“So? Have the Zhou family made up their minds?” Director Li asked Old Master Zhou.
“Kunzi, have you really decided to disown us?”
“Dad, don’t you remember what you told me when I was seven? You said the family was too poor to raise me, so you sent me to become Master Wang’s adopted son.
“Now it’s my turn to say this: Dad, your son is poor. I don’t have the means to support you and Mom anymore.
“You gave birth to me and raised me for seven years. I’ve repaid that debt for more than twenty years now. I’ve paid back enough. From now on, it’s my duty to support Master Wang in his old age.”
Old Master Zhou’s face turned livid.
“Fine. You’re city folk now. You’ve started looking down on us country parents. Do whatever you want. As soon as I get back, I’ll have your name struck from the family genealogy.”
But those words no longer stirred anything inside Zhou Kun.
“From today on, I’ll consider you dead.”
“Second Brother, if you’re going to act like this, then from now on, I’ll pretend I never had an older brother.”
“That’s fine. As long as it makes you happy.”
“Second Uncle, how could you do this? You’d rather sell your job to a stranger than give it to me! Fine! I won’t acknowledge you as my uncle anymore. And don’t expect us to take care of you when you’re old!”
Zhou Yuwei snorted.
“Hah. My sister and I aren’t dead yet. My dad won’t need you to support him.”
Director Li spoke up at once.
“If you’ve all reached an agreement, then sign a written statement. From now on, each family will live its own life.”
Once the matter was settled, Old Master Zhou immediately gathered everyone and left.
The whole group grumbled and cursed under their breath as they walked away.
“Dad, what about me? What am I supposed to do? I really like Zhang Yu. I want to marry her! Dad… Mom!”
Zhou Jinshui was frantic.
“What are you panicking for?” Zhou Shi said. “Your grandparents have money. Just ask them for it.”
“I had no idea the old couple had that much money.”
“And yet they made us scrape by every single day.”
So their family had already become a ten-thousand-yuan household.
Zhou Jinshui hesitated.
“But what if Grandpa and Grandma won’t give it to me?”
“You’re their eldest grandson. Everything they own will belong to you eventually. Why wouldn’t they give it to you?” Chen Ju thought for a moment before turning to her husband. “Old Shi, if your parents refuse, then we’ll demand to split the family too.”
“Split the family?”
“That’s right. Split the family and divide the money. Then we’ll build a brand-new house back in the village.”
She smiled to herself.
Then her future in-laws wouldn’t dare look down on them anymore.
“And buy me a job so I can get married,” Zhou Jinshui added eagerly.
The three of them immediately began making plans.
Meanwhile, Zhou Wei’s family was secretly discussing splitting the family as well.
“Your parents are unbelievable.”
Zhang Lihua couldn’t help complaining to Zhou Wei.
“They’ve got all that money, yet they won’t spend any of it to buy jobs for you or Jinlong. They’d rather have you digging in the fields all your lives. Are they planning to leave everything to Eldest Brother’s family?”
She was furious.
She had long known that every trip into the city brought the old couple back with plenty of benefits.
No wonder the old man and old woman had never wanted to bring them along.
So they’d been secretly coming to collect Zhou Kun’s wages all this time.
Zhou Wei’s face darkened as well.
Exactly.
If they had so much money, why hadn’t they arranged a job for him?
“No. We have to split the family too.”
Everyone was harboring their own schemes.
Old Master Zhou had no idea that this trip to the city had not only failed to bring him any benefits, but had also plunged the entire family into chaos, with one household after another demanding a division of the family property.
…
Both Zhou Yuwei and Zhou Kun were taken to the neighborhood clinic.
Looking at her mother and sister silently crying together, Zhou Yuwei felt another headache coming on.
Then she glanced around the room.
She really was something else.
She’d only been here for two days, and this was already her second trip to the clinic.
“Mom… Sis… could you two please stop crying?”
It really wasn’t that serious.
Those enthusiastic neighborhood aunties and Director Li had insisted they come to have their wounds treated.
After all, Yuwei’s injury was on her neck.
Even though the cut wasn’t deep, it looked frightening.
“Yuwei, promise me you’ll never do something like that again. Do you know how dangerous it was? You’ve been hospitalized twice in just two days.”
Lin Hongmei had never imagined her daughter would do something like that.
She’d never realized this timid girl had such courage.
For Zhou Yulan, the scene had been an enormous shock as well.
She couldn’t help envying her younger sister’s bravery.
If only, back then, she had…
“But Grandpa was trying to beat you and Dad to death. If I hadn’t done that, would Director Li and the others have tried so hard to help us? Even if Dad had already decided to sever ties with them, our family would’ve still been stripped clean.
“This turned out pretty well. I knew exactly what I was doing. It’s only a scratch.”
Zhou Kun looked at his younger daughter.
“You’re just like I used to be. That’s my girl.”
Then his expression softened.
“But you never have to do something like that again. Your mother and I are still here. You don’t need to worry about the family’s problems. Just study hard.”
“Dad, I’m already eighteen. I’m an adult now. Stop treating me like a child. If something happens, we’ll face it together.”
Zhou Kun thought about it.
She was right.
It had been Yuwei who came looking for him the night before and told him to sell his job.
“You want me to sell my job?”
He’d thought he’d misheard her.
“Dad, if you don’t have that job anymore, Grandpa and Grandma will definitely agree to split the family. Actually, they’ll probably go even further than that.
“If you really want to escape the miserable life we’ve been living, you have to sell your job.”
“But if I sell it, what will I do afterward?”
“Start your own business. With your craftsmanship, you’re already well known at the factory. Why keep working there when you could work for yourself? Besides, does it really make any difference whether you keep that job or not?”
Of course it did.
Over the past few years, his salary had risen to seventy yuan a month.
But the accounting office still sent fifty yuan directly to his mother.
Occasionally, the accountant would secretly slip him the extra twenty yuan.
Even so, he regularly sent more than forty yuan every month to Yulan in the countryside.
Because of that, the family really didn’t have much money left.
Zhou Kun shot his somewhat unreliable daughter a helpless look.
“If your old man actually had the money, I’d have opened a furniture factory ages ago. Do you think I’d need you to tell me that?”
“You don’t need to open a factory. Go south, buy merchandise there, and bring it back to sell here. Opening a shop first would be more than enough.”
“But I don’t have the money to buy inventory. And what would I even sell? I’m just a carpenter. All I know how to make is furniture.”
“Just sell the job first. We can figure out the rest afterward.”
Buying goods in the south required startup capital—that was the biggest obstacle.
Right now, the most important thing was making money.
If they couldn’t afford to source merchandise from the south…
Then maybe there was another way.
…
Neither of them was seriously injured.
After having their wounds bandaged, they went straight home.
Zhou Yuwei wanted to go out and look around, hoping to find some way to make money.
“Your injuries haven’t even healed yet. Where are you going now?” Zhou Yulan stopped her.
Their mother had already gone back to work.
The cafeteria job didn’t pay much, but the entire family depended on that income to get by.
“I’m just going out for a walk.”
“Then come back early for dinner.”
“Okay.”
Zhou Kun headed out as well.
He wasn’t the sort of person who could sit around doing nothing.
As soon as Zhou Yuwei reached the entrance to the hutong, she saw a crowd gathered there.