"Old man, don't be angry at the kids." Grandma Liu Sanmei gently patted Xu Zhong's back, helping him calm down and comforting him, "The children are grown now, they always want to live their own lives. Us parents can't control them forever, you know?"
"Qinghe, don't blame your dad. And Nianhua, don't blame your grandpa. Second uncle, second aunt, this whole thing—it's all my fault as grandma." Liu Sanmei wiped at the corners of her eyes where there were no tears and said, "I'm weak and couldn't do much around the house, so your mom ended up doing so much herself."
"Your second aunt is busy with so much stuff in the village, so on this point, your family really did get the short end of the stick."
Suddenly, Liu Sanmei changed the topic and said, "But, your second uncle and aunt hand over their salaries every month just the same."
"Since Qinghe wants to split the family, then let's split it. Saves us elders from being accused of favoritism." Liu Sanmei's words made Xu Qinghe feel guilty.
Xu Nianhua's heart was in her throat, and she instinctively grabbed Xu Qinghe's sleeve, afraid that if he softened, he wouldn't want to split the family anymore.
"Qinghe, as you said, how should we split up this home?" Liu Sanmei threw the ball in Xu Qinghe's court.
Xu Qinghe raised his head with a blank look—how would he know how to split it?
Before, Ji Ying was really angry and talked about splitting the family, even the eldest, Xu Nianji, had brought it up before, but Xu Qinghe always stopped it.
The events of today came out of nowhere, and Xu Qinghe's mind was still in a haze.
Xu Nianhua wanted to speak again, but held back and just quietly looked towards Ji Ying. Ji Ying didn't know what to say either, so she simply stayed silent.
"Since Qinghe hasn't figured it out, how about this: me and your dad will take the second brother's family and move into the old house." Liu Sanmei had barely finished speaking when everyone disagreed.
"Why should I, as the father, give up my house for him?" Xu Zhong glared fiercely at Liu Sanmei.
Xu Qingjiang didn't agree either, saying, "Mom, the old house has been deserted for a dozen years now. How can anyone live there?"
"Yeah, mom, aren't we living just fine here?" Zhao Juxiang chimed in.
Xu Qinghe said too, "Dad, Mom, even if we split families, it can't be you two living in the old house. If anyone's living there, it should be us, how could we let you live there?"
"Qinghe, would you really be willing to live in the old house?" Liu Sanmei looked at Xu Qinghe and said, "The old house might be a bit rundown, but if you tidy it up, it's still livable. But people in the village will surely say we're kicking you out to the old house. So you should just stay here."
The more Liu Sanmei said this, the more determined Xu Qinghe became to move into the old house. It was already unfilial enough to split the family, how could he make his parents live in the old house?
Xu Nianhua's mouth twitched; Liu Sanmei was retreating to advance, her real intention was for them to move into the old house.
"Dad, Mom, after we split up, we'll just live in the old house," Xu Qinghe said firmly.
Ji Ying frowned and glanced over. This house had only been here for about ten years. When she married in, it was the old house, then they built this new one and moved here. All these years flashed by, and now even the yard at the old place was almost overgrown with weeds.
"Mom, I agree to live in the old house too," Xu Nianhua quietly said.
"I agree too."
Xu Nian'an wished he could raise both hands in support. The old house was better than here—he figured big brother would rather move to the old house than keep working like before for second uncle's family.