8
How to Divide the Family, I Have the Final Say
Old Mr. Li never expected his daughter-in-law Gu Wenshu to turn the fire toward him. He had assumed his wife would handle everything, but now it seemed the third son’s wife had truly broken free from the old woman’s control.
Before he could speak, Granny Li started shouting, “You take three hundred yuan and leave—the rest belongs to me and the old man.”
“Stop your nonsense. Do you really think all this money was sent back by the third son?” Granny Li snorted lightly. “We’ve been working in the fields all these years, earning Work Points. We saved a little when the village distributed money at year’s end.”
Gu Wenshu smiled. “If I remember correctly, even Eldest Brother, who often earned full Work Points, only got thirty yuan last year.” Leaning against the wall, she looked at the red-faced Granny Li as if watching a clown. “Last year, the whole family combined received less than a hundred yuan, which wasn’t even enough for you, A Niang, to spoil your youngest son.”
“Only in recent years, with Eldest Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, and me joining the family, has the year-end distribution increased slightly. Before, relying solely on you two, sixty yuan a year was doubtful. If you don’t believe me, A Niang, you can check the account books from previous years with the record-keeper.”
She turned to Old Mr. Li. “Father, you’re the head of the household. You have the final say in dividing the family. How much money do you plan to give us? And how many rooms will you allocate?”
The Li Family compound had seven rooms in total: one main hall, one kitchen, and one bathroom.
Old Mr. Li had four sons and one daughter. With him and his wife, six rooms were already occupied. The remaining room was a guest room for visitors, but since Eldest Brother’s son was born, he and his wife had been eyeing it, treating it as their own.
Seventh Uncle looked at Old Mr. Li. “The third son’s wife is right. You’re the head of the household—tell us how you plan to divide the family.”
Hearing this, Granny Li glared fiercely at her husband. If he dared to be overly generous, she would scratch his face to shreds.
With everyone in the room staring at him, Old Mr. Li knew he had to settle the division today, or his reputation in the village might plummet because of this. The thought filled him with resentment toward Li Xiuran and his wife, convinced that Li Xiuran was useless for failing to control his woman.
He glanced at his sons and said slowly, “I have four sons and one daughter, plus me and my wife. Let’s divide the money into six shares. With three thousand yuan, each share gets five hundred. As for the rooms, each keeps the one they’re living in. Any objections?”
Chen Hongzhen immediately objected upon hearing that Little Sister would get a share. “Father, Little Sister is about to be matched for marriage. She’s a daughter—how can she take from her parental home?”
Giving money to the third son’s couple already pained her; now having to share with Little Sister felt like being stabbed with a knife.
The couple had always doted on their only daughter, which was why they allowed her to continue high school. Enraged by her daughter-in-law’s words, Granny Li snapped, “Xiaoyue is my own flesh and blood, part of this family. Why shouldn’t she get a share?”
Sanbao whispered upon hearing this, “Grandma, you said girls are money-losing goods. They shouldn’t have dowries when they grow up but should bring back bride prices instead.”
“Little Sister gets a share? Isn’t she a girl too?”
“How can Xiao Ni’er compare to your little aunt? Your little aunt is both beautiful and excels in her studies—she’s destined for greatness.” She cast a disdainful glance at Xiao Ni’er. “Xiao Ni’er does nothing but cry all day. If she’s not a money-losing burden, what else could she be?”
“When she grows up, she’ll probably turn out just like her mother—a seductive vixen who knows how to ensnare men.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Wenshu immediately flung the wooden box lid toward Granny Li. The lid grazed Granny Li’s cheek as it flew past, startling her into a loud shriek. Just as Granny Li was about to hurl insults at Gu Wenshu, she met the latter’s cold, piercing gaze, and all her words seemed to choke in her throat.
Gu Wenshu said, “If A Niang doesn’t know how to speak like a decent person, next time I’ll aim for your mouth.”
Seventh Uncle frowned disapprovingly at Gu Wenshu. “Third Nephew’s wife, this is disrespectful toward your mother-in-law.”
“Parental kindness comes before filial piety—the ancients placed parental kindness first and children’s obedience second,” she retorted with a cold laugh. “Seventh Uncle, you heard what my mother-in-law said. How do you expect us younger generation to respect a mother-in-law like her?”
Seventh Uncle sighed. Somehow, he found Third Nephew’s wife’s words quite reasonable—this family was truly a mess. “Hurry up and divide the household. We have many other matters to attend to.”
Third Uncle also nodded. He glanced at Granny Li’s humiliated expression and couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. He felt that his niece-in-law Gu Wenshu had been too gentle—she should have smashed that unreasonable shrew right in the mouth, knocking out all her teeth so she could no longer gossip about others.
Li Xiuran looked at Gu Wenshu. “Do you agree to this way of dividing the household?”
Gu Wenshu turned to Old Mr. Li. “I don’t agree with this method. It may seem fair on the surface, but everyone knows that most of the family’s money was sent back by the children’s father. Whoever earns more should receive a larger share. Little Brother hasn’t even started earning yet, and Little Sister is still in high school. Yet you want them to split equally with us? Is that reasonable?”
If they had been kind—even if they disliked the original host but treated the two children well—she wouldn’t be wasting her breath here today.
But every one of them wished for the original host and her two children to die, including Li Mingyue, the most educated among them, who had always looked down on her third sister-in-law and the two young nephews. Such people didn’t deserve to spend the allowance Li Xiuran risked his life to earn.
“Out of the three thousand yuan, we want fifteen hundred.” She stared at Old Mr. Li, who was about to protest. “The children’s father still needs medical treatment. Does Father want to drive us into a dead end?”
“Or do you want to watch our family of four hang ourselves outside your door?”
Hang themselves?
That would never happen. She would make sure this group of people couldn’t even keep the remaining money.
Seventh Uncle and Third Uncle exchanged a few whispers. Finally, Seventh Uncle declared, “If you want to divide the household, do it as Third Nephew’s wife says. That money was earned by Third Nephew risking his life. He has a duty to support his parents, but not his siblings.”
Just as Chen Hongzhen was about to say something, Seventh Uncle shot her a glare. “If you utter one more word, I’ll have someone send you back to your parents’ home.”
“If you’re really jealous, go earn it yourself. Stop fixating on what others have.”
Gu Wenshu suddenly felt that Seventh Uncle had very sound principles—truly worthy of being an army veteran.
Old Mr. Li had no choice but to agree.
Li Xiuran said, “We plan to move out.” He looked at his eldest and second brothers and slowly added, “Eldest Brother, Second Brother, whichever of you wants the room my family currently lives in must pay one hundred yuan, and I’ll sell it to you.”
Upon hearing this, Granny Li frowned. “Third Son, you’re brothers, yet you’re asking them for one hundred yuan? You might as well just rob them.”
“If I’d known you were so ungrateful, I should have drowned you back then.”
Gu Wenshu laughed. “If you had drowned him, you’d probably still be living in a thatched hut today.”
Before Li Xiuran joined the army, this family was extremely poor, struggling even to eat their fill.
She really had no idea where this old hag found the nerve to talk about drowning Li Xiuran.
With that one remark, Granny Li was left dizzy with rage, wanting to lunge at Gu Wenshu and kill this unfilial daughter-in-law.
Watching Gu Wenshu argue with his mother, Li Xiuran’s voice turned colder, his dissatisfaction with this unreasonable and biased mother growing stronger. He looked at Old Mr. Li and said, “If none of you want it, after I move out, I’ll have someone tear the house down. The bricks are still in good condition and can be reused—I’ll definitely need them after I relocate.”