Chapter 108

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

This New Year did not go better because of Wang Zhanggen's return; on the contrary, whether it was Li Xiulan or Wang Zhanggen, both spent it very uneasily.

The atmosphere at home was strange, so much so that even the three children could feel it.

So they often went outside to play, playing for a whole day at a time, to avoid coming back and seeing their parents arguing again.

In the blink of an eye it was the fourth day of the Lunar New Year; the custom here is generally to visit relatives on the second or fourth day of the New Year. As for why they don't visit on the third day, that is because the third day is the "Sending Off the Jinx" day, unsuitable for visiting relatives.

Li Xiulan planned to make a trip back to her maternal home, and by the way give her eldest brother the three hundred yuan for the ash urn.

Today she got up very early, finished all the housework, then packed up and prepared to set off; before leaving she still asked Wang Zhanggen:

"Do you want to go to my maternal home? You didn't go when my mother passed away; now that it's the New Year you should go."

Wang Zhanggen coldly refused:

"I'm not going. If you want to go, go yourself!"

Li Xiulan hated it so much her teeth itched, but she couldn't do anything about Wang Zhanggen.

She knew Wang Zhanggen was afraid of losing face if he went; after all, he hadn't earned any money this year, had been locked up inside Zhangmutou, even the Luojia Phone he bought before had been seized by the Joint Defense Team people. He was now penniless and had no face to visit relatives.

This man is just that dead-set on face.

So in the end Li Xiulan didn't force him anymore.

"If you're not going, just stay home and laze about!"

Li Xiulan said this one sentence, then brought the three children along to go.

Bringing the children was troublesome, but they could receive red envelopes, so she wouldn't be too much at a loss.

At this moment Wang Zhanggen shouted:

"Come back!"

"What now?" Li Xiulan's face was full of impatience.

"Help me buy a grey bucket, brick knife, level hammer, foreign shovel."

"Buy these for what?"

"Didn't we agree to build the house ourselves? How can we build without these tools?"

Li Xiulan only then let out an "Oh," then busily said: "Okay, I'll help you buy all the tools and bring them back!"

Li Xiulan arrived at the roadside and boarded the small four-wheeler heading to the neighboring town.

She first went to the town market to buy some fruit and snacks, and a box of red envelopes, and exchanged one hundred yuan in five-yuan notes at the convenience store, putting five yuan into each red envelope, and only then went to her maternal home.

Carrying gifts, carrying money, she arrived at her maternal home in high spirits.

But to her surprise, just as she reached the door, she saw a scene she found difficult to accept!

She saw her eldest brother Li Yaozu arguing with her second brother Li Jiahao!

And they were arguing fiercely, about to come to blows!

"Li Jiahao, I am your eldest brother. What kind of attitude is this!"

"You have the nerve to say you're my eldest brother? Our parents are gone, and you treat me like this?"

Li Xiulan hurriedly stepped forward:

"Eldest Brother, Second Brother, what's going on? It's the New Year, why are you arguing!"

Wang Dashan, Wang Erhai, Wang Xiaohua, the three children, followed behind, staring wide-eyed at everything happening before them.

They were bewildered, not quite understanding what was going on.

"Little Sister, you're here. That's perfect, judge between us for me!"

Seeing Li Xiulan arrive, Li Jiahao hurriedly went up to greet her:

"Our mother passed away, and Eldest Brother says to separate the family. He took all the good things from our home, leaving only the bad for me. Isn't this bullying me, the younger brother?"

Li Yaozu hurriedly said:

"When did I bully you? When our mother was sick, basically I was the one taking care of her. I merely asked for one more room and a bit more land. How did that become me taking all the good things? Me taking a bit more is what I deserve. Li Jiahao, let me tell you, don't think you can be unconvinced. In the half month before our mother passed, I asked you to go take care of her. Where did you run off to?"

Li Jiahao's face looked ugly.

Back then he indeed deliberately avoided it.

In the half month before their mother passed, she couldn't even take care of her own bowel and bladder.

