Gu Shiyu’s face turned pale the moment she heard this. She already knew that after the family split, there would be no good outcome waiting for her.
She forced back her anger and sobbed pitifully. “Mom…”
Mother Gu knew that the most important thing right now was to finalize the split quickly so her youngest son could successfully get married. Everything else had to be pushed aside. She snapped impatiently, “Just do as your eldest sister-in-law said.”
Wang Lihua curved her lips in satisfaction. This was the first time since marrying into the family that she had seen Mother Gu scold this little sister-in-law.
Gu Shicheng thought about how he would still need to repay the bride price after marriage, and his heart ached so much his teeth hurt. But with his marriage to Lin Baozhu already imminent, he could only temporarily compromise.
At the critical moment, Li Wenxiu stepped forward and said, “Dad, Mom, over the years the fourth brother and younger sister have never contributed a single cent to the family’s common funds. If they are included in the split, then I demand that all financial records of the communal funds over the years be made public.”
Wherever there was shared property, there were bound to be hidden hands taking advantage.
Mother Gu erupted in fury at Li Wenxiu. “Third daughter-in-law, are you trying to tear this family apart!”
Gu Shiye quickly stepped in front of his wife again. “If you want family peace, then don’t insist on marrying a city daughter-in-law and don’t talk about splitting the family.”
But things had already reached this point. How could they not split?
Father Gu shot Li Wenxiu a fierce glare and finally relented. “Fine, I can exclude the fifth child, but anyone who keeps nitpicking can get out of this house. Don’t blame me for cutting ties.”
Gu Shiyu swayed unsteadily. She knew that if she was excluded from the split, her future would mean being forced into marriage soon.
But she was a high school student and did not want to return to the countryside to marry a rural man.
Unable to hold it in any longer, she exploded, “Ah! You’re all bullying me!”
After shouting, she ran out of the house.
Mother Gu panicked and instinctively ordered her obedient and honest second son, “Second son, hurry and go bring your sister back!”
Gu Shinian answered honestly, “Then wait until we finish the split.”
Gu Shicheng immediately snapped in anger. He was now terrified that anything else would disrupt the family division.
“Don’t go after her. She was born and raised in this village. What could possibly happen?”
In the original short drama, Gu Shiyu was far from innocent. When the male and female leads were living smoothly, she had often helped the female lead bully the three older brothers and sisters-in-law.
It could be said that Gu Shicheng and Gu Shiyu, this pair of dragon and phoenix twins, had been spoiled into two rotten people from a young age.
The family split continued.
Mother Gu took out all the money and vouchers in the common account. The total cash came to 1,235 yuan. Divided among nine people, each person received 137 yuan and 2 jiao, with the remainder consisting mainly of grain, oil, and cloth coupons.
This year’s newly harvested grain was also divided according to headcount, this time including Gu Shiyu as well. The rooms were allocated as they were currently used, with the main hall belonging to the eldest branch.
Finally came the pots and bowls. Each person only received one pair of chopsticks and two bowls.
The kitchen and cooking utensils were assigned to the eldest branch as part of their responsibility for supporting the elderly, though everyone could take turns using them.
By the time each household had moved their share of belongings into their own rooms, it was already broad daylight.
Gu Shiye, being the production brigade’s tractor driver and familiar with the brigade captain, went to ask him to come and oversee the signing of the separation documents.
When the brigade captain learned that the Gu family was splitting because Gu Shicheng insisted on using a high bride price to marry a city woman, he merely sighed and said nothing.
The Gu old couple were well known in the village for favoring their youngest son and daughter. However, Gu Shicheng had indeed been excellent academically. After graduating from high school, he had even been assigned a teaching job in the commune.
It could be said that over the years, he had never let his parents’ favoritism go to waste, so outsiders had little to say.
But privately, he believed the smartest child in the Gu family was actually Gu Shiye, the third son, who had once learned a few skills from soldiers who came to the village, and later became the production brigade’s tractor driver.
After the split, even breakfast was prepared separately.
Ruan Hongmei specially boiled an egg for her daughter Pan’er to nourish her body.
Mother Gu saw it and could not help but complain again. “Right after splitting, you’re already wasting food. Eggs are for the strongest laborers in the family. How can you give one to a little girl?”
Ruan Hongmei remained silent for a moment, ultimately choosing not to argue back. After all, the old woman could only complain now and no longer control them.
Wang Lihua could not resist retorting, “Mom, you’re just biased. Shiyu is also a girl who will eventually marry out. She has probably eaten more eggs since childhood than her three older brothers combined.”
Mother Gu planted her hands on her hips, ready to argue, but then she saw Gu Shiyu returning and decided to go comfort her daughter instead, only shooting Wang Lihua a sharp glare.
“Too much talking!”
Wang Lihua snorted smugly. She had long disliked how the old couple favored that delicate, ungrateful little sister-in-law. Now that she would be in charge of the household, she would quickly marry that lazy girl off and even earn a bride price from it.
At that moment, Gu Shiye brought out breakfast.
Wang Lihua glanced at the two bowls of plain white rice and laughed. “You’d better hurry up and leave. You don’t know how to manage things. If Mom sees this, she’ll just scold your branch again.”
Gu Shiye said, “Thank you, Eldest Sister-in-law, for helping divert the fire earlier.”
Although the eldest sister-in-law was somewhat calculating in the original plot, as long as no one competed with her for benefits, she was still someone you could get along with.
Gu Shiye quickly carried the food back to their room.
Li Wenxiu happily appeared from space.
“Hubby, guess what good thing I signed in today?”
Gu Shiye looked at her excited expression. “Did you finally draw gold bars?”
Li Wenxiu became even happier. “Hubby, how did you guess it so accurately?”
Gu Shiye said indulgently, “Your expression already says it all.”
Li Wenxiu deliberately changed the topic. “Not just that, there’s also a jar of pork lard and twenty jin of rice.”
Gu Shiye grew even more eager. “How many gold bars did you get exactly?”
Li Wenxiu held up all five fingers.
Gu Shiye said, “So many? XiuXiu, your luck has already surpassed Lin Baozhu’s koi fortune.”
Li Wenxiu analyzed, “I think it might be because we’ve changed the direction of the plot, so the sign-in system is rewarding us. I wonder if tomorrow we’ll get five more gold bars or even more.”
Gu Shiye reminded her, “We’ll think about tomorrow tomorrow. For today, let’s eat first.”
Breakfast today was white rice with a soft fried egg sitting in the bowl.
Li Wenxiu had two fried eggs in her bowl, while Gu Shiye only had one.
She suddenly thought of something, turned around, and brought out the jar of pork lard, scooping a big spoonful into each of their bowls.
Gu Shiye, in turn, got up to fetch the small amount of soy sauce they had received the night before.
The soy sauce of this era contained no artificial additives and tasted better than later generations, even better than the pickled vegetables made by Mother Gu.
Mother Gu’s pickled vegetables were the kind that were both mediocre and proudly overhyped. Even though her skills were poor, she still insisted on pickling several large jars every year and bragging about them everywhere.