Chapter 16 : Mother, Let’s Separate

Zhao Huili sneered and looked up at the sky, a tear slipping from the corner of her eye.  

“I’ve had enough of this life!”  

As she spoke, she turned her head to look at the man she had lived with for decades, her voice choked with emotion.  

“Song Zhiyong, I’m saying this today either we separate, or I divorce you!”  

Her words hit Song Zhiyong like a heavy hammer.  

He looked at Zhao Huili in disbelief, then turned to Old Lady Song, who was cursing in anger. Gradually, the redness on his face faded, little by little.  

At that moment, Song Shiwei walked up beside him without him even realizing it.  

“Dad, if you still recognize me as your daughter, then take a good look at how Grandma and Uncle’s family have treated me, my brother, and my sister! The moment the Zhou family left, they started scrambling to grab things. I finally found a good marriage, but Grandma and her family insisted on giving it to Song Yingying instead. If the Zhou family hadn’t stood their ground, my marriage would have been ruined today!”  

“Think about my brother. How many years has it been since he came home? You know better than anyone why he was sent to the countryside!”  

“And my sister every day after school, she has to wash clothes for the whole family, bathe Grandma, and endure her scolding. Song Yingying gets new clothes every year, while we wear the ones she doesn’t want! Do you know that my sister often hides under the covers at night and cries by herself?”  

Song Shiwei stared at her father’s reddened eyes and continued harshly, “If you can’t see this, then you don’t deserve to be my father! I support my mother in divorcing you!”  

Song Shimiao, who had been crying silently, wiped his tears away and added with hatred in his voice, “And me, I don’t acknowledge you as my father anymore! If Mom divorces you, I’ll leave with her!”  

If, after seeing his wife and children crying with red, swollen eyes, Song Zhiyong still felt nothing, then he truly wouldn’t be a man!  

For some reason, Old Lady Song suddenly felt uneasy. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could speak, she saw her second son looking up at her with red-rimmed eyes.  

“Mom, let’s split the family!” His voice was firm. “I’ve held this in for so many years, and I’ve wanted to say it for a long time. Since you dislike our family so much, let’s move out and stop bothering you! It just so happens that the factory is distributing housing these days I can apply for one, and we’ll move out and live there!”  

Seeing that Old Lady Song was about to say something, he quickly added, “Don’t worry, Mother, we’ll still give you your yearly filial piety money!”  

Old Lady Song was so furious that her chest ached from anger!  

Feng Chunmei’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she quickly nudged Song Zhiguo beside her. Song Zhiguo immediately understood what she meant.  

With the second family moving out, the house would have more space for their three children! It wasn’t ideal to have so many people crammed together all the time, so this was the perfect opportunity.  

He cleared his throat and said, “Ahem! It’s not impossible for you to split from the family, but you can forget about taking the house with you. Just look at how upset you’ve made our mother! If her health suffers because of this, we’ll still have to be the ones taking care of her!”  

Hearing his words, Old Lady Song felt even more reassured. In her mind, her eldest son was the best, while her second son was useless, he only made her angry! It would be better if he moved out as soon as possible!  

“In that case, you and your family should move out. This yard will belong to your eldest brother and his family from now on!”  

Her favoritism was blatant!  

This wasn’t a fair division of the family’s property, it was clearly just an attempt to drive the second branch out!  

Song Zhiyong was no longer acting foolishly.  

He raised his voice and said, “That won’t work either! Big Brother and his family are not allowed to take over our second room’s house! This yard was left to us by our grandfather’s generation, and it should be divided equally among the three of us brothers! Zhiwei isn’t back yet, Big Brother, but you’re still the eldest. Why did Zhiwei end up in the Construction Corps, and why did my Wenlin have to go to the countryside? Don’t you know the truth behind it?”  

“And have you ever seen a family split up like this?”  

Song Shiwei couldn’t be bothered to argue anymore.  

“Mom, Dad, since Grandma and Aunt have objections, I’ll go ask the people from the neighborhood committee to help us divide everything! Anyway, Grandma and Uncle’s family clearly don’t care about their reputation, so why should we? When the time comes, let all the neighbors see how my grandma and uncle bully others!”  

As she spoke, she turned to leave. Old Lady Song and Feng Chunmei immediately panicked and rushed to stop her.  

What would happen if she actually did that?  

Forget about their reputation!  

Old Lady Song was utterly furious and waved her hand.  

“Fine, let them do as they please! They say once a man has a wife, he forgets his mother. I’m old and useless anyway!”  

Song Zhiyong knew he couldn’t be soft-hearted anymore. Since his mother had spoken, he knelt on the ground with a thud and kowtowed several times to Old Lady Song’s back.  

Then, he stood up and told Zhao Huili and the others to start moving Song Shiwei’s betrothal gifts back to their second room!  

But Feng Chunmei refused to let go of the TV!  

Song Shiwei was irritated. “Aunt, this is my betrothal gift. If you keep this up, I’ll call all the neighbors over to judge whether it’s fair for my uncle’s family to take my dowry for themselves!”  

As she spoke, she shouted, “Everyone, come and take a look!!!”  

Feng Chunmei was so frightened that she immediately put the TV down.  

“Fine, fine, take it! What’s so special about it? It’s just a lousy TV! Who doesn’t have one these days? Maybe in the future, Yingying’s husband will give us a 20-inch TV! When that happens, you’ll be so jealous!”  

Song Shiwei smirked slightly, letting her brag all she wanted.  

Without wasting any time, she picked up the TV and carried it home.  

She didn’t stop until she had moved everything from the Zhou family into their house.  

She noticed Feng Chunmei and Song Yingying leaning against the window of their room, watching her with jealous eyes!  

Ha, the more jealous and angry they were, the happier she felt!  

Why don’t you just get mad at me? People with envious hearts really need treatment!  

With the family finally separated, Zhao Huili let out a sigh of relief. From now on, both she and her husband would have control over their own salaries!  

And just now, she had managed to get 200 yuan from Old Lady Song!  

In the past, all their wages had to be handed over, and as the second wife, she never had a penny of her own!  

She could endure hardships, but she wouldn’t let her children suffer along with her. That money was rightfully theirs.  

Of course, she knew that her mother-in-law had secretly hidden away the rest of the money.  

But since Old Lady Song insisted she only had 500 yuan left, they could only get 200.  

Zhao Huili didn’t bother arguing with her and simply took the 200 yuan back home.  

Because she firmly believed that as long as they were separated from the rest of the family, their lives would only get better and better in the future!