Chapter 13

“Uh… Xiao Cheng, let’s talk this over, what are you doing? Don’t take it out on your own family.” Lin Yufen’s expression instantly softened, her tone turning all earnest and motherly, as if she were speaking for Lu Cheng’s own good.

Lu Zhuang’s face also changed dramatically. He quickly chimed in to dissuade him, with none of the anger he had shown earlier, “Yes, don’t hold it against my mother. We’re one family—how can we split the household? That would be outrageous. I’ll have my mother apologize to your wife, and we’ll call it even!”

As he finished, Lu Zhuang cast a meaningful look at Grandma Dabao.

The moment she heard Lu Cheng bring up dividing the household, Grandma Dabao already regretted her actions. She had only wanted to make things hard for Gu Yueqian, never intending to actually split the family! A division was far too unprofitable for her—she would never willingly make such a losing bargain.

She quickly scrambled up, about to speak.

But Lu Cheng had already opened his mouth:
“I. Want. To. Divide. The. Family.”

“You—” Grandma Dabao choked on her words, her face flushing red. “Child, why are you so stubborn? What good will dividing do you? The pigs are raised together—once we split, what will you two siblings feed them with? And Lu Yao still needs to start school soon!”

“Not your concern.” Lu Cheng’s tone was ice-cold, his attitude unshakable.

Grandma Dabao nearly exploded with fury, cursing him in her heart—what a damned block of stone, hateful from childhood to now!

“Xiao Cheng, that attitude is wrong.” Seeing his determination, Lin Yufen hurried to step forward and scold him. “All these years, your brother and I have raised you two siblings, fed you, clothed you. When you first came down to the countryside, you were barely twelve, and your sister was even younger! Everything you two ate, drank, used—wasn’t it all from me and your brother? And now? You’ve grown up, you’ve married, and instead of remembering our kindness, you want to split the household. That’s simply being an ungrateful wolf!”

Lu Cheng sneered, “That debt’s already repaid.”

“Nonsense, when did you ever repay it?” Grandma Dabao snapped. “Your brother and sister-in-law may not have given birth to you, but they raised you all these years. And you think a single sentence clears that debt? Clearly, you’ve grown wings and just want to cling to your wife and enjoy a cushy life, ignoring all your brother and sister-in-law’s hardships.”

Lu Cheng’s sharp, icy gaze locked on Grandma Dabao, and his words came out one by one, each heavy with threat:
“Do you need me to list out, one by one, how I repaid it?”

“You… you…” Grandma Dabao was so rattled by his stare that her hair stood on end. She instinctively took two steps back, a chill rising in her bones.

If Lu Cheng, right here in front of the captain, laid bare how they had skimmed the siblings’ rations and secretly bullied them all these years, their family would be utterly ruined! Not only would they be criticized and denounced by the whole brigade, they might even be branded with lasting infamy.

Grandma Dabao was terrified. Lin Yufen’s heart sank like ice as well.

Seeing Lu Cheng like this, what more did Lu Zhenzhong need to understand? He let out a heavy sigh. “Since Lu Cheng wants to split the household, then split it. I, as the brigade captain, will preside and guarantee fairness!”

His words were the final verdict—settled, beyond reversal.

Lu Zhuang’s family had no ground left to argue. At that moment, Grandma Dabao was drowning in regret. If only she hadn’t egged her grandson on to pick a fight with Gu Yueqian today! Now that Lu Cheng’s work points were gone, how would their family survive the winter?

Dividing the Lu household was simple enough: the two pigs were split, one for each family. On the spot, Lu Cheng had people brick up the pigsty, separating it in two, so from then on they could each feed their own.

As for the house itself, there wasn’t much to divide. Lu Cheng only wanted the west wing, he didn’t care about the rest. He had other plans—he wasn’t going to live in this ancestral house for long, so having more was useless.

