Ji Ying looked at her two children, her heart bitter as could be. She hadn't protected them well enough, making them suffer, so now they couldn't wait to leave this place.
"We can split the family, but there's something I need to make clear to you first." Xu Zhong's face was dark; after calming down, he thought maybe splitting up wasn't such a bad thing.
Zhihao was married now, and every year when he came home, Zhiyuan had to give up his room.
Zhiyuan was about to go to college, but still didn't have a room of his own. When he gets married, surely the two brothers won't still share a room, right?
"If we're splitting the family, of course everything needs to be made clear." Xu Qinghe said in a deep voice. Last year, because Nianji delayed his marriage, they nearly split the family—but at that time, Xu Zhong had been dead set against it.
Besides, Xu Zhihao married a city girl. If the family splits at a time like this, it's really a loss of face.
Last year's splitting up went nowhere. Because of it, the eldest son Xu Nianji had been unusually silent for some time.
Xu Zhong first laid out the terms: Xu Qinghe's family of five would move into the old house.
The old house had been abandoned for over ten years, the grass in the yard grew taller than the doors, the roof leaked, and the wind blew in from everywhere in the winter.
As for the fields, all the land given to Xu Qinghe's family was the patch in front of the old house—poor soil, lowest yields every year, and most of all, Xu Zhong gave them far too little land.
Xu Qinghe sat there, numb, never expecting his own father would divide the family like this.
Besides the old house and those few poor fields, everything in their house belonged to them, but as for any other money—none at all.
All these years, their family of five—except for food and necessities—there wasn't a single penny left?
"Dad, the eldest should get married this fall, it's fine if the house is old, but what about the dowry money..." Xu Qinghe finally managed to speak, but Xu Zhong cut him off before he finished.
"After the split, we won't help Nianji with his wedding." Xu Zhong's words crashed down like a boulder into a calm lake.
Xu Qinghe's face changed. They'd turned in all their money—if Nianji's marriage is left unattended, how is he going to get married this year?
The wedding with the Zhou Family had already been put off a year, it can't be delayed again, can it?
Never mind if the Zhou Family won't agree—even in his own heart, he felt he'd let down his eldest son.
"Dad, you promised last year you'd get Nianji a bride this year. Last year Zhihao wanted to get married—and married a city girl, too. You said Zhihao works at the supply agency, it's a proper job, and the city girl was willing to marry into the Xu Family—that's a blessing brought by eight generations!"
As Ji Ying brought this up, her heart was troubled—her son is the eldest grandson, after all. It dragged on a year, and she wanted to split up then. But Xu Zhong was fiercely opposed, saying if Zhihao didn't marry that girl—
Zhihao even threatened his own life, saying if he couldn't marry, he'd rather die.
Ji Ying and Xu Qinghe couldn't bear to see their son suffer; in the end, it was Xu Nianji who couldn't bear to see his parents in distress, and he himself volunteered to delay his marriage for another year.
Now it's July, and after Mid-Autumn the marriage should be discussed. Yet who would've guessed Xu Zhong would suddenly say he wouldn't help with Nianji's wedding? How could Ji Ying accept that?
"Dad, Nianji is your grandson, your own grandson. Last year, when you helped Zhihao get married, it wasn't like this." Ji Ying bit her lip, tears swirling in her eyes. Except for a little grain harvested this year, they didn't have a single penny. When school starts, what will they use to pay tuition for both children?