“Liu Cuihua, don’t go too far!”
Li Lan was so furious that her face turned red.
“Wanning is already leaving with nothing, and you still want to take half of her grain every year?”
“No wonder she insisted on separating from your family!”
“If I were her, I’d leave too!”
Li Lan had never expected Liu Cuihua to be this shameless.
Song Wanning had already suffered such a huge loss, yet Liu Cuihua still wanted to squeeze more out of her.
From the crowd, Li Guihua chimed in,
“Aunt Li, I actually think Aunt Liu has a point.”
“Song Wanning has been eating and drinking in Aunt Liu’s house ever since she was little.”
“Besides, she’s almost twenty years old now.”
“Asking her for some grain every year isn’t unreasonable.”
Seeing Song Wanning suffer pleased Li Guihua immensely.
Naturally, she sided with Liu Cuihua without hesitation.
Chen Ailian watched with satisfaction as well.
She had wanted to say the same thing, but since Li Guihua had already spoken, she simply stood back and continued enjoying the spectacle.
Among the villagers watching, some agreed with Liu Cuihua, while others disagreed.
Song Wanning suddenly spoke.
“Fine.”
“Since you want to settle the accounts so clearly…”
“Then I won’t pay you with grain.”
“I’ll pay you in cash instead.”
“I’m nineteen this year.”
“In another month, I’ll be twenty.”
“So let’s just count it as twenty years.”
“Growing up, almost every meal I had was a bowl of thin millet porridge and one sweet potato.”
“As for vegetables, I mostly ate wild greens.”
“In these twenty years…”
“I’ve never eaten meat even once.”
“I don’t even know what meat tastes like.”
“For twenty years, all I ate every day was a small bowl of porridge and a sweet potato.”
“That couldn’t have cost much, could it?”
“So forget about taking half my grain every year.”
“I’ll give you fifty yuan instead.”
“Let’s consider it repayment for raising me.”
“After today…”
“We’ll owe each other nothing.”
Song Wanning agreed so readily because she knew that no matter how much she paid them now…
She would eventually take it all back.
Even Liu Cuihua hadn’t expected her to agree so quickly.
Compared to grain, she preferred cash.
Besides, in name, Song Wanning was still her daughter.
Did Song Wanning really think signing a family separation agreement meant she was truly free?
By the end of the year, Liu Cuihua could still find ways to take her grain.
The agreement was nothing more than a piece of paper.
After all, Song Wanning had always been timid and easy to control.
See?
The moment she demanded money, the girl immediately agreed.
“Fine.”
“You said it yourself.”
“Hand over the fifty yuan now.”
“I’ll sign the agreement immediately.”
Liu Cuihua stretched out her hand.
She wasn’t signing anything until she saw the money.
What if the wretched girl was trying to trick her?
Standing behind the crowd, Song Miaomiao looked increasingly anxious.
If Song Wanning really left the family…
Who would marry Wang Zhuzi in her place?
Did that mean she’d have to marry him herself?
Absolutely not!
She had no intention of marrying that man.
She hurried over to Liu Cuihua and tugged on her sleeve, trying to whisper something.
But Liu Cuihua’s attention was entirely fixed on Song Wanning.
Annoyed, she shook her daughter off.
“Go stand over there!”
Song Wanning saw that Liu Cuihua refused to sign without receiving the money first.
She turned toward Li Lan.
“Aunt Li…”
“Could I borrow fifty yuan from you?”
“I’ll write you an IOU.”
“I promise I’ll repay you within three months.”
In reality, Song Wanning could repay the money the very next day.
But paying it back too quickly might make people suspicious.
Three months was much safer.
Li Lan’s heart ached for the girl.
She immediately asked her eldest son, Wang Ziqi, to go home and fetch the money.
A few minutes later, he returned with fifty yuan and placed it into Song Wanning’s hands.
“Child.”
“Take this first.”
“There’s no rush to pay it back.”
“No need to write an IOU either.”
