The Liu Family.
Madam Lü’s eyes were practically glowing green with hatred.
That damned crazy woman had caused her to lose an enormous amount of face in front of the entire village despite her old age.
She had even been harshly scolded by the village chief.
Of course, the ones who had suffered an even greater humiliation were Liu the Eldest and his wife.
They had done that in front of so many people.
Wu-shi didn’t want to leave the house for the rest of her life.
“It’s all that crazy woman’s fault!” Wu-shi’s eyes were bloodshot, and murderous intent filled her gaze. “Mother-in-law, we must make Second Brother divorce that crazy woman! Let her parents take her back!”
“Divorce her?” Madam Lü sneered. “Wouldn’t that be letting her off too easily?”
Besides, a wife couldn’t simply be divorced at will. They still needed Second Fool Liu’s agreement.
If this had happened before, Second Fool Liu still listened to her, and it would have been as simple as saying a single word.
But now, he was practically that crazy woman’s lapdog, following her around every day and refusing to even acknowledge his own mother!
“But are we really just going to swallow this humiliation?”
“No.” Madam Lü said, “We’re separating the family.”
This was the most reliable solution she could think of.
Once the family was divided and those two had to fend for themselves, it wouldn’t matter if they brought the heavens crashing down. It would have nothing to do with her!
“We should give them even less,” Wu-shi said with a gleam in her eyes, gritting her teeth. “They don’t know how to farm, and they don’t know how to do business. In just a few days, they’ll have nothing to eat or anywhere to live. That crazy woman will have no choice but to obediently beg for mercy!”
It would be even better if she starved to death.
Then everything would finally be peaceful!
“Eldest Daughter-in-law,” Madam Lü said with a sigh, “you’re still too softhearted.”
Wu-shi was slightly stunned.
“Mother-in-law, what do you mean?”
“You think I’m unwilling to give them anything?” Madam Lü said meaningfully. “The family has nothing. What am I supposed to give them?”
The two women exchanged glances, smiles of perfect understanding appearing on their faces.
That’s right.
Give them nothing and starve that crazy woman to death!
…
“Separate the family?”
Xiang Xi had just returned from outside when she heard this wonderful news the moment she stepped through the door.
Separating the family?
Great!
Did they really think she wanted to live with these primitive people?
While she had been out today, she had already found several ways to make money. Soon, she would have money and be able to live comfortably.
And now Madam Lü was proposing to separate the family.
Wasn’t this exactly like someone bringing her a pillow when she was sleepy?
“However, the family is poor. We don’t have any food or money,” Madam Lü said with a worried expression. “We can only give you two a few things. They’re all over there. Take a look yourselves.”
Xiang Xi looked down and immediately thought, What the hell?
On the ground were a chipped iron pot, two earthen bowls, two pairs of chopsticks, and a battered wood-cutting knife that had probably been passed down by some ancestor as a treasured family heirloom.
As for food, clothes, blankets, silver…
Absolutely nothing!
What the hell kind of family separation was this?
This was even more perfunctory than sending away a beggar!
When a beggar came to your door, you at least had to give them a bowl of watery leftover porridge.
“How are we dividing the farmland?”
“You two don’t know how to farm. Even if we gave it to you, it would just become wasteland, so you can forget about it,” Madam Lü replied.
Xiang Xi: …
You old hag, you don’t do anything even while you’re alive. Why don’t you just stop living?
“What about the house?”
“The house can’t be divided,” Madam Lü said. “It has to be left to your two nephews. They’ll need to marry when they grow up. They absolutely can’t do that without a house.”
Xiang Xi understood now.
This old hag was simply taking advantage of the fact that Xiang Xi was a crazy woman who supposedly understood nothing, intending to drive the two of them out with nothing.
She could understand not giving them the other things, but not giving them even a single mouthful of food was downright vicious.
People are made of iron, while food is steel. Go three days without eating and even steel would become soft.
After starving her to death, they could bring Second Fool Liu back and find him another wife to work like an ox for the Liu family.
No wonder people said that an ancient mother-in-law was even more frightening than the King of Hell.
Controlling a son and his wife was simply too easy.
“No. I don’t want anything else, but you have to give me two rooms.”
“I already said there aren’t any!” Madam Lü suddenly became stern. “If you’re dissatisfied, you can go find the village chief and have him judge the matter.”
The village chief?
That old man certainly had quite the romantic luck.
He was probably still kneeling on a washboard right now.
If she went to see him at this time, he would probably be overwhelmingly grateful to her…
So she had better not go.
Besides, she was a crazy woman.
Why would she need some kind of fair judgment?
“Fine. If you won’t give me a house, then I’m not separating.”
Madam Lü was equally firm.
