Chapter 69: Who Wants to Split the Family?

Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Who Wants to Split the Family?

Ms. Zhang scoffed. "Plenty of people have cursed me to my face. Who are you going to go after?"

Bai Erzhu was completely bewildered. "Why would anyone curse you to your face for no reason? Did you offend someone?"

At that, Ms. Zhang grew even angrier. While she didn’t particularly care for Zhao Lan and Bai Zhi, she hadn’t been involved in this incident at all. It had absolutely nothing to do with her, which was why she felt so wronged now that people were badmouthing her.

"Who could I have possibly offended? Everyone in the village is cursing us now, saying the Bai family are all a bunch of ingrates! They say we live off Zhao Lan and Bai Zhi, yet we won’t even treat that mother and daughter decently. We beat them half to death, and before their wounds can even heal, we force them out to work. Meanwhile, several able-bodied men of the family are just lazing around at home! You tell me, does any of that have to do with me? Did I lift a single finger to beat them? What right do they have to curse me?"

Liu came out of her room wearing an almost-new set of clothes, something she was usually reluctant to wear. For some reason, she had decided to put it on today.

Hearing Ms. Zhang, she immediately chimed in, "Why? Because you’re a member of the Bai family. So naturally, you get a share of the family’s business—for better or for worse."

This just made Ms. Zhang even angrier. She’d been wanting to split the family for a long time now. But every time she told Bai Erzhu to suggest it, he refused. He’d complain that if they split off, all the work in the fields would fall on him, and he didn’t want to live a life of toiling from dawn to dusk with no end in sight. Things were great now—plenty to eat and wear, with little work and lots of free time. Life was just too comfortable for him.

This back-and-forth with Liu made her think of splitting the family again. She summoned her courage and said, "Fine. Since you’ve put it that way, Sister-in-law, I’ll be blunt. I want to split the family. From now on, we’ll go our separate ways. Don’t blame me for the consequences of your ’good deeds,’ and you won’t have to trouble yourselves worrying about whether we can make it on our own."

Liu panicked at the mention of splitting the family. She was the last person in this household who wanted that to happen. The money for her son Bai Xiaofeng’s schooling each year came from the family’s shared funds. On top of that, all the writing supplies Xiao Feng used and the eggs he ate from time to time were all paid for by the family.

Besides, Xiao Feng studied all day and never worked. Da Bao was a worse worker than thirteen-year-old Bai Fugui, and now Dazhu had broken both his arms. If they really split the family, wouldn’t her branch of the family be left to starve?

The harsh look on Liu’s face instantly softened. She plastered a fake smile on her face and said to Ms. Zhang, "Oh, listen to you, Sister-in-law. We’re all one family. Blood is thicker than water, as they say. How can you talk about splitting up just like that?"

"Who wants to split the family?" Old Mrs. Bai had been sulking in her room, and hearing her two daughters-in-law arguing outside only fueled her rage.

Ms. Zhang was still somewhat afraid of Old Mrs. Bai. When she had first married into the family, she had suffered a great deal at the old woman’s hands. Even now, the matriarch would still lecture her and lay down rules from time to time. While she wasn’t as vicious and cold to her as she was to Zhao Lan, she rarely showed her a pleasant expression. In her eyes, it was as if Liu was her only daughter-in-law. She was also exceptionally partial to Bai Xiaofeng. To Old Mrs. Bai, Fugui was nothing but a weed, while Xiao Feng was a precious treasure.

"I want to split the family," she said to the matriarch, mustering all her courage.

The old woman shot her a cold glare, then turned to Bai Erzhu. "Erzhu, you want to split the family?"

Bai Erzhu hastily waved his hands. "No, no, no! I don’t want to split the family. It was my wife who said it. It has nothing to do with me."