Cheng Tiegang didn’t quite understand what was going on, but seeing the disdainful look in Jiang Lin’s eyes, he knew it wasn’t good.

It infuriated him so much that he kept pressing his fingers together, making them crackle and pop.

Yan Runzhi wiped her tears, “Back then, the eldest son separated from the family, but we still ate and drank here. Later, the government allowed us to redeem a small house to live in. We had no money, so Dongsheng went outside and worked for two years to earn it. He’s almost ten years younger than the eldest son.”

Thinking of her son, her heart felt like it was being twisted with a knife.

When Cheng Ruhai said Dongsheng couldn’t come back, she cried alone countless times.

Her stepfather and father were shot, her elder brother died, and so many others were humiliated and committed suicide.

Now her son…

Thankfully, she had a grandson; her grandson was her lifeline…

Otherwise, she really couldn’t hold on.

Several old men at the scene sighed, “Dongsheng was a good boy.”

Cheng Ruhai’s face alternated between pale and blue.

He hadn’t expected everyone to suddenly change their attitude.

Earlier, they had all seemed indifferent, so why were they now supporting the widow?

Hmph, could it be they all had their eyes on the widow and her daughter?

Cheng Fujun said, “Then give the two children two more rooms. When they grow up, they’ll need space for their wives…”

“Branch Secretary!” Cheng Ruhai immediately objected, “I also have two sons who will need rooms for their wives. Besides, that 200 yuan was before the family split. How can it count now? If we go by that logic, should we also split the work points we earned for the family?”

Yan Runzhi quickly added, “Your daughter-in-law’s family took 100 yuan and two pieces of cloth, and two quilts. What you earned from work points wasn’t even enough for us to eat. The money for your marriage was borrowed from the team by me, and later it was Dongsheng who paid it off during the famine. Eldest son, have a heart. How can you say this?”

Liu Honghua heard this and immediately protested loudly, “Which family doesn’t ask for dowry for their son’s marriage? My Liu family raised their daughter so hard, just to give her away to you for nothing?”

Yan Runzhi snorted, “She didn’t even get a single penny for the dowry, but we still have to give her a hundred.”

Ever since the educated youth went to the countryside, the villagers were eager to marry them.

Firstly, educated youth were stylish and cultured, and secondly, they didn’t demand dowries.

So even though they seemed delicate and couldn’t do heavy work, many families still liked to marry them.

Cheng Rushan’s family background wasn’t good.

He refused to sever ties with his father, so even though he was tall and handsome, villagers dared not marry their daughters to him.

Being tall and handsome wasn’t enough; family background was the most important thing back then!

Liu Honghua criticized Jiang Lin for being lazy and avoiding work.

Jiang Lin retorted, “If we’re talking about splitting up, let’s just talk about splitting up. Don’t talk nonsense. You owe us two hundred of the four hundred.”

Liu Honghua: … You’re all talk!

She was so angry that she couldn’t think straight.

She wanted to jump up and throw a tantrum, but she was wary because of the presence of the village cadres.

As a result, she was left with smoke coming out of her ears and fiery eyes.

Cheng Ruohai’s face darkened. “Why another four hundred?”

Jiang Lin replied, “Can’t you count? Two hundred for redeeming the house, two hundred for marriage. Isn’t that four hundred?”

Liu Honghua shouted, “No more splitting!”

However, the village cadres ignored her. The village accountant said, “Since it’s settled, we’ll take out two hundred from the public funds. If there’s not enough money, we’ll use the value of two rooms.”

One hundred for the main room wasn’t enough, but the side rooms were passable.

They decided to allocate two side rooms to Jiang Lin and her child and split the remaining amount in half.

Cheng Ruohai felt aggrieved, his face turning purple.

He furrowed his brows and stared, “There are only three main rooms. How do we split them in half? Cut one in the middle?”

Liu Honghua retorted, “Every family has its head. You’re the eldest, so of course you’ll live in the main room.”

