The Wang father and son were completely taken in by this, always obeying Jiang Xiumei without question.
Especially Wang Fuyuan—if his own mother were still alive, he probably wouldn’t have been this filial and obedient.
For all these years, Qin Suian had been forced to follow Wang Fuyuan, doing the hardest work in the Wang family, eating the worst food, and constantly being suppressed from every direction.
On the surface, the Wang family never split their household. Everyone’s income had to be handed over, and Wang Fujiang was no exception.
But the treatment of the two brothers was worlds apart.
More than ten years ago, Jiang Xiumei used the family’s savings to get Wang Fujiang a job as a postman—the first one in the entire village.
That was also one of the roots of the growing gap between the brothers.
Later, after Wang Fujiang had two sons, Wang Yaowen and Wang Yaowu, he became even more proud and self-satisfied.
Meanwhile, Wang Fuyuan had two daughters, which only deepened his inferiority complex and made him work even harder without complaint. He treated his two nephews with wholehearted devotion—ten thousand times better than he treated his own daughters.
Qin Suian could already guess what Wang Fuyuan was thinking: in the future, he would rely on those two nephews to perform funeral rites for him.
When Qin Suian had first married into the family, she had tried to change Wang Fuyuan’s spineless and pathetic nature. She had even wanted to split the household. But after giving birth to two daughters and never having another child, she was gradually worn down until she lost all spirit, as if she had accepted her fate.
Later, Xiaojun was sentenced to prison, and her eldest daughter Xiaomei died from severe hemorrhaging during childbirth.
Those two tragedies struck Qin Suian hard, completely crushing her spirit.
The only reason she kept living was because less than half a year after Xiaomei’s death, her eldest son-in-law Li Zude remarried, while the child Xiaomei had given birth to was neglected by everyone. After developing a fever, the child almost died.
Against the Wang family’s objections, Qin Suian brought the child home to raise herself. That child was her granddaughter, Xiaohu.
As Xiaohu slowly grew up, it became clear that her intelligence was different from ordinary children.
The doctor said it was likely caused by the high fever she had suffered earlier.
At that moment, Qin Suian felt utter despair.
Both of her daughters were gone, and even her only granddaughter had been ruined.
Then Wang Fuyuan died before even reaching fifty. Wang Fujiang and his two sons buried him carelessly and then drove Qin Suian and Xiaohu out of the Wang family home.
Homeless, Qin Suian survived by collecting scrap in town to support herself and Xiaohu.
Later, she noticed that cold mixed vegetables sold well at the market, so she tried learning to make them herself.
In the end, she failed at making cold dishes but learned how to make pickles instead.
She started selling pickles at the market, and unexpectedly, business was pretty good. She even opened a small shop in the county town—enough for grandmother and granddaughter to survive on.
As time passed, she grew older and older, while Xiaohu still remained childlike. In order to teach Xiaohu how to care for herself, Qin Suian put in tremendous effort.
Until one day, she fell down—and never got up again.
Before she died, the person Qin Suian worried about most was Xiaohu.
But when she closed her eyes and opened them again, she had returned to May of 1982, before Xiaojun married into the Lin family, before Xiaomei died in childbirth.
Everything was still in time.
Given a second chance at life, she was determined to stop all the tragedies of her previous life.
She had to leave the parasitic Wang family.
She wanted to take her two daughters and Xiaohu and live peaceful, stable lives.
“I want to split the household.”
Those four words exploded like thunder, stunning the entire Wang family—including Xiaojun.
What shocked the Wang family even more than Qin Suian exposing the Lin family’s marriage scam earlier was these four words.
No one had ever imagined it.
Splitting the household meant separating Wang Fuyuan and Qin Suian—the two old workhorses—from the family.
Who would farm the land afterward?
Who would do the work?
Neither Jiang Xiumei nor Wang Fujiang’s family had ever considered that possibility.
Wang Xianghua hadn’t either.
