Chapter 26 Dividing the Family

Upon hearing his wife's words, Shen Zishan was taken aback at first, then a relieved smile appeared on his face: "Oh dear, you always tend to overthink things."

"It must be because of my heart-to-heart talk with Mom yesterday! Maybe after what I said, Mom realized that she had been too strict with you before, so she's starting to change her attitude now."

Thinking of this, Shen Zishan was filled with joy, after all, a harmonious relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is a great thing for the whole family.

If his mother really treats his wife well in the future, he won't have to be caught in the middle.

Even Ma Aning couldn't bear to discourage him.

Until nearly noon, the kitchen was filled with the aroma of cooking and food.

Surprisingly, Qian Daniu did not call on Ma Aning to help prepare lunch as usual.

This unusual silence deepened Ma Aning's doubts.

After much hesitation, Ma Aning decided to leave her room and go to the kitchen to help add firewood.

When she stepped into the kitchen, she expected to be met with Qian Daniu's usual scolding, but to her surprise, Qian Daniu did not start cursing this time, and did not even utter a single word of complaint.

She merely glanced at Ma Aning casually before returning to her focus on the spatula she was using to stir-fry the dishes, seemingly unconcerned about Ma Aning's presence.

Just then, a clear and loud work bell rang from afar, breaking the village's tranquility.

As the bell rang, people finished their hard work that morning and began to walk home with tired but light steps.

Before long, laughter and the sounds of pots and pans clattering together filled the air from every household.

Soon, the Ma family's dining table was filled with a sumptuous meal.

The family sat together, silently eating their meal with their heads down. No one spoke, and the atmosphere was somewhat dull and oppressive.

Everyone seemed lost in their own thoughts, focusing only on quickly swallowing the food in their mouths.

When everyone had almost finished eating and was about to put down their chopsticks, the heavy-hearted man, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.

"Don't rush off yet. After everyone has finished eating, I have something important to announce to you."

Upon hearing this, Ma Aning's heart skipped a beat, and she thought to herself, "It's finally here!"

He ate quickly and soon finished the bowl of rice.

After seeing everyone put down their bowls and chopsticks, he cleared his throat heavily and said, "I specifically asked you to stay today because I wanted to discuss the matter of dividing the family property with you."

“According to the old custom in our village, as long as the elders are still alive, the family will not be divided. But now the situation is different. You brothers have all grown up and each has your own small family to take care of.”

"As for your mother and me, we are getting older and older. After thinking it over, we think it's better to separate you out. That way, you can manage your own lives better."

After saying this, he paused for a moment, then continued, "Your mother and I have carefully counted the money at home, and there's still a little over 1,000 left."

“This time, when we divide the family property, we plan to take out 1,000 yuan to divide equally, making a total of four parts, with your mother and me each getting one part.”

"As for the grain at home, it is also divided equally into four portions, with each family receiving about several hundred kilograms. If we eat this grain sparingly, it should be enough to last until the new grain harvest this autumn."

Upon hearing this, the eldest son's wife, Lin Meimei, immediately revealed an undisguised look of joy on her face.

She secretly calculated that if they could really get a sum of money and a lot of food, their family's life would be much more comfortable in the future.

However, unlike Lin Meimei, the second son, Shen Zicheng, looked completely unwilling.

He has always been a cunning and sly person, and his wife is also a lazy and gluttonous person.

Therefore, they were truly unwilling to separate the family. Shen Zicheng frowned and complained unhappily, "Father, Mother! What family separation? Isn't it good for our whole family to live together happily? Why do we have to live separately?"

He ignored him and continued, "We'll divide up some of the pots and pans in the house. As for the house, this one will be left to the eldest son, who will take care of us in our old age. As for you, the village has already allocated you land for your own homes."

“Your mother and I have discussed this carefully. Each of our families received 250 yuan this time. We plan to take 50 yuan from this and give it to each of your families so that you can use it to build houses.”

"It's not much, but that's all we can do. As for what the house will ultimately look like, that depends on your individual plans," he said slowly and heavily, his tone tinged with helplessness.

"Until the house is built, both of your families can stay here for now, but I can only give you time until the end of this year at most."

"Alright, I've said everything I needed to say. If you have anything else to say, feel free to say it now. But let me make this clear: once this family division is over, I don't want to hear any more gossip about this matter!" He looked around at everyone with a heavy expression.

At this moment, Ma Aning spoke up, "Father, Mother, I'll go to my room and tell Brother Shan about the situation."

After receiving a heavy nod of agreement, Ma Aning carefully supported her waist and slowly walked towards the room.

Meanwhile, Shen Zishan, who was in the room, had already heard the entire conversation outside.

There's nothing we can do about it; the soundproofing in this house is just awful these days!

"Brother Shan, you heard everything, what are you thinking?"

Ma Aning rushed into the house and asked impatiently.

Shen Zishan sat on the edge of the bed with a sorrowful expression. Hearing the sound, he slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with grief and helplessness.

"What else can I think? Now that they see my leg is injured and I can no longer earn money to support the family like before, they're making a fuss about dividing the family property!"

"Hmph, most of the money in this family was earned through my hard work, but in the end I only got a tiny bit. It's so disheartening!" He said, slamming his fist on the edge of the bed.

He continued, "My leg injury won't heal anytime soon, and I don't know if it will affect my ability to work in the fields in the future. I'm afraid it will be a burden on my brothers and themselves!" As Shen Zishan spoke, his eyes gradually became moist.

Seeing this, Ma Aning quickly stepped forward, held his hands tightly, and gently comforted him, "Brother Shan, don't be sad. No matter what, you still have me! As long as we are willing to work hard, our future will definitely get better."

She gently stroked the back of Shen Zishan's hand, trying to convey some warmth and strength to him.

Hearing this, Shen Zishan calmed down a bit and nodded, saying, "Yes, wife, you're still the best to me."

“In that case, why don’t we apply for a plot of land at my father-in-law’s place? That way we’ll be closer and able to look after each other. Anyway, I’m completely disappointed with this place now, and I’m thinking of just building the house in your village.” After saying that, he sighed deeply.

He remained silent and heavy-hearted, but couldn't sit still when he heard his third son say that he wanted to build a house in his father-in-law's village.

"What did you just say? You actually want to build your house in your father-in-law's village!"

He roared in uncontrollable rage, his face flushed red with anger, and the veins on his forehead bulged as if they were about to burst out of his skin at any moment.

Hearing his father's angry words, Shen Zishan remained unusually calm. He simply raised his head and looked directly into his heavy eyes.

He said slowly, "Dad, please don't get angry. Since you've brought it up, I might as well be frank. Yes, I do plan to build the house in my father-in-law's village. So what? Is that wrong?"