“Whether we separate or not isn’t up to you!”
“Second Fool?” Xiang Xi asked. “Are we separating?”
“Not separating!”
Second Fool Liu shouted loudly.
As long as his wife said they weren’t separating, then they absolutely weren’t separating!
Seeing Second Fool Liu joining in and making trouble, Madam Lü’s face practically fell apart.
When had this crazy woman become so clever?
She actually knew how to use her second son against her now.
Finally, she said stiffly, “You can’t have the house. But our Liu family still has a piece of residential land. You can take that.”
Wu-shi hurriedly persuaded her.
“Sister-in-law, that piece of land is excellent! It’s several times larger than our current one! We originally planned to keep it for your two nephews, but Mother-in-law is willing to give it to you now. Aren’t you secretly thrilled?”
Xiang Xi laughed inwardly.
Who didn’t know what kind of people you were?
If it were something good, would you really leave it for this lady?
But after thinking about it, having a piece of land wasn’t bad.
Once she earned money, she could build herself a comfortable house.
That would be much better than living under the same roof with these people.
Fine.
This lady was in a good mood today, so she wouldn’t bother arguing with these primitive people.
“Bring me the land deed. Then I’ll leave.”
Madam Lü and Wu-shi were delighted and immediately brought out the land deed.
“But let’s make this clear first,” Madam Lü said. “After the family is separated, we’ll live our own lives. If anything happens to you, don’t expect this old woman to care.”
“And if anything happens to you, we won’t care either.”
Madam Lü sneered inwardly.
She had lived for decades.
Did she really need a crazy woman to care about her?
Even when she grew old, she would still have her eldest son and her two precious grandsons!
Xiang Xi took the land deed, checked that it wasn’t fake, and casually put it away.
“Second Fool! Take the things. We’re leaving!”
“Wife…”
For once, Second Fool Liu didn’t immediately obey.
Instead, he stood there awkwardly, repeatedly pointing toward the area beneath the eaves.
“That… that…”
Xiang Xi turned around and saw his precious copper basin.
A fool really was a fool.
If you wanted something, at least ask for something valuable!
What was a copper basin worth?
You should’ve asked for a golden basin!
“The copper basin comes with us too.”
Madam Lü hated that copper basin with all her heart now.
If that wretched thing hadn’t made such a deafening noise, she probably wouldn’t have been humiliated so badly.
“Take it, take it.”
The moment Second Fool Liu heard that, his face immediately lit up.
He happily picked up his copper basin.
Xiang Xi led Second Fool along.
Second Fool carried the copper basin.
The two happily arrived at their new plot of land.
According to the land deed, it was indeed huge.
Very huge.
It was large enough to fit an entire basketball court.
This showed that the former head of the Liu family had once possessed quite a bit of ambition and had dreamed of building the largest residence in Nan Zhu Village.
Unfortunately, after Liu Old Man, the family’s main breadwinner, had been worked to death by Madam Lü, no one in the Liu family had the ability to earn money anymore.
They could only live off their existing resources day after day.
This plot of land was destined to remain nothing more than a wasteland.
“Second Fool, into the mountains!”
“Yes!”
After inspecting her new territory, Xiang Xi led Second Fool into the mountains.
The reason she hadn’t wanted the house was because she knew she wouldn’t stay in this primitive, backward village for long.
She would leave this place soon enough.
So all she needed was a temporary shelter from the wind and rain.
Something like a grass hut.
There weren’t many types of houses in the world more temporary than that.
After sharpening the inherited battered wood-cutting knife by the river until it had an edge, Xiang Xi began chopping branches in the mountains while Second Fool Liu carried them back.
After going back and forth several times, the entire village knew that Madam Lü had separated the two of them from the family and driven them out.
Seeing the couple still so cheerful, many villagers secretly cursed Madam Lü.
That damned woman couldn’t do a single good thing in eight lifetimes!
How had she suddenly become so capable this time?
That crazy woman really did need to be taught a lesson.
Now she dared to stuff cucumbers into Hu-shi’s backside and sit on Madam Lü’s head to shit and pee.
The two most domineering women in the entire village had both been completely subdued by her.
Everyone else was starting to feel uneasy.
What if one day that crazy woman went berserk on them?
Who knew what she might do?
So this time, Old Madam Lü had actually done a great job!
Xiang Xi had no idea what these primitive villagers were thinking.
After chopping enough branches, she went to the Liu family’s haystack and pulled out enough dry straw.
She was ready to return to her plot of land and build her “house.”
But before she could even begin, a young and beautiful woman came running over aggressively.
“What are you doing? What do you think you’re doing? Who told you that you could start digging here?”
Xiang Xi’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The first obstacle on the road to building her house had finally arrived.