"Who dares ntion dividing the family, you spendthrift hussy!" Old Master Lian coughed on his smoke when he heard Lady Zhou ntion dividing the family first. Unable to imdiately stop this line of conversation, it ended up firmly nailed down with another sentence from Lady Zhou. Enraged, Old Master Lian threw the broom he was using to sweep the kang bed towards Lady Zhou.
Lady Zhou was struck on the head and her hair imdiately beca disheveled. She was also dazed. Old Master Lian was different from most peasant n; he never laid a hand on his wife, and this was the first ti he had raised his hand to Lady Zhou.
Lady Zhou, both ashad and furious, lunged into Old Master Lian’s arms, extending all ten fingers to scratch at Old Master Lian’s face.
"You dare hit ? I bore you sons and daughters, and now at such an old age, you still hit ? What’s the point of being alive..." Lady Zhou scratched and cursed while fighting. Old Master Lian had no choice but to flail his arms and legs to defend himself.
"You crazy woman, you’ve gone mad, I’ll divorce you..."
Old Master Lian and Lady Zhou, as an old couple, started fighting. Everyone rushed to separate them, and suddenly the house was filled with crying, cursing, and shouting—it turned into a chaotic scene. The commotion continued until nearly dawn before it finally cald down.
Lian Manman and the others returned to the West Wing Room. Since Lady Zhang, being unable to leave her bed, overheard the commotion in the Upper Room, she asked what had happened.
Lian Shouxin kept his head down, not saying a word. Xiao Qi leaned in close to Lady Zhang and babbled about what had happened in the Upper Room.
"Manman, you only said you could cure your grandma’s illness, but you never ntioned it would lead to dividing the family," Lian Shouxin asked Lian Manman.
"Dad, the accounts you just calculated, were there any falsehoods?" Lian Manman countered with a question.
"Of course not; in fact, I even rounded down," Lian Shouxin replied.
"So with this amount, dad, do you reckon our family can afford it right now?" Lian Manman continued.
"The cash at your grandma’s should be about right," Lian Shouxin said, "even if she is reluctant to use the cash, by pawning a couple of items, we could raise enough. And once we sell the crops, we can make up a large portion." The seventy taels of silver he calculated was based on what the Lian Family could currently afford.
"I really can’t co up with this sum right now; let your grandma cover it first, and I’ll pay it back little by little," Lian Shouxin added. He was feeling very distressed at the mont.
Lian Manman sighed. It was a common failing of people with a sense of responsibility to take the bla upon themselves.
"Dad, didn’t you just say the sa thing to grandma? What was her response?"
Lian Shouxin didn’t answer.
"This is not a matter of false accounts; it was bound to co up sooner or later. Dad, think about it, if we didn’t ntion it just now, and brought it up a few days later, would the outco be any different?" Lian Manman asked.
Lian Shouxin remained silent.
"Dad, since you could foresee that our family would have to divide eventually, even with my eldest uncle’s official position, how could you not have anticipated today’s scenario? I don’t want to say anything more, just one thing—adversity reveals true feelings," Lian Manman declared.
Lian Shouxin, sitting on the kang, hugged his head. Lian Manman was right; Shouxin could foresee that his brothers wouldn’t share their wealth with him, but what he never imagined was that his own mother, Lady Zhou, would be the one suggesting they divide the family in his ti of need.
"Didn’t your grandpa refuse to agree on dividing the family?" Lady Zhang asked with a mixture of feelings.
"What if everyone else is willing to divide the family?" Lian Manman said, "I an, everyone else is willing to have our branch separated from the family."
"My health has taken a significant toll this ti; even if I survive this ordeal, the future remains uncertain," Lady Zhang said with a desolate smile, "We still owe a large debt and are bound by obligations to others; if they don’t want to share the burden, we can’t complain."
"Yes, we won’t burden them," Lian Shouxin stood up, "I’ll go talk to dad right now; we’ll separate and live on our own."
If only this decision had co earlier, things would not have escalated to this point—perhaps if they had separated sooner, Lady Zhang wouldn’t have lost her child.
But Lian Manman still stopped Lian Shouxin.
"Dad, don’t go now. Grandpa is still angry. Let’s wait a couple of days until he cools down, and then we can talk to him properly," Lian Manman advised.
"Manman is right; going now would only be adding fuel to the fire," Lady Zhang agreed.
Thinking it over, Lian Shouxin felt there was reason in their words and nodded.
"Let’s not show any intent to divide the family these next few days, to avoid people gossiping," Lian Manman instructed further.
Everyone nodded.
Of course, they were going to divide the family, but the waiting was not just for Old Master Lian to cool down. Lady Zhou might have been sowhat impulsive when she spoke of dividing the family, but soone was bound to take the idea to heart. Those unable to restrain themselves were likely to make a move within these few days.
She wanted to separate the family, but also wanted to maintain a good reputation. As for the benefits that belonged to their family, not a bit should be missed.
********
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