Dare to shirk responsibility? This adorable little one will tear down your military district!

The dust from the broken bluestone slabs had not yet dissipated in the sunlight.

Third Grandfather's wrinkled old face was as stiff as a piece of dry tree bark.

"Not wanting to be a member of the Meng family?"

The third old man chuckled twice and tapped his cane on the ground: "Changhe's wife, control your daughter. A three-year-old, speaking without thinking. Once you leave this house and the clan, are you and your child, a widow, going to starve to death by the roadside to feed stray dogs?"

This is a threat.

In those days, without the protection of one's clan, one would be ostracized when rationing grain in the village, and would have no one to help build a house; it would be impossible to move an inch.

The villagers in the courtyard also began to whisper among themselves.

"Severing ties? That's a serious matter."

"Yes, although the Meng family is not decent, once they are removed from the family genealogy, they will not be able to be buried in the ancestral grave after they die."

Wang Guifen got up from the ground and patted the dirt off her bottom. She understood the protective tone in her third grandfather's words, and her fierce temper returned.

"Trying to leave? Dream on!"

Wang Guifen, hands on her hips, spitting as she spoke, "Lin Wanrou, as long as I'm alive, you have to take care of me in my old age and see me to my death! And this little bastard, she's also from the Meng family!"

Her triangular eyes were fixed on Lin Wanrou's new cotton-padded coat, her greed almost overflowing from her eyes.

"You can split up if you want. Leave the 1,200 yuan from selling ginseng! Also, calculate the food and lodging expenses from the past few years, plus Jianjun's medical expenses, and then get out!"

shameless.

It's like peeling off someone's face and sticking it to the sole of their shoe to stomp on it.

Lin Wanrou swayed slightly and took a deep breath.

She gripped her daughter's hand tightly and looked straight at the third great-grandfather sitting in the armchair.

"Let's write a document."

It consists of only four simple words.

There were no cries, no trembling.

The third master was taken aback: "What did you say?"

"I said, write a letter severing ties." Lin Wanrou took a step forward, shielding Meng Yaya behind her. The usually submissive girl, who never dared to raise her voice, now stood as straight as a spear.

"It's not just dividing the family, it's severing ties."

Lin Wanrou's voice wasn't loud, but every word sounded like it was hammered into nails: "From now on, Ya Ya and I will have no further connection with the Meng family's Xiahe Village branch, whether in life or death. I won't be buried in your family's ancestral grave, and you shouldn't receive my incense offerings."

"Rebellion! Outrageous!"

The third patriarch was so angry that his beard trembled wildly, and he slammed the lid of his teacup with a deafening roar: "Lin Wanrou, you're an outsider, what right do you have to propose severing ties? Without the clan's approval, even if you run to the ends of the earth, you'll still be the Meng family's runaway bride!"

"qualifications?"

Sun Shouzhen walked out from the side.

He pulled a fountain pen and a crumpled notebook from his pocket.

"Since we're going to settle accounts, then this old man will help you properly calculate your qualifications." Sun Shouzhen pushed up his non-existent glasses on the bridge of his nose, his face cold and businesslike.

"Meng Changhe joined the army three years ago, earning six yuan a month. Later, he was promoted to platoon leader, receiving a monthly allowance of forty-five yuan. In addition, there were various subsidies, food coupons, cloth coupons..."

As Sun Shouzhen spoke, he scribbled and drew on the paper.

The courtyard was so quiet that the only sound was the scratching of a pen nib across paper.

"This totals..." Sun Shouzhen stopped writing and held up the notebook, "1,560 yuan. This doesn't even include the clothes and rare items Changhe sent back."

"Wang Guifen".

Sun Shouzhen turned to the ashen-faced old woman: "You mentioned food expenses? Fine. At the village's highest rate, fifty cents per person per day. Three years, two mouths to feed. After deducting the work points they earn working in the fields..."

"I've calculated it."

Meng Yaya suddenly interrupted. She took a pebble out of her pocket and tossed it in her hand, her tone as relaxed as if she were saying that the weather was nice today.

"We don't owe the Meng family anything. It's the Meng family that owes my dad two lives and my mom and three thousand yuan."

The moment the number "three thousand dollars" was mentioned, gasps of astonishment filled the air.

At that time, a regular worker's monthly salary was only twenty or thirty yuan. Three thousand yuan was an astronomical figure.

Meng Jingui huddled in the corner, his fat face trembling. Meng Jianjun, clutching his broken leg, dared not howl anymore.

