Comrade Huang Guixiang agreed immediately!
In the past, she had refused to split the family because she wanted to use Old Zhang’s household income to support her own daughter.
Naturally, keeping the family undivided meant more money in her hands.
But now…
Times had changed.
Now she was even afraid that Lin Wan might be taken advantage of by the eldest and second branches of the family!
“Yes!”
“Split the family!”
It was just a pity about the four salaries.
Huang Guixiang’s original plan had been to tightly control the entire family’s income so she could save more money for Lin Wan and provide extra support when she got married.
But now that her Wanwan had done well and even found a boyfriend who was a battalion commander…
That plan had to change.
A battalion commander’s reputation mattered greatly. If his reputation was damaged, how could he continue to rise?
Xiao Huo was still so young—his future potential was enormous.
As a mother, she absolutely could not block her daughter’s path to becoming the wife of a high-ranking officer!
Even though Huang Guixiang was usually greedy for small advantages, when it came to serious matters she had a very clear sense of priorities.
She could distinguish what mattered in the long run.
It was just that…
Thinking about the future loss of income made her chest hurt.
Lin Wan had been racking her brain for ways to persuade her, but she didn’t expect Huang Guixiang to agree so decisively. It actually left her a bit unprepared.
“Uh… since we’re splitting the family, we’ll need to divide the money too. Mom, if you’re short on funds, tell me—I can borrow from Huo Xiao!”
She showed weakness in front of Huo Xiao.
But that was only when he was present.
Right now he wasn’t here, so—
Hehe.
Honestly, this “toolman” Huo Xiao was really useful!
And thankfully, before transmigrating she had bought some 1960s-era cash and ration tickets. Otherwise, if she needed money urgently now, she’d have to risk going to the black market.
Having money in hand meant peace of mind. Only then could she stand firm like a rock… no, like Mount Tai!
Huang Guixiang waved her hand.
“No need. Old Zhang isn’t dead yet—what’s the rush to divide money?”
Lin Wan frowned slightly.
“But if you don’t divide the money, will they agree?”
Huang Guixiang sneered.
“What can they do if they don’t agree?”
“After the split, they won’t have to hand over their wages anymore. They should be happy just to have that!”
“Besides, Old Zhang is still alive. If they want to divide anything, they can wait until he dies!”
Lin Wan gave her a thumbs-up.
Just as Huang Guixiang was about to go out and announce the division of the family, Lin Wan stopped her.
“Mom, listen to me.”
“Talk to Uncle Zhang first about how to split things. Once you’ve agreed, let him be the one to announce it. Don’t come forward yourself.”
“And wait until my job transfer is properly settled before bringing it up.”
In truth, Lin Wan wanted to wait until after Liang Qianjin’s matter was completely resolved before moving forward. That way, Zhang Aimin would likely not qualify for promotion to an eighth-grade technician, making the division more favorable.
Huang Guixiang nodded.
“Alright, Mom will listen to you!”
In the past, as a widowed woman raising children after remarriage, she had to fight for everything with her face on the line. If she didn’t fight, she got nothing.
Back then, reputation meant nothing compared to keeping her daughter fed and clothed.
But now?
She was the future mother-in-law of a high-ranking officer.
Reputation mattered.
Lin Wan added:
“I think Uncle Zhang is in a bad mood. Mom, comfort him a bit. Biological children also depend on fate.”
No matter how much Zhang Aimin neglected his biological daughter Zhang Qin, he had always treated Huang Guixiang and her well.
Lin Wan was also quite protective of her own people.
After Zhang Hongqiang finished writing and left the room with Huang Guixiang, Lin Wan immediately took out some northern dried goods from her space, packed them into a cloth bag, and issued a shipping order from the system.
The sender name was Huang Guixiang, and the address was the Zhang family home.
Parcel shipping rates:
Within 500 km: 0.15 yuan per kg for the first kilogram, 0.08 yuan per additional kg.
501–1000 km: 0.35 yuan first kg, 0.18 yuan additional kg.
