After hearing Li Chenze’s words, Zhang Sanlang’s wife said, "Eldest brother-in-law, even if your wife is my husband’s eldest sister, a married daughter is the same as poured-out water."
"Even when your wife returned to the Zhang family, she was treated as a guest instead of a family member. From this point alone, not to mention you, even your wife has no qualification to voice any objection in the Zhang family’s matter."
Raising his eyebrows, Li Chenze asked his third brother-in-law, "Are you also having the same thought as your wife, Sanlang?"
When he heard the warning in his eldest brother-in-law’s voice, Zhang Sanlang hesitated. But after he glanced at his brothers and saw the encouragement in their eyes, he steeled his heart and said, "That’s right!"
Li Chenze nodded, turned to his parents-in-law, and asked, "Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, what do you think?"
Mother Zhang was timid by nature, and unlike others, she never suppressed her daughters-in-law. Instead, she was the one being suppressed by them.
Fortunately, her husband was stern, and the right to manage the family’s money was still in her hands. Otherwise, she might have been thrown out of the house a long time ago.
Therefore, when she was asked like this, she could only glance at her husband and say, "I will follow my husband’s decision."
Father Zhang looked at his timid wife. He wasn’t unaware of what his sons and daughters-in-law had been planning all this time. He also knew that due to his own selfishness in trying to keep the family together, his wife sometimes cried in silence at night.
He had hoped he could change his sons’ ways, but unexpectedly, they became even more undependable. Now, when he was still able to work, they already treated him and his wife like this.
What if one day he was no longer around? Wouldn’t his wife be bullied by her own children?
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Father Zhang looked at his sons and asked, "Dalang, Erlang, Sanlang, Silang, have you all made up your minds?"
Hearing this, the Zhang brothers hesitated, but with their wives nudging them, they finally nodded and replied, "Father, we have made up our minds."
Disappointed, Father Zhang took a deep breath to calm down. After a moment, he said, "Go invite the team leader and the village elders as witnesses. Today, we will split the family."
The moment he said this, Zhang Dalang’s wife quickly said, "Father, I will go invite them."
As if worried that her father-in-law would change his mind, she left the house as though being chased by ghosts.
When Mother Zhang saw this, part of her felt disappointed, but another part felt relieved. Her heart had long been chilled by her sons’ treatment, and she no longer held any hope for them.
It would be a lie to say she didn’t feel disappointed. But rather than living together and ending up in enmity, she would choose to separate the family and live on their own.
When she compared her children, Mother Zhang thought, ’I can’t be greedy. It’s enough to have one filial child.’
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