He uttered these cruel words as a threat to the siblings, Qin Xiangyang and Qin Xiangnuan, claiming that if they left him and the Qin Family, it would be a wonder if they could survive. He thought to himself, these two little brats couldn’t possibly have the guts to go down this road.
But it seemed he was wrong. This time, after Qin Xiangnuan was beaten , Qin Xiangyang’s suppressed rebellious spirit completely exploded.
The Village Chief was really having a headache. What on earth was all this?
"Guo Hua, they are still kids."
"Kids?" Hu Li sneered coldly, "When have they ever given our family any peace of mind? We’ve raised them for so long, we’ve done enough. Why should we still have to feed and shelter them?"
Anyway, she had long wanted to rid herself of these two kids. Keeping them by her side was a constant reminder that they were born of another woman and Qin Guohua, and that she was a second wife. If she could really drive these two brats out, wouldn’t that be even better?
"Village Chief Grandpa, please," Qin Xiangyang suddenly knelt and kowtowed to the Village Chief. He didn’t know where the idea came from, but the thought became increasingly strong.
The Village Chief was in a difficult position. What was this situation? Such big kids who didn’t want to live with their parents. He could understand, after all, the kids were beaten to such a state; if it were him, he couldn’t stand it either. But if they really split up, the two kids would have no source of livelihood. What could they do in the future without food or care?
"Here’s what we’ll do," the Village Chief pondered, "breaking off relations is impossible. In our village, there’s no such precedent. You should divide the family property. Live apart, each on their own. But Xiang Yang and Xiang Nuan are still children. You need to give them a larger share, including a portion of the land."
The Village Chief thought this through thoroughly. He figured, let the two kids move out first. The Qin Family still had eight acres of land in the hands of the two children. For these eight acres of land, even if Qin Guohua was furious, he would still recognize them as his children in the future.
Parents rejecting their children, children rejecting their parents.
Such domestic disputes are hard even for a just official to settle, let alone for him as the Village Chief.
"Why should we?" When Hu Li heard they had to divide the property and also give up some land, she was unwilling.
"Everything in the house was bought by us, and the land was cultivated by us, why should we give anything to those two little brats?"
"That’s their rightful share," the Village Chief was getting annoyed with Hu Li’s unreasonable pestering. The land was allocated on a per capita basis, and he wasn’t blind; he knew that the land was cultivated by Xiang Yang. Using a teenager as labor, how could they be so cruel to do such a thing?
Today, he was determined to divide this land.
As the head of the village, couldn’t he make a decision on such a matter?
It was just a matter of dividing the family property, and he would proceed based on that.
"Village Chief Grandpa, we don’t want anything from the house," Qin Chunuan poked her small body out from Qin Xiangyang’s embrace, "we just want the land."
Did they dare to take anything from the house? If they did, Hu Li would surely not let them off. She had wanted to sever ties with the Qin Family, but she had oversimplified the matter. It wasn’t that easy - besides the recognition of others, Qin Guohua needed to think it over.
Now, Qin Guohua was acting out of anger, saying he wanted to sever ties, but he couldn’t allow Xiang Yang, a capable worker to walk away, and of course there were also the eight acres of land. This wasn’t just dividing the family; it was cutting into Qin Guohua’s own flesh.
For today, her goal had been achieved.
Out of the Qin Family’s twenty-four acres of land, eight were now under Qin Xiangyang’s name, and their household registrations were separated too. The Village Chief wrote a new certification; as long as they went to the police station, they would get their own new registrations. At this time, it was easy to obtain a household registration, and names were easy to change - just a matter of an introductory letter from the village.
Qin Guohua and Hu Li returned home with faces pale and sullen.