Zhou Xiaomai ignored the first option and only asked, “Do you want to drive me away?”
Old Mrs. Jiang said, “A married daughter is like spilled water. From the day you stepped into the Han family’s door, you were no longer a daughter of our Zhou family.”
Old Mrs. Jiang believed that Zhou Xiaomai would definitely choose to go to the Han family to demand money.
Otherwise, her parents’ home would not accept a daughter who had been divorced penniless.
Zhou Xiaomai said, “If I can’t return to my parents’ home, fine. Didn’t the Han family give twenty taels of betrothal money back then? Hand it over, and I’ll sever ties with you.”
Even at this point, Zhou Xiaomai still refused to go to the Han family to demand money. Old Mrs. Jiang exploded.
“Didn’t your eldest cousin need money to marry? Haven’t we been eating and drinking these past two years? That twenty taels has long been spent. Besides, our family raised you for so many years. Consider the betrothal money as repayment. Even if the twenty taels were still here, we wouldn’t hand it over to you.”
Zhou Xiaomai hadn’t expected to get that twenty taels of betrothal money.
Because getting Old Mrs. Jiang to hand over money was just as impossible as getting herself to hand over money.
What she needed was a temporary place to stay, and then she could think about what to do next.
Demanding the twenty taels of betrothal money was just a way to negotiate a condition with Old Mrs. Jiang.
Amid the argument, an elderly voice came from the courtyard.
“Zhou Ji, Zhou Xiang, are you home?”
The family hurried out of the main hall.
The speaker was Village Chief Zhou Deren, a silver-haired old man around sixty years old with a kind appearance.
Behind him were two men of similar age, the two most respected uncles in the clan, Zhou Hongzhi and Zhou Hongnian.
Zhou Ji stepped forward, “Village Chief, uncles, what brings you here? Have you eaten lunch? Please come inside and sit.”
The village chief waved his hand, “With so many people, we won’t go into the main hall. The three of us came because of Xiaomai’s divorce. What are your family’s intentions now?”
Zhou Xiang said, “After all, this isn’t a glorious matter. We’ll handle this privately within our family.”
The village chief had already heard about Zhou Xiaomai’s situation.
Knowing exactly what kind of people this family was, he had brought the two uncles along.
The village chief looked displeased, “Divorcing a wife isn’t just your family’s matter. This concerns our entire Zhou clan. I heard that Zhou Jiangshi is still forcing Xiaomai to go make trouble at the Han family?”
Old Mrs. Jiang said, “If we don’t make trouble, are we just going to accept being divorced without a clear reason?”
The village chief looked toward Zhou Xiaomai at the back of the crowd and beckoned her over.
They still needed to confirm the main party’s intentions before deciding how to proceed.
Even if they were to go make trouble, they couldn’t let Zhou Xiaomai, a young woman, go alone. They, the older folks, should go to demand an explanation.
Zhou Xiaomai walked up to the village chief.
The village chief asked, “Xiaomai, what are your thoughts?”
Zhou Xiaomai knew that the village chief and the uncles were relatively reasonable. She toned down her previously indifferent attitude.
“I accept the divorce. I don’t plan to go to the Han family to demand any explanation, nor do I want to extort any more money from them. A person must have dignity to live in this world!”
Zhou Xiaomai’s last sentence was spoken with conviction and force.
It made the village chief and the uncles look at her with newfound respect!!
Old Mrs. Jiang anxiously said, “We can’t swallow this injustice. They’ve ruined our family’s reputation. The Han family should compensate us.”
There was no reasoning with Old Mrs. Jiang. Right now, all she could see was money.
Zhou Xiaomai only told the village chief, “This marriage was mismatched from the start. What kind of family is the Han family? I know I have no talent, no looks, and no family background—I’m not worthy of the Han family’s eldest son. Why did the Han family let me enter their household back then? It was for chongxi (marriage to ward off illness). If the chongxi failed, they would have arranged a ghost marriage for me. The Han family also promised that if Han Yi didn’t make it, I could return home after mourning him for a year. Later, although Han Yi recovered, there was no marital affection between us. In terms of food and clothing, the Han family never mistreated me. Everything was agreed upon in advance, so I have no reason to go and cause trouble at the Han family now.”
Old Mrs. Jiang tried to interrupt again.
Zhou Deren didn’t give her a chance to make a fuss and nodded first, saying, “You’re a sensible child, but you should also be prepared. Being divorced at such a young age means the road ahead won’t be easy.”
Zhou Xiaomai said, “I have hands and feet—I won’t let myself starve. But right now, there is something I need the village chief’s help with.”
“Go ahead.”
“When the Han family married me, they gave twenty taels of betrothal money and gifts. On our side, not only was there no dowry, even the red wedding dress I wore was bought by the Han family. A clean break is fine. But Grandma said if I don’t go to the Han family to demand money, I’ll have nothing to do with the Zhou family from now on. So I wanted to ask the village chief if the village could arrange a place for me to stay temporarily. I can find a way to earn money to pay rent.”
It wouldn’t be a problem for Zhou Xiaomai to buy a house in the countryside, but for now, she made her situation sound as pitiful as possible.
She didn’t want Old Mrs. Jiang’s family hovering around her every day because of money.
Liu Caixia stepped forward and took Zhou Xiaomai’s hand, unable to hold back her tears.
“Xiaomai, what foolish talk is this? How can a woman like you survive on her own outside? Your grandma was just speaking in anger. At home, we’ll never let you lack a bed or food.”
Zhou Xiaomai had originally planned to stay with her natal family temporarily, but from today’s events, she realized she wouldn’t find peace there.
There were plenty of rooms, but only two were allocated to the third branch: one for Zhou Xiang and Liu Caixia, and one for Zhou Xiaomin and Zhou Xiaodong.
Even if Old Mrs. Jiang allowed her to stay, she would have to share a room with her two younger sisters. That room was so cramped that even turning around was difficult once a small bed was placed inside—it was essentially a shed attached to Zhou Xiang and Liu Caixia’s room.
The rest of the rooms were occupied by the eldest branch, with each grandson having his own room.
As for food, although she had come from the apocalypse and could endure hardship, she had been in charge of storage there and never suffered much when it came to meals.
During her month at the Han family, she had experienced the peak of her life across two lifetimes—meat with every meal.
Now, being asked to drink broth without rice alongside her birth mother and younger sister was something she really didn’t want to endure. Living outside would allow her to eat alone!
“Mother, don’t try to persuade me. If I stay at home, neither Grandma nor Auntie would be willing, and I don’t know how they’d mistreat me. I’d rather live outside—at least I’d suffer less physical harm.”
In Liu Caixia’s mind, a little physical suffering wasn’t a big deal since they were all family.
But living outside meant starving or freezing to death—it meant not surviving!
Zhou Xiaomai spoke of her grievances, but her words were pointed.
It was no wonder Old Mrs. Jiang and Lu Hui found them grating.
Lu Hui reproached her, “Xiaomai, you’re being too unreasonable. When your grandma and I scolded you, it was for your own good. How can you hold a grudge?”
Zhou Xiaomai sighed softly, “If not for the village chief and uncle coming over, I’d probably be half skinned alive by now. As long as I refuse to go to the Han family and embarrass myself, there won’t be a single bite of food for me in this house from now on. It’s better not to stay and cause you trouble—I’ll suffer less that way!”