Jiang Lin countered sharply, “So arrogant! You push the elders to the smaller room and want the main one? Shameless!”

Cheng Xiaobao chimed in, “Shameless!”

Cheng Jinguang added, “You’re a pig!”

Cheng Dabao concluded, “You’re pig dung!”

Cheng Jingang threatened, “I’ll beat you to death!”

Cheng Yulian interjected, “Shut up! What’s all this arguing about?”

The women’s director managed women and children, and in the village, she held more sway than even the village secretary because she handled many matters that directly affected people’s lives.

Cheng Jingang had to shut up.

Cheng Dabao, who never swore, also kept quiet.

Jiang Lin glanced at Cheng Ruohai contemptuously and said, “You’ve forgotten something. This isn’t just about dividing things between brothers; there’s also money owed to Uncle.”

If she mentioned giving half to Yan Runzhi first and then splitting the rest into three parts, they probably wouldn’t understand.

But dividing everything into three parts wasn’t hard to grasp.

Cheng Ruohai and Liu Honghua were furious.

At first, they thought being the eldest son entitled Cheng Ruohai to live in the three main rooms, with Yan Runzhi and them in two small side rooms being enough.

But now, Jiang Lin had taken the two side rooms first, leaving them to divide the remainder into three parts.

After all the calculations, Cheng Ruhai ended up with the smallest share!

The village cadres reconsidered and decided it should be like this: since they had initially thought Cheng Rushan might not return, they would split things into two portions.

The village accountant chuckled, “This makes it easier. Divide the three main rooms into three parts, and after setting aside the two side rooms, split the rest into three parts.”

Cheng Ruhai and his wife began to argue stubbornly because, counting the gatehouse, there were five rooms left to divide, along with a pigsty and chicken coop. It was really hard to split them fairly.

“No problem, if it’s hard to divide, we can dismantle some bricks and build anew. Then we’ll divide the foundation into three parts later.”

Jiang Lin absolutely refused to live under the same roof as Cheng Ruohai. She had a solution in mind but kept it to herself for now. She wanted to provoke Cheng Ruohai first.

“You’re playing dirty? I’ll build walls, tear down bricks, let’s see who’s more stubborn.”

Liu Honghua was furious with Jiang Lin to the point of steaming.

She couldn’t understand how an educated youth could be so shameless and thick-skinned. “How can you be so shameless? You’re an educated youth.”

Sun Qinghui and a few others were listening nearby and immediately fired back, “What are you saying? What’s wrong with educated youth? They also earn their keep through hard work.”

They were already quite impressed with Jiang Lin and never expected her to have this side.

Worried about causing further trouble, Cheng Ruohai quickly told his wife not to argue with them.

Just then, Meng Yiyi rushed in from outside, out of breath. “Where’s my sister? Linlin?”

Jiang Lin pretended not to hear.

She had only been teasing Meng Yiyi before and wasn’t expecting her to actually come help out.

If she wanted to deal with Cheng Ruhai, she would have to rely on the team.

What good was Meng Yiyi?

But Meng Yiyi squeezed in quickly and got close to Jiang Lin.

She spoke softly, “Linlin, I need to talk to you.”

Jiang Lin replied, “Yiyi, with so many cadres here, I believe things will be fair. Don’t worry.”

Meng Yiyi was taken aback. “Why would I worry? You make it sound like I’m saying the cadres aren’t fair.”

“I understand your difficulties. I have an idea that might help,” she said to Cheng Ruhai. “Captain San, we’re all from the same village, like brothers and sisters. There’s no need for us to become enemies. I have a solution that might solve your problems. Would you like to hear it?”

Cheng Ruhai glanced at her.

Meng Yiyi was usually sensible and didn’t look down on others.

She was a dedicated elementary school teacher who even voluntarily helped with writing letters.

Unlike that bad woman Jiang Lin, who was either looking down on people or fighting.

