Ever since Meng Zhu’s first birthday banquet, the Meng family’s meals had taken a sharp turn for the worse.
The coarse grains had become plain corn buns, and all three meals a day consisted entirely of boiled vegetables. The greenish soup didn’t even have a trace of oil floating in it.
Even the salt was rationed down to just a few grains for flavor.
As Meng Qiushi put it, “The sweat I work up in the fields is saltier than this food.”
In short: tasteless, yet too precious to throw away.
After eating like this for seven straight days, the Meng family’s faces were practically turning green.
The little bit of rice left in the house had all been hidden away by Wang Cuilian specifically to make rice paste for Meng Zhu.
At the dinner table, the Meng family sat in a circle around a basin of wild vegetable buns and another basin of boiled greens.
Everyone stared silently at the food with exhausted expressions.
They worked in the fields all day long only to eat this stuff—never full, yet never starving either.
Suddenly, Wang Cuilian slammed her chopsticks onto the table with a loud smack.
“Who are you all making those miserable faces for? Eat if you want, don’t if you don’t!”
The others lowered their heads.
Xu Chunhua stuffed the rest of her corn bun into her mouth, then hurriedly pulled Meng Wei and Meng Qing—whose faces were red from choking on the dry bun—back into their room.
She poured each child a bowl of water and crouched down to pat their backs.
“Feeling better?”
Meng Wei nodded. “I’m okay now.”
Meng Qing rubbed her stomach and looked pitifully at Xu Chunhua. “Mom, I’m hungry.”
Meng Qing was a little glutton. Since she knew their family wasn’t actually lacking food, she dared to complain freely.
Last night, Meng Qiushi and Xu Chunhua had gone into Meng Yu’s magical space, slaughtered a chicken, and roasted it.
Then they brought the roasted chicken out of the space and woke Meng Wei and Meng Qing from sleep to secretly eat meat.
Thinking back on the delicious taste of the roast chicken, Meng Qing couldn’t help smacking her lips twice.
As for Meng Yu, she could only pitifully watch her parents and siblings eat. Right now, she could only drink formula, rice paste, and steamed egg custard every day.
Xu Chunhua took a bag of peach pastries from the cabinet and distributed them between Meng Wei and Meng Qing.
Just then, a noise came from outside the door.
The two children immediately hid their hands behind their backs.
“It’s me.”
Meng Qiushi pushed the door open a crack and squeezed through it.
Xu Chunhua sighed in relief. “You scared me to death. Next time cough before coming in.”
“Tomorrow’s our day off. Let’s take the whole family into town for a good meal. We can also sell that basket of medicinal herbs while we’re there.” Meng Qiushi pulled Xu Chunhua’s hand and sat beside her on the bed.
The two of them looked over at their eldest son and daughter munching on peach pastries.
Xu Chunhua felt a little miserable inside. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could split from the family? Then the kids wouldn’t have to sneak around just to eat.”
Guilt filled Meng Qiushi’s eyes as he gripped Xu Chunhua’s hand tightly. The corners of his eyes reddened, giving him a strangely pitiful appearance.
“I’ve wronged all of you.”
Xu Chunhua pulled her hand free and gently wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes with her fingertip.
“You’re a good husband in my eyes and a good father in the children’s eyes. Having parents like yours isn’t your fault—it’s theirs. You’re already doing very well.”
Meng Qiushi’s parents were like parasitic vines. They didn’t love their children, yet desperately wanted to drain every ounce of value from them. Impossible to shake off, impossible to throw away.
The word “filial piety” had bound Meng Qiushi hand and foot.
He pressed his lips together tightly, his nose stinging with emotion as tears gathered in his eyes. But with his children present, he was too embarrassed to cry. He didn’t want them to see his weakness.
“Hug me,” Xu Chunhua said softly, opening her arms to him. Her peach blossom eyes shimmered with tears as she smiled gently.
She felt sorry for her husband.
Meng Qiushi buried his face against her neck.
Xu Chunhua felt the damp warmth on her shoulder and gently patted his back.
Sitting nearby, Meng Yu watched her parents embrace, feeling both happiness and bitterness.
Even in such harsh circumstances, their family of six still had their own small happiness.
