As soon as Hu Yan received the property deed, she leaned against Chen Guangze and looked through it together with him.
The more she looked at it, the more pleased she was.
In her previous life, she had always regretted never owning a house of her own.
Now, she finally had her first property deed.
Teacher Bai had never seen so much money in her life.
Seven thick stacks of large-denomination bills.
They were real, tangible money—heavy in her hands.
“This time, Fourth Daughter-in-law suffered the most serious injuries.
“I’m making the decision to give Fourth Brother’s family another 500 yuan.
“That leaves 6,500 yuan. We’ll divide it equally among the five families.
“Each family gets 1,300 yuan. Does anyone have any objections?”
The Chen brothers had long been accustomed to listening to their mother.
Naturally, no one objected.
Teacher Bai divided the money into five piles.
One for each of the four Chen brothers, and one for the elderly couple.
Once everyone had received their share, Teacher Bai continued,
“It’s autumn harvest season now, and we’ve divided up the farmland.
“You can harvest it yourselves or hire people to do it. It’s up to you.
“From now on, your father and I won’t interfere in your affairs anymore.”
Old Man Chen took a sip of water and nodded.
“Yeah. Let’s go to the fields first and see how they’re divided.
“Three mu per family. All the land is in the same area, so no one gets better or worse land.
“You’re brothers. There’s no need to fight over a few mu of farmland until you’re red in the face and make a fool of yourselves in front of outsiders.”
His words struck a chord with Teacher Bai.
She cared most about the family’s reputation and absolutely wouldn’t tolerate her sons embarrassing the family in public.
The four brothers didn’t even go inside. They followed their parents straight to the fields.
The daughters-in-law stayed behind to tidy up and clean the house.
Hu Yan returned to her room but didn’t rush to clean.
She took out the property deed, the homestead certificate, and the household registration book and excitedly kissed them.
“Mwah! With these things in hand, I can just sit back and enjoy life.”
After admiring them for a while, Hu Yan pulled out one of her high school physics textbooks.
She tucked all the documents inside the book, then placed it in her dowry chest and locked it.
Humming an unknown tune, she hung the bedding outside.
Then she brought over a basin of water and a rag and thoroughly cleaned the room from top to bottom.
Not long after the Chen daughters-in-law finished cleaning, the village tractor drove into the courtyard.
The trailer was loaded with bricks.
Old Man Chen followed closely behind with several of his sons.
He stopped without even breathing heavily.
“These bricks are for each family to build their kitchen. Unload them first.”
Hu Yan had been so busy that she’d completely forgotten they didn’t have separate kitchens yet.
Chen Guangming, Chen Guanghui, and Chen Guangze rolled up their sleeves and began unloading the bricks with their father.
That was when Zhang Qiulian arrived.
Seeing the huge pile of bricks in the Chen family’s courtyard, her heart skipped a beat and her eyes narrowed.
Could they have found out about the upcoming demolition?
Were they building more rooms?
Zhang Qiulian forced herself to remain calm and squeezed out a smile.
“Oh, what are you doing?”
After everything that had happened, the Chen family wanted nothing to do with Zhang Qiulian.
No one answered her.
Instead, they all looked toward Teacher Bai, who was lounging in a rocking chair, rocking back and forth with a creak.
Teacher Bai narrowed her eyes.
“What are you doing here?”
“Mom, what are you saying? This is my home. If I don’t come here, where am I supposed to go?
“What are these bricks for?”
Old Man Chen answered irritably,
“We’ve separated the households. They’re for each family to build a kitchen.”
Zhang Qiulian still wore that gentle, soft expression.
As though everything that had happened over the past few days had nothing to do with her.
Hu Yan almost wanted to applaud her.
This woman really was something—a ruthless woman with an incredibly thick skin.
After causing such a huge mess with her husband’s family, practically sending the whole family to the hospital, she could still shamelessly come back as though nothing had happened.
No wonder she had become rich in her previous life.
Teacher Bai’s face was full of sarcasm.
“Are you dissatisfied that you didn’t beat us to death?”
Zhang Qiulian helplessly placed a bag of pears on the stone table.
“Mom, I admit I was wrong this time.
“But you also extorted 8,000 yuan from me.
“Isn’t that enough? You don’t have to keep looking at me like I owe you something.”
Teacher Bai didn’t want to waste her breath arguing.
She turned around, went inside, took out the household registration book, and tossed it over.
“Our family has already been separated.
“Everyone has their own household registration now.
“This is yours.”
Hearing that, Zhang Qiulian hurriedly picked up the household registration book.
The moment she looked through it, she began screaming.
“You separated the family?
“You divided the houses, homesteads, and farmland?”
The Chen family saw Zhang Qiulian completely lose her composure and became even more suspicious.
Was there really some kind of treasure buried beneath their houses?
Otherwise, why was this woman so obsessed with getting those houses?
Even Teacher Bai began to wonder.
But the houses belonging to the sons had all been built when they got married.
They weren’t old houses.
Who would have buried anything there over the past few years?
Zhang Qiulian became hysterical.
“How could you divide the family without me here?
“I’m the eldest daughter-in-law!
“I even gave your family three precious grandsons!
“How could you treat me like this?”
Hu Yan almost laughed herself silly.
The eldest daughter-in-law?
What was this, feudal China?
Her sons weren’t exactly some imperial heirs, either.
Teacher Bai sat upright.
“The first family’s house, farmland, and money are all under your father-in-law’s and my names.
“You’re a daughter-in-law who is about to remarry. You have no right to inherit any of it.
“We separated your household registration without leaving you unregistered.
“That already counts as us showing you more than enough mercy.”
Zhang Qiulian had calculated everything.
She had even counted the properties in the city into her plans.
Yet in the end, she got nothing.
Her eyes became bloodshot, her face turned deathly pale, and she screamed,
“You old hag! I gave your Chen family three sons!
“I stayed here and observed mourning for your eldest son for three years!
“Even if I don’t have merit, I have certainly suffered enough for this family!
“How can you be so heartless?”
Zhang Qiulian seemed to have completely lost her mind.
As she shouted, she began smashing things around the house.
She even started throwing objects at Teacher Bai.
Old Man Chen and his sons immediately stepped forward and restrained her.
She struggled and screamed, cursing and threatening them.
Teacher Bai finally ran out of patience.
“Enough. Throw her out.
“From now on, whether she lives or dies, whether she’s poor or wealthy, none of it has anything to do with us.
“As of today, our family has no eldest daughter-in-law.
“From now on, no one is allowed to let her inside.”
The Chen family dragged Zhang Qiulian outside.
She continued struggling and cursing.
Like a madwoman, she screamed abuse at them.
Suddenly, she broke free and rushed toward the pile of bricks on the ground.
She grabbed one and hurled it at Teacher Bai.
The brick missed and veered toward Hu Yan instead.
Chen Guangze reacted instantly and pulled Hu Yan behind him.
The brick grazed his arm, leaving a bloody gash.
Seeing this, Zhang Qiulian became even more frenzied.
“You’ll all get what’s coming to you!”
Old Man Chen stepped in front of Teacher Bai and shouted,
“Drag her out!
“If she comes back again, we’ll call the police.”
Chen Guangming and Chen Guanghui grabbed her and hauled her out of the courtyard.
Even outside, Zhang Qiulian continued screaming and cursing.
Unfortunately for her, the Chen family’s recent troubles had already spread throughout the village.
Everyone sympathized with the Chen family for having such a daughter-in-law.
Zhang Qiulian’s reputation in Liushu Bay was now completely ruined.