He was still alive—what kind of disgrace was splitting the family while the patriarch still lived?
Wang Fuyuan had never thought about it either. If they split up, wouldn’t he become distant from Yaowen and Yaowu?
What if the two nephews refused to perform funeral rites for him in the future?
No split. Absolutely not.
“Have you gone crazy? Believe it or not, I’ll beat you to death!” In front of Qin Suian, Wang Fuyuan had always been authoritative and domineering.
But Qin Suian had already lived through one lifetime. She was no longer the same woman who had barely visited town a few times.
She knew now that leaving the Wang family and making a living outside wasn’t that difficult.
Ten or twenty years later, not only household splits—even divorce would become commonplace.
There were plenty of people living perfectly well without getting married at all.
“Do you believe I’ll hack you to death first?” Qin Suian raised the firewood cleaver in her hand and pointed it at Wang Fuyuan.
“You dare?!” Wang Fuyuan felt more anger than shock.
Had Qin Suian really gone mad today?
Ever since she started attacking the Lin family, she’d been acting insane.
In the past, even if Qin Suian talked back to him, a few slaps would make her obedient again.
But now she was actually threatening to chop him?
This was outrageous!
“If I don’t beat you for a few days, I think you’ve forgotten whether you want to live or not!” Wang Fuyuan said as he moved to strike her.
Aside from Xiaojun, who wanted to step forward and stop him, everyone else watched like they were enjoying a show.
Even Jiang Xiumei wanted to know what illness had possessed Qin Suian to dare fight Wang Fuyuan head-on.
Of course Qin Suian wasn’t going to stand there waiting to be hit. With a quick sidestep, she moved behind Jiang Xiumei and pressed the cleaver against her neck.
“You—you’ve really gone insane!” This time, every member of the Wang family was frightened.
“Mom, I only have one request: split the household. If you absolutely refuse, then there’s only divorce left. Pick one.”
Qin Suian finally revealed her true goal.
Splitting the household was actually useless. What she truly wanted was to completely leave the Wang family.
But if she had mentioned divorce first, Jiang Xiumei would only have told Wang Fuyuan to discipline her. It would have become merely a conflict between husband and wife.
Compared to divorce, splitting the household was naturally easier to accept.
After all, Wang Fuyuan was the Wang family’s hardest-working ox.
Compared to losing both workhorses at once, keeping one was obviously preferable.
Jiang Xiumei had never been this terrified in her life. Earlier, she had already witnessed how Qin Suian beat up the Lin family.
What she hadn’t expected was for that same cleaver to now be pressed against her own neck.
She wanted to speak but feared cutting her throat. She wanted to nod but feared losing her life immediately.
All she could do was look pleadingly toward Wang Xianghua and Wang Fuyuan.
Wang Fujiang was at work. Earlier that year, Wang Yaowen had also been sent by Jiang Xiumei to work as an apprentice at a factory.
Wang Yaowu was still in high school.
During the day, only Wang Xianghua, Wang Fuyuan’s family, and Jiang Yun—her niece and second daughter-in-law—were at home.
“You disgraceful thing! Have you turned rebellious?! Let go of your mother-in-law this instant!” Seeing Jiang Xiumei’s pitiful appearance, Wang Xianghua—who had always remained silent—finally spoke.
Qin Suian ignored him. He had pretended to be deaf and mute all his life. Now that he finally wanted to speak, there was no need to listen.
Wang Fuyuan was truly panicking now.
In his heart, Jiang Xiumei was like his real mother.
When he was little, she had bought him his first new set of clothes, bought him candied hawthorns, and given him warmth and motherly love.
And now Qin Suian actually dared lay hands on his mother!
“Let go of Mom first. We can talk this out properly. Qin Suian, I’m begging you. If something really happens, you’ll end up in prison too.” Wang Fuyuan’s brain finally started working. He softened his tone and tried persuading her gently.