He glanced once more at Li Cuihua on the ground and at Wen'an, who looked bewildered as he clutched his mother’s clothes tightly. After pondering for a moment, he earnestly reminded her:
“Girl, I’m not trying to frighten you. Even if you sever your family ties, your household registration will still be in Moon Bay Village. You won’t be able to simply settle somewhere else. Taking your bedridden mother and your younger brother with you, without land or a single coin to your name, if you leave, not only will you be arrested as a vagrant, you’ll also be bullied by others. Have you thought all of that through?”
“I have.” Wenxi nodded calmly, without the slightest hesitation.
“Even if we have to go out and beg, even if we starve to death out there, it would still be better than being treated like cattle and horses in the Wen family, never getting enough to eat, and being beaten half to death every day.”
The villagers at the entrance all sighed when they heard this, and they looked at Madam Liu and Wen Mancang with even greater contempt.
The Wen family had driven them to the point where they would rather starve to death than remain with them. They had truly gone too far.
When Madam Liu saw that the Village Chief could not persuade Wenxi, she grew both anxious and furious.
She was convinced that Wenxi was merely acting out of anger, deliberately using Jinbao to threaten them so she could win everyone’s sympathy.
Her eyes darted about. Then she spoke in a shrill voice:
“You want to sever your family ties? Fine! The Wen family has supported the three of you all these years! One cripple, one fool—nothing but useless mouths to feed! You can leave if you want, but bring out thirty taels of silver! Then I’ll let you sever the ties!”
When Wenxi heard that, she suddenly laughed.
“You want money, is that it?” She raised an eyebrow and lifted Wen Jinbao, who had already gone limp as a dead fish, with one hand.
Both his arms had been dislocated, leaving him unable even to struggle. His face had turned bluish-purple, and his eyes were nearly shut.
Wenxi gripped him by the throat and hoisted him into the air. “Fine. Then let’s see whether your precious grandson is worth these thirty taels.”
Wen Jinbao had been strangled so thoroughly that he could no longer make a sound. Only his feet continued to kick feebly, and he looked as though he was about to pass out.
“My heavens!” Madam Liu’s legs went weak with fright, and she nearly collapsed onto the ground. “Wenxi! You really have gone mad! Let go! Let go of him!”
Wen Mancang’s expression changed as well. He took half a step forward, then forcibly stopped himself, afraid of provoking Wenxi.
Wenxi did not look at Madam Liu. Her gaze fell on Wen Mancang instead. “I’m only going to ask you once. Do you want the money, or do you want your grandson’s life?”
“Do you agree to sever the family ties or not? You only need to say one word.”
Wen Mancang’s expression shifted again and again. He stood frozen in place, his dark face flushed an ugly purplish red.
Inside, he was as tormented as if he were being fried in oil. He was both frightened and furious.
If he truly agreed to sever the family ties, how would the Wen family ever hold up its head in the village afterward?
Who knew how the others would mock the Wen family? They could not even control one of their juniors and had been forced into severing family ties.
His brows knotted tightly, and for a moment he could not make up his mind.
Madam Zhang could not wait any longer. Seeing her son’s face turn blue-purple while he could not even cry out, she felt her heart twist into a knot.
She rushed over, grabbed Wen Mancang by the arm, and pleaded, “Father! Just agree! If we delay any longer, Jinbao will lose his life!”
“That’s right, old man! Hurry and agree!”
Madam Liu was also spinning around in panic and hurriedly joined in. “Jinbao is the Wen family’s only grandson! We absolutely can’t let anything happen to him! If something really does happen, how will we answer to our second son?”
The two women urged him from either side, and Wen Mancang’s expression changed again and again.
The Village Chief stood to the side. He had already said everything that could be said, so he did not add anything more. With his hands clasped behind his back, he stood there waiting for Wen Mancang to make his decision.
Now that things had reached this point, there was really no choice left but to agree to sever the family ties.
Wen Jinbao’s eyes had rolled back, his body twitching, and he no longer had the strength to kick.
Looking at his grandson in that state, Wen Mancang’s heart lurched. In the end, even the last shred of his pride could not hold out.
