Chapter 28: She Was Wronged

While washing his face, Han Shiguo said, “We didn’t go today, but we have to go into the city tomorrow. I’ll take Jiang Qian with me, and we’ll check in with her then. But if my third sister promised me, she’ll be able to handle it.”

He had gone for the matchmaking meeting yesterday morning and immediately went into the city to consult his third sister that afternoon. His third sister had agreed to help without hesitation.

Han Shiguo knew his third sister’s personality. If she couldn’t manage it, she wouldn’t have agreed. But since she had, she would surely make it happen.

Han Shiguo’s mother, delighted, responded, “Good!”

At this point, his eldest daughter-in-law, Li Xia, jokingly spoke up, “Mother, when Shiguo marries, there are supposed to be three turns and one sound, forty-eight legs, and a hundred in wedding gifts. When Shimin married me, we only had thirty-six legs and twenty bucks. Shouldn’t I be compensated for that?”

However, Han Shiguo’s mother knew she wasn’t joking and immediately replied, “When Shimin married you, it was me and your father who spent the money. Now that the second son is getting married, he’s spending his own money. If you have a problem with that, you can ask eldest son to earn more. If he makes money, he’ll give you as much bridal price as he can—I’m not going to say anything about it.”

She knew that the eldest son’s family had strong opinions about this. They always made sarcastic comments, but she believed she had never wronged her eldest daughter-in-law. After all the complaints, Han Shiguo’s mother wasn’t planning on indulging them any longer.

Li Xia couldn’t help but speak up, “What are you talking about, Mother? We haven’t split the family yet, so all the money we make is shared. How can we divide up who earned what?”

“That’s true, we haven’t split the family, but if we had, you wouldn’t be living in this nice, spacious brick house. We built it for you and even expanded the rooms for the children. Who’s money do you think was used for that? Don’t pretend to be clueless when you know perfectly well!” Han Shiguo’s mother warned.

With that single remark, Li Xia was left speechless.

But she wasn’t willing to accept it. “This is a different matter altogether…”

“Enough talking!” Han Shimin snapped, dragging her back into the room.

Once in the room, Li Xia exploded, “Han Shimin, what are you trying to say? When we got married, we had nothing! Now they’re getting married, and it’s all about forty-eight legs, three turns, and one ring. Why do they get all that I don’t? Just because I’m the eldest, I’m supposed to suffer, huh? We’re all wives of the Han family—why should I be the one to come up short?”

Both Han Shiguo and his father furrowed their brows, knowing she was speaking directly to them.

But it was Han Shiguo’s mother who was truly angry.

“If you want to break things down, then let’s break it down properly. Jia Dong, go and invite your granduncle and the brigade leader over. Tonight, I’ll settle things once and for all and divide this family up!” Han Shiguo’s mother declared firmly.

Han Jiadong was the eldest son of Han Shimin and Li Xia, and he was twelve years old this year.

Already a boy on the verge of becoming a young man, he quickly said, “Grandma, don’t be impulsive, my mom’s just talking nonsense!”

“But it’s not nonsense! It’s really unfair!” Han Jiayue, the ten-year-old eldest daughter of Li Xia, spoke up. “Why does our mom have nothing, but the unwed little aunt gets everything?”

At ten years old, she definitely understood what “three turns and one ring” meant, because she had been to her third aunt’s house in the city with her mother.

Her third aunt lived in the county committee compound, which was incredibly impressive, and their home even had “three turns and one ring.”

Bicycles, sewing machines, radios, watches—all sorts of expensive things!

“Shut up, this is not something you should be speaking about!” Han Shimin, who had just come out of the room, shouted angrily.

“Jiadong, are you going or not? If you’re not, I’ll go myself!” Seeing her eldest granddaughter speaking up like that, Han Shiguo’s Mother face darkened.

She had already been considering splitting up the family, but with the first son’s side causing trouble like this, and now even her granddaughter saying such things, it showed just how they felt about it on a regular basis.

“Shut up, this is not something you should be speaking about!” Han Shimin, who had just come out of the room, shouted angrily.

“Let’s just settle this once and for all!”

“I’ll go and call them.” Han Shiguo was determined to split the family and took a step forward.

“Second Brother!” Han Shimin’s face turned pale as he called out to him.

However, Han Shiguo didn’t even acknowledge him. If he couldn’t control his wife’s actions, there was nothing more to discuss.

Han Shimin quickly turned to his father and mother, saying, “Father, Mother, please don’t split the family, don’t do it!”

“It’s already like this. If we don’t split now, you won’t be able to stay brothers in the future. It’s better to do it now,” Han Shiguo’s father agreed with his wife. Tonight, they would settle all the accounts and divide everything between the two sons!

Li Xia was stunned inside the room. She really hadn’t expected that this argument would escalate to the point of a family split.

But she never intended for it to go that far.

She wasn’t stupid. If they split the family, what would her husband’s salary have to do with her in the future?

“Father, Mother, I didn’t mean it… I didn’t mean it like that…” Li Xia quickly came out, trying to salvage the situation.

But Han’s mother didn’t want to listen to her excuses. Since the idea of a family split had been brought up, it was impossible to take it back now.

She shot her a cold glance and said, “What’s wrong? Now that I’m making the decision to split the family, you have a problem with it? From now on, you’ll live your own life, and no one will take advantage of you or make you feel wronged!”

Li Xia: “…”

Soon, Han Shiguo brought over his uncle, Han Zhishu, and Han Zhishu’s eldest son, Han Shijun—Han Shiguo’s older cousin—and the village head, who was also Jiang Xiaogu’s father-in-law.

Han Shiguo’s father personally explained the situation to the two older men. Han Zhishu glanced at Han Shimin and Li Xia and said, “Since Shimin wants to split the family, it might be for the best to go ahead with it.”

Han Shimin quickly said, “Uncle, I didn’t want to split the family, it’s my parents who want us to split. Please help us talk to them!”

Li Xia hurriedly added, “Yes, Uncle, please help talk to my parents! We’ve been arguing and making noise, but we never wanted to split the family!”

Han Shiguo’s father didn’t say anything.

But Han’s mother coldly laughed and said, “The eldest daughter-in-law thinks we’ve wronged her. She says when we married her, we spent twenty yuan and gave thirty-six legs, but now that Shiguo is marrying, it’s forty-eight legs and three-turn-one-ring. She’s causing a ruckus in the house tonight. But as far as I’m concerned, I’ve got nothing to hide!”

“At that time, when Shimin married, it was us old folks who spent the money. Back then, twenty yuan and thirty-six legs, we didn’t shortchange her, did we? When we gave that bride price, it was because our family was willing to do it!”

“It was a pretty high bride price for those days. Most families only gave ten or five yuan. Having twenty or thirty-six legs was already considered quite respectable!”

“Now, when it comes to Shiguo marrying, we old folks haven’t spent a penny. The forty-eight legs and three-turn-one-ring, all of it came from Shiguo’s hard-earned money. He’s marrying with his own savings!”

“Is this where you’re feeling wronged? Have you ever thought that all these years, the house you’re living in, the things you’ve used, and raising the children—all of that was funded by the money Shiguo sent back? You didn’t say anything when you were benefiting from it, secretly pleased, but now that Shiguo is marrying, you feel wronged and don’t want to accept it!”

“Fine. Since you feel wronged, I’ll just go ahead and split the family for good. From now on, both brothers can live their own lives, whether rich or poor, it’s up to them!”

“……”