Chapter 23: It Is the Liu Family That Is Heartless, Not the Second Branch Being Unfilial

Old Man Liu raised his eyes and looked at Chuxue; he hadn't expected that at this moment the calmest one would be this granddaughter of his — just listen to the way she talks, you really can't judge a book by its cover.

Thinking of what the doctor had said yesterday, he took a deep breath and made his decision in his heart: "The second branch's wife, you know the situation in this family too — we truly have the will but not the strength."

Liu's mother, hearing these words, felt sorrow well up: "Father, is Dongzi's job really more important than my man's leg?"

Old Man Liu's face darkened: "You heard what the Physician said too. Even if we went to the city, there's no way to make a full recovery. Since that's the case, the family can only look ahead, look far ahead — only when Dongzi does well can our whole big family do well."

Seeing Liu Chuxue pressed down the fury in her heart: "Since this is Grandfather's choice, we have no objections, so we'll rely on ourselves, figure out our own solution. But how did Grandmother act? She chased after us to make a scene and block us — is that something a mother should do?

I seriously doubt whether my father is really your own son."

She said it deliberately, then stared fixedly at Old Man Liu's face without blinking.

This old man really could put on an act — after a brief moment of panic, he quickly steadied himself: "Your grandmother was muddled for a moment, didn't think it through. She was just afraid your Brother Dongzi's job would fall through."

Seeing Liu Chuxue cursed inwardly: What a sly old fox.

Seeing Liu Chuxue wasn't about to give him a chance to change the subject: "So Grandfather's meaning is, if we borrow money from families we get along with, Grandfather agrees — is that right?"

Old Man Liu hadn't expected Chuxue to be this hard to deal with: "Since you're willing to give it a try, the family naturally can't stand in your way."

Chuxue pressed the advantage, pressing straight on: "Then the money Mother borrowed — will the family coffers repay it or not?"

She meant to force him to make a choice in front of those people outside climbing the wall to watch the show. To put it bluntly, she was forcing him — no, forcing the Liu family to bring up splitting the household.

Ge Pozi was the first to object: "The money is yours to borrow — what does it have to do with the family coffers?"

"So Grandfather and Grandmother really aren't planning to care about my father's leg at all, just letting him fend for himself?"

Seeing Seeing Seeing Ge Xiulan, afraid her father-in-law would yield under pressure and agree to this debt for the sake of face: "Your father's leg will be a bottomless pit from now on. The family has its old and its young — we can't just drop everything and devote ourselves only to him, can we?"

At this moment, Third Aunt Su Hongjuan, who had been silent all along, put on a seemingly well-meaning reminder: "Second Sister-in-law, my Second Brother's leg can't be delayed. Given the situation, it'd be better for you to split off and live on your own — much cleaner that way. Then you can do as you like, make your own decisions, and won't waste any time."

The moment those words left her mouth, Ge Pozi quickly shot a glance at her eldest daughter-in-law.

Seeing Seeing Seeing Ge Xiulan caught on at once and said deliberately: "What kind of talk is that, Third Sister-in-law? If we split off the second branch at a time like this, won't the villagers say our Liu family is unkind? Stop stirring things up here."

Originally she had been unwilling to split off the second branch at this time — after all, the matter her own nephew had asked about had not yet been accomplished.

But when she saw Chuxue and Xia Qiu appear together, she understood they had wasted their efforts. Forget about scheming for her nephew — even the matter of ruining that girl's reputation would likely fall through. It seemed they'd have to think of another way.

Liu's mother, hearing the words of the two sisters-in-law, knew the matter was settled. The reason she hadn't cut through the tangle with a single stroke was that she wanted everyone to see it was the Liu family being heartless, not the second branch being unfilial.

Since the goal had been achieved, what was there to wait for?

Her daughter was right — they had to take this chance to settle things clearly with the Liu family, so that afterward they could live a peaceful life.

(End of this chapter)