Since Original Owner's husband was gone, Tian Dazhuang was the pillar of the family. The third son was glib and lazy, and the fifth son was still young. There was no reason for her, having just transmigrated, to remove the family's pillar just because she pitied them. Wouldn't that be the end of the world?
Moreover, if they didn't want the fields, who would plant them? Her?
Without harvesters or planters, who would fertilize and turn the soil? Asking someone like her, who couldn't tell her four limbs from her five grains, to farm? What a joke!
Furthermore, if they didn't want fields or houses, what could they do? Become tenants or wander about as beggars?
Being the head of a household wasn't just talk. Even Qin Sang, in modern rural areas, knew that families had to stick together to avoid being bullied.
Tian Dazhuang didn't know Qin Sang's true thoughts. Hearing those four words, his hunched shoulders visibly slumped, as if someone had broken his spine and drained his strength.
He struggled to get up, his body covered in dust, making it impossible to tell the color of his clothes. His patched-up clothes resembled the Nine-Bag Elders in TV dramas, and his deeply sunken cheeks made him look gaunt. Though only nineteen, he seemed like a man in his thirties or forties. Even if Qin Sang didn't feel an overwhelming surge of maternal love, she still found this young man truly pitiful.
At this age in later generations, he would still be a pure and naive college student.
Tian Dazhuang stood up, gave Qin Sang on the bed a deep look, then turned and helped his kneeling wife up:
"Da Hua, Mother doesn't agree to a family division. I have no other choice but to divorce you."
Zhou Dahua's body went limp. She looked up in disbelief at her husband, who was a head taller than her:
"Brother Da Zhuang, you..."
Tian Dazhuang held his wife firmly and explained in a deep voice:
"I cannot be unfilial, nor can I just watch Eldest Girl be sold. I will ask the village chief to write a divorce letter. You take Eldest Girl. Whether you go back to your maiden home or anywhere else, you don't need to stay in this family anymore. This is all I can do."
Zhou Dahua was in agony. What had sustained her all these years was her husband's love. They relied on each other, which gave her the will to live and see their child grow up. Otherwise, she would have jumped into the river long ago.
But now, her husband didn't want her and their daughter. She shook her head in pain:
"No... no..."
She couldn't say she would stay and share their hardships, because if she stayed, Eldest Girl would be sold. But she also couldn't agree to be divorced and leave her husband. She could only shake her head repeatedly, her body uncontrollably falling.
Qin Sang sighed, unable to bear tormenting these two unfortunate children any longer:
"I won't sell Eldest Girl anymore, and don't mention any divorce papers. Eldest Brothers Wife, stop crying, my head hurts."
Qin Sang tried her best to imitate the Original Owner's harsh tone, but felt she couldn't even capture a tenth of it.
Zhou Dahua froze, her eyes still misty with tears, but filled with surprise.
Mother-in-law didn't call her a money-losing good just now.
Did she hear wrong?
Tian Dazhuang was also clearly surprised, turning around with some joy:
"Mother, you're not selling Eldest Girl anymore?"
Qin Sang nodded:
"Whose house did you hide Eldest Girl in? Hurry and bring her back."
The joy on Tian Dazhuang's face vanished instantly:
"Mother, Eldest Girl she..."
Eldest Brothers Wife also seemed to realize something, clutching her husband's arm tightly.
Seeing their reaction, Qin Sang quickly realized:
"You wouldn't think I'm tricking you, deliberately telling you to bring the child back just to sell her again, would you?"
Tian Dazhuang had a constipated expression, clearly having been hit by Qin Sang's words.
Qin Sang knew that Original Owner's image was too deeply ingrained, and it would be difficult to make them dispel these psychological shadows with just a single sentence:
"Alright then, I swear, if I secretly sell Eldest Girl again, may I be struck by lightning and die a terrible death, okay?"
Qin Sang raised her left hand, making a swearing gesture.
She felt no psychological burden at all; if oaths were useful, God would be terribly busy.
However, in ancient times, oaths still held great deterrent power in people's hearts.
After Qin Sang finished swearing, she could visibly see the change in expression on her sons and daughters-in-law's faces. The eldest son and Eldest Brothers Wife were naturally happy, crying and laughing. The third son and Third Brothers Wife looked strange, clearly disbelieving.
Tian Dazhuang was very excited:
"I'll go to the mountain to pick up Eldest Girl right now."
Qin Sang was surprised:
"You hid Eldest Girl on the mountain? Aren't you afraid she'll get lost?"
Tian Dazhuang was a little uneasy:
"Mother, it's not that I'm afraid... I just gave Eldest Girl two biscuits and told her to stay in the cave for two days."
Cave? Two days?
Qin Sang remembered Eldest Girl was only five years old. Wasn't he afraid she'd be carried off by wolves?
Knowing that Tian Dazhuang was forced into this situation, Qin Sang quickly waved her hand:
"Then why aren't you going quickly? Third son, you go too. Bring Eldest Girl back together. Take sticks, don't get bitten by snakes. Be careful on the way."
Tian Dazhuang was eager to get his daughter. He hastily stepped out, but before leaving, he turned back, picked up the chipped pottery bowl beside the pillow, and put it into his wife's hand, instructing:
"Please feed Mother something. Mother hasn't eaten in two days."
Zhou Dahua was worried about her daughter, but she obediently agreed.
The third son was still dazed, but he belatedly followed his elder brother's footsteps.
For so many years, Mother never asked him to help his elder brother. What was wrong today?
Tian Sijin also followed them out the door.
Zhou Dahua held the coarse pottery bowl in her hands. She didn't withdraw her gaze until her husband and brother-in-law's figures disappeared from sight. She turned to look at her mother-in-law lying on the bed and remembered her husband's instruction to feed her mother-in-law. Her heart couldn't help but feel afraid, and the hand holding the bowl began to tremble.
Qin Sang didn't blame her. The Original Owner used to find fault with this Eldest Daughter-in-law everywhere, not only making her work constantly but also beating and scolding her. If something displeased her, she would fiercely pinch her to vent, completely treating this Eldest Daughter-in-law as a punching bag, so it was no wonder Zhou Dahua was scared.
"I'll eat it myself."
Qin Sang reached out. Zhou Dahua thought her mother-in-law was displeased with her fear, and her face turned pale:
"Mother-in-law... Mother-in-law..."
Qin Sang really didn't want to trouble her. She took the bowl from Eldest Brothers Wife's hand and said:
"Go check the chickens in the coop."
To supplement her youngest son's nutrition, the Original Owner kept a few chickens at home instead of selling them. The eggs laid were only for herself and her youngest son. Because the Original Owner ate better than Eldest Brothers Wife, even though she was the mother-in-law, she looked a few shades more energetic and younger than Eldest Brothers Wife.
Eldest Brothers Wife was stunned when she heard her mother-in-law immediately assign her a task. It was as if she had received a great pardon, and she quickly left the room.
The Original Owner hadn't eaten for two days, and Qin Sang felt incredibly hungry when she transmigrated, but now, seeing the gruel in the bowl, she could only manage one sip before she couldn't drink any more.
This was worse than pig slop in later generations; it scratched her throat and had sand in it. Qin Sang was utterly disgusted.
Not even a dog would... eat it, but she had to eat it.
She couldn't go back to modern times. Now that she had transmigrated, survival came first.
Enduring the discomfort of the throat-scratching gruel, Qin Sang finished the bowl. The burning, gnawing hunger in her stomach subsided considerably, and she regained some strength.
She got out of bed, put on her cloth shoes, and planned to check out her surroundings.