They knew Meng Changhe was sending money back, but they didn't expect so much. Where did the money go? Was it all filled by Wang Guifen's bottomless pit, or used to support her nephew's family, or hidden in that cellar no one knows about?

"You...you're talking nonsense!" Wang Guifen panicked, pointing at Sun Shouzhen, "You stinking intellectual, you helped them falsify the accounts!"

"Whether it's a fake account or not, we can find out by checking the remittance slips at the Armed Forces Department," Sun Shouzhen sneered.

Looking at Wang Guifen's fierce but cowardly appearance, Lin Wanrou lost all her last bit of pity.

"I don't want Changhe's pension or the allowances he's received over the years."

The entire room erupted in uproar. Had Lin Wanrou lost her mind? Just like that, she was going to give up so much money?

"Mom..." Meng Yaya tugged at Lin Wanrou's sleeve.

Lin Wanrou lowered her head, touched her daughter's dry, yellow hair, and said firmly, "Ya Ya, we don't care about that dirty money. If we take that money, we'll have to spend our whole lives haggling with these bloodsuckers. Mom just wants to take you away cleanly."

She looked at the Third Grandfather again: "All the money is to offset the Meng family's 'kindness in raising' us. From now on, we're even. Write the document, affix the clan seal, and we'll leave immediately."

This is a case of a brave man cutting off his own arm.

Take a few thousand dollars and buy your freedom.

The third grandfather's fingers rubbed the dragon head of his cane.

He was making plans.

If they sign, the Meng family will lose face, but they won't have to repay the money and will still keep the 1,200 yuan for the ginseng. If they don't sign... this matter will escalate to the commune, to the armed forces department, and they'll find out they embezzled the martyrs' pension and mistreated the martyrs' families...

That would get you shot.

A glint of cunning flashed in the old fox's eyes.

"Fine." The Third Master said with a stern face, "Since you insist on leaving, the Meng family will not keep an ungrateful wretch. However..."

He changed the subject, his cloudy old eyes fixed on the basket on Meng Yaya's back.

"You can leave. But you have to leave your belongings behind. What you're wearing and what you're carrying in the basket are all Meng family property."

Absolutely amazing.

This is to make the mother and daughter leave the house with nothing, completely naked.

Lin Wanrou trembled with anger: "This was a gift from Dr. Sun! I made this dress!"

"The cloth was bought with the Meng family's money," Wang Guifen immediately chimed in, a smug look on her face. "Anything bought with money belongs to the Meng family!"

"Take it off!"

Meng Jingui, oblivious to the danger, darted out from the corner, carrying the carrying pole in his hand: "Did you hear that? Third Master has spoken! Take off your clothes! And that basket on your back, is that filled with flour? Put it all down!"

Several burly men from the Meng family also gathered around, rubbing their hands together, their eyes gleaming with ill intent.

There are many of them.

With an orphan, a widow, and a gaunt old man, how could they possibly cause any trouble?

Lin Wanrou instinctively covered her chest, her expression a mixture of shame, anger, and despair.

"Let's see who dares to make a move."

A childish voice suddenly rang out.

Meng Yaya let go of her mother's hand.

She took two steps forward and stood in front of the group of burly men.

That little guy was barely as tall as someone's belt.

"Third Grandfather, are you getting senile, or do you think I didn't smash that rock loud enough?" Meng Yaya tilted her head, her face devoid of a smile, her clear black and white eyes filled with a deathly stillness.

"I'm giving you face, but you don't want it."

Meng Yaya bent down and picked up half a broken brick from the ground.

She weighed it in her hand.

"My mom said we're even, that's just her kind heart. I never said we're even."

Meng Yaya pointed at Wang Guifen, and then at Meng Jingui.

"We don't need the money. But if you try to strip my mother naked..."

She suddenly moved.

No one saw how she moved. All they heard was a "whoosh" sound as she cut through the air.

"Snapped!"

The half-brick landed precisely on the carrying pole in Meng Jingui's hand.

The jujube wood carrying pole, as thick as a wrist, snapped in two.

The brick continued its trajectory, grazing Meng Jingui's inner thigh before crashing into the earthen wall behind him, creating a large crater.

Meng Jingui was so frightened that he sat down on the ground with a thud, his crotch instantly becoming soaked.

It was just an inch off.

If it had been even an inch off, the Meng family would have been wiped out.

"Tie him up!" The Third Master was completely enraged.

This isn't about money anymore; it's about him challenging his absolute authority within the clan. If he can't control this three-year-old today, how will he ever face anyone in Xiahe Village again?

"Attack! Deaths and injuries are no object! Just say it's family discipline!"