Reborn in 1966

Chapter Thirty-Five: Dividing the Family

Hearing his grandmother's words, Zhao Tiezhu felt deeply saddened. His own mother had smashed his head—and that was her! She hadn't even cooked him an egg. Yet, at his mother-in-law's house, she was offering him a stewed chicken. Why was his mother-in-law treating him this way? Wasn't it all so that he would treat her daughter well? Thinking of the large basin of dirty clothes in the yard, he kept cursing himself for all these years. His wife and children were being treated unfairly and bullied, and he, as their husband and father, had never stood up for them. From now on, he would be the only support for these three women. As long as he was there, no one could bully them.

Zhao Tiezhu's mind was racing with these thoughts. Seeing his mother-in-law about to go to the backyard to catch chickens, he quickly stepped forward to stop her, saying, "Mother, no need. I came here to ask my parents and fourth uncle to be our witnesses. Our family of four is going to move out, and my mother has agreed. We invited the elders of the Zhao family in our village to help with the division of the family property. The elders said we need to invite our relatives to be our witnesses."

In those days, dividing a family property was quite rare and considered a major event. It required the presence of relevant relatives as witnesses, as well as a related agreement, and all witnesses had to sign and affix their fingerprints.

Grandma said, "Okay, okay, we'll pack up and go to your house right away."

Fortunately, the two villages are separated by a small river, making it convenient to travel back and forth.

Pei-Yin was tormented because she couldn't go and witness it. It seemed she wouldn't get any firsthand information and could only listen to her parents' video broadcast that night.

I ate dinner with great anxiety, and then waited anxiously for my grandparents to come back.

As soon as Grandpa and Grandma came back, Shen's father and mother went to their room and stayed for a long time. Before going to bed, Shen's father and mother came back and Shen's mother started rummaging through her big red trunk. While rummaging through it, she said to Shen's father, who was sitting at the kang table holding Peiyin and teaching her to read, "Shengsi, what do you think about me giving this floral curtain to her aunt?"

Pei Yin looked over and saw a white background with small flowers and grasses in light purple, light blue and light green. It was very simple and clean, and hanging in front of the window made the cramped room seem much brighter.

Mr. Shen said, "Didn't we buy this at the department store when we got married? Why don't we see if there's anything else suitable? This one is quite meaningful."

Shen's mother said, "Why don't we give them this light blue checkered bed sheet? It's the bed sheet we used when we were in school."

Looking at the light blue checkered bed sheet, Mr. Shen said, "It really is. It must be almost twenty years old. Only you have preserved it so well."

Mrs. Shen carefully folded the bed sheet and said, "These are all things with sentimental value. I'm not one to throw things away, so I kept them. We have another one. We'll give this one to his aunt. It's a token of our affection, no matter what."

Gradually, Mr. and Mrs. Shen began to recount the process of their aunt's family dividing the property from the afternoon to the evening.

The Zhao brothers had an older sister who married into the village and was a very honest and upright person. Zhao Tiezhu was the youngest, and because he wasn't a smooth talker, he wasn't as favored as the eldest son, who was more talkative. This was especially true because the eldest son's fiancée was a distant niece from Zhao Tiezhu's maternal family. In Old Mrs. Zhao's heart, the eldest son's family was incomparable to anyone else.

Let's talk about the small house that was allocated to Zhao Tiezhu's family of four.

The house was built by Zhao Tiezhu's grandfather. Later, when the family had more children, they built the courtyard where the Zhao family lives now. Because the house was at the edge of the village, and in front of it were some people's vegetable gardens, the house was used to look after the gardens. Later, everything became collective, and no one cultivated the vegetable gardens anymore. The vegetable gardens and the small house were abandoned.

The house has three rooms. Although it looks small and dilapidated, it was neglected by a resentful woman for many years. The materials used are said to be high-quality bluestone. If it weren't for the fact that Old Mrs. Zhao accidentally injured her youngest son and things got a bit out of hand, not only would she not be able to keep this small house, but even dividing the family property would be a pipe dream.

When her daughter-in-law's family arrived, Old Mrs. Zhao, with a plaster on her forehead, lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) groaning. Her grandmother greeted her, and she responded with groans. Only when the elders of the Zhao family arrived did Old Mrs. Zhao sit up against the wall on the kang, tears welling in her eyes, and she grabbed the hand of a cousin, saying, "Sister-in-law, this is the child I raised with so much hardship. I'm such a useless old woman. How many families in our village have split up like mine? Sister-in-law, I'm too ashamed to even go out."

Everyone in the village knew the old woman's character, so Zhao's sister-in-law was too embarrassed to say anything more. Zhao Tiesheng, the eldest son of the Zhao family, saw his mother like this with so many elders around, coughed twice, and said, "Mother, please don't be like this. Look, all the elders are here, let's begin."

Grandma Zhao said, "Oh dear, my head hurts. Tiesheng, just divide it according to what we agreed on. Oh dear, oh dear." With that, the old lady lay back down on the quilt on the kang.

