Chapter 18: The Official Family Division
Su Huimin’s leg was broken. The doctor said the bone would take three months to heal at the fastest, or up to half a year at the slowest, before he could return to work.
“Cough, cough…” Thick smoke choked Tangtang’s nose, making her eyes water. She quickly fanned the black smoke away. The medicinal herbs in the clay pot were bubbling away. She lifted the lid to check, then poured the brewed medicine into a bowl.
As she carried the bowl past the first branch’s room, she heard the inevitable sounds of Zhang Guixiang and Su Jianjun arguing again.
She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but the commotion was too loud, and every word Zhang Guixiang spoke fell clearly on her ears.
Crash! The sound of something being smashed came from inside, followed by Zhang Guixiang’s tirade. “He was doing just fine as a teacher, but he had to go and get himself fired! Now he can only scrape a living from the dirt. Fine, so be it! Our ancestors all lived that way. But I don’t know what kind of bad luck Third Brother has run into. He even managed to fall and break his leg just by fixing the roof!”
“It takes a hundred days for bones and muscles to heal. Great! Now, not only can’t he work and earn points, but he has to lie in bed and be waited on, eating and drinking for free! He’s practically sucking the marrow from our whole family’s bones!”
Seeing her husband still smoking his pipe, she grew even angrier. She snatched it from his hand. “Smoke, smoke, smoke! All you know how to do is smoke! Can’t you think of a solution? Are you just going to let him drag our whole family down?!”
Su Jianjun, his pipe gone, was annoyed. “What do you mean? What do you mean, ‘drag the family down’?”
“You just go out and see which family would tolerate a grown man staying at home, eating for free, and not earning any work points! And who can guarantee his leg won’t be permanently disabled?! Even if you don’t think about yourself, you should think about your two sons! The matter of the poems still isn’t settled. He could be dragged back to prison at any time! Then our whole family will be shamed in this village! Tiedan and Gousheng’s entire futures will be affected!”
“This family must be split!”
“If you don’t agree to split, I’ll take Tiedan and Gousheng back to my parents’ home, and you’ll never see your sons again!”
Zhang Guixiang was desperate to split the family. Besides Third Brother being a burden, there was a deeper reason she didn’t dare to dwell on.
And that reason was Tangtang.
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that Su Yandi was right. Tangtang was a jinx reborn. Su Huimin had been a teacher for over a decade without any trouble. Why was it that only after adopting that girl did he lose his job and break his leg? If they didn’t split the family now, he was the one being cursed, but who knew when it would be their turn?
…
This same argument had been happening every day since Su Huimin returned.
Tangtang’s heart pounded in her chest. She couldn’t bear to listen anymore and hurried back to the south room with the medicine.
Yu Juanfang was getting the white pills from a bottle, following the instructions on the label, when Tangtang came in. She stopped what she was doing and helped Su Huimin, his leg in a splint, sit up against the wall.
The argument from the east room was loud enough for them to hear. Seeing the numb pain on her husband’s face, Yu Juanfang felt a strange sense of vindication.
See? This is the family you love so much. These are your relatives. They smile at you when you’re useful, and when you’re not, they can’t get away from you fast enough, desperate to cast you off like a burden.
But she didn’t say the words out loud. She knew he had already suffered enough; she wouldn’t twist the knife.
The constant jeers and taunts had made Su Huimin see his family for what they truly were, turning his decades of contribution into a joke.
He finally understood. Everyone was selfish. His only regret was not listening to his wife years ago and saving some of his salary for themselves.
Tangtang blew on the medicine to cool it before feeding it to her father, her young face full of earnest concentration. As the voices from the east room drifted in, Su Huimin let out a self-deprecating laugh.
“Tangtang, do you believe that your father can support this family?”
Her eyes sparkling, Tangtang nodded firmly. “I believe Dad can definitely support this family.”
If it weren’t for him, she didn’t know where she would be suffering right now.
A smile finally touched Su Huimin’s lips. He ruffled her hair. “Tangtang, go and call your brothers back.”
Yu Juanfang was stunned. She knew her husband had made up his mind to give everyone what they wanted. She patted his shoulder in comfort. He took her hand and gave her a reassuring smile.
“Juanfang, do you support my decision?”
