“It’s nothing, nothing. You two continue.”Mother Han stood outside the door, her expression awkward.
Seeing their posture, she hurried to shut the door in a fluster.
Yang Dai’s face flushed crimson with anger. While struggling to break free from Han Lin’s grip, she secretly kicked him hard from an angle hidden from Mother Han’s view.
“Mother, do you have something to say?” Han Lin remained expressionless, tugged at his clothes, and walked toward the doorway.
“No, nothing. You two just got married, you must get along well.” Mother Han spoke as she hastily turned to leave.
She sat in the main hall, drank a mouthful of water, unsure whether she should feel relieved or worried.
Earlier, she had sat with the neighbors, and when Han Lin’s name came up, they had advised her to quickly find him a proper job. At the very least, he should inherit his father’s carpentry skills—it would be a decent way out. Now that he was married, he couldn’t keep loafing around like before.
Hearing this had left Mother Han with a pounding headache.
Han Lin was the youngest child in the family, never having suffered any hardship, and had grown crooked without them realizing it.
When he graduated junior high, his grades were poor, and rumors spread that unrest had begun in the city.
The family decided he should return home after junior high, learn carpentry from his father, and later do furniture work in the village. During slack farming seasons, he could get a temporary job with the county housing department, repairing roofs with the construction team.
This way, he wouldn’t need to toil in the fields for work points, and could earn decent money and ration tickets.
But after a year of carpentry, Han Lin hadn’t learned much. Instead, his hands were covered in scars, and he ended up threatening to die if he wasn’t allowed back to high school.
He even found an article in the newspaper about worker-peasant-soldier universities, saying candidates could be selected and admitted through exams. If he finished high school, he still had a chance at college.
The family let him try. At least it was a glimmer of hope.
But when he graduated high school, the policy changed again. Worker-peasant-soldier universities no longer required exams—they admitted only through recommendation.
And Han Lin, notorious for laziness across ten miles, had no chance of being recommended, no matter how long he waited.
So he stayed idle at home, never farming, often disappearing. The family quarreled countless times because of him.
With no solution, the family decided he needed a wife—someone strong and capable, who could rein him in and hold up the household.
But fate was cruel. They found someone quarrelsome, yes, but capable? Not at all. She had often argued with her brothers and sisters-in-law at home.
It was exactly as the saying went: “Those of a kind flock together.” Two lazybones had become husband and wife.
That was why the eldest sister-in-law had demanded a family division early that morning.
Han Lin alone had already stirred endless fights at home. Now, with Yang Dai, another one like him, it wasn’t just one plus one equals two—it was chaos multiplied.
Mother Han had wanted to speak with him privately while no one else was around.
Forget the division for now, but since he was married, he needed to be a man, take on responsibility, and not let his wife and future children go hungry.
Yet as she stood at the door, she hesitated, unsure how to begin.
Before she could knock, she overheard the word “divorce” inside. In shock, she had pushed the door open, only to find it was the newlyweds’ joke, leaving her embarrassed.
“Let’s not talk about dividing the family yet. Tell me, do you want to keep learning carpentry from your father, or go earn work points in the fields?” Mother Han glanced at the closed bedroom door, lowering her voice. “You’re married now. You’re an adult. You can’t keep living as before.”
“Mother, I know. But the division—we’ve all agreed on it.”
“My sister-in-law is so anxious she skipped work. My second brother and his wife may stay quiet, but they’re not happy either.
“All these years, I’ve been reckless and immature, always worrying you and father.
“But now I’m older. I’m married. It’s time I shouldered my share. Once we divide, you and my brothers can live together, and I’ll take my wife to the old house in the west of the village.” Han Lin spoke clearly and calmly, though he wore a faint smile, there was no trace of jest.
“That won’t do, it won’t do! Even if we divide, how can we let you move there?” Mother Han waved her hands in alarm, on the verge of tears.
The west-side old house had been left by Han Lin’s grandfather, built of yellow clay. After the grandfather died, the grandmother moved into their current home. The old house had been abandoned for years, and just recently, part of the roof had collapsed in the rain.
It wasn’t a home for living—it was a ruin.
Sending Han Lin and Yang Dai there wasn’t division, it was exile.
“Mother, listen to me.” Han Lin pulled five yuan from his pocket and handed it to her. “That old house being broken is to my advantage. Have you forgotten where my father-in-law works?
“If we live there, he’ll have to lend us a hand. Soon, your son’s house will be one of the best in the brigade.
