There were quite a few people in the hospital ward that day.
First, Guan Guiying’s parents arrived with food, followed by Tang Lijuan’s parents.
The village Party secretary and his wife had come to visit their daughter.
Teacher Bai and Old Man Chen had also arrived with the village Party secretary.
Guan Guiying’s parents had brought the food in large buckets.
There was a whole bucket of mixed stew and a large bag of multigrain steamed buns.
With the four Chen brothers and their wives, there were eight people altogether.
Each person got a large bowl of stew along with a steamed bun.
They ate like they hadn’t seen food in years.
Guan Guiying’s mother was originally from the northwest, and her specialties were braised noodles and mixed stew.
Hu Yan normally had a small appetite, but Guan’s mother’s cooking was simply too delicious.
Before she knew it, she’d finished an entire bowl.
Teacher Bai watched the children eat as though they’d been starving for years and awkwardly explained to Guan’s parents,
“Dear in-laws, sorry you had to see this. These children didn’t get to eat yesterday.”
Guan’s mother was straightforward and efficient. She patted Teacher Bai’s hand.
“Don’t be so polite, dear in-law. You’ve had it hard too, especially with everything that happened to your family.”
Old Man Chen sighed.
“Every family has its own troubles.”
Once the sons and daughters-in-law had finished eating, Teacher Bai cleared her throat and was about to speak.
But Guan’s parents and Tang Lijuan’s parents all stood up and prepared to leave.
They all gave the same excuse.
“These are family matters. We outsiders shouldn’t get involved.”
Old Man Chen and Teacher Bai smiled as they escorted both sets of in-laws out.
When they returned to the ward, only the Chen family remained.
Teacher Bai took a large stack of documents from her bag.
First, she pulled out the family separation agreement.
“This is the family separation agreement. Everyone sign it.
“Once you’ve signed, the family will officially be separated.
“Zhang Qiulian has caused enough trouble these past few days. It’s better to separate now.
“She is going to remarry anyway, so there’s no need to divide anything among her.
“Everything belonging to the eldest branch will remain under your father’s and my names.
“When the triplets grow up, we’ll divide it among them.”
Everyone thought this was reasonable.
After everything Zhang Qiulian had done over the past few days, nobody had any objections.
They all signed willingly.
Teacher Bai handed out the paper and pen as she reminded them,
“There are three copies. Everyone needs to sign all three.
“Two copies will be kept at the village committee for the records.”
The four families signed without hesitation, and Teacher Bai collected the agreements.
Then she took out several household registers.
“Your father and I have separated everyone’s household registrations.
“These are your new household registers.”
Old Man Chen handed them out one by one.
“Second and third sons, Chen Lei and Chen Sen will remain under your household registrations since they’ve already been adopted into your families.”
Although Chen Guangming and Chen Guanghui were now furious with Zhang Qiulian, they still wanted the children.
So neither of them objected.
“As for Chen Hao, he’s under your father’s and my household registration.
“Second daughter-in-law, are you sure you want to raise him?”
Lin Xiulan was, of course, certain.
The other households would contribute more than 100 yuan a year toward Chen Hao’s expenses.
She’d be an idiot to turn down free money.
“Yes. We’ll raise Chen Hao.”
Teacher Bai nodded and took out several more documents.
“These are the certificates for each family’s homestead and farmland.
“Your father and I have divided everything properly.”
Chen Guangze was always the sweetest talker.
He walked behind Teacher Bai and began massaging her shoulders.
“Mom and Dad really thought of everything.
“But getting all this paperwork done in such a short time must have been exhausting.
“Come on, let your youngest son give you a massage.
“Once all this is over, I’ll take you both to a nice restaurant for a good meal.”
Teacher Bai and Old Man Chen were instantly delighted by his sweet words.
“Only you know how to flatter us.
“As long as you brothers are doing well, a little hard work is nothing.”
Old Man Chen also smiled and pointed at his youngest son’s forehead.
“You, too. From now on, each of you will live your own lives.
“Take good care of your own families.
“And when one of you has trouble, the brothers should still help each other.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Hu Yan took her family’s household register.
There were only two people listed.
Household head: Chen Guangze.
Wife: Hu Yan.
There was no Chen Hao.
No more ungrateful white-eyed wolf.
Then she looked at the homestead and farmland documents.
Wonderful.
In her previous life, all of these things had ended up in Zhang Qiulian’s hands.
She had regretted it for years.
Now, they had finally returned to her.
Teacher Bai suddenly remembered something and reminded everyone,
“Oh, one more thing.
“I won’t divide up the kitchen or all the little household items.
“You can build a kitchen behind your own houses or put up a stove yourselves.
“From today onward, the family is officially separated, including the cooking arrangements.”
Everyone agreed.
There wasn’t much in the family anyway.
They didn’t raise chickens, ducks, geese, or pigs.
There were only some basic dishes and utensils.
Chen Guangze put an arm around Hu Yan’s shoulders and said with a smile,
“From now on, we’ll just live our own little life together.”
Hu Yan’s heart was filled with happiness.
The regrets from her previous life had finally been made up for in this one.
As several couples began imagining their future lives, the ward door suddenly opened.
After three knocks, a young man in a suit walked in.
“Excuse me. Boss Chen, long time no see!”
Chen Guangze recognized him immediately.
It was Lawyer Chu.
He had hired him once before.
Chen Guangze reached out and shook Chu Yang’s hand.
“Long time no see, Lawyer Chu. I’ll have to trouble you with this matter again.”
Chu Yang took out his notebook and began recording the details of what had happened to the Chen family.
Everyone in the Chen family stayed quiet and listened as Chen Guangze spoke with the lawyer.
After a while, Chu Yang put down his notebook and pen.
“So, you need me to negotiate with them on your behalf.
“What amount of compensation do you have in mind?”
Chen Guangze looked at his family.
None of them really understood these matters.
Nobody said anything.
After thinking for a moment, he replied,
“I think somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 yuan.
“This incident has caused our family so much trouble and loss.
“Everyone was injured, and the emotional distress is something money can’t really measure.”
Chu Yang nodded and wrote it down.
“No problem. I’ll do my best to secure that amount of compensation for you.”
Chen Guangze took their medical assessment reports from Hu Yan and handed them to Chu Yang.
“Thanks for your help, Lawyer Chu. Is the legal fee still the same as before?”
Chu Yang laughed.
“This isn’t our first time working together.
“The fee arrangement will remain the same.
“Looking forward to working with you again.”
Chen Guangze pulled 200 yuan from his pocket and handed it to him.
“Here’s the deposit.
“You can also handle things with the police station afterward.”
Chu Yang accepted the deposit.
“Don’t worry, Boss Chen. I’ll take care of everything.”
With that, he stood up and said goodbye.
The Chen family watched Chu Yang leave, and everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Teacher Bai sighed.
“It’s better to let a professional handle these things.
“This should be resolved properly.”
Old Man Chen felt thoroughly unlucky.
He had lived an honest life his entire life.
He had never imagined that one day the whole family would end up in a hospital and have to deal with the police and lawyers.
“Hopefully this will all be over soon.
“I still feel safest back in the village.”
Hu Yan almost laughed.
She secretly teased him in her mind.
Dad, the village is about to be demolished.
Your sense of security is about to be demolished along with it.
Chen Guangze didn’t want to stay in the hospital any longer.
He put on his jacket.
“Mom, I’ll go find my buddy this afternoon.
“The head of those street thugs is called ‘Brother Ye.’
“I’ll have my buddy act as a mediator and help us settle things.
“Turn enemies into friends, you know?”