1001–2000 km: 0.55 yuan first kg, 0.28 yuan additional kg.
The pricing matched that of the Huacheng Post Office exactly.
In the 1960s, this price was truly expensive.
Pork cost 0.8 yuan per jin. The postage for sending just a few kilograms of parcels could already buy a jin of pork.
Because of this, most people would carry things themselves if possible and rarely chose to mail them.
With postage being so high, her plan to develop a mail-order business didn’t seem realistic.
Lin Wan negotiated with the system:
“To expand postal business operations, I plan to develop a mail-order service and run a ‘one cent shipping fee’ promotion!”
“But your pricing is too high. I can’t afford it!”
“You should understand that in our era, flat-rate express delivery is very cheap.”
“How about we calculate it per item, and I only pay you the base postage for each item?”
“If that doesn’t work, forget it. Honestly, I already have money and supplies—I don’t really need to earn more.”
“If I weren’t thinking about you, why would I be working so hard?”
The system: “……”
Destroy everything.
It gave in:
[Fine!]
[But you must complete no fewer than 100 parcels per month, and sign a contract. If you fail to meet the quota, you must compensate the difference…]
Lin Wan: “Ten parcels. That’s the maximum. This is the 1960s—speculation like this could get someone shot.”
“Take it or leave it. Honestly, I’d rather relax.”
“Oh right, you also need to provide me with a payment-receiving address that cannot be traced, but where I can still collect the money.”
The system avatar flickered on and off.
A contract popped up in front of her.
She opened it and checked the terms—it included all her demands, plus a mailbox address:
Mailbox No. 88
What an auspicious number!
Satisfied, Lin Wan signed her name.
After collecting the parcel she sent to Huang Guixiang, the system angrily went offline.
It didn’t want to deal with her for even a second longer.
Having settled this major matter, Lin Wan slept soundly.
But the main household and the second household could not sleep.
Both families were discussing Zhang Qin and that 500 yuan.
Bao Yan whispered in bed to Zhang Hongqi:
“Your sister is such an ungrateful white-eyed wolf. What kind of younger sister doesn’t help with housework or take care of children at home?”
“And that Guo Xuyang made it sound like we were abusing her!”
“Go ask around—truly abusive families don’t even buy menstrual cloths for girls.”
“They even sell daughters off for betrothal money!”
Even though the betrothal money could be one or two hundred yuan, that wasn’t money that cut ties completely—let alone the fact that married daughters could still bring resources back to their natal family.
“I want to see what kind of life she’ll have in the future!”
“Without her natal family backing her, she’ll cry sooner or later!”
Zhang Hongqi muttered, “She climbed up the ladder and forgot about us. She better not come back begging us in the future.”
He still couldn’t understand how Zhang Qin had spoken to Guo Xuyang, making it sound like he, her big brother, was some kind of bully.
When she was bullied as a child, it was him and the second brother who fought for her.
Bao Yan poked his waist.
“Tell me, what did Guo Xuyang say to Dad in the room that made him come out with a dark face and agree to sever ties?”
“Does Dad have some kind of leverage in his hands?”
“How would I know!” Zhang Hongqi turned over irritably. “Go to sleep!”
In the second household next door, the couple was talking about the same thing—but in much greater depth.
“Husband, now that Zhang Qin that ungrateful girl is gone, we definitely can’t rely on her anymore. What about Lin Wan—can we rely on her?”
With Zhang Qin gone, their only remaining hope for their younger sister was Lin Wan.
Zhang Hongbing frowned tightly.
“With Huang Guixiang backing her, we can only rely on her so much.”
“If she doesn’t strip us clean to subsidize Lin Wan, we should be grateful.”
“Don’t just because you ate a couple meals of meat think that mother and daughter are good people.”
“We still need to figure out what leverage Dad has in Guo Xuyang’s hands. If we find out, we can use it to get benefits from him.”
“Alright, you go and stir up the eldest sister-in-law…”
Zhang Hongbing leaned in and whispered his plan into Zhong Hongmei’s ear. In the darkness, her eyes grew brighter and brighter as she listened.