Chapter 16: Separation of the Family

The crying of the child in the house gradually subsided. The child stopped crying under the coaxing of his amu (mother), but his little face still showed grievance. Qi Wanfeng lovingly stroked the child’s head, telling him to be good. Then, he turned to attend to his fulang (husband), who was lying on the bed.

“Wanfeng.” After being helped to relieve the water he had been holding in, Cao Xiangnan remembered what the doctor had said—that Qi Wanfeng was pregnant and his health wasn’t too good. Seeing how pale his face was, he worriedly grabbed his hand. “Your health…”

“Fulang, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me. Keep an eye on An’an, and don’t let him run around.” Qi Wanfeng gave his fulang a reassuring smile. He had been feeling a bit dizzy earlier in the morning, but he didn’t take this slight discomfort to heart. He turned back to coax the child, asking him to take care of his adie (father) in the house. Then, he hurried out.

Qi Wanfeng had made breakfast—a big pot of rice porridge and some pickled vegetables from home. He ladled out two small bowls of porridge.

Qi Wanfeng didn’t even have time to eat himself. He ladled it and went inside to serve his fulang and child. After taking good care of his fulang and child, he quickly finished his own small portion. There was still work waiting for him outside, so he took his bowl and chopsticks and went out.

This morning, after breakfast, Cao Adie (Father) didn’t rush off to work in the fields as usual. He sat there, puffing on his dry tobacco pipe, taking slow drags. Cao Fugui didn’t know why his die (father) hadn’t left after finishing his meal and was still sitting there. He could only sit beside his die.

Chen Zhu saw her dangjia (husband) smoking his pipe without saying a word. She gave him a look, stopped Qi Wanfeng, who was about to take the bowls and chopsticks to wash, and said, in a rare, softened tone, “Wanfeng, put down what you’re holding for now. Wash them later. Your amu and adie have something to discuss with you today.”

“Amu, Adie, is something the matter?” It was the first time Qi Wanfeng had seen his amu treat him so kindly. He felt a bit worried. He wondered if he had done something wrong to upset his amu again. Even his adie looked solemn. He felt uneasy.

“Wanfeng, it’s like this. Your amu and adie have discussed it and have something to tell you,” Chen Zhu said, seeing that her dangjia wasn’t speaking. Then he would play the bad guy. She called out, “Oldest and Second Son, come sit down too. Your adie and I have discussed it and decided to separate the family. We’re telling you about the separation now.”

“Amu, aren’t we doing well? Why separate the family?” Cao Fugui was an honest man. In his view, they should all stay together as a family forever. Why separate? He didn’t want the family to be divided.

His wife, Chen Li, pinched him, and he dared not speak again and shut his mouth.

Chen Li glared at her jia hanzi (husband). He knew nothing but said nonsense. He quickly laughed, “Amu and Adie, just say what you want to say. We’re listening. We’ll listen to whatever Amu and Adie say.”

Separating the family was exactly what he wanted. Now that Fourth Uncle was lying in bed, they didn’t know how much the medical bills would cost. The Fourth household was all small or disabled, and Qi Wanfeng was pregnant again. What if the child was born and they had to support the Fourth family? Anyway, his family wouldn’t lose out if Amu divided the family. He already had plans in mind.

“Yes, Amu, you go ahead. We’re listening to whatever Amu says,” Second Brother’s wife, Wang Yan, chimed in with a smile.

As soon as Chen Zhu mentioned separating the family, everyone gathered around.

The older children understood what separating the family meant. The younger children didn’t understand anything yet. They couldn’t stay still for a moment and were still running around the yard, chasing each other and playing. Eldest Brother’s wife and Second Brother’s wife looked at their amu with anticipation.