I'm dressed up as the timid eldest daughter, and the whole family has to listen to me!

Su Congxian looked at Lin Shi suspiciously and asked, puzzled:

"Wife, did you not understand what I meant? Now that our mother has some money, we have to curry favor with her, otherwise we won't get a single penny of it!"

Lin gently tapped Su Congxian's forehead with her finger and chuckled softly.

"Are you stupid? If this money were in your mother's hands, who knows what the eldest son's family would be eyeing it for? Look at how Qin Shi came back today with two full baskets of things; she must have taken the money from your mother."

Su Congxian frowned and recalled that Qin Shi and Su Tao had indeed bought quite a few things when they entered. So Su Congxian looked at Lin Shi and said:

"That must be because my sister-in-law has been taking good care of our mother these past few days. So our mother gave her some money. If you listen to our mother and do as she says, she will definitely love you too."

Lin was displeased upon hearing Su Congxian's words.

"No matter how much she loves me, she's not my mother. Deep down, she definitely loves her own flesh and blood more. So, you'll have to talk to your mother about dividing the family property!"

Su Congxian frowned, puzzled:

“Wife, why are you talking about separating the family again? If we really separate from our parents, I’m afraid we won’t even be able to support Qingsong.”

Seeing Su Congxian's oblivious attitude, Madam Lin couldn't suppress her anger. She picked up her teacup, took a big gulp of tea, and then, barely containing her rage, looked at Su Congxian and said:

“Your mother only has a dozen or so taels of silver. The whole Su family is waiting to be spent, and no amount of silver will be enough. Your fourth brother not only spends a lot of money on his studies every year, but he is also of marriageable age. Your mother can’t let him remain unmarried forever, can she?”

As she spoke, seeing that Su Congxian seemed to have listened and nodded, Madam Lin quickly poured him a cup of tea and patiently said:

"And your eldest brother isn't exactly a peaceful man either. He has two wives at home now, and both of them need to eat. Plus, Li Ayu is pregnant with that little one, and when she gives birth, that'll cost a fortune. Not to mention anything else, just look at Su Tao, who's waiting to get married. Every one of them will cost a lot of money."

Upon hearing Lin's words, Su Congxian frowned even more deeply.

Seeing this, Madam Lin sighed.

“Right now, our family is the one that is at the biggest disadvantage. Qingsong doesn’t like to study and isn’t old enough to be married yet, so we don’t have to spend much money. My husband and I are both strong and healthy, so we are naturally the ones who do the most work in this family.”

Lin looked up at Su Congxian, whose brows were furrowed, took his hand, and said softly:

"From the beginning, do you think I wasn't thinking about our family's future? If we didn't separate the family now while your mother has money, you would end up like the second wife, being exploited and discarded by your mother after contributing to her family."

As she spoke, Lin's eyes reddened and she began to wipe away tears.

"Alas, our Qingsong is truly unlucky. If things continue like this, it's uncertain whether he'll even have the money to get married in the future!"

When Su Congxian saw that Lin was crying, he quickly pulled her sleeve to wipe her tears.

“Wife, I understand what you mean. Tomorrow I will bring up the matter of dividing the family property with Mother. I can’t let you suffer with me, and I can’t let Qingsong be unable to afford a wife in the future.”

As he spoke, Su Congxian pulled Lin into his arms.

"Wife, our family needs someone like you to be the pillar of our family. Otherwise, I could work like a slave for someone my whole life and still not figure out the key to this."

Seeing that she had persuaded Su Congxian, Lin felt a little relieved. In this way, her secret trip back without her mother's knowledge was not in vain.

Lin patted Su Congxian on the shoulder and said:

“I ran away from home without telling my mother this time. If you can’t separate from the Su family this time, we’ll get a divorce. My mother definitely won’t leave me to suffer in this den of wolves.”

Upon hearing this, Su Congxian hurriedly said with a nervous expression:

"Wife, please don't mention the word 'divorce' again. Every time I hear you say that, my heart aches. Wife, you have no idea how I've been these past few days. I've missed you so much."

As he spoke, Su Congxian scooped up Lin Shi and carried her onto the kang (a heated brick bed). Lin Shi was startled by Su Congxian and instinctively exclaimed:

"No! Let go of me! What are you doing?!"

"Of course it's sleeping with you, what else would it be?"

Seeing that she couldn't get anyone to open the door, Granny Liu, who had been peering through the crack of the door, heard the sounds coming from the third room. She knew her son, having been so pent up for days, must be craving his wife. So, she decided not to make a scene any longer and spat on the ground, cursing:

"You shameless hussy, you've been bewitching my son the moment you got back. Just wait till tomorrow, I'll teach you a lesson!"

After saying that, he kicked the door of the third room hard again, and went into the house without looking back.

Qin was naturally displeased that Granny Liu had let Lin off so easily, so she also peeked through the door to listen to what was happening inside. Seeing Lin laughing and joking with Su Congxian without any attempt to hide it, she couldn't help but get angry.

"Third brother, I'll cook dinner in a bit. Why don't you and your wife come out and eat together?"

Qin pounded on the door and shouted loudly into the room.

Upon hearing Qin's voice, Su Congxian was startled and immediately stopped what he was doing, shouting outside:

"Sister-in-law, we're not eating. You guys eat, don't wait for us!"

Undeterred, Qin Shi continued to ask:

"My sister-in-law is coming home tonight, and I was thinking of cooking her a nice meal."

Seeing that Qin was still lingering at the door, Lin frowned and said:

"When did Madam Qin become so kind? Just now I could tell she was very reluctant to see me come back."

Upon hearing Lin's words, Su Congxian quickly smiled and covered it up:

"How could that be? Everyone's been waiting for you to come back!"

As he spoke, Su Congxian looked up impatiently and shouted outside:

"Sister-in-law, I already said I'm not eating, so don't bother with this. Let's go now, we're going to bed!"

Qin Shi could tell that Su Congxian's tone was unpleasant. At this moment, she didn't want Su Congxian to dislike her, so she had no choice but to leave reluctantly.

After listening for a while and seeing that there was no more noise at the door, Su Congxian happily went to bed with Lin Shi again.

Su Banxia, ​​carrying a broom, watched the spectacle in the yard. Seeing there was no more excitement, she was about to turn back into the house when she met Qin Shi's eyes.

Seeing this, Qin quickly turned around and ran to Liu Pozi's door, calling out:

"Mother, do you know how generous the second branch of the family is to outsiders these days? I even saw Su Banxia give Uncle Niu two catties of pork today!"

As she spoke, Qin turned and gave Su Banxia a provocative look, then shouted towards Liu Pozi's room:

"I wonder if Su Banxia ever brought you pork, since you were her mother?"