Chapter 11: Calling Off the Family Split?

Mu Gu said, "When we arrived just now, they seemed to have mostly finished eating, but I still caught the scent of meat."

What? Meat!

Madam He looked at her two sons with dissatisfaction. "Why didn't you come back sooner to tell me? You said they could go a whole day without eating, but now they’ve surely finished all the meat."

Mu Gushan looked somewhat aggrieved. "Mother, we just wanted to hear more useful information. However, I personally think the news about Lady Liu being taken away must be false. Think about it carefully—all of this came from Lady Liu's own mouth. Those five men in black didn't come to arrest her; it must have been a scheme by their family to force you into splitting the household, just so we wouldn't get to eat what she brought back."

The complexions of those present changed abruptly, and they all turned to look at Madam He, whose eyes were red with fury. If this were true, their entire family—no, the entire village—had been deceived.

Madam He hopped in agitation. "Fine! So that’s why! I should have realized it sooner. I’m going to settle the score with them!"

Mu Dehong grabbed Madam He, who was limping. "What good will it do to go find them now? Lady Liu surely didn't want us to benefit from her in the future, which is why she went along with Zhenzhen's words and admitted to a fault. The priority now is to cancel the family separation."

Madam He was stunned. "Cancel the separation? Can we even do that?"

Mu Dehong signaled for the others to follow and strode toward the door, saying, "Separation agreements must be registered with the magistrate for the government to recognize them. As long as it isn't registered, we can find a way to get our hands on all three copies. Then, we can simply deny it or destroy the documents, treating them as one family again. There's nothing they can do about it."

The others were immediately overjoyed. That was right—as long as it wasn't registered, they could just refuse to acknowledge it. Lady Liu worked for a wealthy family; she was bound to have a monthly wage. The thought that their family could have a steady income without having to work hard made their hearts soar.

However, the plan was idealistic. When they arrived at Village Chief Xu's house, they heard that after receiving the Mu family's separation agreement that morning, the Chief had already left for the city.

Mu Dehong looked at the Chief's son, Xu Chengmao, and asked anxiously, "Why did your father go to town? He just went to buy some things, right?"

Having witnessed the earlier events, Xu Chengmao found the Mu family very unpleasant. He replied testily, "You know my father better than that; he is fully dedicated to the village's affairs. He had already received separation agreements from two other families, and today he received one more. Of course he went to the city to register them, just to avoid any accidents."

He said the last two words with a heavy dose of sarcasm. Anyone with half a brain could tell who he was mocking.

What! The Mu family's faces turned pale. How could the Village Chief have moved so fast?

Madam He was on the verge of tears and asked, "How long has he been gone?"

Xu Chengmao replied impatiently, "I just told you, he left as soon as he got the document. He’s probably at the magistrate's office by now; the process might even be finished."

Madam He looked as if she had lost everything. Her gold bracelet, which she had treasured for two years, was gone. Furthermore, she had been outplayed by a ten-year-old girl and her own daughter-in-law. She would undoubtedly become the laughingstock of the village. She had never suffered such a loss of face! Thinking of the gossip that would surely follow in the village, she couldn't handle the blow and fainted on the spot.

"Mother!" The Mu family hurried to surround her, but no amount of shaking could wake her. They had no choice but to carry her home. Since there was no money left in the house, they assumed she had just fainted from rage—after all, it had happened before—so they didn't bother calling a doctor.

Most of their assets had been divided to the third branch, and they didn't even have dinner prepared. Then there was the matter of the Lin family, to whom they had promised to send someone within the next two days. Now that Yu Zhenzhen had changed so drastically, they weren't sure if they could find an opportunity to trick her into going. For the time being, they couldn't spare the energy to trouble the third branch.

...

At night, with no entertainment, the third branch of the Mu family prepared for bed after a simple meal. Mu Guhuai and Lady Liu shared a room, while Mu Yiyue and Yu Zhenzhen each had their own, and the younger two, Mu Eryue and Mu Sanyue, shared one.

Lady Liu suddenly pressed a willow twig into Yu Zhenzhen’s hand. It took her a moment to realize that Lady Liu wanted her to brush her teeth. Recalling the items she had bought from the supermarket, she rummaged through her sack—or rather, retrieved six toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste from her space. She was very grateful that she had formed the habit of stocking up on several months' worth of daily necessities whenever she visited the supermarket, so she wouldn't have to make repeated trips.

"Godfather, Godmother, use these to brush your teeth. I'll teach you how. Don't use willow twigs anymore."

After she finished, Yu Zhenzhen demonstrated how to use the toothpaste and toothbrush. As for whether the Mu family would feel uncomfortable once she ran out of the supplies from her space, she didn't look that far ahead. She could open one delivery package every day, so she was sure she would be able to get more later.

Mu Guhuai looked at the toothpaste and toothbrush with surprise. "So, the wealthy have been using such convenient things to brush their teeth all along."

Lady Liu frowned. Wealthy people didn't use these either—at least, no one in the General's Mansion did. Could it be that Zhenzhen's family background was even higher than that of a General?

After watching the demonstration, the others were eager to try. Once they were done, the children exhaled and had each other smell their breath.

"After brushing with this, my mouth doesn't taste like anything at all, and it even smells good."

"I feel like my teeth are whiter."

"The brush is soft; it's much better than a willow twig and cleans much better."

Yu Zhenzhen smiled and said, "As long as you like it. Use these from now on. If I run out and my guards can't get more here in time, we might not have toothpaste, but brushing with salt is fine too."

Lady Liu said sternly, "Yiyue, Eryue, Sanyue, don't tell anyone outside that we have these things. That includes what we eat every day; do you understand?"

Mu Guhuai added, "Anything Sister Zhenzhen brings, if you talk about it, we won't be able to use it anymore. Everyone must keep this a secret."

The three children nodded blankly.

The children had never slept in a tent before. After washing up, Mu Sanyue was the first to lie on the bed. The old quilt from the main Mu household was laid out at the very bottom. Their previous beds had been nothing but straw covered with a sheet. The four-piece bedding set Yu Zhenzhen had brought gave him a feeling he had never experienced before.

Mu Sanyue rubbed his face against the edges of the bed and sighed, "Sister Zhenzhen, your bed sheets are so comfortable, the quilt is warm, and the bed is so soft."

Yu Zhenzhen laughed, "I'm glad you like it."

Hearing this, the others moved the items from the cave into the living room and quickly climbed into bed.