Chapter 7: Shen Qiuxia Decides to Divide the Family

Just as Shen Qiuxia stepped into the fields, Meng Xiulan’s sour voice floated over:
“Shen Qiuxia, it’s the busiest time for farming now. Your family has five strong laborers, so why is only your eldest son Dahai working here today?”

As soon as these words came out, they immediately attracted the curious eyes of the surrounding villagers.

Shen Qiuxia didn’t get upset. Wearing a smile, she thought to herself: since this matter can’t be kept secret, why not openly talk about her daughter’s engagement?

Ever since Yueyue graduated from high school, many people—some indirect, some blunt—had been asking about her daughter’s situation.

With her daughter’s own abilities allowing her to work in the city, how could she let Yueyue marry a rural boy?

With this in mind, Shen Qiuxia straightforwardly announced her daughter’s engagement.

“Oh wow, the Su family really hit the jackpot!” Wang Dahua exclaimed loudly, envy nearly overflowing from her face.
“A bride price of 168 yuan plus a bicycle ticket—this is the very first in our village!”

Nearby, Aunt Zhao nodded,
“Exactly! That young man works as a purchasing agent at the county supply and marketing cooperative—a solid, stable job. The Su family girl will have endless blessings from now on!”

But Su Dashan’s wife, Wang Guiying, felt displeased hearing this and immediately retorted,
“What jackpot? My niece has a job herself, and she’s quite pretty and capable. She deserves all this!”

Meng Xiulan sneered, speaking sarcastically,
“I heard city mothers-in-law are hard to get along with. That Su family girl is going to suffer a lot of grievances after marrying in.”

Wang Guiying frowned tightly, angry, and said,
“Meng Xiulan, if you don’t know how to speak properly, just shut your mouth! Yueyue still calls you aunt. Can’t you have any basic decency?”

“Yeah, that’s not something you say!”

“This Meng Xiulan clearly doesn’t get along with Shen Qiuxia—it’s obvious she’s deliberately cursing the girl.”

Everyone chimed in, criticizing Meng Xiulan.

Suppressing her annoyance, Shen Qiuxia smiled and replied,
“Big Sister Zhang really likes our Yueyue, otherwise she wouldn’t offer 168 yuan as bride price. Before leaving, she even held my hand and promised to treat Yueyue as her own daughter.”

Meng Xiulan tried to speak again but was stopped by the team leader:
“Enough, stop chatting. Get back to work, or do you want the work team to be cut?”

Meng Xiulan was furious inside and rolled her eyes.

Then, an idea suddenly popped into her mind.

She immediately clutched her stomach and began wailing,
“I don’t know what I ate, but my stomach hurts so badly. I have to rush to the bathroom!”
Then, bent over, clutching her stomach tightly, she dashed away.

The other villagers, used to this, just thought Meng Xiulan was finding an excuse to slack off.

After Shen Qiuxia left, Su Yue cleaned the house thoroughly.

When she finished, she looked up at the wall clock—it was already 11:30. She hurried into the kitchen to prepare lunch.

Li Xiangbei brought a pound of pork belly. Su Yue looked at the meat, thinking the hot weather would spoil it if left too long. She decided to cook braised pork, adding some richness for her parents. She also made a cucumber salad and loofah soup—two dishes and one soup, meat and vegetables.

While busy, Wu Xiulian’s slightly accusatory voice came from the kitchen doorway:
“Little sister, it’s not that your sister-in-law is blaming you, but such big good news at home—why didn’t you tell your second brother and sister-in-law?”

Su Yue sighed silently in her heart. Since the sister-in-law’s family was in the neighboring team, someone must have leaked the news. Most likely, it was Aunt Meng, the only person in the whole village with so much idle time and love for stirring up trouble.

Su Yue calmly said,
“Second sister-in-law is back.”

Wu Xiulian stepped into the kitchen and sniffed sharply, surprise spreading across her face. She exclaimed loudly,
“Huh? Why does it smell like meat? Did they cook meat the other day at your house?”
She then eagerly reached to lift the pot lid.

Su Yue grabbed Wu Xiulian’s hand,
“The food’s not ready yet. Sister-in-law, don’t lift the lid.”

Wu Xiulian quickly pulled away, displeased,
“Little sister, aren’t you going too far? Cooking meat secretly while we’re not home?”

Su Yue patiently explained,
“Sister-in-law, since you already know about my engagement, you can guess the meat was sent by my fiancé! How would I know you weren’t home?”

Wu Xiulian suddenly recalled her purpose and her eyes flashed brightly. She asked,
“Little sister, did the groom’s family really give 168 yuan as bride price, plus a bicycle ticket?”

