"I'm not dead yet!" Xu Zhong, having felt he had gone a bit too far when he heard the words "dividing the family," now wished he could slap them again.
Grandma Xu hurriedly grabbed Xu Zhong, giving him meaningful looks.
"Xu Qinghe's wife, even if you're angry, don't say such things." Grandma Xu stepped forward, her sharp and nasty face showing concern as she said, "Let's talk this over gently. Old man, not letting the two children go to school definitely won't do. Since Nian'an is willing to give his school slot to Nianhua, let Nianhua attend school."
"I disagree."
Ji Ying, dragging her sick body, staggered in. The commotion had awoken her after the teacup had crashed to the floor earlier. Her fever hadn't subsided, and she felt weak, moving slowly. When she heard the sound of a slap, Ji Ying felt her blood roiling with anger.
The wicked-hearted step-grandmother was scheming to have their family support Xu Zhihao's family!
As Liu Sanmei kept talking Ji Ying's head off, contemplating her next words, she heard Ji Ying's voice. Turning around and seeing Ji Ying's frail body, which a gust of wind could knock over, she was overwhelmed with heartache. She got up, quickly supporting Ji Ying, saying, "Why did you get up, your fever hasn't gone down yet?"
Liu Sanmei reached out to touch her forehead, scorching hot to the touch.
"Mom, did Grandpa hit you?"
Ji Ying didn't respond, but her thin face and round, bright eyes focused on Liu Sanmei's slapped face, which bore five bright red marks, swollen and red.
"No, it was just an accident," Liu Sanmei subconsciously explained.
Ji Ying looked towards Xu Qinghe standing to the side and said, "Dad, what do you say?"
Facing his daughter's bright, clear eyes, Xu Qinghe felt a twinge of guilt and could not look Ji Ying in the eyes. He lowered his head, avoiding her gaze, and said, "Dad, I haven't achieved much in my life. The eldest isn't cut out for schooling either; he works at the brick factory and barely makes thirty yuan a month, working himself to exhaustion."
Xu Qinghe took a deep breath, looked up at Xu Zhong with determination, and expressed his stance, saying, "Both the second and third children get good grades ordinarily. Even if I have to smash the pot and sell the iron, I want to support the two of them in their studies."
The room fell silent.
Xu Zhong sat in the chair, his eyes like brass bells fixated on Xu Qinghe.
Grandma Liu Sanmei sat to the side, looking downcast.
Uncle Xu Qingjiang and Aunt Zhao Juxiang, like outsiders, sat there silently.
After the college entrance exams, Xu Zhiyuan took Xu Jiaojiao to the county to find his older brother, Xu Zhihao.
Ji Ying was made to sit in a chair forcibly, with Liu Sanmei sitting by her side, and Xu Nian'an stood close by with a guarded expression.
"Good-for-nothing."
Xu Zhong looked disdainfully at Xu Qinghe, angry at his son who only knew how to toil away and not how to be assertive. He pointed at Xu Qinghe and said, "If I were you, and my own wife dared talk about divorce, I would break her legs."
Upon hearing this, Grandma Liu Sanmei immediately gave him a sharp look.
Clearing his throat, Xu Zhong's voice rose as he said, "Whose wife uses divorce as a threat? If she wants to leave, let her go. Does she think the Xu family can't survive without her?"
Liu Sanmei felt even more sour inside upon hearing this.
"As long as I'm alive, don't even think about splitting up the family!" Xu Zhong's naturally loud voice, along with his brass-bell-like eyes and an authoritative face, filled the room.
There was silence in the room. Xu Qinghe and Xu Qingjiang, having grown up under the stern authority of Xu Zhong, dared not utter a word now.
"Grandpa." Suddenly, Ji Ying spoke up, breaking the silence.