To preserve the old man’s dignity in front of the children, and for the sake of “family harmony,”
she had forced herself to swallow her anger—like swallowing broken teeth.
Divorce?
Fine—divorce it is!
Whoever doesn’t agree is a dog.
A strange light flickered in Liu Meiling’s eyes.
..
Early the next morning, Liu Meiling put on her most worn-out clothes and, while it was still dark, headed straight to the train station.
A train ticket to Jingzhou—fifteen full hours.
The entire journey, she didn’t even dare go to the bathroom, afraid that if she took off her pants, someone might see the money hidden inside and rob her.
The train rattled loudly all the way. Liu Meiling shifted her canvas bag closer to her feet. The rough fabric scratched her arm, but she didn’t care.
Inside the bag, besides a couple of meat buns she bought on the roadside, there was only a wrinkled map of Jingzhou city.
She didn’t know the exact districts, but she did know how Jingzhou would develop in the future. No matter where she bought, it would be a guaranteed profit.
In her previous life, her eldest son’s family had settled in Jingzhou. Their butcher business had grown under their management, and Li Baoguo had secured a foothold by supplying meat to several shops in the city.
Back then, she had occasionally seen news about Jingzhou. She vaguely remembered that a large courtyard in the East District had been demolished—and by the year she died, housing prices there had reached 150,000 yuan per square meter.
..
After fifteen hours, night had fallen thickly.
Liu Meiling pressed against the train window and looked out. Jingzhou wasn’t as prosperous as it would be in the future, but tall buildings had already begun to rise.
She followed the crowd off the train. It was already close to ten at night.
There were guesthouses near the station. Liu Meiling didn’t skimp—she booked a room, asked for two kettles of hot water, paid 1.89 yuan, and went upstairs.
The meat buns were already cold. She locked the door carefully, poured a cup of hot water, and ate slowly.
Her fingers traced over a newspaper again and again until she finally decided on a location.
..
After a good night’s sleep, Liu Meiling checked out early the next morning, hired a small three-wheeled vehicle, and after more than three hours, arrived in the East District.
She went straight to the local neighborhood office and stated her purpose.
“Hello, comrade. Are there any courtyard houses for sale on Honghua Street?”
The woman inside looked up, adjusted her glasses, and replied formally:
“Yes. There are two courtyard houses on North Street for sale—one large, one small. Do you want to take a look?”
The two houses were at opposite ends of the street.
The smaller one, near the entrance, was priced at 6,500 yuan.
The larger one, at the far end, was priced at 5,300 yuan.
The owner of the larger courtyard was a half-grown boy, dressed in worn clothes. He opened the door.
“You are…?”
“Xiao Wu, we’re here to see the house.”
Wu Chuan’s eyes lit up briefly, then dimmed again. He stepped aside.
“This courtyard has six rooms—three main rooms, one south room. The toilet is on the left, the kitchen is on the west side.
My mother left this house to me. She’s gone now… I don’t really have any attachment to it anymore.”
He spoke quickly, then added almost despairingly:
“Auntie, I won’t hide it from you. This house is good in every way, and the price is low—but there’s one problem. This house comes with trouble.”
Liu Meiling took one look and immediately liked it more than the smaller one.
It was surrounded by streets, and the backyard could even be opened into a storefront.
Demolition wouldn’t happen for a few more years, and the construction materials were solid. Aside from the messy south room, everything else was tidy.
The space was large—and most importantly, the kitchen had two big stoves.
Since she had already decided on divorce, Liu Meiling had no intention of delaying.
After the divorce, she would move to Jingzhou and start the braised meat business she was best at.
“What kind of trouble?”
“This house was left to me by my mother, but I’m not yet eighteen, so it’s temporarily managed by my father.
My father…”
Wu Chuan pressed his lips into a thin line.
“He’s… a bit of a troublemaker. So if you buy this house, you might face a lot of problems later.”
That was putting it mildly. His father wasn’t just “a bit troublesome”—he was downright awful.
Not long after Wu Chuan’s mother died, his father hastily remarried her cousin, Huang Hudie, who even brought along a stepson.
His father was terrible, his grandmother was just as bad—famous in the neighborhood for causing scenes and cursing people.
This wasn’t the first time Wu Chuan had tried to sell the house. The last buyer had barely taken it before his father, grandmother, and stepmother teamed up to take it back.
Now that he was almost eighteen, they were already planning to transfer the house to his stepmother’s son.
To pressure him, they had even forced him to drop out of school in his second year of high school.
..
“I see.”
Liu Meiling didn’t hesitate and chose this house immediately.
Trouble?
Who could be more troublesome than her own parents?
As for fighting—that was even less of a concern.
Not to mention her parents, she herself had raised three sons. Just standing there was enough to intimidate people.
And above her, she had four older brothers and eight nephews—all skilled hunters. What was there to fear from a few thugs?
Wu Chuan swallowed hard. Even after receiving the money, he still felt dazed.
Within three days, the property certificate was processed (details aside). Wu Chuan packed his belongings quickly, then bowed deeply to Liu Meiling in the courtyard.
“Thank you. With this money, I can finally finish college properly.”
“Where will you go now?”
Wu Chuan smiled faintly. “I’ll go stay with my second aunt.”
They parted in a hurry—never expecting they would meet again someday.
After getting the certificate, Liu Meiling immediately had the locks changed and reinforced the doors, then took a train back home.
She needed to bring her father and brothers over as soon as possible to guard the house.
But the moment she got home, everything was in chaos.
Bao Mei had a cut on her forehead, blood trickling down her face as she trembled in anger in the courtyard.
Xiao Yunchen, completely out of control, had smashed tables and chairs.
Qian Feng and Qian Mianmian were covered in slap marks, their clothes nearly stripped off as they huddled in the corner.
Meanwhile, Li Mingliang sat leisurely on a stool, smoking his pipe like nothing had happened.
The moment the door opened, Liu Meiling’s heart sank.
“What happened here?”
She scanned the scene, suppressing her anger, and walked over to Bao Mei.
“Does it hurt? Who hit you?”
Bao Mei burst into tears. Her forced bravery collapsed into dependence as she grabbed Liu Meiling and pulled her toward the corner.
In the corner, Qian Mianmian looked almost lifeless, covered with Qian Feng’s clothes like a puppet.
“What happened?!”
Liu Meiling’s voice rose sharply. Something was clearly wrong—she didn’t even dare act rashly without understanding the situation.
“Mom, where did you go?!”
Bao Mei sobbed, unable to speak clearly. Seeing this, Xiao Yunchen couldn’t hold back and spoke hoarsely:
“Mom, while you were gone, that woman and that old bastard got cozy with each other—they even started living together.
They locked up the kitchen so we couldn’t eat, forcing us to kneel and kowtow to her. We refused.
We went hungry for days.
Today we couldn’t take it anymore, so we broke the lock while she wasn’t home.
Mianmian was cooking when she came back. She accused her of stealing eggs, stripped her clothes off, and threw her outside to kneel.”
There had been quite a few people around that afternoon.
Most were housewives cooking at home—but there were also some onlookers who whistled lewdly.
Qian Mianmian was nineteen—she understood the difference between men and women.
She cried and begged for forgiveness, but those gazes felt like needles stabbing into her body…