Linxia

Chapter 8, Food Dispute

Sure enough, after a while, the old lady came.

It turned out that when Fang Liu came back from fetching water, she found that her own food was running low. She heard her second son say that it was Grandma Fang who gave the food to her younger uncle. She also saw that her younger uncle went to her second and third uncles. She immediately knew what Fang Jiping was up to, so she came to the nearest third room first.

Seeing the aunt coming over, Fang Lin said, "Aunt, is it about the food that my uncle brought over? My family is not short of food, and my father and mother are just talking about sending it back! How about this, why don't we call my second uncle and my uncle's family to come and handle this together, and also serve as witnesses."

Such a frank and upright attitude made Fang Liu speechless. She thought about it and decided that it would be better to solve the problem together, so she called the whole family from the first, second and fourth rooms, including Grandpa Fang and Grandma Fang, to gather together.

In front of so many people, Fang Liu did not save face for the fourth room, and said bluntly: "When we separated, we made it clear that Dad and Mom lived with us, and we each ate our own food, but now someone is taking advantage of my family. What some people said is like farting, you don't acknowledge it, right? Where's your face?"

"What a curse! Your words are like knives, every word pierces my heart!"

Fang Lin glanced at his aunt, then at his uncle Fang Boxian, whom Fang's mother described as a taciturn person, and finally his gaze fell on his uncle Fang Jiping, whose face turned blue and red from being scolded. He lowered his head and wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

As for the "separation at the beginning" mentioned by the aunt, he remembered it as soon as he recalled it.

The four branches of the Fang family have actually separated, except for the fact that the land deeds have not been divided. It was agreed at the beginning: the eldest branch would take care of Grandpa Fang and Grandma Fang in their old age and also occupy most of the family property; the other three branches would each get five acres of land, and after paying taxes every year, they would give a very small portion to Grandpa Fang and Grandma Fang as a token of their gratitude, and the rest of the time they would live their own lives. This was agreed upon at the beginning.

"Isn't this a special situation since we're not on the road to escape? I'll make up for the surplus later." Fang Jiping hesitated and tried to defend himself.

"Fourth brother, don't blame your sister-in-law for speaking harshly. You said the current situation is special, but we'll be in the county town in a day or two. Other families can get by, so can't your family just bear with it? As for what you said about making up for it, okay! When have you ever made up for the one or two taels of money that mother secretly subsidized your family with in the past?" Fang Liu exposed all of Fourth Brother's secrets.

"Lan Zi, we are brothers and sisters-in-law, don't speak so harshly." Grandma Fang - Fang Yu loved her youngest son Fang Jiping the most, and quickly spoke out to help.

"Mom, you often secretly gave food to An'an from the fourth room. I know all about it. Have I ever told you that? I never said that, right? But today, the fourth roommate went too far." Fang Liu was complaining to everyone, or rather, she had a lot of complaints against her grandmother, so she didn't sound polite when she was angry.

Grandma Fang’s voice became hoarse and her face froze.

Fang Jiping was also trying to save face, so he couldn't hold it in anymore. He subconsciously wanted to find the second and third wives to share the pressure: "I also gave a portion of the food I got from mother to my second and third brothers."

What I mean is, don’t just ask me for it, if we want to take it back, we should take it back together.

Fang Lin's family had already said this, Fang Liu glanced over and looked towards the second house.

"Sister-in-law, I really don't know about this."

Fang Zhonggui stood up and looked at his wife: "This grain really shouldn't be taken, and our family can't go back on their word, give it to my sister-in-law!"

"I..." Fang Wang hesitated.

Fang Zhonggui realized something and his voice suddenly became stern: "Tell me, what happened? Where is the food?"

"I'm sending her to my parents' home." Fang Wangshi said it with determination when she realized she couldn't hide it anymore.

"You, you..." Fang Zhonggui pointed at his wife, his fingers trembling. Now that she had said it, Fang Wangshi decided to throw it all away and said, "I'll send the food to my parents anyway. If it's gone, what's the use? You can kill me and there's nothing left."

Fang Lin looked at this Second Mother and found that she was indeed a fierce person as Fang's mother said.

"It has always been the case that a girl who is married off is like spilled water. Why do you always try to be disloyal, sister-in-law? Why don't you go back to the Wang family, so that the villagers won't stab our Fang family in the back!" Fang Liu was relentless and continued to talk big.

In this era, if a married woman is driven back home, she would be drowned by her spit, and those with thin skin would hang themselves.

If it was someone with a sense of shame, Fang Liu's scolding would be a special attack, but for someone without a sense of shame? Fang Wang had only one attitude, she was just playing dirty, she didn't have any food, and she didn't even give her life...!

Fang Zhonggui looked embarrassed, helpless, and like he couldn't discipline her - and that was indeed the case, Fang Wangshi really sent her back, and even if she wanted to, she couldn't.

"Dad, what do you say?" Seeing Fang Wang acting like this, Fang Liu looked at Old Man Fang.

Mr. Fang always has a positive attitude. Knowing that he will live with the first wife in the future, he usually takes her side.

"The rules cannot be broken. It was the fourth brother who did a bad job in this matter."

Mr. Fang defined the matter and said, "However, since the Second Brother's family is in this state, it would be too inhumane to ask them to give out everything. So, let's take back half of it!"

Since the old man said so, Fang Liu could only agree. Otherwise, wouldn't she be labeled as inhuman?

As for the fourth house, they only had to return half, which was already enough; as for the second house, only Fang Wang knew how much was given to her parents' home, and although she looked unhappy on the surface, she kept silent and acquiesced.

In this matter, they got a good deal after all. The two rooms felt okay, but when they saw the three rooms that had no sense of existence, they immediately felt unbalanced! One of them was embarrassed by what was said; one of them was throwing a tantrum; but the three rooms got the same treatment.

Fang Sun also felt that this time was different from usual. Specifically, she not only did not suffer any loss, but also got an advantage. She just watched the excitement and earned two kilograms of grain for nothing. She understood it in a flash and felt proud: "My son is really capable!"

This was indeed all thanks to Fang Lin. If he hadn't spoken and they hadn't come together to resolve the issue, under normal circumstances, Fang's father and mother would have really paid back the money in advance. The result would have been: the second and fourth rooms would have either thrown a tantrum or taken advantage of Grandma Fang's favoritism to return half of the money. Their third room, who was honest and had no shortage of food in name, ended up getting nothing.

Of course, Fang Lin didn't necessarily want to care about the two kilograms of food. He just wanted to treat Grandpa Fang and Grandma Fang equally. He couldn't just pick on honest people just because their third branch was honest, right?

Yes, the reality is not like in the stories. Shameless and thick-skinned people are often able to take great advantage. It doesn’t matter elsewhere, but when it comes to him, he will never let such a thing that goes against the will of heaven happen.

The matter ended here. Before leaving, Mr. Fang suddenly said something out of nowhere: "Second brother, take care of your wife."

The expression on Fang Zhonggui's face stiffened visibly.

Fang Lin seemed to be thinking about something. He looked at his second uncle Fang Zhonggui, then at his second mother Fang Wangshi, and left without saying anything.

……

(End of this chapter)