On their way, Tong Sanlang and Qiao Xiaomai were discussing the division of their family assets.
Tong Erlang canât support himself, and given the current situation at home, he definitely wouldnât agree to the partition.
Tong Dalang controls the vinegar-making skills. If the family is divided, he might agree.
But who would Tong Xingda and the Zhang Family stay with?
This is hard to say.
When they reached the entrance to the village, Qiao Xiaomai subconsciously coughed a few times, âSanlang, am I doing something wrong?â
She hasnât even married yet and sheâs instigating Tong Sanlang to divide the family. Tong Sanlang is very filial, she doesnât want to make him uncomfortableâ¦
Tong Sanlang understood her meaning, and replied, âItâs not your fault. I married you so we could live a peaceful life. Clearly, we canât do that now, so weâre only trying to find a solution.â
If itâs about filial piety, heâs indeed very filial.
But this matter clearly canât be solved with filial piety alone.
Qiao Changshun was very filial, but his filial piety only led to Zhuang Luhe running away.
He would never allow such a situation to happen to Qiao Xiaomai.
âDonât worry.â Qiao Xiaomai patted his shoulder, âyou focus on studying and let me become a scholarâs wife for a while.â
Tong Sanlang laughed at her suggestion, âThat is absolutely no problem.â
âThen strive hard, young man.â Qiao Xiaomai also laughed.
Anyway, he still has two months until his township exams, and during this time there should be some good ideas.
At the entrance to the village, they parted ways, each returning to their own home.
As for Hua Xiaofengâs suggestion to find Zhuang Luhe today, Qiao Xiaomai did not mention it.
Tong Sanlang returned home, ground flour, did housework, and read for a while. When it got dark, he began to make noodles.
He can make most common home-cooked dishes, but he couldnât guarantee the taste.
After rolling out the noodles, he lit a candle to continue reading.
It was late when the others finally returned home.
Aside from Tong Tiehu, Tong Xingda included, everyone looked like theyâd been skinned, as if they had come from hell, staggering, struggling even to walk.
Tong Dalang and Li Rou held their sleeping children, their faces numb.
Under Tong Tiehuâs hardline tactics, they all suffered a lot.
Tong Sanlang didnât say anything in response, and served them cool boiled water, then he lit a fire to cook the noodles.
By the time the noodles were ready, everyone was so hungry they didnât care about the taste and gobbled down their food.
After eating two bowls of noodles, Tong Sanlang went to find Doctor Wu, and asked him to examine Zhang Family and Zhu Hongyun.
Doctor Wu had already gone to sleep, but Tong Sanlang woke him up and brought him over with his medicine box.
After a lot of fuss, the day finally ended when the moon was high in the sky.
The next day, everyone in the Tong Family was bedridden.
Those who do not work for long periods of time and then suddenly do heavy work will suffer from backaches the next day.
Tong Tiehu with a cold face, woke everyone up.
They had finished planting the two acres of sweet potatoes, but the vinegar shop could now be opened as usual.
This is currently the only source of income for the family.
Upon hearing this proposal, those who were originally tired and weary all perked up.
But, Tong Erlang raised a doubt first, âGrandfather, will the income from the vinegar shop still be distributed as before?â
Tong Tiehu glared at him, âThose who do not work will not share in the profits.â
Tong Erlang got anxious, âBut I donât know how to brew vinegar!â
âThere is also work in the fields.â Tong Tiehu said.
âAlright.â Tong Erlang agreed reluctantly, his face wrinkled like tree bark.
How terrifying.
Work is so terrifying.
Yesterday, he was almost worked to death.
Tong Tiehu added, âBesides, the vinegar shop wonât be as profitable as before. The town had more people, but here in the village, itâs only a bit of small change.â
âEven if itâs just a small amount of money, it still needs to be distributed, right?â Li Rou, who hadnât spoken much, couldnât help but speak up when she heard these words.