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  Atlas Studios

  Xia Zhenyuan carried Xia Cha into the hall. Qiu Zhi crouched down and pulled Xia Cha into her arms.

  “Dear, it hurts a lot, doesn’t it?”


  Xia Cha blinked at Qiu Zhi quietly and said softly, “Mom, don’t worry. It doesn’t hurt.”


  The tears in Qiu Zhi’s eyes fell on Xia Cha’s face.

  Old Master Xia came out with two dead snakes. After asking Xia Zhenxiang to throw the two dead snakes out, he walked up to Xia Wangshi and raised his hand to slap her.

  This slap shocked everyone in the room.

  Old Master Xia had always turned a blind eye to Xia Wangshi’s strong bias at home……

  To Old Master Xia, it didn’t matter as long as their family stayed together.

  He would never allow the second branch to leave the family.

  After Old Master Xia hit Xia Wangshi, he looked at Xia Zhenyuan. “Zhenyuan, about Xing’er, it was indeed your mother’s fault. I’ll immediately get the elders and the three families to follow you to the river to look for her. It’s been a day and you haven’t found her, but she might still have a chance at survival…”


  Before Old Master Xia could finish, Xia Cha struggled out of Qiu Zhi’s arms and knelt on the ground. “Grandpa, please let our family live! It’s fine if Grandma doesn’t care about my mother’s illness, but she’s always scolding and saying that my mother gave birth to useless children and didn’t give my mother any tonic. My second sister only took a few eggs at home and wanted to nourish my mother, but she was treated as a thief.”


  “My father has been working hard for the family for so many years. His wife and daughter are sick and he doesn’t even have the money to buy tonics. Is this how a human should live?”


  “Are you only willing to let us go after our entire family dies in Grandma’s hands?”


  Xia Wangshi was furious after being slapped by Old Master Xia. When she heard Xia Cha’s words, she stood up from the chair and pointed at Xia Cha, shouting, “You little brat, what are you saying? If I abused you and your mother, do you think you’d still be alive today?”


  “Grandma, if you’re fairer, our family can choose not to leave today. In the future, my father can keep his own salary. My mother, Eldest Aunt, and Third Aunt will be treated equally and not do housework. Our family will eat together at the table. After the three of us get into a good high school and university, you can pay for us to attend it!”


  Not only did Xia Wangshi disagree with Xia Cha’s words, but Ye Guixiang and Fang Liu disagreed too.

  If Qiu Zhi was not doing housework anymore, did she expect them to do it?

  “No, your mom has coarse skin and was born to do housework,” Ye Guixiang said.

  “That’s right. Your Mom has done it all these years. If she doesn’t do it, who will?” Fang Liu pouted. “Anyway, I won’t.”


  Xia Cha looked at Xia Zhenyuan. “Dad, did you hear that? They only treat my mother as a free servant.”


  Xia Zhenyuan’s lips trembled and he fell to his knees with a thump.

  He kowtowed three times to Old Master Xia and Xia Wangshi. His eyes were red as he said firmly, “Dad, Mom, Ah Zhi has suffered too much with me. I want to be nicer to her and the children for the rest of my life. Let’s split up!”


  At this moment, Xia Lan had brought the elders of the Xia family and the elders of the county over.

  Old Master Xia hated to air his dirty linen in public. Seeing that Xia Lan had gotten outsiders over, his expression changed.

  Xia Lan had already told the elders about their family matters.

  Now that Xia Xing’s fate was unknown, the second branch’s family was determined to split from the family. An authoritative elder said, “Someone’s about to die. Old Master, you should respect the second branch’s opinion. An honest person has been forced to this extent. Do you really want to drive them to death?”


  Everyone in the county knew the character of Xia Wangshi and the second branch’s temperament.

  Old Master Xia looked at Xia Zhenyuan, Qiuzhi, Xia Lan, and Xia Cha who were kneeling on the ground. He had a bitter expression and sighed. “Zhenyuan, have you thought it through?”


  Xia Zhenyuan glanced at Qiu Zhi beside him. Seeing that her hair had turned white, he said firmly, “Dad, I’ve made up my mind.”


  “Since that’s the case, let’s split!”


  Xia Wangshi wanted to say something, but seeing Old Master Xia’s gaze and the elders of the Xia family, she had no choice but to accept this decision.

  Old Master Xia looked at Xia Wangshi. “You can divide our assets. Give the second branch what they deserve.”


  Xia Wangshi glanced at the second branch, who was kneeling on the ground, and said with a tense expression, “Since your family is determined to split from us, I’ll do the math for you.”


  “All these years, although Zhenyuan has handed over his salary to me, the three children in the family have used up most of it on their school fees, food, and clothes. When Xia Cha got into a car accident a few days ago, I spent a large sum and I even had to fork out some of my own money.”


  “As for the paddy fields and orchards, the orchards have long been managed by your older brother. The paddy fields have been taken over by Third Brother to sublet to the big boss. If you want to split our assets, you can only get a few chickens and a thousand dollars for living expenses.”


  “Also, my heart hurts when I see your family now. You can’t stay here anymore. There’s a desolate mountain in the south that belongs to our Xia family. I’ll give that piece of land to your family.”


  When Xia Zhenyuan and Qiu Zhi heard about the unfair division of assets, they both frowned.

  This was driving their family to their deaths!

  Not giving them anything but a barren mountain? How were they going to live in the future?

  Hearing this, Xia Cha felt that it was good.

  That desolate mountain would be very useful in the future.

  “Dad, Mom, it’s a good thing that we can leave.”


  Xia Lan nodded as well. If they could leave, there would still be hope even if they were a little poor. They would finally be able to live their own lives.

  Qiu Zhi knew Xia Wangshi’s personality. She would not give them anything.

  She nodded. “If Mom feels that it’s fair, we have no objections.”


  Xia Wangshi snorted. “Move out tomorrow morning.”


  After signing the agreement, Xia Cha’s family returned to their room.

  Xia Zhenyuan’s eyes were red as he looked at Qiu Zhi and the two children. He sighed. “I’m the one who let you guys and your mother down. I only found out today that I was just a laborer in the Xia family. They didn’t treat me as their son at all.”


  “Let’s not talk about this anymore. I won’t let you starve in the future. I’ll go out and find Xing’er first…”


  “Dad, I’m here.”


  Hearing Xia Xing’s voice, Xia Zhenyuan turned around and saw Xia Xing coming out of the room. His eyes widened. “H-How is this possible?”


  “After Cha Cha came back, she found Xing’er. We lied to you and said that we didn’t find her because we wanted to leave the family,” Qiu Zhi said.

  Xia Zhenyuan understood the good intentions of his wife and daughter. He did not blame them.

  The family clasped their hands together. “The house on the mountain is even more dilapidated than this. Are you guys afraid?”


  Qiu Zhi and the three children shook their heads.

  “No.”


  “If you’re not afraid, we’ll pack our things now and leave tomorrow morning.”


  “Alright!”


  This was the first time Xia Cha had seen her family smiling sincerely after she had woken up from the car accident.