Meng Qiufeng put down his bowl and chopsticks before returning to his room, with Meng Hong following closely behind him.
“Dad, I’ve run out of ink in my pen. I want to buy another one.”
Meng Qiufeng acted as though he hadn’t heard her. He walked to the bed, picked up his pipe, and took a deep drag, staring blankly ahead with a troubled frown.
Meng Hong pursed her lips. Just as she was about to repeat herself, Meng Wen rushed over and interrupted her.
Ignoring the warning look her brother gave her, Meng Hong raised her voice.
“Dad, my writing pen is empty. Can you give me one cent to buy another?”
That morning, she had clearly seen him secretly hiding more than one yuan inside the cabinet.
Asking for one cent to buy a pen wasn’t too much, was it?
Having his thoughts interrupted, Meng Qiufeng impatiently shoved Meng Hong aside.
“What’s the use of a little girl studying so much? Stop going to school. Tomorrow I’ll go talk to your teacher and withdraw your tuition.”
Meng Hong fell to the ground from the push, staring at him in disbelief.
Bursting into tears, she cried, “It was Meng Zhu who caused our family to lose all its money! Why should I be the one forced to quit school?”
Meng Wen hurriedly covered his sister’s mouth. “Dad, my sister doesn’t understand anything. Don’t argue with her.”
Meng Qiufeng’s face darkened. He shoved Meng Wen aside and grabbed Meng Hong by the collar before slapping her hard across the face.
“Zhuzhu is your younger sister! You should cherish her! If you dare say something like that again, I’ll beat you to death!”
At that moment, Chen Rou’s voice suddenly sounded from the courtyard.
Meng Qiufeng’s anger instantly vanished. He walked over to the window to look outside.
Meng Wen quickly dragged his sobbing sister into the neighboring room.
Heart aching, he wiped the tears from her face with his sleeve and frowned at her swollen cheek.
“Don’t mention Meng Zhu or Chen Rou in front of Dad ever again.”
Meng Hong grabbed his sleeve tightly. “Brother, I don’t want to quit school.”
Very few girls in the village were allowed to study in the first place. Their family had once been able to afford it, but after all this, there probably wouldn’t be enough money left to educate girls anymore.
Meng Wen fell silent.
He was still too young—too young even to protect his sister’s right to study.
“This year the family situation is bad. Stop for one year first, and we’ll talk about it again next year. I promise I’ll make sure you can continue school.”
“Okay… I’ll listen to you.”
After venting her anger at noon, Wang Cuilian tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.
Now that the family had no money left, panic gnawed constantly at her heart. These past few days, she hadn’t slept well or eaten well.
Didn’t she feel awful too?
She felt worse than anyone else!
She had personally watched the family savings slowly grow to over one hundred yuan… only to watch it shrink back down to nothing.
But whenever she thought about how it was all for Zhuzhu, she felt somewhat comforted.
Meng Dazhuang, lying beside her, suddenly opened his eyes.
“If you can’t sleep, go wander outside. You keep making the bed creak and now I can’t sleep either.”
Wang Cuilian sprang upright and slapped him hard across the face.
Meng Dazhuang’s head nearly snapped sideways from the blow.
“The family money is gone, and you can still sleep?!”
Meng Dazhuang grew angry too. Covering his cheek, he sat up.
“Even if the money were still here, not a single cent would be spent on me! Why shouldn’t I be able to sleep?”
As he spoke, he lifted his blanket and pointed at his underwear.
“I’ve worn these underpants for ten years! Torn, patched, torn again, patched again. Not one piece of clothing I own has fewer than twenty patches!”
He felt bitter and wronged. What terrible luck to marry such a tigress.
Wang Cuilian glared at him darkly.
Meng Dazhuang opened and closed his mouth, but ultimately said nothing more. He lay back down, turned his back toward her, and closed his eyes.
There wasn’t much work in the fields today, so everyone had the day off.
Many villagers climbed onto ox carts and headed into town to buy supplies.
By the time Meng Qiushi’s family arrived at the village entrance, the ox cart was already packed full.
Meng Qiushi and Xu Chunhua each carried a child, while the two older children stood beside them.
