Chapter 109: Leave, Leave_1
Li Juhua wanted to scold Zhang Ming intensely, but her whole body was in pain from the beating she had just received.
“Zhang Ming, you dare!”
“You watch if I dare or not. All these years, you’ve been swaggering about in my house. I must have been blind to marry you. Divorce!”
Madam Yun watched the whole drama but did not want to hear their arguments about whether or not to divorce.
“Regardless of whether you two divorce or not, what we’re discussing now is your son pushing my daughter.”
Zhang Ming calmed his churning heart under control, “Auntie, I’m the elder son, and it’s my duty to take care of my parents. Rest assured about that. As for my son’s mistake, I will take responsibility. No matter how much money Xiaohong spent, I will reimburse it.”
“Zhang Ming, don’t forget that…”
“Li Juhua, I’m divorcing you, regardless whether it’s a loan or whatever, I’ll pay that money. And when you leave me, you should take your son with you too. I cannot afford to raise him.” Zhang Ming narrowed his eyes. He was now fighting back, realizing only then that this woman wasn’t scary at all. It was he who had indulged her too much in the past, leading to the current situation.
“Zhang Ming, I’m not done with you!”
“It’s me who isn’t done with you! Just take a look at what you’ve become over the years and also what our daughter has become. My family can’t afford you anymore. You’re better off finding someone else!”
He then turned to look at the village chief, “Chief, I want to divorce Li Juhua. What are the formalities that we need to complete before we can divorce at the town level?”
The village chief had always been aware of the Zhang family’s matters. How could it be possible for him not to know?
Unofficially, many men looked down upon Zhang Ming. Now, he never thought that Zhang Ming would actually propose for divorce.
People can indeed change drastically.
He felt that all this was brought upon by Li Juhua herself.
“Zhang Ming, dare you…”
Zhang Ming glared down at Li Juhua and fiercely kicked her a few times, “You watch if I dare or not! If you do not agree to a divorce, I will beat you until you do.”
Li Juhua could never have imagined that the man who was too docile to even lay a hand on her in the past could have changed so dramatically.
“Xiaohong, list out how much money you’ve spent.” Zhang Ming, this honest and naive man, suddenly straightened his back and his image instantly magnified.
“Write it!” Zhang Ming’s father sighed. The fact that his eldest son was finally standing up for himself stirred a mix of emotions in him.
It was somewhat hard for him to accept.
But if they don’t divorce, does he have to watch his eldest son be oppressed by a woman for the rest of his life?
Divorce then, divorce. They, as a family, would struggle a bit more; they’d find another wife for the elder son. Even if she were a widow, she’d still be better than Li Juhua.
In his heart, Zhang Ming’s father never really liked his eldest son’s wife. She had put on a facade when she first married into the Zhang family. But once she got pregnant, she changed completely.
“Don’t write, don’t write.” Li Juhua shouted, not letting Zhang Ming write it down.
Zhang Ming merely uttered lightly, “You’re not a member of the Zhang family anymore. You have no say over me.”
This was the first time Zhang Ming had shown such strong resolve in so many years, time and again. It was hard for Li Juhua to accept this reality.
Zhang Ming only had a year’s worth of education and so there were many characters he didn’t know how to write. He let the village chief write on his behalf and simply signed his name.
“Xiaohong, you hold onto this IOU.” Zhang Ming gave the IOU to Zhang Jiang.
Zhang Ming took Zhang’s mother with him when he left in the end.
Zhang’s mother was hesitant to leave as she wanted to see her younger son, but her younger son didn’t even glance at her.