“And by separating us out, Sister-in-law will calm down. It’ll be good for the whole family.”
The Han family were all capable. Father Han Chaoyang was an excellent carpenter, connected with the county housing department, sometimes earning money and ration tickets repairing buildings.
The eldest, Han Jing, was the youngest team accountant in the first and second production teams of Huangzhuang brigade. His wife, Sun Qiaoyun, worked at the commune’s Women’s Federation as a temp, drawing a wage each month.
The second, Han Hui, tall and strong, was the militia captain of Huangzhuang brigade. His wife, from a neighboring brigade, was diligent and hardworking.
They even had an adopted daughter, Han Dan, two years older than Han Lin, married already and teaching part-time at the commune primary school.
The Han family had prestige in the brigade. Only Han Lin, the black sheep, spoiled their name.
Last year, when the brigade’s accountant retired, the candidates came from three team accountants. Everyone assumed Han Jing, educated and competent, would take the position. His accounts were flawless, often praised.
But he wasn’t chosen.
Mother Han later found out why—people feared that if Han Jing became brigade accountant, he would secretly grant extra work points to Han Lin.
When she heard this, she wept bitterly. No matter how she explained, no one believed her.
That incident cemented the eldest couple’s resolve to split the family.
“Our brigade has no precedent for dividing while parents are still alive. Just let me separate out. My brothers can stay with you.” Han Lin laid out his reasoning piece by piece. “If you feel guilty, you can make it up to me in some other way.”
Finally, he persuaded her. At noon, during the meal, Mother Han told Father Han.
He had been troubled over division for days. Hearing the youngest volunteer to live in the old house, his hand holding the cigarette paused.
“Then we’ll do as he said. Once the family is split, I’ll take him to the housing department in the county.” Father Han gave the final word.
That evening, he gathered his three sons and discussed the division.
They agreed that after Han Lin and Yang Dai returned from her parents’ home the next day, the brigade secretary would witness the separation. They would first divide Han Lin out.
While Han Lin plotted division, Yang Dai plotted divorce.
She had raised the matter once, but Mother Han had walked in on them. Han Lin then acted as if nothing had happened, never mentioning divorce again, as though he hadn’t heard her at all.
Yang Dai calmed down. Divorce was certain, but she needed to consult her parents and gain their support.
The next morning, Mother Han set a freshly cleaned bicycle in the courtyard. On it she hung a pound of pork, two cans of preserves, and a pound of brown sugar. She urged Han Lin and Yang Dai to set off quickly.
Han Lin came out carrying a cushion, placing it on the rear seat of the bicycle.
Yang Dai ignored him, walking straight out, her head lowered, recalling her parents and brothers.
Though in the same brigade, her family home lay on the opposite end, nearly across the entire village.
When they arrived, her family were already waiting. Seeing the couple, smiles spread across their faces.
Her mother rushed forward, grasped Yang Dai’s hand, looking her up and down with teary eyes.
Yang Dai gently dabbed her mother’s tears with a handkerchief, her resolve to speak of divorce strengthening.
For lunch, her brother and sister-in-law cooked, while Yang Dai and Han Lin sat with her parents.
Her father, delighted, had his son-in-law drink with him.
But the self-proclaimed heavy drinker Han Lin flushed after two cups, collapsing on the table, fast asleep.
Left with no choice, Yang Dai helped him to her room, only to find the layout had changed—bricks were piled in the corner, purpose unclear.
Casting a glance around, she headed for her parents’ room. Now was the perfect time to bring up divorce.
At the doorway, before she could knock, she heard her father’s slightly drunken voice:
“Now that Yang Dai is married, I can rest easy. She doesn’t need to keep coming back.
“The Han family’s third son may seem unreliable, with a poor reputation, but I’ve looked closely. He’s not bad.
“He doesn’t drink much, and even drunk, he doesn’t cause trouble. He doesn’t beat people. His parents and brothers are all capable, so there’s support. Life can go on.
“And though Han Lin dislikes farm work, I’ve seen him a few times at the commune black market. Supporting a wife and children won’t be a problem.
“From now on, visit Yang Dai often. Teach her a few tricks. Get Han Lin under control, keep hold of the family money, and life will gradually settle.”
From outside, Yang Dai’s raised hand dropped slowly.
Then her father’s final words came through:
“Remind her—don’t let her think about the commune or the county anymore. She’s already suffered losses; let her learn from them.”