“I support you.” Yu Juanfang took the medicine bowl, then let out two cold laughs, deliberately raising her voice. “And they should take a good look at who’s been carrying this broken-down family all these years! We handed over our work points and salary on time every month, and now that his leg is broken, they blame us for dragging them down? Where is the justice in that?! It’s just splitting the family! Whoever doesn’t agree is a coward! Our third branch works just as hard and eats just as much as anyone else. We have no reason to live with our heads bowed!”
Rather than continue to be mired in this mess, listening to their bitter words and suffering their scorn, it was better for them to go their own way.
Living on their own would be better than this.
…
The boys were outside helping with chores. Tangtang ran out and called them in. The four children stood in a row.
“Juesheng, Juexiao, Juesheng, Tangtang, you should know that in the countryside, it’s a very natural thing for brothers, and even fathers and sons, to divide the household.”
The children exchanged glances, understanding what he meant. Su Juesheng, the oldest, stepped forward. “Dad, let’s split. I’m already in junior high, and I don’t really like studying anyway. I’ll just drop out and help on the farm.”
“Cough, cough…” Su Huimin coughed violently. After a moment, he said, “My job may not be reinstated, but once my leg is healed, your mother and I will work in the fields to earn points and support this family. All of you are to study hard. Don’t even think about dropping out. Have you forgotten what I told you? Education is the only way out in life! If any of you quit school, I will blame myself for the rest of my life…”
The movement pulled at his injured leg, and he broke out in a cold sweat. Su Juesheng knew he had said the wrong thing and lowered his head. “We know, Dad.”
Tangtang stepped forward and placed her parents’ hands one on top of the other. “Dad, Mom, brothers, as long as our family sticks together, there’s no obstacle we can’t overcome.”
Su Huimin and his wife looked at each other, a hint of relief on both their faces. “Tangtang is right. As long as we stick together, there’s no obstacle we can’t overcome.”
…
The family division was now set in stone.
Su Huimin’s accident had brought all the hidden resentments and selfish calculations to the surface. There was no reason to continue living together.
The next evening, Old Madam Zhu gathered everyone.
“Have you all decided? Are we just splitting off the third branch, or are all of you going your separate ways?”
“If we’re going to do it, let’s do it thoroughly. Let’s all go our separate ways!” Yu Yahong had wanted to split for a long time. In the past, everyone had benefited from Su Huimin’s salary, so the others would never have agreed. It was only now that he had lost his job and broken his leg that they were afraid of him becoming a burden and were clamoring for a split.
Old Madam Zhu’s sharp gaze swept over them. “Eldest, Second, Fourth, do you all agree to split?”
Su Jianjun remained silent. He was selfish too, and his wife’s constant nagging had already tipped the scales. He thought of his brother’s injury and the uncertain future. But abandoning him at his lowest point would look bad.
Su Xinguo sighed heavily. He felt it was wrong to split while his brother was injured. But things had gotten so ugly that even eating at the same table was sickening.
Su Qinggang scratched his head and avoided his mother’s gaze. He had never had a strong opinion and always did what his wife said.
Her gaze finally rested on Su Huimin. “Third Son, what are your thoughts? If you don’t agree, we won’t do it!”
Su Huimin was already calm. “Mother, let’s split. There’s still no conclusion to the matter of the poems. I don’t want to implicate Tiedan and the others in the future.”
“Third Brother’s leg is injured. We should give him a larger share of the family’s assets…” Su Jianjun didn’t get to finish before his wife gave him a vicious pinch on the thigh, glaring at him.
Yu Juanfang sneered. “No need. An equal split is fine. That way, there will be no disputes in the future!”
…
Two days later, under Old Madam Zhu’s supervision, the household was divided into four. All the bowls, chopsticks, benches, and grain were split four ways. From now on, they would each live their own lives, manage their own finances, and take turns using the kitchen to cook their own meals. For now, they would all continue to live in the old house. Their father had allocated a homestead plot to each of them before he died. Whoever built a new house first could move out.
In addition, Old Madam Zhu gave each branch twenty yuan.
She actually had nearly four hundred yuan saved up from Su Huimin’s salary and everyone’s work points. But she was holding onto that money for her own old age.
Her food and care would be the shared responsibility of the four brothers. She would live with the fourth son’s family, as she didn’t trust her lazy daughter-in-law, Wu Fangmei, and wanted to help out while she still could.
After all the details were settled, there were still a few measures of white flour left. Old Madam Zhu took it out, and together with her daughters-in-law, made a large pot of flour noodle sheets. The whole family, adults and children, sat on the kang and ate together. This would be their last meal as one family.