Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Splitting Up the Household Hearing that something was wrong, Zhizhi immediately came out of the spatial pocket. At that moment, another, slightly aged voice came through the broken window. “What are you screaming about, you little money-losers? I’m your grandmother. Do you really think I’d hurt you? You little money-loser, you dare stop me?” Smack! The sound of the slap was utterly merciless. The crying grew even louder. Perhaps because they were the original body’s children, Zhizhi felt a protective instinct rise within her. She pulled open the door and went outside, her huge belly leading the way. There were nearly a dozen people gathered at the entrance. One, two, three, four, five—five girls were clinging tightly to one another. Another boy, about one or two years old, stood off to the side with a look of terror on his face. There were two adults at the door, one old and one young, with six or seven onlookers outside. The old woman had a face full of flab, drooping triangular eyes, and a cold sneer at the corners of her mouth. She grabbed Dahua, the eldest girl. “You little money-losers are rebelling, are you? You dare lay hands on me? Do you think the lot of you can escape my grasp?” “Mother, don’t frighten Dahua!” The young woman beside the old woman pretended to intervene. “You’re not trying to hurt her. You only want to help them! Dahua, you’ve seen for yourself that your father is gone and your mother is like this. You’re the eldest in the family, so you must learn to be sensible! “Would your grandmother really harm you? She only wants to send you away to earn some money. That way, your younger brothers and sisters and your mother won’t have to go hungry. Isn’t that right?” Dahua’s sobbing abruptly stopped. A moment later, she stared at the two women with tear-filled eyes, her face full of hope. “Grandmother, is that really true? If I’m willing to be sold, then Mother and my younger brothers and sisters won’t have to go hungry anymore, right?” The corners of the old woman’s mouth were practically lifting to her ears. “Of course. I’m your grandmother—how could I harm you? Come along obediently. While you’re away, I’ll take good care of them at home!” “Get lost!” The instant Zhizhi saw the old woman’s face, she knew she was up to no good. “They’re my children. You don’t get to sell them!” As she spoke, she walked over, pried the old woman’s tightly clenched hand off Dahua, and pulled the child behind her. Dahua was shocked, and even more frightened. Her mother was going to sell her!? Although she was deeply upset, when she thought that selling herself would put food on the family’s table, she held back her tears. “Mother, I… You can sell me. I’ll earn lots of money and bring it back!” As she spoke, large tears rolled down her face one after another. In truth, she was terrified! “Don’t say another word!” Zhizhi had never imagined that a nine-year-old child could be so sensible. She had all the little ones stand behind her before turning to the old hag. “You certainly make it sound nice! You’re practically halfway into the grave, yet instead of accumulating virtue, you’re here deceiving a child who isn’t even ten years old? Are you determined to end up in the Eighteenth Level of Hell? “You have a whole bunch of grandsons and granddaughters of your own. Why don’t you sell them? Why do you have to target my family? Everyone, come and see! My husband has died, and now the Old Zhang family is bullying a widow and her orphans. How are we supposed to go on living…” She imitated the shrill wailing of the shrewish village women she had seen on television. She couldn’t help it… She didn’t know how to do any of this, so she could only learn from memory on the spot. There weren’t many households nearby. At this moment, only seven or eight people had come to watch the spectacle, and they were all curling their lips and cursing Zhang Pozi for being inhuman. They weren’t especially righteous. They simply enjoyed watching a good show. Zhizhi didn’t care whether they were sincere. As long as they spoke up for her now, that was enough. Although she had learned taekwondo and some self-defense techniques back in the modern era, she was now a heavily pregnant woman. She was genuinely afraid of getting into a physical struggle and coming out worse for it. Most importantly, her belly was too much of an impediment, hindering her movements. Avoiding a fight as much as possible was the best option. “Oh, what injustice! My son had no choice but to join the army for the sake of their whole family! Not only did you cause my son’s death, now you’re insulting your mother-in-law? Cursing me to die? What a vicious heart you have! Aren’t you afraid of being struck by lightning?” Old Madam Zhang was no pushover either, and she began wailing as well. How could Zhizhi possibly let her gain the upper hand? She wailed even louder than the other woman. “Oh, what injustice! The Old Zhang family is bullying us to death! My husband worked for the Old Zhang family for most of his life. “There are clearly five brothers, yet they insisted on forcing my husband to join the army. They worked him to death, and instead of helping us even a little, they come every day to bully a widow and her orphans. “There isn’t even a single grain of rice in the house to put in the pot, and now they want to sell my child? Zhang Huaiyang, you wretch! I married you and never enjoyed a single day of happiness, and now even our daughter is going to be sold by your Old Zhang family! You died before me—how am I supposed to live? Why didn’t you take me and the children with you too…” Inside, she muttered: Take your biased parents with you instead! Her eyes reddened, and she glared viciously at Old Zhang as if she were utterly enraged. “Since you won’t let my family live, then none of you should live either! None of us should live! If you dare sell my daughter, I’ll set fire to the Old Zhang family’s house tonight and take you all down with me! I mean what I say, and I’ll do it!” Zhang Pozi was genuinely frightened by the look in her eyes. “Zhang Pozi, you’re driving them to their deaths!” someone who couldn’t stand watching any longer spoke up. “How can you face Huaiyang after treating them like this? He’ll be heartbroken down in the underworld! Huaiyang’s wife has a hard enough time raising six children by herself. You can’t leave her with no way to live!” Seeing so many people take her daughter-in-law’s side, Old Madam Zhang grew resentful. “Who—who’s leaving her with no way to live? I already said that Dahua is going to work as a servant in a wealthy household…” “Bullshit! I heard you clearly—you’re going to sell my Dahua to a brothel!” Zhizhi was purely making that up. Still, she felt her guess was probably not far from the truth. With that old woman’s wicked-looking face, she was absolutely incapable of doing anything good. Old Madam Zhang’s face stiffened. “Nonsense! I was doing this for your sake. I even found someone to make arrangements so Dahua could work as a servant in a wealthy household. If you don’t want that, then forget it! If you don’t want to earn money, then don’t go around saying your family doesn’t even have rice to eat! “From now on, each household can live its own life. If you starve to death, don’t come to my door. I won’t concern myself with the mess in your branch of the family!” With that, she turned to drag her precious daughter away. Zhizhi: “…” They hadn’t even split the household yet. She knew very well that in this feudal society, an elder could absolutely control the younger members of the family—especially a daughter-in-law. She had to take advantage of this opportunity to split the household! She hurriedly called out to them. “Mother, no matter what, we’re family. Even if the bones are broken, the sinews remain connected. There isn’t a bite of food in my house right now, and your grandchildren have already been hungry for two days. As their grandmother, you can’t just watch your own grandchildren starve to death, can you? “How about this? We’ll go to your house right now and have a meal first. After all, all the money my Huaiyang earned serving in the army has been in your hands, hasn’t it?”