“We trust your character.”
Looking at the fifty yuan in her hands, Song Wanning felt her eyes sting.
The village chief’s wife truly cared for her.
She silently vowed that one day she would repay this kindness.
“Thank you, Aunt Li.”
After thanking her, Song Wanning turned to Liu Cuihua.
“Here’s the fifty yuan.”
“Sign the family separation agreement first.”
“After that, I’ll go inside and collect a few pieces of clothing.”
“I won’t take anything else.”
The moment Liu Cuihua saw the money, she immediately stepped forward and pressed her thumbprint onto the agreement.
After finishing, she grabbed Song Dashan’s hand and forced him to press his thumbprint as well.
Song Dashan had still been hesitating.
Before he could make up his mind, Liu Cuihua had already dragged him over.
The instant his thumbprint landed on the paper, an inexplicable feeling of unease filled his heart.
For some reason…
He suddenly felt as though he had made a terrible mistake.
“There.”
“We’ve both signed.”
“Now hand over the money.”
Song Wanning stepped forward, pressed her own thumbprint onto the agreement, and carefully tucked one copy away.
Only then did she hand the fifty yuan to Liu Cuihua.
Without sparing them another glance, she walked into her room to gather her belongings.
She owned almost nothing.
Aside from the patched clothes she was wearing, she had only two other faded gray outfits to change into.
As she packed, Liu Cuihua stood guard outside the door, watching her closely, afraid she’d secretly take something extra.
When Song Wanning finished, she walked out carrying only the two sets of clothes.
Stopping before Liu Cuihua, she said calmly,
“I’m only taking these two sets of clothes.”
“Nothing else.”
“Do you want to inspect them?”
Liu Cuihua actually reached out, intending to search them.
She had only taken two steps when Song Dashan deliberately coughed behind her.
Embarrassed, she withdrew her hand.
“They’re only two sets of clothes.”
“Fine.”
“Leave.”
“We still have dinner to cook.”
“Don’t waste our time.”
Without a trace of affection, Liu Cuihua drove her away.
Song Wanning turned around without another word and walked out of the Song family home.
Li Lan, worried about her, hurried after her.
“Child…”
“Why are you so foolish?”
“You were already separating from the family.”
“Why didn’t you ask for anything?”
Song Wanning knew Li Lan genuinely cared about her.
She smiled helplessly.
“Aunt Li…”
“If I hadn’t done it this way…”
“They never would have agreed to let me leave.”
“Oh, right.”
“I’ll write you an IOU later.”
“Thank you for lending me the money.”
Li Lan waved her hand dismissively.
“Oh, let’s talk about that later.”
“By the way…”
“Now that you’ve left the family, you don’t have anywhere to stay, do you?”
“Our family still has an old ancestral house near the village committee.”
“No one’s living there right now.”
“If you don’t mind…”
“Why don’t you stay there for the time being?”
Song Wanning thought about it.
She truly had nowhere else to go.
So she nodded and followed Li Lan toward the old house.
The Wang family’s ancestral home stood near the edge of the village.
It was built from wood and brick.
Having stood there for many years, it looked rather old and worn.
Spending the night there alone would probably be a little frightening.
Still…
Having a roof over her head was already a blessing.
If things became too scary, she could always sleep inside her storage space.
“The house may be old,” Li Lan said gently, “but everything inside still works.”
“You can stay here by yourself.”
“Just remember to lock the door at night.”
“I’ll bring you some bedding later.”
“And if you don’t feel like cooking…”
“Come eat at our house with us.”
Hearing Li Lan care for her so sincerely once again, tears streamed down Song Wanning’s face.
In her previous life, she had grown up as a child whom no one loved.
Yet now…
Someone who wasn’t even related to her treated her with such kindness.
How could she not be moved?
“Oh, you silly child.”
Li Lan hurriedly comforted her.
“Don’t cry.”
“If you keep crying…”
“My heart’s going to break.”