn’t as scary as people say. I’ve been inside many times. Besides, none of the people who lived there before had any issues. When the weather warms up, we’ll fix the roof. It’s a brick house, after all!”

This was true.

The legend of the haunted house was well-known in the village, and the children were aware of it.

Sometimes, they dared each other to go inside to prove their bravery.

They hadn’t encountered anything strange.

But that was during the day. They had never gone in at night, and it was impossible to say they weren’t a little scared.

Even now, Wang Qingsong felt a bit uneasy.

But there was no other choice. The village had no extra houses, and this was the only one available.

As for ghosts?
He didn’t believe they really existed.