He felt it was filthy, found it hard to accept wiping his mother's feces and urine, so he made an excuse to go back to his wife's home for a trip. As a result, this one trip lasted several days, leaving Li Yaozu alone to take care of their mother.

So Li Yaozu holding a grudge against Li Jiahao in his heart is also understandable.

"Alright alright, stop arguing. You're all family brothers. Arguing on the New Year will only make the neighbors laugh!"

Li Xiulan hurriedly tried to smooth things over.

But Li Yaozu said:

"I'm not afraid of people laughing. I just can't figure out why he wasn't willing to take care of our mother. He was also born of our mother. Where did his conscience go? Did a dog eat it? Back when our mother hadn't yet passed, I couldn't say much. Now I won't give him face!"

Li Jiahao pulled a long face and said:

"My father-in-law had an incident and I had to go handle it. What could I do? Besides, when the surgery fees were needed back then, I didn't contribute any less! Because of the surgery fees, I spent all my savings. Now my wife and I are almost drinking the northwest wind. You still come to screw me over. Are you fit to be my eldest brother?"

Li Xiulan hurriedly tried to smooth things over again:

"Both of you stop arguing! Can't you speak properly!"

She hurriedly turned to Li Yaozu and said:

"Eldest Brother, you are the eldest. Be more magnanimous. Let bygones be bygones. Don't quibble with Second Brother. If you two really can't live together, I have no objection to separating the family, but divide things fairly when you do. Otherwise there will be piles of conflicts later. You and Second Brother ending up never speaking again is no good for anyone. You say, am I right?"

Although Li Yaozu still held a grudge against Li Jiahao in his heart, he also felt that Li Xiulan's words were reasonable.

To put it bluntly, they were ultimately their own blood brothers; making things too stiff would only make them a laughingstock to others.

"If you ask me, split the family assets down the middle between the two of you, neither taking advantage of the other — how about that?"

At this moment, Li Xiulan stepped forward to act as a fair mediator.

Li Jiahao then said:

"I have no objections; I originally also thought splitting it down the middle was fine. I never once thought about taking advantage of him."

Li Yaozu thought for a moment, and in the end made a concession:

"Alright, alright. Since you've put it that way, little sister, we'll do it like this. I wasn't actually trying to take advantage either; I just couldn't stand that brat's behavior back then!"

Then he added: "Little sister, you be the judge. The two of us are separating the family today!"

Li Xiulan's face showed bitterness. She had come today to visit relatives, never expecting she would end up as the arbitrator for her two brothers dividing the household!

Thank goodness Wang Zhanggen hadn't come along to visit relatives; if he had come too, he would surely have laughed at her!

"Fine, fine, then you two divide it!"

Under Li Xiulan's arbitration, Li Yaozu and Li Jiahao began dividing the family.

They started with the major items like houses and land. The family had six rooms total, exactly three per person. There were over six mu of land in total, over three mu per person.

When dividing the land, the two argued for a good long while. After all, land varied in quality — dry fields were inferior to paddy fields, fields at the foot of the mountain were inferior to those on the plain. Li Xiulan mediated for a long time before the two brothers finally divided the land.

After the land was divided, it was time to divide the various household goods.

From large items like furniture and bedding down to pots, bowls, ladles, and basins — everything had to be split down the middle.

These were the hardest to divide, because many weren't pairs; they were single items.

The two brothers were again locked in mutual stubbornness, neither willing to yield. Whatever the eldest wanted, the second also wanted, resulting in a deadlock that gave Li Xiulan a splitting headache.

Take right now, for instance: Li Yaozu and Li Jiahao were fighting over a large iron wok. This wok was very large; in the depths of winter, boiling one pot of water could let a whole family of several people bathe in hot water. During the Spring Festival when slaughtering pigs and chickens, not having a large iron wok to boil water would be very troublesome.

So both brothers wanted to get this large iron wok.

Over this large iron wok, the two brothers traded verbal insults, saying no shortage of ugly words.

Li Xiulan truly couldn't bear to watch any longer, and said impatiently:

"Why not smash this iron wok, and you each take half?"