When Xu Ergen stepped back into the Xu family home, although only one morning had passed, his state of mind was completely different.
Everything felt both familiar and strangely distant, as though an entire century had gone by.
He first returned to the small room that had once belonged to his family and opened the kang cabinet to pack their belongings.
After seventeen years of marriage, the cabinet contained only one spare set of clothes for each family member and a few thin cotton jackets.
The bedding was patched over with layer upon layer of repairs.
There was nothing else.
One bedsheet was enough to wrap up all the family’s clothes into a single bundle. The remaining quilts were rolled together and tied with rope onto his back.
Those two bundles represented everything Xu Ergen’s family owned after seventeen years.
“Dad, I’m here to collect the separation money.”
Carrying bedding on his back and a bundle of clothes in his hand, Xu Ergen stood at Old Xu’s doorway and knocked gently.
“Or forget it. I won’t force you if you won’t give it to me. I’m leaving.”
No response came from inside.
Xu Ergen turned and walked away immediately.
“Second Brother, wait!”
Chen Hehua hurried out from her room.
She had assumed that if they simply stayed silent, Old Xu would eventually hand over the money to save face.
But this time, Old Xu truly seemed furious.
“These three hundred yuan… Sister-in-law is lending it to you. Take it for now.”
Chen Hehua’s heart ached over the money, so she intentionally worded things vaguely.
Old Xu had told her to hand over the separation payment, but she deliberately described it as a loan instead.
“Sister-in-law,” Xu Ergen replied calmly, “Father promised separation money. However much he gives, I’ll accept. But if you’re lending it to me instead, what does that mean?”
He refused to take the money.
If they wouldn’t give it, then fine.
He still had a job.
He could still earn money himself.
“Second Brother, wait! Don’t go—!”
Chen Hehua panicked.
This second brother had suddenly become truly hard-hearted and simply walked away.
If he left angry, what would happen to her Eryou and Sanyou?
…
Ever since birth, his parents had taken Eldest Brother with them to live in the county town while tossing infant Xu Ergen to his grandmother in the countryside.
His grandmother, with bound feet, had begged neighbors door to door for milk to feed him.
Later, she had raised him spoonful by spoonful on rice soup until he was fifteen.
It had not been easy.
But last year, even his grandmother had passed away.
Now he had split from the family too.
In this world, only his wife and three daughters remained as his true family.
Thinking of this, Xu Ergen suddenly began running.
Running straight toward the police station.
“Dad! Why are you running?”
At a fork in the road leading toward the police station, Xu Bu called out to him.
“Your grandparents didn’t give the separation money, so I came straight to find you all.”
Xu Ergen slowed to a stop and lowered his head as he approached Zhou Rong.
He looked lonely.
Like a child who had done something wrong.
“Dad,” Xu Duoduo suddenly said while grabbing his hand, “then let’s just go visit Great-Grandma in the countryside! She must miss you very much!”
“…Alright.” Xu Ergen nodded after a moment. “I’ll take you all to wait by the supply cooperative entrance first, then I’ll go get travel documents from the neighborhood office.”
He missed his grandmother too.
Let Old Xu think they had gone to the city hospital.
They could hide away for a few days and let Eryou and Sanyou stay inside the police station a little longer.
Xu Duoduo grinned mischievously.
Together with Zhou Rong and the others, they turned another corner and headed toward the cooperative instead.
By the time Chen Hehua finally chased all the way to the police station entrance, Xu Ergen was nowhere to be seen.
All her careful scheming over the family split had only succeeded halfway.
If she had known Xu Ergen would become this stubborn, she would have surrendered the three hundred yuan immediately!
“What are you doing here? Why are you wandering around outside the police station? Did you commit a crime?”
Dead Fish Eyes happened to storm out of the station angrily at that exact moment.
He was furious.
Since Xu Duoduo hadn’t died, the two little bastards couldn’t be heavily sentenced after all.
He had been planning to seek advice from his cousin.
Then the moment he stepped outside, he spotted Chen Hehua sneaking suspiciously around the entrance.
“N-No! I just wanted to check on my Eryou and Sanyou. I’m their mother,” Chen Hehua hurriedly explained.
