Chapter 18: Used as a Pawn

Qi Wanfeng’s mind went blank for a moment, unable to process what was happening. When he came to, he saw everyone talking about the separation of the family, their faces filled with barely concealed joy, but this joy had nothing to do with him.

A chill ran through his heart. His adie and amu’s intention was to drive his entire family out of this main courtyard, leaving them to fend for themselves. Qi Wanfeng knew that his amu was biased, but he didn’t realize she could be biased to this extent. He didn’t expect his adie to be this way either.

Over the years, he and his fulang had supported this family. If they didn’t deserve praise, they at least deserved credit for their hard work. Now, they were being kicked aside with nothing to show for it. This brick house with its tiled roof and the family’s land should have rightfully belonged in part to his fulang, but now they weren’t getting any of it. This was forcing their family to their deaths!

“Wanfeng, we’ve decided on the separation of the family,” Chen Zhu said, taking advantage of the fact that this fourth daughter-in-law had a soft and easily manipulated nature. The separation would be handled as he said. “Find some time to move over there as soon as possible.”

“Adie, Amu,” Qi Wanfeng said, his throat feeling dry.

Cao Adie’s expression was a little unnatural under Qi Wanfeng’s gaze. He knew that this division was unfair to the fourth son’s family, but Fourth Son was in this condition. If he really passed away, those two mu of land could be considered a gift to the fourth daughter-in-law and the child. They didn’t just have one fourth son; they had a whole family. They couldn’t let the fourth son drag everyone else down.

Fifth Son was now the hope of the entire family and the hope of their Caojia Village. He couldn’t let down their ancestors and be unable to face them in the afterlife.

“What? Qi Wanfeng, do you have any objections?” Chen Zhu asked, his face darkening.

“Amu, what about the family’s silver?” Qi Wanfeng now understood that his adie and amu were determined to separate the family. He couldn’t change that, but he still wanted to fight for something for his fulang and child. He asked, “How will the family’s silver be divided?”

“Silver?” Chen Zhu’s voice rose. “Where would the family have any silver left? After Fourth Son’s accident, didn’t it cost money to hire doctors and buy medicine? The little money that was left was all spent by your family. How dare you talk to me about money here…”

“There’s no money! Not a single copper coin!”

Second Brother’s wife, Wang Yan, curled his lips. He definitely didn’t believe that the family didn’t have a single copper coin. The less his amu gave to the fourth uncle’s family, the more they would have when they separated in the future.

In the house, Cao Xiangnan heard the shouting outside, especially his amu’s sharp, ear-piercing voice. It was hard not to hear it. It was noisy outside, and he didn’t know what was happening. He worried that Qi Wanfeng was being bullied by a group of people outside. Cao Xiangnan asked An’an to go out and take a look and come back and tell him what was going on.

The little child peeked out by the door, then came back to his adie, lowered his head, pursed his little lips, and said with a sob in his voice, “Adie, ama (grandmother) is scolding amu. They’re all surrounding amu.”

Since he was old enough to understand, he had seen ama scold his amu every day. He would also scold him when he saw him. An’an was very afraid of his ama. The older children in the yard also bullied him often and wouldn’t play with him. He didn’t like them either.

“An’an, go call your amu in,” Cao Xiangnan said, his heart moved.

If he was a man, he should stand up at this moment. Even if he only had one breath left, he couldn’t hide here and let others bully his wife.