Chapter 1: A Family Split

"Grandmother, this is not a partition of the household. You are trying to drive my mother and me out!"

A thin little girl stood in the Tong family courtyard, one hand pressed to the wound on her forehead, the other pointing at Old Madam Tong in accusation.

"Shut your mouth, you wretched girl! I am speaking to your mother. Since when is it your turn to interrupt?" Old Madam Tong stood by the door of the main house, the tiny slits of her eyes full of calculation.

When Xu Jinniang heard this, she hurriedly stepped in front of Tong Chuxue. "Mother, Chuxue is only a little upset."

Old Madam Tong spat in disdain, clearly refusing to accept Xu Jinniang's excuse. "That little wretch has certainly grown a backbone today. She hardly dares breathe a word on ordinary days, and now she even dares point at my nose and curse me. If I do not teach her a lesson, people will think all the Tong girls lack manners!"

With that, Old Madam Tong raised her hand to strike.

Xu Jinniang stood before Tong Chuxue, and just as that slap was about to land on her face, Tong Chuxue tightened her arms and held Xu Jinniang firmly in her embrace. The full force of Old Madam Tong's palm crashed against the back of Tong Chuxue's head.

Tong Chuxue was already frail and thin; the blow nearly sent her sprawling to the ground, but Xu Jinniang managed to support her in time.

Old Madam Tong was still not satisfied. "This household is being divided today, whether you like it or not. I will give you two hours. Before dark, you two will get out of this house!"

Tong Chuxue turned around, her eyes practically spitting fire. She had just arrived in this world and had not even had time to adjust before Old Madam Tong had shoved her to the ground and injured her head. Old grudges had not yet been settled, and new ones had already been added. If she continued to endure this in silence, Old Madam Tong might very well drive the two of them out of the house this very moment.

"Grandmother, you received my father's compensation money yesterday, and today you want to chase my mother and me away. The one without manners is not me, it's you, Grandmother!"

Old Madam Tong flew into a rage. "Fine, you little dead brat! Your third uncle served three years in the army, and it was still our Tong family that supported you mother and daughter. Now that your third uncle has died in battle, why should the Tong family keep supporting two outsiders like you?"

Xu Jinniang had not expected Old Madam Tong to call them outsiders, and she could not help but weep. "Mother, I was properly married into the family by Third Brother. How can you say Chuxue and I are outsiders?"

"Mother is not wrong." Zhou Hongping, who had been watching the commotion for some time, said, "Third Sister-in-law, Third Brother is dead, and now you are a widow. You have nothing to do with our Tong family anymore. Mother is kind-hearted and found a reason for the separation that will sound decent to others. Why can you not understand her good intentions?"

Through her tears, Xu Jinniang said, "Elder Sister-in-law, even if I no longer have anything to do with the Tong family, Chuxue is the Tong family’s granddaughter. Why must Chuxue be driven out too?"

Zhou Hongping rolled her eyes, speaking as though it were only natural. "Chuxue is already engaged to the Yao family, so she practically belongs to them now. She has nothing to do with our Tong family. Third Sister-in-law, you are someone who has been through life; you should know that a daughter once married is like water poured away."

In truth, Zhou Hongping's argument could not stand. Even if Tong Chuxue would marry someday, before she was wed she was still the Tong family's granddaughter.

Tong Chuxue gave a cold snort. This Tong family truly had not a shred of human feeling. As soon as their son died, the old woman hurriedly stuffed the compensation money into her own pocket and then drove out the daughter-in-law and granddaughter. They were selfish to the extreme.

Tong Chuxue looked at the dilapidated old Tong residence, then thought of the faint trace of wood-element power still left in her body when she had crossed over. She made her decision at once: split the household, but she would certainly not leave the Tong family with empty hands.

"Grandmother, I agree to the separation."

Xu Jinniang immediately grew frantic upon hearing this. Had this girl banged her head so hard that she had gone dazed? How were they to live after being split from the household? "Chuxue, listen to Mother. Mother can leave, but you must stay!"

Tong Chuxue knew Xu Jinniang did not want her to suffer alongside her, but since she had inherited the original owner's identity, she had a responsibility to treat that girl's mother well. She held Xu Jinniang's hand and soothed her gently. "Mother, Grandmother is right. Splitting the household is good for both of us."

"How could it be good? Child, you are too young. You do not understand anything..." Xu Jinniang said anxiously.

The moment Tong Chuxue softened her stance, Old Madam Tong reacted at once. "Girl, you had better think carefully. I am your biological grandmother, and I would never harm you. Since you have agreed to the separation, you will move out of the Tong house before dark today..."

"Wait!" Tong Chuxue cut off Old Madam Tong's words. "We can split the household, but I have a condition. My father's compensation money must be divided with our third branch, half of it!"

"You wish!" Old Madam Tong valued money more than her own eyeballs. For Tong Chuxue to demand half at the first word was more painful than killing her. "This old woman will not give you a single coin!"

Tong Chuxue's attitude was resolute, not yielding an inch. "My father's compensation money was twenty taels in total. If Grandmother is going to split our third branch away, there is no reason not to give us even a single penny."

Zhou Hongping had not intended to speak up, but Tong Chuxue's demand now directly affected her interests. Money held by Old Madam Tong was family money; each branch would at least get a share. But if half were given to the third branch, then less would surely fall into the hands of the first branch. How could Zhou Hongping bear that? She immediately cursed, "You black-hearted girl! The compensation money was issued by the court to the parents. What does it have to do with your third branch?"

"How amusing. My father's compensation money cannot be shared by my mother and me, but is it to be handed to First Aunt instead?" Tong Chuxue asked.

Zhou Hongping choked for a moment. Perhaps aware that she was in the wrong, her beady eyes darted back and forth before she quickly came up with another explanation. "If one is to speak plainly, your third uncle left home for three years and did nothing to help with the family's affairs. Now that he is gone, this money should be treated as your third uncle's filial duty to his own parents. Girl, are you really trying to snatch even that?"

At the time, the Tong family was simply too poor. When the military service quota fell to their doorstep, they had truly had no other choice but to send the third son. Yet in Zhou Hongping's mouth, it became as though the third son had abandoned his parents for three years, ignored them all that time, and now was still expected to compensate them.

Even though Tong Chuxue had seen plenty of human ugliness in the apocalypse, she could not help but marvel that the first branch's wife of the Tong family possessed such extraordinary ability to turn black into white.

"My father went to war out of necessity. How does it sound in First Aunt's mouth as though he had been eager for it? Now that he is gone, the family still wants to embezzle his compensation money. If my father knows this in the afterlife, he will surely stand up for us," Tong Chuxue said. "I will say it again: give us ten taels, and we will move out of the Tong house immediately."

Xu Jinniang was already so frightened by Tong Chuxue's firm attitude that she did not know what to do. Her daughter had always been timid and weak; how had she changed so drastically today, as though she had become another person entirely? "Chuxue, do you know what you are saying? If word gets out, will the Yao family hold it against you? Child, how could you be so bold?"