The private plots, cooking utensils, and so forth had already been divided earlier, when they first started cooking separately. So the real matter this time was the work points: no longer counted under Lu Zhuang’s name, but directly credited to Lu Cheng.

Of course, this was exactly what Lu Zhuang’s family of five had least wanted. But Lu Cheng’s attitude left no room for negotiation.

So although they would still live within the same courtyard, they were now two separate families.

Because the division delayed things, it was only afterward that the captain brought up the issue of educated youths needing lodging. Lu Zhuang had still been sulking, but when he heard that educated youths might live with them—and even share meals—he immediately agreed.

Liu Jilan worried aloud, “This family doesn’t seem easy to get along with… a grandmother and grandson trying to rob someone, then turning it around to blame them. Are we sure we want to stay here?”

Wen Yan replied coolly, “Do we have any choice?”

“That’s true.” Liu Jilan sighed. Conditions were like this everywhere in the countryside.

But then she stole another glance at Wen Yan—such poise, such bearing. They were both city girls sent down, and Liu Jilan had thought herself rather decent… until she compared herself to Wen Yan, which left her feeling inferior.

And today she’d seen Lu Cheng’s wife—so fair and pretty. She had assumed village girls were all plain bumpkins.

“Seems like that Lu Cheng treats his wife really well. When he spoke earlier, he shielded her the whole time—definitely a responsible man. We should try to pair up with their household later; they’ll be easier to get along with than this lot.”

“‘Good?’” Wen Yan laughed, a faint sneer tugging at her lips. “Your judgment isn’t very sharp.”

Liu Jilan was puzzled, thinking she meant Lu Cheng. “But I think he’s quite steady, don’t you?” And rather handsome, too.

…

Because of the division, lunchtime was delayed. When people finally dispersed, Gu Yueqian hurried to the stove to start cooking.

Though she was pregnant, she wasn’t the sort to be delicate. With her strength, not only cooking but even some heavy labor wasn’t impossible. In this era, everyone worked hard—why shouldn’t she?

But even Lu Yao didn’t go out to the fields. With how fiercely Lu Cheng labored, their household hardly needed her in the fields anyway.

Meanwhile, Lu Yao, who was about to go stoke the fire, was stopped short by Lu Cheng.

“You asked your sister-in-law to carry firewood?”

“No, brother.” Lu Yao nearly jumped out of her skin.

She hadn’t—truly hadn’t! Wrongly accused!

“It was sister-in-law who said that since she’s married into the family, she’s part of it and wants to contribute. So I just took her along to the mountain for fun—I didn’t make her carry wood.”

Lu Yao carefully watched her brother’s expression. She thought, if his brow so much as furrowed, she’d dash to her sister-in-law’s side at once. Before, she had no one to rely on. But now that sister-in-law was here, she was her get-out-of-jail-free card. Surely her brother wouldn’t dare hit her in front of his wife.

But… her brother’s face remained its usual mask of coldness, hawk-like sharp eyes buried beneath his brows. Yet Lu Yao had known her brother long enough to read him. That expression—wasn’t accusation. If anything… was he a little pleased?

“Brother, I’ll go stoke the fire then. Sister-in-law said we’re having veggie pancakes for lunch.”

“I’ll go.”

Huh?

Before Lu Yao could react, her brother had already strode out. She thought maybe she was about to witness a tender scene, so she hid behind the door, grinning in anticipation.

But then she saw her brother suddenly grab several thick logs from the woodpile, snap them apart with brute force, wood chips flying everywhere. The motion was neat and powerful, even strikingly handsome—but sparks and splinters scattered all over. Her sister-in-law, flustered, quickly grabbed the big pot lid to shield it.

“What are you doing?” Gu Yueqian was stunned. She had just fetched water—how could they eat if wood splinters got in?

Lu Cheng’s face stayed stony, as if Gu Yueqian owed him a fortune. Without a word, he just kept shoving firewood into the stove.

Lu Yao: “…”