He let out a heavy sigh, as though he had made some enormous sacrifice, and forced out a few words: “Then sever them!”
Madam Liu and Madam Zhang both breathed a sigh of relief.
Having heard the answer she wanted, Wenxi did not immediately lower Wen Jinbao.
She merely relaxed her fingertips and looked toward the Village Chief. “Since they’ve agreed, I’ll trouble you to take charge and help write a family-severance agreement. I won’t accept a mere verbal promise.”
This family’s character was worse than turning a page—they could change their attitude in an instant.
They could agree in front of the villagers today, then refuse to acknowledge it the moment they turned around, even accusing her of being unfilial and rebellious.
Only when the agreement was written in black and white, sealed with fingerprints, and sent to the authorities for the record would it truly be set in stone.
The Village Chief was taken aback. He spoke earnestly, “Girl, think this through carefully. Once you sign the family-severance agreement and affix your fingerprint, there will be no turning back. The three of you will have no one to rely on afterward. Where will you go?”
Madam Liu immediately answered without the slightest fear of death, shouting in a shrill voice:
“She’s the one who insists on severing the family ties, whether she lives or dies! Naturally, she can get out of the Wen family! We can’t afford to support such a great immortal![1]I decided to use the term great immortal here. Great Immortal in this context is used sarcastically. It refers to someone regarded as difficult, troublesome, or too important to accommodate—not … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3508865_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3508865_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); If they want to leave, they can leave with nothing. Don’t even think about taking a single coin or a grain of food from the Wen family!”
Wenxi gave her a cool glance, then turned to the Village Chief. “There are caves everywhere in the mountains. We can find one to live in. As long as we don’t freeze or starve to death, that’s enough.”
It wasn’t that she did not want money and food. Right now, the most important thing was to sever the family ties as quickly as possible.
If she demanded too much, this family might start quibbling and go back on its word again.
Besides, her head was throbbing terribly. The original owner’s body was weak, and she had just endured a beating. She was keeping herself upright through sheer willpower. If this dragged on any longer, she was afraid she would not be able to endure it and would faint, causing all her efforts to come to nothing.
The most urgent matter was to settle the severance of family ties first.
The Village Chief stood with his hands behind his back. After pondering for a moment, he shook his head. “No. It’s already summer, and there are all sorts of snakes, insects, rats, and ants in the mountains. Last year, a black bear was even spotted on the back mountain. The three of you living in the mountains would be no different from sending yourselves to your deaths. As the Village Chief, I can’t just watch something happen to you.”
He was not deliberately trying to frighten them. Everything he said was true.
The mountains might look quiet, but they were full of danger. Not to mention that Li Cuihua was paralyzed and Wen'an was mentally impaired—even a healthy young man would not dare claim he could live alone in the mountains for long.
After thinking it over for a while, the Village Chief sighed and came up with a compromise.
“How about this? You’re villagers, after all, and I have a responsibility toward you. If you don’t mind, I’ll find a vacant piece of wasteland in the village and ask everyone to help you put up a temporary thatched shelter. You can live there for the time being. It’s still better than living in the mountains. Otherwise, if something really happens, your mother won’t even be able to run away with that leg of hers.”
The words were somewhat harsh, but they came from genuine goodwill.
Wenxi did not refuse. She nodded and agreed. “All right. Thank you for taking the trouble, Village Chief.”
Living in a mountain cave was already the worst possible option. If they could have a thatched shelter to shield them from the wind and rain, naturally that would be better.
Immediately, a warmhearted villager jogged to the Village Chief’s house to fetch paper and a brush. Someone else brought a wooden table and set it in the middle of the courtyard, then ground the ink and waited.
The family-severance agreement was written quickly, in triplicate: one copy for the Wen family, one for Wenxi, and one to be sent to the authorities for filing.
Once the ink had dried, the agreement was placed on the table for them to sign and affix their fingerprints. The Village Chief gave Wenxi one last look and reminded her again:
“Girl, once you press your fingerprint, it really cannot be changed. Think it over carefully. It’s still not too late to change your mind.”
Wenxi did not hesitate at all. She pressed her fingerprint directly onto the document.
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