Chapter 4

The gaze seemed as if it could see through everything, making Shen Mancheng’s old face turn red.

The embarrassment was so overwhelming that he, in frustration, glared at his son fiercely. “Go and clean up the stuff in the room!”

“Okay, sure!” 

Shen Qingsong was also embarrassed and flustered by his sister-in-law’s expression.

No matter what the reason was, he, as the eldest brother, was taking advantage of his brother’s absence to bully his sister-in-law and his nephew, niece…

He hadn’t wanted to think about it, but now that he did, he wished he could dig a hole in the ground and hide in it.

At this point, he didn’t even care how his wife would cry and complain later. He steeled himself, pried open Liu Chunxia’s hand, and entered the room.

Liu Chunxia never expected Yin Xiaoman to make such a move!

What was even more unexpected was that once this woman stood there, no one in the family seemed to treat her with any respect.

The feeling of having her authority disregarded was even more infuriating than if they had returned the house she had taken!

In a fit of rage, she rushed in after him, grabbed Shen Qingsong’s clothes, and began to struggle with him!

“Try taking anything out of here, I dare you!”

She was so furious, panting heavily, “Just because of one word from that woman, you want to return my son’s house? Shen Qingsong, how could you be so spineless?!”

“Stop making a scene!” Shen Qingsong impatiently shoved her.

Even though he had a good temper, he was still a man.

When his wife went against him in front of so many people, he also felt embarrassed.

Liu Chunxia hadn’t expected him to resist, and unprepared, she was pushed back several steps.

This time, it had stirred up a hornet’s nest. Liu Chunxia immediately started crying out loud: “Shen Qingsong, you useless man! What can you do besides bullying me? I’ve worked so hard, pulling and tugging, for who? And you—just for a little…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Shen Qingsong slapped his hand over her mouth, forcibly shutting her up.

“Shut up, or I’ll beat you to death!”

He was obviously desperate, whispering angrily as he dragged Liu Chunxia toward the door.

He didn’t dare let go of her even though his arms and hands were covered in scratches from the woman.

The commotion scared the two girls, who instinctively backed away when they saw them heading out the door.

But Yin Xiaoman remained as calm as ever.

When the two of them started pulling at each other again in the yard, she quickly walked a few steps, reached her mother-in-law’s side, and took the two children with her.

She pulled the eldest son closer to her, bent down, and picked up Erniu. Gently, she pressed her little head down, letting her rest on her shoulder, away from the noise and commotion.

Shen Qingsong finally dragged Liu Chunxia into the East Room they were staying in. In a daze, he saw their two sons react, quickly chasing after them into the room.

At this point, only Shen Mancheng and his wife were left in the yard, along with the two Educated Youths and the three women.

Zhang Jinfeng was so frightened her lips turned white, her teeth clattering together with a rattling sound.

She instinctively moved closer to her husband, visibly panicking.

Even though the door separated them, the noise from the East Room was still clearly audible, mixed with the cries of the two children.

Erniu buried her head deep in Yin Xiaoman’s shoulder, her arms tightly wrapping around her neck, showing an unprecedented sense of dependence.

The eldest son said nothing.

He pressed his lips tightly together, his gaze heavy, his face expressionless. It was hard to tell if he was deep in thought or had been stunned by the fear.

Until Yin Xiaoman freed one of her hands and took his cold little hand in hers, holding it protectively in her palm.

He suddenly snapped out of it and moved closer to her.

Shen Mancheng felt a throbbing pain at his temples, his mind in chaos as if a bundle of straw had been shoved into it.

He instinctively glanced at his second daughter-in-law, feeling that this girl, whom he hadn’t seen for a few days, seemed different from before.

But he couldn’t quite place what had changed.

The way she had stared at him earlier still sent a shiver down his spine when he thought about it.

He felt that, after living for sixty years, he had never felt such fear—even when he had faced the village leaders, not to mention the old clan leader. That brief moment had made him feel a kind of trepidation he had never experienced before.

This feeling made him uncomfortable, but it also made him more cautious around his second daughter-in-law.

The noise in the East Room was clearly not going to stop anytime soon. Shen Mancheng rubbed his temples and, with a stiff resolve, walked up to Yin Xiaoman.

“Qingyun’s wife, I’d like to discuss something with you, if that’s alright?”

He tried to lift the corner of his mouth, attempting to force a smile. But it was clear that he failed miserably, his expression twisted and uncomfortable.

“Go ahead, Father,” Yin Xiaoman replied without agreeing, only looking at him coolly.

Shen Mancheng’s face showed a brief moment of unease, but he didn’t dwell on it.

He thought for a moment before slowly speaking: “Qingyun’s wife, you know how your sister-in-law is. She’s troublesome and never thinks things through. There’s no point in arguing with someone like her; it’s not worth getting upset over.

Just do me a favor and temporarily let Da Zhuang and Er Zhuang stay in the house. When you need it, I promise I’ll get the house back for you!”

“But I need it now,” Yin Xiaoman replied, her expression one of amused confusion as she looked at him.

She gestured toward Liang Xiaoyu and the others. “Liang and the others are still waiting to move in. Father, no need to wait. Could you help by getting the stuff out of the house now?”

Her words seemed to block him entirely, making Shen Mancheng feel a tight, painful knot in his chest.

Seeing he didn’t respond, Yin Xiaoman sighed helplessly and, turning to Liang Xiaoyu and the others, apologized, “Sorry, you two must be watching this mess. 

