What?!
Everyone in the Lan family was stunned!
They truly hadn’t expected anyone to be this shameless!
Even Old Madam Lan felt a hint of retreat. “Then maybe we shouldn’t—”
“Grandmother!”
Xu Shi, who was usually soft-spoken, said firmly for once, “This ancestral house was left to me by my parents.
Even if he’s my own uncle, he has no right to seize my ancestral home!”
She had grown up in this house—every corner was filled with her memories. No one was allowed to take it away from her.
Aunt Hua was a little puzzled. “Chahua, didn’t you marry well? Why would you still want this rundown house?”
Xu Shi didn’t know how to answer. She couldn’t very well say that the Lan family had fallen on hard times and now had nowhere else to go.
“Auntie, that’s not how you should put it.”
Seeing that Xu Shi didn’t know how to argue back, Lan Shuang spoke up for her.
“This is the place where my second sister-in-law grew up. It has special meaning to her.
Not to mention a rundown house—even if it were just a broken bowl, it would still be hers. Without her consent, no one has the right to occupy it.”
“Yes, what Shuang’er said is exactly how I feel.”
Xu Shi couldn’t help crying again. Wiping her tears, she said, “Shuang’er, let’s go take back my ancestral home.
I’m bad with words—you must help me speak.”
“Alright, alright, Second Sister-in-law. I’ll help you,” Lan Shuang replied.
Supporting Xu Shi, Lan Shuang explained to the shocked Aunt Hua, “Auntie.
Look at my second sister-in-law’s belly—she’s pregnant, so she worries more and misses her family. She wants to live in her own house. We’ll be heading off first.”
“Oh… oh…”
Aunt Hua watched in a daze as Lan Shuang and the others headed toward Xu Shi’s ancestral home. From afar, when Xu Shi saw the wooden house with thin wisps of cooking smoke rising from it, she couldn’t hold back her tears.
“This is outrageous. They’ve gone too far!”
The house clearly showed signs of habitation—someone had been living there all along.
Lan Shuang took a quick look around. Not far away stood a row of wooden houses roofed with thatch.
The house was divided into a main hall and east and west rooms, with a fence built around it—more than enough to keep out wind and rain.
Furious, Xu Shi slapped the courtyard gate. A couple emerged from inside.
They were none other than Xu Shi’s uncle and aunt. Both looked utterly confused as they stared at the Lan family.
“And you are…?”
Perhaps it was because they hadn’t seen her for too long, or perhaps because Xu Shi had lived comfortably with the Lan family these past two years—she was no longer the scrawny girl she once was.
Her skin was now fair, and with pregnancy, she carried a fuller, graceful beauty. Her uncle and aunt didn’t recognize her at first glance.
“Uncle, Aunt—are you living comfortably in my house?” Xu Shi asked.
Xu Shi had always been simple-natured—pampered by her parents before marriage and cherished by her husband afterward. The old Xu Shi would never have spoken so sharply.
But to think her uncle and aunt didn’t even recognize her—it was no wonder Xu Shi was so angry she cried.
“Chahua?”
Only then did Uncle Xu recognize her. He stared in shock, then grew flustered.
“Why did you suddenly come back?”
This house already belonged to him—her coming back wouldn’t change anything!
“Greetings, Uncle and Aunt,” Lan Shuang said.
Seeing that her second sister-in-law was wiping away tears again, Lan Shuang had no choice but to speak on her behalf.
“I’m her sister-in-law. My second sister-in-law missed her family, so we accompanied her back to stay for a few days.”
Lan Shuang felt she was being quite polite, but the moment Uncle Xu heard that they planned to stay, his expression changed.
“Chahua, you must have seen it yourself. Your aunt and I are living in this house now.
You look like you’re not short of money these days—surely you wouldn’t drive us out, would you?”
“But I want to live here. This was left to me by my parents.”
Xu Chahua’s nose was slightly red, clearly aggrieved to the extreme. Seeing how weak and timid she looked, Lan Shuang felt both helpless and worried.
She was afraid the other party would only become more brazen.
Sure enough, Uncle Xu said angrily, “Chahua, it’s not that your uncle wants to scold you.
This house may have been built when your parents were alive, but you’re a woman.
Since when do women lay claim to their natal family’s property? Now that your parents are gone, this house should belong to the male members of the family.
I’m your father’s own elder brother—of course this house should go to me.”
“W–woo…” Xu Chahua could only repeat, “This was left to me by my parents.”
She kept saying the same thing over and over, looking easy to bully.
Sure enough, Aunt Xu stepped in. “Chahua, it’s not that your uncle and I are being unreasonable.
It’s just that we’re really struggling. Your three male cousins are all married with children now—my place is packed with more than a dozen, nearly twenty people.
If we weren’t truly unable to fit everyone, we never would have come to live in your parents’ house.”
Faced with Aunt Xu’s pitiful gaze, Xu Shi felt soft-hearted yet didn’t know how to respond.
“I…”
She looked at Lan Shuang for help.
“Then may I ask—if you’re living in my second sister-in-law’s house, where is my second sister-in-law supposed to live?”
Lan Shuang had never seen people so shameless. They had clearly occupied someone else’s home, yet made it seem as though her second sister-in-law were the one in the wrong.
“Xu Family Village is huge,” Uncle Xu said dismissively. “Just find any household and borrow a place to stay for a few days.”
He didn’t care at all. He was already living in this house, so it was his. No one was driving him out.
“Everyone here is barely getting by—who would lend their house to someone else?”
Eldest sister-in-law Min Rulan spoke up. She had carefully observed the village earlier; everyone was poor, and no one had spare rooms.
Seeing Xu Chahua crying nonstop gave her a splitting headache.
“Sister-in-law, this ancestral house is yours—why do you look like you’re the one robbing someone else’s home?”
Min Ruolan was straightforward by nature. She shook her arm that had gone sore from holding a child and instructed Xu Chahua.
“You need some backbone.”
“I…”
Xu Chahua looked at Lan Shuang for help again. A spark of inspiration flashed through Lan Shuang’s mind, and she shot Xu Chahua a meaningful look.
“Second Sister-in-law, does this house have a land deed?”
“Huh?”
Xu Chahua froze for a moment and was just about to answer when Min Ruolan seemed to anticipate her reply and hurriedly added:
“What Shuang’er means is—if there’s a land deed for this ancestral house, you can ask the village head to arbitrate.
Even if it comes to reporting it to the authorities, what belongs to you will still be yours. No one can take it away.”
“There is one.”
Xu Chahua felt a bit guilty. The land deed was still in her makeup box back at the Duke of Zhen’s residence.
She should have brought it with her in the first place.
“What do you mean by that? Chahua, I’m your own uncle—are you really thinking of reporting this to the authorities?”
Uncle Xu stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
How did his meek, submissive niece dare to say such a thing?
Villagers feared officials by instinct; the thought of dealing with them terrified most country folk.
Xu Chahua looked at Lan Shuang. Lan Shuang gave her an encouraging smile. Xu Chahua wiped away her tears and said, very seriously:
“Uncle, Aunt, I have the deed to the ancestral house. If you insist on occupying my home, I’ll go to the village head to seek justice.”
As for going to court—truthfully, Xu Chahua was a little afraid. After all, the men of the Lan family were currently all convicted criminals.
“If the village head won’t uphold justice for us, then we’ll ask the officials. The Great Liang is vast—there will always be someone who understands reason.”
Unlike Xu Chahua, Lan Shuang wasn’t timid. Her gaze was sharp and cold, making Uncle Xu’s scalp prickle and cold sweat break out across his back.