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Su Wenyue heard Han Yu say this and knew he was laying the groundwork for the division of the family. Otherwise, he would never show so much regard for his daughter-in-law in front of everyone. At this moment, no matter how she behaved, it wouldn’t be right, so she just stood silently to the side, seeming to comply with whatever Han Yu decided.

“Fourth child, rest assured, even when you are not home, we will take good care of your wife. Moreover, has there been a day when we didn’t look out for her, fearing she might overwork herself? We will not shortchange her, you can rest easy,” Mrs. Liu was the first to speak out. It would be even better if the fourth child left, since she used to be cautious about him; there were some things she needed to handle delicately, and she dared not ask too much from the fourth child’s wife. But if the fourth child was not at home, the fourth daughter-in-law was easy to talk to, surely she (Mrs. Liu) could manipulate her as she pleased.

“Yes, Fourth brother, don’t worry, we will all take good care of your wife. And besides, the Fourth younger sibling is tough as nails; no one can bully her,” Mrs. Wang said so, though she rarely came out on normal days as Father-in-Law and Mother-in-law did not like her, and the sisters-in-law were also not fond of her. She preferred to stay in her room. But now that such a big event was happening in the family, she still had to be involved.

When Han Yu heard Mrs. Wang speak, his expression soured; everyone knew why. With all the things Mrs. Wang had done, who could feel at ease? No wonder Fourth child was worried, and then there was the incident with Jiang Chunlan before; it was likely Mrs. Wang had stirred up trouble behind the scenes. Otherwise, given Jiang Chunlan’s intellect—no offense to her—she wouldn’t have been able to cause such a stir by herself. But even without evidence, it didn’t stop everyone’s conjecture.

“Mrs. Wang, just sit there quietly. If you don’t speak, no one will think you’re a mute,” Mrs. Yang said resentfully. It was not appropriate to criticize her youngest son and daughter-in-law, so when Mrs. Wang spoke up, it put her in the line of fire.

Mrs. Wang felt slighted and, in the end, chose not to say anything more. Yet she harbored the same intentions as Mrs. Liu deep down; if Han Yu wasn’t at home, it would be much easier for her to deal with Su Wenyue.

Mrs. Li looked at Su Wenyue with a guilty face, wanting to say something, but considering her own family’s circumstances, she remained silent. Regardless, she didn’t want her man to leave.

Old Man Han, after listening to his son’s words, fell into contemplation, looking at his daughters-in-law who were each harboring their own thoughts. He sighed and finally spoke up about the issue that had been weighing on his heart.

“Let’s divide the family. Once divided, everyone can lead their own lives. This was something I agreed upon even before the Fourth daughter-in-law married into the Han family, and now it’s time,” Old Man Han said helplessly when he spoke. In the village, unless a family couldn’t get along, they wouldn’t consider a division. A big happy family is considered a blessing, which is why, although he had promised the Su Family, he never brought it up after the Fourth daughter-in-law entered the Han home. It was all due to his selfishness. Seeing the current state of affairs at home, he decided it was better to divide up sooner rather than later, to avoid further discord.

Old Man Han’s words coincided with the wishes of Han Yu and Su Wenyue, but the rest of the family was stunned to hear them. They had not expected Old Man Han to suggest a division. How could he bring this up so suddenly? They all knew Old Man Han understood the situation well. As soon as Han Yu spoke his piece, Old Man Han had already figured out the intent behind it, which was after all something he had promised to the Su Family before.

“Old man, what are you talking about? Why split up a good family? This is just causing chaos. Those prosperous families in the village, aren’t they full of children and grandchildren? I’ve never heard of them splitting up,” Mrs. Yang was the first to snap back into reality and disagreed. Although she knew about the initial promise made to the Su Family, it was made because their family was weak and had no choice at the time. She never really entertained the idea. These days, seeing that the Fourth daughter-in-law was quite agreeable and the Su Family had never brought up the subject of division, Mrs. Yang was even less willing to mention it. Who could have anticipated her husband would bring it up so abruptly, causing her to be upset and agitated?

“As a person, one must keep their word. What we promised back then, you’ve forgotten all about, have you? Besides, the sons are grown up and each has his own mind. Look at the troubles of these days, all caused by what! Fourth child is about to enlist, we should divide the household, so everyone can live peacefully on their own, and Fourth child can be at ease,” Old Man Han seemed quite open-minded.

“What’s there to be uneasy about? Who said Fourth child must go? There’s more than one son in the family, I don’t agree to the division!”

When Mrs. Yang said this, aside from Su Wenyue, the other daughters-in-law all changed their expressions. They could tolerate their mother-in-law’s favoritism on regular days, but these words were hard for them to swallow at this particular time. They were all sons; why should the Fourth child be the only one who couldn’t go!

“Mother, let’s not talk about the usual. Fourth child has already agreed to it. All of us are sons, how can you be so biased!” Mrs. Liu blurted out what she thought, her words filled with indignant discontent.

Mrs. Yang had said those words in a moment of desperation, and with Mrs. Liu’s questioning, she actually found it difficult to respond, blushing with embarrassment.

Although Han Hu felt ripples in his heart, after all, Han Yu was his brother, and he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Seeing his wife pressuring his mother like this, he felt a bit sorry for her, and besides, he wasn’t very supportive of the idea of dividing the household in the first place.

“Dad, whether Fourth child should go or not, we can discuss it later. The idea of dividing the family doesn’t seem right. Mother said some things right; in the village, any prosperous family doesn’t divide. Moreover, with parents still around, there’s no need to divide. You and Mother are still hale and hearty, it’s not yet time to split the household,” Han Hu’s thinking was quite old-fashioned and conservative, similar to the majority’s opinion.

Han Hu’s words still carried weight in front of Old Man Han, who puffed thoughtfully on his dry cigarette.

“Child’s father, if Dad says so, he certainly has his reasons. Just listen to Dad,” Mrs. Liu knew she was disliked, but she couldn’t help but chime in.

Had it been any other time, others might not speak, but Mrs. Liu would be the first to oppose the division; after all, with Su Wenyue’s dowry in the picture, not dividing the household would benefit her significantly. If they did divide, she’d have nothing. But faced with such a situation, when choosing between her man and a small benefit, the latter seemed insignificant. In her view, as long as the family was divided, Han Yu going to enlist would be a sure thing, and the burden would not fall on her own man.

For the Second and Third House, the matter of dividing the family was neither here nor there.

Han Quan might be as naive and conservative as Han Hu, thinking that dividing the family was not good. Mrs. Li, however, was entirely in favor. Living together in one big family, she was suppressed by her mother-in-law, and disliked by the sisters-in-law except for Fourth child’s wife. Their house was full of honest folks who always ended up being bullied. She also had a selfish wish that her man would not leave.

As for the Third House, Han Lin was a bit simple-minded, relishing the thought that after the division, all the property would be in his hands to squander as he pleased, with fewer people above him to control his actions. He was overly pleased with the idea.