Hearing this, Wang Xiuying immediately reacted and quickly shook her head.

“What are you thinking? How could I plead for them? I was just analyzing the situation with you. I don’t want you to hurt any innocent people.”

“Innocent? Who among them is innocent?”

Wang Xiuying: “……” That… actually made a lot of sense.

Thinking about it, Wang Xiuying felt ashamed and looked at Jian Xiu with embarrassment.

Her gaze clearly showed that she regretted her earlier words.

But after some thought, she still braced herself and said, “Fourth Brother… No, Jian Xiu, you know that our third branch…”

She didn’t finish her sentence—she was too embarrassed to say it out loud.

Of course, Jian Xiu knew what she was thinking.

Their third branch still hadn’t separated from the old house.

If something happened to the old house, their third branch would definitely be implicated.

As for the first branch, Jian Xiu wouldn’t care too much about them.

But if the third branch got dragged down too, she would feel a bit guilty.

After all, back when they were still in the old house, the third branch had genuinely helped them.

Otherwise, the original Jian Xiu might not have survived long enough for her to transmigrate into this body.

Thinking of this, Jian Xiu turned to Zhang Zifu and Wang Xiuying and said:

“You two should go back. I’m giving you one day to separate from the old house. Whether you sever ties or formally split the family, you must settle it tonight because I can’t wait any longer.”

“What? Just one day?” Zhang Zifu’s eyes widened in shock.

Separating from the old house wasn’t that easy.

Even when Jian Xiu had fought to split from them, it had taken several days.

Not to mention, the third branch was still handling most of the work for the old house.

Jian Xiu understood that her demand was difficult.

But she also knew what kind of people the old house was full of—selfish, greedy people who only acted when there was profit to be made.

If they realized that keeping the third branch around brought them no benefit and only meant more mouths to feed, they would let them go without hesitation.

These kinds of people had one major flaw—they hated taking losses.

Sure, Zhang Zifu was Old Liu’s biological son.

But if something happened to him, would Old Liu or Old Zhang really care?

They had three sons—if they lost one, they still had the other two.

In that case, it wouldn’t be hard for them to abandon the third branch.

Jian Xiu looked at Zhang Zifu, who was frowning in distress. “There’s only one way to split the family quickly. The question is, are you willing to try it?”

“What way? Maybe if you give me a few more days, I can come up with a plan,” Zhang Zifu said hesitantly.

“A few more days? Even one more day is too long. Do you know how much wild boar meat they took from me? Do you know how much food they’ll consume in just one day?”

“You’re wrong there.” Zhang Zifu shook his head. “Mother—no, the person in the old house—you know what she’s like. Do you think she’d generously share that wild boar meat? The most they’ll get is a piece or two each.”

Wang Xiuying chimed in.

Jian Xiu had to admit, Wang Xiuying had a point.

With that in mind, she continued, “If not for that, I wouldn’t have even given you a day.”

“What’s your plan?” Wang Xiuying asked curiously.

“The third brother gets injured—seriously injured—and needs a large sum of money… That’s where your mother-in-law comes in.”

Jian Xiu then explained her idea in detail.

After hearing it, Wang Xiuying was dumbfounded.

“That… would actually work?” Wang Xiuying asked in disbelief.

“The look on your face tells me you already think it will.”

“Alright then, what are we waiting for? Xiuying, hurry to my in-laws’ place and call my brother-in-law over too,” Zhang Zifu said excitedly.

Whenever the topic of splitting the family came up, he couldn’t hide his enthusiasm.

His wife had been pushing for it for a while, and after hearing it over and over, he had grown to hate the old house even more.

“Fine, if we can really separate, then making this trip will be worth it.”

“Be careful. Go now,” Zhang Zihua urged.

The sky hadn’t darkened yet, and Wang’s Village wasn’t far—just a fifteen-minute walk.

If she hurried, she could reach before nightfall.

After Wang Xiuying left, Jian Xiu headed to the kitchen to start cleaning up.

The entire kitchen was a disaster.

Everything had been smashed to pieces.

The bamboo shoots, originally stored in large jars after cooking, were now scattered all over the floor.

Fortunately, the thieves hadn’t realized they were wild bamboo shoots from the back mountain.

Since they had been peeled and cleaned, they probably didn’t recognize them.

After all, those people only had eyes for wild boar meat and silver.

Thinking about it, Jian Xiu found it laughable.

She had never imagined that one day, as a former special agent, her own home would be ransacked like this.

In the main hall, Zhang Zifu was tending to Zhang Zixuan.

The children were having dinner, but Jian Xiu’s mind drifted to the mother and son at the courtyard entrance.

With large strides, she walked toward them.

As expected, when the mother and son saw her approaching, they trembled in fear.

Their eyes were filled with terror.

“Y-you… What do you want now?” Zhang Zihua asked, forcing himself to stay calm.

This time, Jian Xiu didn’t bother with words.

She grabbed both of them and dragged them to the farthest corner of the yard.

There, behind a small, isolated hut, was an empty pigpen.

The moment she neared it, the stench hit her—overwhelming and foul, mixed with the stink of pig dung.

It was absolutely disgusting.

Back at the old house, she hadn’t thought much of the smell.

But ever since moving to the edge of the village, Zhang Zixuan had been taking care of the wild boars, and she hadn’t been near their pen in a long time.

Suddenly, she realized just how much Zhang Zixuan had silently done for the family.