Su Yue nodded and truthfully said,
“Yes.”

Wu Xiulian clapped her hands excitedly and loudly said,
“That’s great! With that, you can finally buy a bicycle.”
On the way here, she had already been planning: once they bought the bicycle, they’d give it to her younger brother. Her mother and younger brother had long set their eyes on Chen Zhiqing from the team office. Chen Zhiqing clearly came from a good family background. If her younger brother had a bicycle, maybe he could win over Chen Zhiqing. Perhaps later, her brother could even follow Chen Zhiqing to live in the city.

“Mm.” Su Yue didn’t understand Wu Xiulian’s intentions, but she herself did want a bicycle—then traveling back and forth would be more convenient.

Wu Xiulian was happy and about to say more, but then noise came from outside.

Su Yue smiled softly, saying,
“Dad, Mom’s back. We can eat now.”

Su Dahai’s cheerful voice came in:
“Alright, you all eat first. I’ll wash my face and come.”

Shen Qiuxia washed her hands and entered the kitchen.

Seeing this, Wu Xiulian quickly put on a flattering smile and said,
“Mom, you’re back.”

Shen Qiuxia only glanced at her coldly without a word, then turned to help Su Yue bring the dishes to the table. Shen Qiuxia always loved cleanliness and tidiness, so the Su family usually ate in the kitchen.

As soon as the braised pork was placed on the table, Wu Xiulian couldn’t help but swallow, her eyes fixated greedily on the meat. She immediately sat down at the table.

Su Yue served three bowls of rice, even scraping out the crispy rice at the bottom of the pot.

“Second sister-in-law, I didn’t know you’d be here for lunch, so I didn’t make extra food for you. The pot’s cleaned now—if you’re hungry, you’ll have to cook for yourself.”

Wu Xiulian’s smile froze instantly when she heard this. She was about to get angry, but thinking about the bicycle ticket not yet being received, she switched to a look of grievance and said,
“Little sister, you’re so inconsiderate. Who cooks such a small amount of food?”

Shen Qiuxia was about to start eating, but hearing Wu Xiulian criticize her daughter, she felt displeased, and said,
“Aren’t you back at your mother’s home? Why come here? Do you expect the family to cook food every day, waiting just for you to come and eat?”

Wu Xiulian wasn’t afraid of Shen Qiuxia, but thinking of the bride price and bicycle ticket still in Shen Qiuxia’s hands, she held back her anger.

Just then, Su Zhiqiang came in holding his son.

Wu Xiulian went forward and took the child into her arms.

“I’ll feed the baby. You go ahead and cook,” she said, then turned away reluctantly.

Seeing the braised pork and crispy rice on the table, Su Zhiqiang immediately understood that no food had been prepared for their family at noon.

He went to the food storage jar and opened it—empty. He then turned to Shen Qiuxia and said,
“Mom, the jar is empty. Give me the key.”

Most of the Su family’s grain was locked away; only a small amount was kept in the kitchen jars.

After all, this was the family’s grain for the whole year and could not be risked losing.

Shen Qiuxia took a bite of the braised pork and sneered,
“Went to your mother-in-law’s house all morning? Didn’t even get a meal? I talked to your father—starting now, we’ll eat separately. Don’t ask me for grain anymore; your work points and grain belong to yourselves now.”

Su Dahai was also disappointed with his second son, saying,
“The eldest and third sons have already moved their household registrations away, and now Yueyue’s is moved too. Let’s just divide the family then. When the eldest and third sons come back, we’ll move into the new house. If you don’t want it, go find the village head to allocate land and build your own house. As for the new house, don’t think about it—that’s paid for by the eldest and third sons.”

These two had secretly sold the family’s shared grain allocated during the year to the educated youth (Zhiqing), and took the leftover coarse grains back to their own families. The money from work points was all kept by themselves, never adding a single penny to the household.

Su Zhiqiang was stunned and incredulous hearing this. He asked,
“Father, Mother, are you really planning not to live with us anymore?”

Shen Qiuxia looked at her second son calmly,
“Second son, as parents, we have done all we should. From now on, you live your own life.”

Shen Qiuxia had loved this second son a bit more, but since Su Zhiqiang started to rely on his daughter’s work, she had firmly decided to divide the family.

Su Zhiqiang opened his mouth to say something, but his throat seemed choked, and he couldn’t utter a word. His eyes showed a hint of panic. Over the years, he had grown used to relying on his parents and always thought that even if the family divided, his parents would still live with him.

Now knowing he was to be separated, Su Zhiqiang was clearly anxious.