But I can’t be the one to make decisions about this. How about we talk to the Party Secretary? Or we can have some people from the village come help my sister-in-law move? 

Having outsiders present would be a witness. That way, if anything goes missing, we’ll have someone who can vouch for it.”

Her words immediately provoked anger in the two girls.

They nodded decisively, “Okay, Xiaoman Jie, you stay with the kids, don’t worry about running around. We’ll go! We’ll head to the village office right now and bring the officials to sort this out.”

As they spoke, they headed toward the door.

Shen Mancheng suddenly panicked!

To be honest, he didn’t want the two girls to move in.

He had seen what had happened earlier—these two weren’t easy to deal with.

If they actually moved in, with his eldest daughter-in-law’s temperament, there would be constant trouble in the future.

Their home would never know peace again.

He was getting frantic, and in his rush, he forgot about the others and said things that weren’t appropriate in front of them.

He glared at Yin Xiaoman and shouted, “Qingyun’s wife, can’t you give me some face? Can’t you just pretend that I’m your father and ask for your help? Stop making a scene, please, stop causing trouble!”

By the end, his voice was filled with deep exhaustion.

But this very display of weakness only enraged Yin Xiaoman even more!

It was as if she suddenly understood the original owner’s helplessness and unspoken grievances all too well.

So, now, who was the weak one, and who was in the right?

Was weakness an excuse to recklessly take away someone else’s things?

Her eyes immediately turned red, and big tears began to fall down her face.

She didn’t wipe them away, just stared wide-eyed at Shen Mancheng and Zhang Jinfeng, her expression filled with immense grievance.

“Father, I’m begging you, please leave us three a way to survive!” 

As she spoke, she made a gesture as if she were about to kneel, but the two girls beside her immediately stopped her.

“Xiaoman Jie, what are you doing? This is the new society, kneeling isn’t a thing anymore! If you have grievances, just say them, the people are watching, and they will support you!”

The two girls looked at her as tears streamed down her face, falling endlessly, her body trembling. She appeared as fragile as a weeping pear blossom, her expression pitiful. They felt their hearts breaking.

They supported Yin Xiaoman’s body, but their eyes shot daggers at Shen Mancheng, their gaze full of fury.

Shen Mancheng felt as though he had been pierced by their looks, almost losing his balance. In a panic, he hastily said, “Qingyun’s wife, what do you mean by leaving a way to survive? You can’t speak like that! If you’ve been wronged, tell me, I’ll help you and your mother!”

Zhang Jinfeng nodded repeatedly in sympathy.

She reached out to touch Yin Xiaoman but was subtly avoided as Yin Xiaoman shifted aside, not meeting her hand.

Yin Xiaoman sniffed, her lips tightly pressed together, her expression one of awkwardness and unspoken difficulty.

After a long silence, as if making a huge decision, she quietly spoke, “Father, Mother, our family has no food left. For the past few days, we’ve only had one meal a day. I can handle being hungry, but I promised Qingyun I would take good care of these two kids. I can’t let them starve to death!”

Upon hearing this, Shen Mancheng’s face instantly turned red.

He frantically waved his hand toward his wife, “Go! Go get some flour from the jar, pack a bag for the kids to take home!”

Zhang Jinfeng nodded in agreement and was about to leave.

But Yin Xiaoman continued, “Father, life is long. You gave me face today, but what about tomorrow? What about next month? We’re three mouths to feed, how much food do you and your wife have to spare for us?”

Shen Mancheng immediately remembered what had happened this morning, his hand freezing in mid-air.

Liang Xiaoyu and Li Fang exchanged a confused glance before looking at Yin Xiaoman. “Xiaoman Jie, doesn’t the brigade give you food rations?”

Yin Xiaoman glanced at her father-in-law before explaining, “I went to high school in the city, and my household registration didn’t get transferred back here. So, there’s no food for me in the village.”

She then patted Erniu’s back and continued, “As for them,” she gestured toward her children, “their household registrations are with their father in the military unit, not in the village, so they don’t get rations either.”

The two girls immediately understood and nodded.

At this time, urban household registrations were quite valuable, as they allowed access to government-supplied food rations.

So, if a family had a child studying in the city and the child’s registration was successfully transferred out, it was very unlikely that the registration would ever be returned to the village.

Yin Xiaoman’s situation, however, was particularly awkward.

She was in her final year of high school, with only half a semester left until graduation, and her registration was still at the school.

But now that the school was closed, and all the students had returned to their villages, the school wasn’t distributing rations, and the village didn’t have any food allocated to her.

In typical families, if this situation arose, the family would tighten their belts and share what little they had with the child.

It would be difficult for that half year, but once the child graduated, they could find a good job in the city. At least, they’d be a city resident then.

But judging by the current situation, the Shen family clearly had no intention of helping Yin Xiaoman.

“I went to the village office to borrow food just now, but the village rules say that if you borrow food, you either have to pay with work points or money. When I married into this family, I brought fifty yuan with me, but it was all taken by my sister-in-law. When we split the family, I left with nothing.”

“We have no food and no money, so I had to discuss it with Liang Educated Youth and the others for mutual help. I lent them the house, and in return, they gave me five yuan a month to help me buy food.”

“Father, now you’re even taking the house away. Do you want to completely end the lives of me and my children?”

By the time she said the last sentence, Yin Xiaoman was in tears, her eyes filled with despair. Her voice rose higher, tinged with a tragic wail.

Hearing their mother’s words, both Dabao and Erniu burst into tears in unison.

The scene left everyone frozen, their hearts shuddering in response!