Neither the grandparents spoke, but the woman's fourth grandfather spoke on her behalf. An old man with a white beard from the Zhao family presided over the division of the family property; he was said to be Zhao Tiezhu's great-grandfather.

Grandpa Zhao said, "Tiesheng, tell me how you and your mother discussed this."

Zhao Tiesheng looked somewhat troubled. Finally, seeing that the elders were all staring at him, he whispered, "My mother's idea is to give the small courtyard that my grandfather built at the entrance of the village to his second uncle's family."

Grandpa Zhao stroked his white beard, nodded, and said, "Well, the house can be lived in if it's cleaned up properly. Tie Zhu and his wife are both hardworking people, and they won't have to worry about not being able to build a new house in a few years. As for the money and belongings in the house, how do you plan to divide them?"

Zhao Tiesheng looked at everyone in the room with some difficulty, and finally his gaze fell on Old Mrs. Zhao, who was lying on the kang and groaning.

Grandpa Zhao turned to Tiesheng's mother and asked, "How do you divide your family's money and belongings?"

Grandma Zhao said, "Didn't we already give you a house? What more do you want?"

Old Master Zhao looked somewhat embarrassed at the gloomy faces of the Shen family members and said, "Tiesheng's mother, dividing the family property is not just about dividing the house, but also about dividing money and belongings. How will your family's belongings be divided?"

Grandma Zhao sat up abruptly and said, "Divide, divide, what division? They insist on dividing it, and they still want money and things from us. How can there be such a good deal? We have no money, no things, just my old life. Take it if you want."

This sharp rebuke infuriated the white-bearded old man. After all, the village was called Zhao Family Village, and most of the villagers shared the surname Zhao. This old man was the most senior in the village, and no one had ever spoken to him like that before.

The old man was so angry that his beard trembled, and he pointed at Zhao Tiezhu's mother, shaking all over and unable to speak.

When Zhao Tiezhu and Zhao Tiesheng saw that the old man was furious, they rushed over to help him, some smoothing his chest and others serving him tea. The sister-in-law, who had been sitting silently, finally spoke up.

"Tiesheng, Tiezhu, your mother is confused, but you two brothers can't be confused. Dividing the family property is a big deal, and it can't be done so carelessly. I'm telling you this today: either don't divide it at all, or divide it fairly and justly so that no one can say anything. Don't make things too complicated. There are still many people in our Zhao family who haven't found wives and husbands yet."

The implication is that the division of the family property should be fair; otherwise, if things are handled too poorly, those in the main family who are not yet engaged will be looked down upon when they try to find a spouse.

Upon hearing her sister-in-law's words, Tiesheng's mother became anxious and started yelling at her.

“Sister-in-law, are you still my sister-in-law? Look at what class Xiaoxia’s family is now. They have rightists in their family. We are poor peasants with good revolutionary backgrounds. I asked Xiaoxia’s mother to cut ties with her family, but she refused. I am at the time of my advancement. Shouldn’t I be dragged down by them?”

The old man from the Zhao family, still panting heavily with anger, became even angrier upon hearing this. Pointing at Tiesheng's mother's nose, he began to berate her: "Tiesheng's mother, you're so confused! Do you think family ties can be severed so easily? Look around our village, who else is like you, singing and dancing all day long? You're not ashamed, but we are! Oh, so you're making her sever ties with her family just because of her brother? If your daughter were to sever ties with you, would you accept it?"

Zhao Tiezhu's eldest sister also came. Hearing her elders say such things about her mother, she felt a little uncomfortable. But then she thought about the foolish things her mother had done, and she got angry too. She pulled her younger brother's wife and said, "Xiaoxia's mother, don't take it to heart. Our mother was just talking nonsense. As long as Uncle and Aunt are here, I will stay with you. Your family is our Zhao family."

When Tiesheng's mother saw her daughter also siding with others to talk about her, she angrily pointed at her daughter and said, "You ungrateful wretch, what right do you have to make decisions about our family's affairs?"

Seeing that Tie Zhu's mother's words were getting increasingly offensive, the aunt from the main branch of the family said to the old man of the Zhao family, "Uncle, I think we should let the two brothers discuss this matter themselves. As long as they can't get rid of the large amount of money, it's fine."

The old man of the Zhao family said to his grandfather and fourth uncle, "We've made a fool of ourselves in front of our in-laws. Don't listen to Tiezhu's mother's nonsense. We're in-laws, not enemies. The two brothers can discuss how to divide the household belongings."

At this moment, the aunt said, "Grandpa, Tiezhu and I are just happy to be allocated a house that can shelter us from the wind and rain. We don't need the things in the house anymore. We are young and capable, why should we be unable to make a living?"

Tiezhu also said, "Yes, we don't want our things from home. We'll just take our bedding and move over."

The aunt from the same family sighed and said to Grandma, "Sister-in-law, I'm so sorry. These two children are both good. Sigh..."

Grandma said, "It's alright. As long as the children are willing, we old folks have no objections. Whether they've been poor or rich, it's all their own choice to live life to the fullest."

And so, the aunt and uncle, along with their two children and their own bedding, moved to a house by the river at the edge of the village three days later.