Just as a tree grows bigger and branches out, so too will people naturally split up. There are also families split up in the village, but none like the Li family, where the old lady and old man don’t even care about their own sons. Although Zhou Zhou is a boy, he is also the blood of the Li family.

　　”It’s a long story.” Aunt Wang chopped vegetables, making a thumping sound, and then she said, “Zhou Zhou is also a poor child. His brother^[1]ger father were dragged to death by the Li family.”

　　The eldest daughter-in-law was shocked. How could this turn into a murder case?

　　”What are you thinking? He died of illness, but you are dragging your feet and not giving me money to buy medicine.” Aunt Wang stopped, glanced at her daughter-in-law, and said, “I’m telling you this, if you learn this——”

　　”Mom, I’m not talking nonsense.”

　　In fact, all the older people in the village knew about this matter, after all, it was a mess at the beginning. Aunt Wang just didn’t want her eldest daughter-in-law to talk about it. If Li Da heard it, it would be a mess.

　　”There are three boys in the Li family, Li Da, Li Er, and do you know what the third one is called? Li Zhengren. Look, why are the names of the three brothers different? I even paid a scholar to come up with them. They sound different from us country folk. People are precious, but later on, they become very successful…”

　　This is a long story.

　　Li Zhengren was born when Mrs. Li was in her thirties. At that time, she already had two sons, who had already started their own families. In order to let the villagers see that the eldest son was the most honest and decent, the Li family was poor and could not afford a wife, so Mrs. Li found a daughter for her eldest son.

　　My brother asked for a cheap dowry.

　　The second son’s turn came. His family was better off and he married a girl. At that time, the Li family had not yet split up, and the whole family lived together. Li Da was tall and strong, and was also good at tending the crops. The Li family’s 20 to 30 mu of land depended entirely on Li Da’s hard work.

　　Li Er is a lazy person, only Li Da is diligent.

　　By the time the little one was born, the Li family had become famous in the village. At the full moon banquet, someone drank a few glasses of wine and joked that the old clam gave birth to a pearl, saying that Li San was fair and clean, unlike us peasants.

　　Old Mrs. Li took it to heart and really felt that her youngest son was different. She spent three cents to ask an old scholar to give him a name, and later the Li family sent Li Zhengren to study with the old scholar.

　　”Mom, could it be that Li Zhengren passed the imperial examination and became a scholar?” the eldest daughter-in-law asked curiously. She had never heard of it.

　　Aunt Wang: “Mrs. Li had this idea in mind, but before Li Zhengren could pass the exam, something happened. Li Da’s wife died, and Li Da wanted to split the family.”

　　Finally, we got to the point. The eldest daughter-in-law was curious about why this man was gone and why they split up the family and never contacted each other again.

　　”Li Da is a very stubborn person. He doesn’t keep anything to himself. He gives all the money he earns from odd jobs to the public. When his wife had a miscarriage and needed to take care of him, he couldn’t afford a penny. Old Mrs. Li is also very stingy and doesn’t even blink an eye when spending money on her youngest son.”

　　”Dad Zhou Zhou is injured. He caught a cold in the winter. He should have just taken some medicine to nourish himself. But Old Lady Li was so stingy that she made the medicine tasteless and watery. How can this cure any disease?”

　　”…After enduring the winter, the people were gone in the spring.”

　　”Li Da wants to divide the family, even if he is labeled as unfilial. But the villagers are not blind. They have seen everything that Old Lady Li has done. If it weren’t for Li Da’s support, the old house of the Li family would have been built like that? If Li Da divides the family, who will work in the fields and who will support his youngest son’s education?”

　　”But even though Old Lady Li scolded him, Li Da was determined to get a share. Finally, we invited the village chief to give him a share. Li Da got five mu of paddy fields. It was only after the village chief couldn’t stand it anymore that Old Man Li agreed to give the farmland next to our house to Li Da.”

　　The eldest daughter-in-law was shocked when she heard this. People are partial to each other, but it is rare to be so partial. It turns out that the eldest daughter-in-law’s life is not his life. The eldest son is like an ox in the field, just working in the fields and not giving him any good at all.

　　”Mr. Li is living a good life now, so doesn’t Mrs. Li regret anything?” asked the eldest daughter-in-law.

　　Just like listening to storytellers, people love to hear about good deeds being rewarded and evil deeds being punished. In the eyes of the eldest daughter-in-law, the torture of the old lady Li killed her daughter-in-law, and there must be retribution.

　　”Does she regret it? She’s going to live in the prefecture and county and live a happy life as an old lady.” Aunt Wang sighed sincerely and said with a sigh, “Maybe it’s fate. Both Li Da and his son have bad luck.”

　　”After the family split up and Li Da was gone, within two years, the Li family had trouble supporting Li Zhengren. Li Zhengren took the exam twice but failed. Later, he simply went to work as an apprentice in a restaurant in the prefecture and county. I don’t know how he won the favor of the accountant, so he married his daughter to Li Zhengren. Now Li Zhengren has taken over the position of accountant and bought a yard in the prefecture and county. He doesn’t need to work as a laborer anymore. I heard that he can earn more than 20 taels of silver a year just by doing an abacus every day.”