Chapter 6: Family Status

Old Man Lu got up and invited the village Party Secretary to sit on the kang (heated brick bed). He glanced at Fang Yuan, who had moved to sit at the edge, before hesitantly explaining the situation: “Today, my eldest and second sons’ wives are both entering the family—it’s an auspicious day. So I thought we might as well divide up the family property now. That’s why I asked my third son to invite you over, to help us sort things out.”

The village secretary was a bit confused. “Your second son is getting married today too? I hadn’t heard. Isn’t your second son about to go to university?”

It wasn’t easy for a rural family to send a child to college, so compared to getting married, the whole village paid more attention to higher education.

Old Man Lu glanced at Fang Yuan’s expression and explained, “Getting married won’t interfere with his studies.”

Old Lady Lu rubbed her hands and came up with a reason: “Well, our family isn’t well-off, so we thought we’d marry both daughters-in-law at once to save some money.” As she finished, she looked at Fang Yuan.

No matter how you looked at it, it was clear they were watching Fang Yuan’s reaction before making any decisions.

The village secretary thought to himself, Would the second son really agree to this? A college-bound kid willing to marry a wife in the countryside? Isn’t this nonsense?

But given the Lu family’s circumstances, it wasn’t surprising they wanted to save money on weddings.

Their eldest son, just to get married, didn’t even dare mention the fact that the family was supporting a college student, for fear the girl wouldn’t want to marry into a family with that kind of financial burden.

The village secretary thought further: Maybe the Lu family’s plan was to marry a wife for the second son in the countryside, support him through college, and have the daughter-in-law stay home to look after the parents and tend the land.

But that wasn’t something you could say out loud—it would sound bad.

So the village secretary didn’t ask further. He looked at the woman sitting on the kang, then at the one on the floor, and greeted Fang Yuan, who was sitting on the kang, “Eldest daughter-in-law.”

Fang Yuan answered confidently, “Uncle, I’m the second son’s wife. Sorry to trouble you today, but I’d like you to witness that I am the properly married wife of their second son—the college student’s wife.”

The village secretary rubbed his forehead, thinking, What’s going on? Weren’t you the eldest son’s wife when we were drinking earlier? I’m not that forgetful, am I?

He looked at Old Man Lu, silently asking for an explanation.

Old Man Lu braced himself and said, “Yes, yes, that’s right. Fang girl is the second son’s wife, properly married into our Lu family. Today, Fang girl and our second son are getting married.”

He looked at Fang Yuan, as if to ask, Is that the right way to put it? Are you satisfied?

Fang Yuan nodded, then said, “As for the eldest son’s wife, I don’t know what’s going on there. I’m not sure if they’re getting married today or not.”

That was almost worse than saying nothing—it made it obvious there was a problem with the eldest son’s marriage. She really wasn’t saving any face for the eldest couple.

Li Meng and the eldest son, Lu Feng, stood nearby, but neither said a word.

The village secretary’s eyebrows twitched. He remembered Fang Yuan’s reputation as a troublemaker from the Fang family in the neighboring village. If there weren’t another woman in the room, he’d have suspected Fang Yuan had forced her way into the marriage.

He glanced at the eldest son, whose face was scratched up, and at the woman beside him, and realized there was more to this story.

Everyone in the village knew that the eldest son had married Fang Yuan, the notorious troublemaker from the next village who was hard to marry off. So how did she end up as the second son’s wife?

But since they’d said as much, he couldn’t meddle. He just felt sorry for the second son—a college student, now married to a troublemaker. What a mismatch.

Strange as it was, this sort of thing wasn’t unheard of in the village. The secretary frowned and asked, “So, how are you planning to divide the family?”

Old Man Lu finally spoke up: “This house here, the eldest couple will live with us. The old house will be for the second couple. The land and trees will be split evenly with the third son.”

Old Lady Lu quickly added, “We don’t have any money or debts. The second couple’s house is old, so they can take whatever they like from here.”

Then the old couple both looked at Fang Yuan, asking eagerly, “Is that alright?” Their attitude was more deferential than to their own grandchildren.

The village secretary could tell something was up. The Lu family must be feeling guilty, or they wouldn’t be trying so hard to please the new daughter-in-law.

Otherwise, how could a troublemaker like her end up with the pick of the family?

The second son was probably being sacrificed by the family.

Especially that eldest couple—they probably weren’t up to any good. The secretary thought, By tomorrow morning, this will be the talk of the village.

What a pity about the second son—a good, educated boy, now married to this sort of girl. Life would be hard for him from now on.

Fang Yuan nodded, not objecting. “I heard your second son is going to college. Who knows what’ll happen with the land and trees in the future. Let’s just leave it like this for now.”

The village secretary nodded. This girl might be a troublemaker, but she had some sense. Most villagers wouldn’t understand the subtleties here.

The old Lu couple didn’t really get it, and after a pause, they nodded. “We’ll do as Fang Yuan says.”

With everything settled and the old couple behaving well, Fang Yuan said, “Alright, I’m a reasonable person, and I respect my elders. Now that we’ve sorted out the property, let’s talk about supporting the parents in their old age.”

Old Man Lu and Old Lady Lu immediately straightened their backs. There was a reason they wanted Fang Yuan as a daughter-in-law—she was filial. She hadn’t forgotten the elders even while dividing up the family.

The old couple quickly said they were still young and hadn’t thought about retirement yet, and they’d leave it up to Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan took charge, finally looking directly at the eldest son: “There are three Lu brothers. The youngest is still a child, so he doesn’t get a say. The rest of us who are married should discuss this. With the land and trees split three ways, Mom and Dad won’t have much income. We need to make arrangements for their support.”

The village secretary nodded. The kids in this village were all good, and what she said made sense. “How do you three brothers want to handle supporting your parents? Should we wait for the second son to come back and discuss it?”

Fang Yuan answered decisively, “No need to wait—I can decide. The eldest should speak first.”

The secretary couldn’t help but glance at Fang Yuan again and again. How capable was she, to be running the affairs of a college student’s family, with no one from the Lu family daring to speak up?

He’d lived a long time, but he’d never seen anything like this.

Lu Feng was in a bad mood, unable to understand how he’d fallen so low. But things had gotten to this point—Fang Yuan clearly wouldn’t marry him, so what could he do?

No matter how good a woman was, if she wasn’t devoted to him, it was pointless. Hadn’t she already taken over the family property for the second son?

At this point, Li Meng stepped forward. She had to save face and make a good impression on her in-laws. She needed to lay the groundwork to stay in this family.

Li Meng spoke before Lu Feng could: “Dad and Mom will live with us. Now that the second son has his own family, every year he’ll give fifty yuan to support Dad and Mom. The third son will stay with us for now, and when he gets married, he’ll also contribute to their support, just like the second son.”

The village secretary raised his eyebrows. Fifty yuan a year was a lot—no other family in the village gave that much. And the second son was still going to college and would need money. How would they manage?

But since the children were willing, he couldn’t say much. “Old Lu, your daughter-in-law is very sensible.”

Old Man Lu looked at Fang Yuan. He didn’t dare agree on his own—things in their family weren’t decided by this daughter-in-law, but by Fang Yuan. “Fang girl, is this alright?”

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