“So you’re the mother of those two attempted murderers?” Dead Fish Eyes sneered. “Get away from here immediately. Keep loitering around and I’ll arrest you too.”
Terrified, Chen Hehua hurried home.
The moment she entered the courtyard, she saw Xu Sangen loading belongings onto a flat cart while Old Madam Xu clung to him crying and trying to stop him.
“Sangen! It really was only a fake family split! We only did it to make your second brother release Eryou and Sanyou from the police station! Mother can’t bear to separate from you. Even after splitting, we still planned to live with you!”
Hearing those words, Chen Hehua instantly regretted proposing the fake split.
It seemed Old Xu had genuinely been angered by Xu Duoduo and now wanted a real division.
Their eldest branch would have to pay the separation money, continue handing over wages next month, and if they refused, Old Xu even threatened to sell Xu Dagen’s job position.
Chen Hehua instantly snapped.
For years she had lowered herself, constantly buying treats behind the scenes to flatter Old Madam Xu.
She had spent plenty of money every month.
And now this so-called fake family split had completely exposed Old Xu and Old Madam Xu’s favoritism.
“Dagen! I can’t live like this anymore!” Chen Hehua suddenly collapsed dramatically into the courtyard, slapping her thighs while wailing loudly. “I tried giving Second Brother the separation money but he refused it!”
“And now we can’t even find him at the police station! What are we supposed to do about my Eryou and Sanyou?!”
Her strategy was simple:
Cause a scene until Old Xu and Old Madam Xu personally went searching for Xu Ergen.
Because if Third Brother moved out of the courtyard now…
Then the fake family split would become real.
Meanwhile, after obtaining the travel papers and buying train tickets, Xu Ergen looked toward the station sign and saw his wife and daughters sitting together atop their luggage, leaning against one another.
The afternoon sunlight shone across the four of them like a layer of golden light.
Warm.
Peaceful.
At that moment, Xu Ergen felt his life was finally complete.
From now on, he would work hard and earn money.
“Mom, I’m going to the restroom.”
After eating some pastries, Xu Duoduo had drunk too much water.
“It’s right over there. I’ll go with you,” Zhou Rong said.
“I’ll go too! I need the restroom as well.” Xu Ting grabbed Xu Duoduo’s hand and pulled her toward the nearby toilets.
The moment she entered the restroom area, Xu Duoduo nearly suffocated from the smell and immediately rushed back out, fanning the air frantically.
“小婷，我在外边等你啊。你不要怕哦!” -> translated:
“Tingting, I’ll wait outside for you! Don’t be scared!”
The smell from this pit latrine was honestly comparable to the apocalypse.
“Okay, Second Sister. You can go back first if you want.”
Xu Duoduo moved slightly farther away while shouting back:
“I’ll wait right outside. Don’t be scared.”
If they came together, they left together.
Rule number one of apocalypse survival partners.
Suddenly—
THUD!
A muffled sound came from the nearby alley.
Then a man clutching a bag came sprinting out.
The moment he saw Xu Duoduo standing by the roadside, his eyes lit up.
Without hesitation, he tossed the bag to her and kept running.
“He went that way! I saw him jump over there!”
Someone shouted from behind, followed immediately by chaotic footsteps.
Holy crap.
What the hell?
What’s inside this bag?!
In that split second, Xu Duoduo had no time to think.
She grabbed the bag and dashed into the restroom, instantly throwing it into her spatial storage the moment she turned the corner.
“Second Sister, don’t worry. I won’t fall into the toilet pit.”
Xu Ting came running out just as Xu Duoduo finished storing the bag away.
Xu Duoduo’s heart nearly exploded from fright.
“Mhm. I was worried about you,” she replied while grabbing Xu Ting’s hand and leading her away quickly.
Outside, several people wearing red armbands rushed past them.
“Second Sister, there are so many people. There must be bad guys. It’s scary,” Xu Ting whispered nervously.
“Don’t be afraid. We didn’t do anything wrong.” Xu Duoduo comforted her. “Look, Dad’s back.”
She led Xu Ting back toward the station sign.
And because she wasn’t paying much attention, she completely failed to notice the young girl in a floral dress hurrying past them in the opposite direction.