Yang Sufen spoke her twisted logic with complete confidence.
Secretary Wang merely smiled.
“Comrade Jiang may have married your son, but the house does not belong to him.”
“Because the house belongs to the state. The factory only arranged for Comrade Jiang to live there temporarily. The house has nothing to do with her either.”
The house didn’t belong to Jiang Yunling?
Yang Sufen panicked at once. “How can it have nothing to do with her?!”
“They’ve lived there for years—that makes it theirs! How can it not be related?”
“That’s not how it works,” Secretary Wang replied, a trace of disdain in his tone. “Let me ask you—if I lived in your house for a few years, would it become mine?”
That question left Yang Sufen speechless.
Secretary Wang added, “I came today because the textile factory is reallocating housing. The house belongs to the state. Who lives there in the future is uncertain.”
“Leader, what do you mean?” Yang Sufen grew even more anxious. “You’re taking back Jiang Yunling’s house?”
“Then where will she live?”
This bully-the-weak old woman had her malicious intentions written all over her face.
Secretary Wang deliberately put on a stern expression and said harshly, “Didn’t you just say that since Comrade Jiang married your son, she belongs to your Lin family?”
“If the state takes back her house, then your Lin family must be responsible for arranging her accommodation.”
“Not only that—you must also take care of her daily needs and medical treatment. Otherwise, I will report you for abandonment and have your entire Lin family sent to the police station!”
Yang Sufen might be domineering, but she knew nothing about the law.
She didn’t understand terms like “abandonment,” but she knew what a police station meant.
Years ago, during a crackdown, a delinquent from the village had been taken away—and never returned.
Rumor had it he’d been executed.
She absolutely couldn’t end up like that.
Slapping her thigh, she exclaimed, “Oh no! The chickens haven’t been fed today!”
“Zhengrong, Zhengguang, hurry home!”
With that, she dragged her two sons away in a hurry.
The staff from the housing department couldn’t hold back their laughter.
Lin Qiqi also smiled, stepping forward to thank Secretary Wang sincerely.
“Thank you, Secretary Wang. You’ve really helped us a lot.”
He genuinely liked the young girl.
“There’s something I shouldn’t say as an outsider, but your father’s family really…”
He paused, then waved it off.
“Forget it. You and your mother can stay here with peace of mind. I’ll inform my colleagues at the factory to keep an eye out and help your family.”
After walking some distance, Secretary Wang instructed his staff:
“Report this matter in full detail in the factory bulletin. Make sure the details are rich and clear. Understood?”
The first thing Yang Sufen did upon returning to the village was urge Lin Zhengxian to get a divorce.
“Divorce—immediately!”
“The state is going to take back Jiang Yunling’s house in the city. When that happens, she’ll have nowhere to go. Don’t let her cling to our Lin family.”
“I heard that if we don’t support her, it counts as abandonment—and our whole family could be sent to the police station!”
“But what if Yunling refuses to divorce?” Lin Zhengxian didn’t actually want to divorce Jiang Yunling.
Shuilian was young and attractive, and he liked her, but Jiang Yunling had taken good care of him all these years.
Although he didn’t want to care for a disabled wife, he could still maintain the title of husband.
A disabled person wouldn’t live long anyway—once Jiang Yunling died, he could promote Shuilian to his wife without losing anything.
“And does she get a choice?” Yang Sufen snapped. “If she won’t agree, I have plenty of ways to make her.”
Lin Zhengxian still didn’t want things to turn ugly.
Jiang Yunling loved him deeply and had endured the Lin family for years. Even when his mother beat and scolded her, she probably wouldn’t agree to a divorce.
“Mom, who told you all this?” he asked, still trying to understand how a perfectly good house suddenly couldn’t be lived in.
He had even planned to bring Shuilian to live there someday—perhaps Jiang Yunling and Shuilian could get along like sisters.
It was closer to the welding rod factory, making commuting easier.
“Secretary Wang—the one in charge of housing!”
Though Yang Sufen didn’t fully understand, the title sounded authoritative enough to intimidate Lin Zhengxian.
After a moment of silence, he finally said, “Divorce isn’t impossible, but what about Qiqi?”
After all, Lin Qiqi was his daughter—she would take care of him in old age.
“We’ll take her back.”
At the mention of Lin Qiqi, Yang Sufen gritted her teeth.
That girl had become increasingly defiant, daring to talk back again and again.
“Our Lin family raised her for so many years—of course she’ll stay with us.”
Once she got Lin Qiqi back under her control, she would marry her off to the widower in the village who had beaten his wife to death, in exchange for a large bride price.
Maybe they could even use the money to build a new house.
Then that wretched girl would have no choice but to kneel and beg her grandmother to save her life.
“But Qiqi has always been closer to her mother… it might not be easy to take her back…”
Lin Zhengxian had seen how Jiang Yunling and Lin Qiqi were treated in the Lin family—he just pretended not to.
Would she really go with them?
Yang Sufen wasn’t worried.
“Who would want to spend their life with a cripple?”
“No matter how badly the Lin family treats her, she’ll still have food and a place to live.”
“What does she have with that crippled mother? Starve to death on the streets?”
“Besides, you know her personality—scare her a bit and she’ll obediently come back.”
Though she sensed Lin Qiqi had changed, Yang Sufen was still confident she could control her.
“Tomorrow, we’ll go to the city together and bring that girl back first.”
“If she refuses, I’ll tie her up and drag her back.”
“If I can’t take the state’s house, can I not take my own granddaughter?”
“Once she’s back, you go divorce that cripple the day after tomorrow!”
The next day happened to be Sunday, and the Lin family of four went into the city again.
Lin Zhengxian, having lived there for over a decade, felt embarrassed to cause a scene and stayed at the alley entrance.
Yang Sufen, along with Lin Zhengrong and Lin Zhengguang, began shouting as soon as they entered the residential alley of the textile factory.
“Lin Zhengxian is divorcing Jiang Yunling!”
“Our Lin family is casting Jiang Yunling out—she has nothing to do with us anymore!”
Since it was a day off, workers came out to watch the commotion.
Seeing the crowd, the three of them shouted even louder.
“Jiang Yunling can’t cling to our Lin family anymore! Even if she starves to death, it has nothing to do with us!”
When they reached the courtyard gate, Lin Zhengrong changed his tone.
“Lin Qiqi, your father is divorcing that cripple!”
“Our Lin family is kind. Even though you’re a useless girl, you’re still our granddaughter, so we came to take you back.”
“Hurry up and pack your things and come with us. If we leave, you’ll be stuck with your crippled mother.”
“Then you’ll have nowhere to live, nothing to eat—you’ll starve to death on the streets, and no one will even collect your body!”
The day before, Secretary Wang had brought quite a lot of ingredients.
Early that morning, Lin Qiqi got up and prepared a lavish meal.
One reason was to celebrate—the housing issue was basically settled, no more constant worry, and Jiang Yunling could now walk with crutches.
The other was to thank Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang for their help.
Braised fish with tofu, red-braised pork, stir-mixed wild greens, tomato egg drop soup, and steaming white rice—
The table in the courtyard was filled.
They were happily eating when Lin Zhengrong’s voice rang out.
Aunt Zhang heard him talking about starving on the streets and then looked at the table full of food.
For a moment, she didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry.
Her expression twisted strangely.
After swallowing a bite of fish, she cursed sincerely—
“The Lin family must all be out of their damn minds!”