Who understands? He traveled through time with a high-spec spatial ability.

"What!" The village chief lost his composure and looked at Zhu Dayou in the corner.

Zhu Dayou's eyes darted around; he knew things were going badly after being flogged yesterday. He just hadn't expected the Qiao family to find out so quickly.

Without the village chief's protection, he slumped to his feet, resigned to his fate, and declared, "So what if I've been expelled? You want me to get a divorce? No way!"

I'm going to drag that bitch Qiao down with me.

I refuse to believe she can hide at her parents' house forever. If she dares to come back, I'll beat her to a pulp. You think you can kill me?

Qiao Wanhe sneered, "Divorce? Kill you? You wish. My sister said she doesn't mind taking care of her paralyzed husband. So today you'll go out without seeing where you're going, fall and break your back, and never be able to walk again."

"As long as you nod and say you absolutely won't divorce, we brothers mean it. We'll take you out to experience something unexpected, how about it?"

Zhu Dayou then began to feel afraid. He hadn't expected that the other party would be so unyielding and would not follow any set pattern. It would be easy for them to pretend to be an accident and cripple him.

Since Qiao can't have a son anyway, it's better to get a divorce.

He rolled his eyes and said, "Hmph, out of consideration for our marriage, I'll let her off the hook. Divorce it is then."

"No, I'd rather you stay stubborn." Qiao Wangen blew on his clenched fist.

"Enough with the nonsense, bring me the divorce papers so I can sign them."

Qiao Jingjing then showed herself, holding three divorce papers.

Zhu Dayou had originally intended to use their illiteracy to embarrass them, but he hadn't expected them to be prepared. It wasn't that they didn't want a divorce; they had already planned it all along, just waiting for him to sign.

"Wait a minute before signing, my aunt's dowry needs to be taken back with her. As my grandfather's only daughter, she received quite a lot of gifts when she got married."

The money that was spent or used up, converted into silver, and the jewelry—a silver hairpin and a silver bracelet—are with your mother. Now bring them over.”

Old Lady Zhu screamed and threw a tantrum, but no one listened to her.

The two aunts who had previously received the steamed buns came over to help search. Women know better where to hide secret stashes of money, and sure enough, they found jewelry and some loose silver. They gave it all to Qiao Jingjing.

Qiao Jingjing didn't miss the chance to sow discord: "Tsk tsk tsk, you're a compulsive gambler, and even though your mother has been chasing you for debts multiple times, she can still hide your silver and jewelry. It's clear she doesn't love you that much!"

“The dowry is far more than this, but my aunt is kind-hearted. We'll take the silver and jewelry, and we'll leave the quilts behind. But we'll take the cabinets and chairs that came with the dowry; they're all made of good wood. Zhu Dayou, do you agree?”

Zhu Dayou had lost the will to resist.

He nodded weakly. The Qiao family didn't delay and packed up everything they could carry.

"It's good that you acknowledge it, and you also have custody of Yu'er."

"You can't take Yu'er away; she's a member of the Zhu family."

Qiao Jingjing knew he wanted to use Yu'er as leverage to get some benefits. However, he had picked the wrong person.

"Alright, a little child can't do any work, and taking her back would only be a burden. Her surname is Zhu, and she has no relation to our Qiao family."

So you've decided to keep Chang Yu, right? All of this needs to be written into the contract.

"Correct!"

Qiao Jingjing nodded, "Very good!"

Then Chang Yu can stay. But I have to remind you that you need to settle the cost of my aunt taking care of Chang Yu these past few years. Don't say it's only natural for her to take care of her; she's taking care of your Zhu family's offspring.

Also, Chang Yu was so frightened when she went back that she fell ill, and it cost a lot of money to see a doctor.

"The child is too young to take many medications, and we've used quite a few expensive ones. Please settle the payment now, and I'll send the child back immediately."

Zhu Dayou had no money; he never truly wanted to keep the child, and even if he had the money, he wouldn't take it. Old Mrs. Zhu was even more anxious: "How will you find a wife with a burden like this?"

Seeing the expressions on the mother and son's faces, Qiao Jingjing waited for them to gather their emotions before speaking again: "Now, back to the question we just discussed, are you sure you want to keep Chang Yu here?"

Old Lady Zhu spoke first: "No! What I mean is, the child can't live without his mother, so he should stay with your Qiao family."

“Alright.” Turning to the village chief, he said, “Grandpa Village Chief, please bring me paper and pen and write a letter of severance of ties, in triplicate, to prevent future troubles.”

As a student of the Imperial Academy, Zhu Dayou had paper and pen at home. After he finished writing the letter of severance of ties and signed the divorce agreement, Qiao Furong came in from outside. She couldn't write before, but after practicing hard for a long time yesterday, she finally learned to write her own name.

After signing the last document, her hands trembled uncontrollably. It was resolved! Thank goodness, she was free.

Zhu Dayou and his mother were furious when they saw her; they wanted nothing more than to tear her apart. All of this was because of this bitch!

After signing, Qiao Jingjing's tone changed drastically from her previous amiable one, and she said sharply, "What are you looking at! If you look at anything you shouldn't, I'll poke your eyes out!"

Village Chief Zhu, observing from the sidelines, saw through the girl's facade; she was truly formidable and resourceful. Seemingly yielding and easy to talk to, she actually controlled every step of the way. Zhu Dayou, with his pig-brain, could never have imagined all this.

However, he did not remind her that Zhu Dayou was no longer reliable and that Qiao Shi was truly pitiful. He decided to play dumb.

The Qiao family came in a haughty manner and left in a happy one.

After this incident, people actually developed a better impression of the family traditions in Daba Village. Families with daughters of marriageable age began inquiring about unmarried young men in Daba Village, hoping to find a good match for their daughters.

Back in the village, everyone first put their belongings at the Xu family's old house. The elderly couple were currently living on the hillside and wouldn't be returning, so Qiao Furong would stay there temporarily. They planned to build a separate house for the mother and daughter in the spring.

A divorced woman cannot live with her family. However, she can live next to them, but in separate houses.

The noisy days have passed, and there's only one day left until the New Year. Today, every household in the village is preparing fried cakes for the New Year.

It's called fried cake, but there aren't actually many. Just a few pieces are fried, arranged on a plate, and left there from New Year's Eve until after the Lantern Festival before being eaten.

Lard was precious, and fried cakes were made from rice. In some years, families with poor harvests could not afford to eat rice even once a year.

Qiao Jingjing decided to do something different.

She likes to eat fried rice cakes. Cut the rice cakes in twos, fry them in vegetable oil, and they become crispy, sweet, and not too sweet, which is better than eating the cakes on their own.

Then fry some cat ear-shaped pastries, various meatballs, fried mushrooms, fried sesame leaves, fried dough twists, fried chicken wings, and so on. Xiao Ming and Xiao Changyu clapped and screamed all day long.

"Wow, this is delicious!"

After a while, someone exclaimed, "Wow, this is delicious too!"

A little while later, someone exclaimed, "Wow, this one tastes even better!"

The two little ones hadn't eaten a single bite of food all day and came out of the kitchen clutching their stomachs.

Qiao Jingjing thought that there were still three big ones waiting to be fed, so she lined a small bamboo basket with insulation cotton, picked out a little of each, wrapped it up, and brought it to them.