Rebirth Counterattack with Space

The dough was transformed into a large basin of pancakes, and although they contained black wheat, they were primarily made with white flour for the guests, enriched with fresh vegetables and oil. It was quite a decent spread. At least this meal of pancakes alone was better than what the Xie family usually ate most of the time.

More than half of the basin of pancakes was sent out, and it quickly emptied. The Lin family members, eating their fill, burped contentedly, their faces showing satisfaction.

This lavish meal, however, pained Tian Xiaoju to the core.

In her eyes, the rice, flour, and cured meat consumed in just this one meal—let alone when supplemented with other grains—would suffice for her own family for an entire month. Yet it was all devoured by guests in one sitting without her so much as tasting it. How could this not rankle with Tian Xiaoju, who was accustomed to frugality?

From start to finish, Xie Qi did not voice an opinion, even though what was served, the pure white rice and the cured meat chopped into unprecedentedly large pieces, were what his own family couldn’t even afford during New Year’s. His face remained expressionless throughout.

However, if one were to observe closely, they could occasionally catch a fleeting sneer on his face.

Xie Changzu and Xie Changgen both started to feel uncomfortable about their mother’s display of extravagance today. A big basin of white rice, a large plate of fried cured meat, bitter melon fried with eggs, stir-fried water spinach, stir-fried cucumbers, tomatoes mixed with sugar, and a large basin of seaweed and egg drop soup.

It was as if it were a New Year’s Eve dinner.

But in the end, both held back and said nothing. Xie Changzu was silent because it was his parents-in-law who were visiting, and no matter how reluctant he was, he dared not complain.

Xie Changgen, on the other hand, had eaten better at Lu Aimei’s maternal home and felt there was nothing wrong with his mother hosting his sister-in-law’s family so generously.

So even though most of the finest foods were actually brought by his wife’s family, he kept quiet. But the words his father had said last night were echoing in his mind, solidifying his understanding of his mother’s favoritism.

Gazing at the plate of tomatoes mixed with glistening grains of sugar served to the guests, Xie Changgen’s expression darkened.

Back when his wife was pregnant, her younger brother, Lu Aiguo, often brought things to their home, and although he never arrived during meal times, his mother never offered basic courtesies like asking if he had eaten or if he was thirsty; not to mention sweetened water, she had never even served him a bowl of plain water. Each time, it was his wife who took the initiative to serve him a bowl of water. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

During the time his wife was confined after childbirth and could not get up easily, Lu Aiguo would walk tens of miles to visit and couldn’t even drink a sip of water. His wife had some complaints back then. His mother’s explanation was that Lu Aiguo was a junior member of the family, and traditionally, elders did not serve juniors water.

At the time, he had taken this explanation to heart, never questioning it, and had even faulted his wife for making a fuss over nothing. But now, how was his mother treating his sister-in-law’s family, most of whom were also younger members? Why was she now bustling around cooking and serving dishes?

He had thought he wouldn’t remember these details so clearly, but once he started thinking about them, it all came flooding back as though it was etched in his mind...

And thinking about last night, when he went back to the room and found his wife and two children deep asleep, and seeing the items his wife had neatly prepared, his thoughts became a tangled mess like a ball of yarn.

He feared his father’s words might come true, and the thought of his wife potentially taking their children and never looking back sent shivers down his spine. He knew in his heart that he wasn’t truly oblivious, but he had just become used to it over the years...

This morning, his wife was supposed to return to her maternal home, but then his aunt and uncle-in-law arrived. In front of his wife and aunt, his father formally promised that this afternoon, they would invite the maternal families of both daughters-in-law to discuss the division of the household, which convinced his wife not to insist on leaving. Afterwards, his aunt stayed behind to keep his wife company.

When his brother-in-law was leaving, he gave him a very peculiar look. His sister and brother-in-law didn’t greet him from the start, and even when he initiated contact, they ignored him.

Then his wife went to his mother to retrieve noodles, flour, and cured meat before returning to their room, and together with his aunt, they brought in a stove. After that, his wife refused to come out easily.

Under the pressure from Dad, Mom reluctantly handed over the things, and then she kept nagging in front of him. It was the first time that Aiguo harden his heart and did not agree with her, even though he felt a bit of guilt while doing so, but strangely, there was even more a sense of relief.

Early in the morning, he had hurried over to the Yue Family. It was the first time Aiguo’s father-in-law and mother-in-law looked at him with indifference, without a trace of their usual warmth. It gave him the illusion that they already knew everything. In the end, he didn’t even have a sip of water and nearly fled back home.

Xie Changgen hung his head, unable to keep his eyes from glancing towards his own house. At noon, he saw his wife eating noodles alone, but she hadn’t prepared his portion. He deliberately lingered around her, acting as if he was very hungry and eager to eat, but she didn’t even give him a glance...

He started to doubt more and more, wondering if he truly made a mistake. He didn’t want to become the second fool.

--

Just after two in the afternoon, Lu Aiguo’s uncle and his wife arrived at Xie Family Village.

They first visited their eldest daughter, Lu Aijiao’s, in-laws. The in-laws, upon their visit, warmly greeted them and, upon learning that they were heading to their second daughter’s next, the in-laws immediately sent their youngest son to inform Xie Changgen’s house in advance.

Accompanied by their eldest daughter and son-in-law, Lu Aiguo’s uncle and aunt went to the second daughter’s in-laws.

Before they even reached the door, the already notified Xie Changgen, along with his youngest son and daughter-in-law, Lu Aimei, were waiting.

As soon as they met, before even exchanging pleasantries, Xie Changgen looked apologetic, "In-laws, our family has wronged Aimei."

"Dad, Mom." Lu Aimei threw herself into her aunt’s arms, and the tears she had been holding back gushed out violently, "I want a divorce, I don’t want to be with Xie Changgen anymore."

"Alright. Whatever decision you make, Mom and Dad will support you." The aunt hugged her daughter, soothingly patting her back, giving her a reassuring pill.

"Don’t worry, we won’t let you suffer. The daughter who leaves the Lu Family has never needed to endure any humiliation."

Lu Aiguo’s uncle hummed softly, his gaze sweeping over Xie Changgen and his father, ignoring the mother-in-law who stood hesitantly in the yard, a dozen steps away, as if she were invisible to him.

"Dad, Mom... I, I didn’t think about divorcing..."

Xie Changgen’s cold sweat broke out, the father-in-law’s chilling gaze made his whole body shiver, and he struggled to finish his sentence.

Alas!

Xie Changgen Senior looked at his youngest son helplessly, thinking if only he knew this would happen, why did he do it in the first place? Now it was up to him to clean up the mess.

"In-laws, please don’t be like this. It’s said that it’s better to tear down ten temples than to destroy one marriage. Can you consider Dabao and Xiaobao’s feelings? Yesterday, it really was my wife and eldest daughter-in-law, along with the two grandsons, who acted despicably. Changgen was also muddled at that moment, he didn’t understand the situation, and unfairly blamed Aimei. Aimei has been doing very well in our family all these years, and many things were our fault."

Xie Changgen Senior positioned himself very humbly, "We also made a mistake before, thinking it was better not to make a fuss about everything, so we tried to smooth things over. As a result, it led to the incident yesterday, and that was unfair to Aimei."

"Given the current situation, instead of letting the mother-in-law and sisters-in-law live together in conflict, it’s better to separate. That’s why I called you here today, to discuss how to split the family. As the saying goes, ’A tree grows branches, a son grows to build his own home’; this might not be a bad thing after all."