Looking at the overloaded cart, the couple exchanged glances.
“What should we do?”
“Forget it. Let’s just wander around the mountain today.”
The ox cart ride to the county town took nearly half an hour, but walking would take around two hours each way.
Either way, they only wanted a nice private meal, so convenience mattered most.
Meng Qing pouted unhappily. “I was looking forward to it all night.”
They had promised to eat at the state-run restaurant.
Meng Qiushi tugged lightly at her little braid. “Dad won’t let your excitement go to waste.”
Meng Qing’s eyes instantly lit up. She immediately understood and excitedly hugged his arm.
“Dad, let’s hurry and go play on the mountain!”
“First we need to take the basket back home.” Meng Qiushi adjusted the basket on his back. He had originally planned to sell the medicinal herbs too, but that would have to wait until next time.
Before they even reached the house, they heard shouting.
“There’s no money left in this family! None of you are allowed to continue school—go work in the fields instead!” Wang Cuilian’s shrill voice rang out.
Xu Chunhua frowned and quickly carried the sleepy Meng Che into the courtyard.
“What’s going on?”
Inside the courtyard, Meng Hong was hiding behind Meng Wen, crying loudly. Meng Wen’s lips were pressed tightly together, tears welling in his eyes.
Standing opposite them were Meng Qiufeng and Wang Cuilian.
Meng Qiufeng looked indifferent and impatient, while Wang Cuilian’s sharp cruelty was on full display.
Cradled in Meng Qiushi’s arms, Meng Yu stretched her neck to watch the scene.
Wang Cuilian glared at Meng Qiushi. “Weren’t you going into town to sell herbs?”
“The ox cart was full.”
Wang Cuilian curled her lips disdainfully. “Useless thing.”
“Oh, and you’re useful?” Meng Qiushi snapped, throwing the basket heavily onto the ground. “You’re the one throwing money away! Sending Chen Rou’s daughter back would’ve solved everything, but instead you emptied out the whole family savings. Now nobody has eaten properly for days!”
Meng Qiufeng scolded sharply, “Qiushi, watch how you speak to Mom.”
“Don’t put on that eldest-brother act with me,” Meng Qiushi scoffed.
Wang Cuilian said coldly, “There’s no money left in the family. Tomorrow the children will withdraw from school. No more studying. They can help with work and earn work points instead.”
As always, Wang Cuilian was perfectly fair in disliking all of the Meng family’s children equally.
Meng Qiushi dug at his ear dramatically. “What did you just say?”
“All the children are quitting school and coming home to earn work points. Did you hear me clearly? I don’t have money to support their education!” Wang Cuilian snapped. “What’s the point of studying anyway? They’ll still end up peasants.”
During the birthday banquet incident, Xu Chunhua and Meng Qiushi hadn’t interfered because they knew it would’ve been useless. Wang Cuilian would rather die than let Meng Zhu leave.
Split four ways, the one hundred yuan only meant a loss of twenty-five yuan for their branch of the family.
Wang Cuilian and her husband had no objections. The eldest branch had no objections. The second branch stayed silent. Why should the third branch alone become the villain?
Wasn’t it just twenty-five yuan? No matter what happened, it wouldn’t really hurt their household.
Besides, there was enough grain to last until the year-end distribution.
But once their own children’s interests became involved, Meng Qiushi and Xu Chunhua could no longer sit still.
“There’s money for Chen Rou, but no money for the Meng family’s own grandchildren to attend school? We work ourselves to death in the fields every day for the sake of our children!
Now I finally understand—even if we die from exhaustion, we won’t benefit from any of it! We can’t eat properly, and now our children can’t even study. What’s the point of living like this?”
Meng Qiushi began wailing dramatically, fake tears streaming down his face.
“If that’s the case, why should we work so hard earning work points? We might as well just lie around at home!”
Seeing the third branch making a fuss, Wang Yun—who had been crying quietly earlier—immediately joined in.
“The children don’t need school anyway… As long as we earn enough work points to survive…”
Meng Qiushou tugged nervously at Wang Yun’s sleeve under Wang Cuilian’s gaze, but Wang Yun glared at him and slapped his hand away.
Clutching her chest in anger, Wang Cuilian pointed furiously at Meng Qiushi.