“Tell us your idea, and we’ll listen. If it’s reasonable, we’ll consider it. If you’re biased, hmm!”

Meng Yiyi smiled and reassured, “Don’t worry, I’ll support what’s fair, not just what’s family. My opinion will be impartial.” She lightly pressed Jiang Lin’s shoulder, hoping to alleviate any potential displeasure.

She continued, “How about Captain San gives my sister 400 yuan? That way, all the houses can belong to you. With that 400 yuan, my sister can build two additional rooms.”

Liu Honghua instinctively exclaimed, “Why give her 400 yuan? Isn’t that unfair? Who will give me 400 yuan? Our family doesn’t even have that much money.”

Cheng Ruhai quietly nudged her, signaling her to think before speaking.

Others might not understand, but Cheng Ruhai knew well that building such a courtyard would cost no less than 2,000 yuan.

Back then, it was all quality materials—green bricks and grey tiles, sturdy and spacious.

The main house was tall and wide, with green bricks sealed with clay, leak-proof.

And 400 yuan should be negotiable.

He proposed, “150 yuan.”

Meng Yiyi replied, “Captain San, with 150 yuan, she can only build one room. How can that be enough for my sister and her four-person family?”

Cheng Ruohai countered, “At most 250 yuan. Anything more is out of the question!”

Meng Yiyi persisted, “300 yuan, just enough to build three small rooms.”

Cheng Ruohai was seriously tempted.

Jiang Lin watched Meng Yiyi confidently strategizing, as if directing a military campaign.

Jiang Lin rolled her eyes, almost as if she could see the entire Milky Way in one glance.

Meanwhile, Yan Runzhi observed Jiang Lin closely.

She knew Meng Yiyi and her daughter-in-law were very close.

Even though her daughter-in-law didn’t listen to her own parents, she was willing to listen to Meng Yiyi, believing that Meng Yiyi always had her best interests at heart.

In the past, Yan Runzhi thought her daughter-in-law was only after money, always complaining about being poor and unable to afford anything.

However, now she still had a glimmer of hope.

She softly murmured, “Precious daughter-in-law? If we build a house, we won’t have food to treat our guests.”

Building a house not only required buying bricks, tiles, adobe, and wood but also providing food for the helpers.

At this time, with a fair approach, the price of food on the black market was seven to ten times higher than usual.

300 yuan seemed like a lot, but it wouldn’t be enough.

Meng Yiyi was confident that Jiang Lin would listen to her.

Once she raised the money for Jiang Lin, she could return to the city and find Bian.

She smiled and softly said to Jiang Lin, “Linlin, I think this is the best solution. With money in hand…”

Her voice was gentle and sweet, deliberately softened, making it hard for anyone to refuse.

Cheng Dabao interjected, “We don’t want money, we want a house!”

Money was good, but without a place to live, their current shack, infested with bugs and rodents, leaky and drafty, made sleeping impossible.

Cheng Xiaobao looked up at Jiang Lin.

Though he didn’t speak, he looked at her with eager anticipation, his bright black eyes sparkling.

Cheng Tiegang and Cheng Jingang, the two brothers, mocked him, “Shut up, you brat.”

Who didn’t know that mom despised Cheng Dabao and Cheng Xiaobao, never giving them the time of day? They dared to suggest ideas? They were asking for a beating.

When they lived together in a courtyard, they heard mom curse them all day long, “Get out of my sight. You annoy me just by being here.”

“Get lost and don’t block my way.”

“Burdensome!”

They couldn’t remember what they heard, nor could they learn from it.

“Haha, fool!” Cheng Jingang mocked Cheng Dabao. “She won’t even pay attention to you.”

Cheng Dabao immediately pouted and glared at him.

Jiang Lin glanced at the two brothers and said disdainfully, “Fools! Cheng Dabao is our young lord. If I don’t pay attention to him, who will? Pay attention to you two idiots? Our young lord wants a house!”