“Shut your mouth!”
Meng Qiushi obediently shut up at once and raised an eyebrow at her.
Wang Cuilian glared viciously at him.
This troublemaker—she wanted nothing more than to kick the third branch out, yet couldn’t bear to lose the work points they earned.
She knew perfectly well that the couple desperately wanted to split from the family.
Which was exactly why she refused to let them.
They wanted freedom and an easy independent life? Dream on.
Unless she died, nobody was splitting this family apart.
“This semester, they’ll stay in school for now. But there’s no money in the house anymore. Next semester’s tuition isn’t my problem. Borrow money from your natal families or wherever you want, but don’t ask me for a single cent. If you can’t afford it, then stay home and work.”
Wang Cuilian’s gloomy gaze swept across her grandchildren.
Worthless money-losers—all of them.
She had never wanted to pay for their education anyway. What was the use of so much studying? Just a waste of money.
Meng Wen and Meng Hong helplessly looked toward Meng Qiufeng.
Their father was the only person they had left to rely on.
Meng Qiufeng’s late wife had been an orphan. The only reason he had married Tian Lan was because she required no bride price.
After marriage, he had never liked Tian Lan’s uncultured, rustic nature. Toward her, he had always been cold and indifferent.
To him, her only purpose had been bearing children.
He didn’t love Tian Lan, nor did he love Meng Wen and Meng Hong.
Still, Meng Wen at least had some value as a son who could carry on the family line.
But ever since Wang Cuilian suggested marrying Chen Rou to him, he had already cast the two children aside in his mind. He would marry Chen Rou and have children belonging to the two of them.
Not once did Meng Qiufeng glance at Meng Wen or Meng Hong.
Meng Wen tilted his head up to look at his father, his eyes utterly devoid of emotion.
If he could, he would take his sister and escape this family forever.
Xu Chunhua felt suffocated inside.
It was her few whispered instigations to Mother Zhao that had caused the Zhao family to take the Meng family’s money away.
It was a classic case of hurting the enemy while damaging themselves too.
But seeing the pitiful, helpless state of Meng Wen and Meng Hong softened her heart.
She might be somewhat vicious—but only toward people she hated.
Meng Wen and his sister were innocent children without a mother to protect them.
The third branch’s children had always been protected by her and Meng Qiushi, never suffering much grievance.
In the second branch, although Meng Qiushou didn’t care much for the children, Wang Yun fiercely protected them.
But in the eldest branch, Tian Lan had been weak and had died young, while Meng Qiufeng completely ignored the children. Life for the siblings in the Meng family had been hard.
Determination flashed in Meng Wen’s eyes.
His teacher had once said that education could change a person’s fate.
He and his sister had to study.
And studying required money.
He knew his third uncle and aunt weren’t lacking money.
“Third Uncle, Third Aunt, my sister and I want to continue studying.”
Meng Wen suddenly knelt again and kowtowed heavily to Xu Chunhua and Meng Qiushi.
“My father won’t care about us. In the future… could I borrow money for school from you? Once I start working, I’ll definitely pay it back.”
Xu Chunhua looked toward Meng Qiushi.
Meng Qiushi stared at Meng Wen with a complicated expression before helping the two children to their feet.
He patted Meng Wen’s thin shoulder gently.
“Xiao Wen, I know you’re a smart child. If you and Xiao Hong want to study but your father won’t support you, then we will. Treat it as a loan. Once you start working in the future, you can repay us slowly.”
Meng Qiushi wasn’t some selfless saint.
Since Meng Wen called it borrowing, then it would truly be a loan.
Endless unconditional giving only made people greedy and dissatisfied.
His decision to help had nothing to do with blood ties.
It was because he saw his younger self reflected in Meng Wen.
Most importantly, he knew Meng Wen was a good and intelligent child.
If the boy had been ungrateful or rotten, even kneeling before him until the seas dried up and the rocks crumbled wouldn’t have softened his heart.
Meng Wen looked at Meng Qiushi joyfully.
He wanted to thank him, but emotion clogged his throat so completely that he couldn’t speak.
“Third Uncle… my sister and I will remember your kindness for the rest of our lives.”