With most of her love having faded, Wang Cuifen no longer had to worry about "sparing the mouse for the sake of the vase" when disciplining her own misbehaving children.
That evening, while sharing intimate words with Cripple Xie, her heart felt an indescribable lightness.
"Back when I was teaching the eldest, I was always afraid of hurting either his pride or his body. Today, I finally let out all the words I’d been holding back—I’d been bottling it up so long I nearly turned into an old tortoise."
"This time, the eldest really took it hard. He was so angry he fainted and stayed silent the whole day." After all, it was his own son, and Cripple Xie couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy.
Hearing the tone in his voice, Wang Cuifen immediately retorted, "All you see is me scolding him today. Did you ever notice how much I’ve suffered from his behavior? I gave birth to him and raised him—must I endure a lifetime of frustration on top of that?"
Between being angered by her children and angering them in return, Wang Cuifen now chose the latter. After years of swallowing her rage, wasn’t it only fair to give some back?
"That’s not what I meant at all," Cripple Xie quickly clarified. "I was saying you taught him well! That’s exactly how he should be disciplined."
"And it’s not just the eldest—the other kids are full of flaws too. They all need proper discipline," Wang Cuifen remarked critically.
Once the "mother’s bias" faded, all she could see in her children were their shortcomings.
Disciplining children wasn’t something she could discuss with Su Qing—after all, the kids weren’t theirs together. The only person she could talk to about it was Cripple Xie.
Cripple Xie glanced at her but didn’t dare say it out loud: in the past, the one who spoiled the children the most had been Wang Cuifen herself.
During the war years, Wang Cuifen had endured some hardship, but before that, her family had run a small grain shop in the city. They had a modest fortune, and before marriage, her life had been comfortable—she’d never done heavy labor or gone hungry.
After liberation, with Cripple Xie, a disabled veteran, shielding her and a secret stash of money no one else knew about, she’d grown a little proud and indulgent, especially toward the children.
A mother with money was more than willing to spend it on her kids.
If not for the rationing system later, Wang Cuifen would have spoiled them even more.
Cripple Xie had fought battles across the country and seen the world, but guilt toward his wife kept him from arguing with her. Having witnessed so much life and death, he believed that as long as the children grew up safe and sound, that was enough—so he never interfered much.
Now that Wang Cuifen wanted to take charge, Cripple Xie suggested, "In a couple of years, we’ll send Guiying to the army and Jiankang to the countryside. They’ll toughen up in no time. Remember how Jianhua straightened out after joining the military?"
Back when Xie Jianhua enlisted, he’d been downright arrogant—the word "troublemaker" might as well have been stamped on his forehead. In one-on-one fights, no young man in the neighborhood could beat him, thanks to his martial arts training. Was it any wonder he was cocky?
But he’d been young then, just sixteen—no match for the seasoned officers.
No matter how proud, the army had ground him into a proper soldier.
If the family couldn’t discipline them harshly, the military could. Cripple Xie had already sent one child there and was eager to send another.
If circumstances allowed, he’d have shipped them all off for "reform."
Being the one who shared her bed, Wang Cuifen cut straight to the point: "Why send only Guiying to the army and not Jiankang?"
"The policy’s clear. With four kids, at least one has to go to the countryside—otherwise, it’ll raise eyebrows." Cripple Xie sighed. Of course, he wanted the best for all his children, but there was no way around it.
"With the current educated youth policy, things will change eventually. Jiankang could—"
Wang Cuifen had initially planned to push her youngest son into the military, but halfway through, she suddenly remembered: in a few years, China would go to war with Vietnam.
War meant casualties. Their second son was already enlisted—there was no changing that—but she couldn’t afford to lose the youngest too.
"Forget it. We’ll have to teach them ourselves," Wang Cuifen declared.
Cripple Xie had his doubts. Given Wang Cuifen’s track record in parenting, he wasn’t impressed—though she was still slightly better than him.
Not that he looked down on himself, but judging by the past two decades, neither of them had ever been strict enough.
As long as the kids grew up healthy, Cripple Xie was satisfied.
With no grand ambitions, he closed his eyes, ready to sleep.
But just as he was drifting off, Wang Cuifen shook him awake. "I’m not done talking. How dare you sleep?"
Cripple Xie forced his eyes open. "I don’t object to you scolding the eldest. Making Jiankang and Guiying share chores is fine too. Other kids their age have been helping at home for years—only you, afraid it’d affect their studies, never made them lift a finger."
"That’s not it. I just remembered—Su Qing starts work tomorrow."
"Right, tomorrow." Cripple Xie’s mind was blank, but he responded on reflex.
"Let’s divide the household."
Cripple Xie jolted awake. "Huh?"
One moment they were discussing child-rearing, the next—splitting the family?
But Wang Cuifen grew more convinced the longer she thought about it. "This family must be divided!"
Once Su Qing started working, after a month of hard labor, her wages would have to be handed over to the family—not just hers, but Xie Jianhua’s too.
Without division, Su Qing would be at a huge disadvantage.
Wang Cuifen had plenty of private savings, and Cripple Xie’s salary was enough to support the kids. They didn’t need Su Qing’s wages to supplement the household.
Parents like them didn’t lack that bit of money, but newlyweds surely did.
Cripple Xie sighed. "Why must you jump from one idea to another? Our youngest isn’t even married yet. How can we divide the family now?"
"For now, we’ll split off the second son’s family. In the future, any son who marries will live separately."
Wang Cuifen stated it as fact: "In the end, I’ll live with the second son’s wife."
"Jianhua’s rank is just one step away from qualifying for family accompaniment. His wife could join him in the army soon—no need for you to keep an eye on her." Cripple Xie hadn’t caught on yet. He assumed Wang Cuifen wanted to monitor her daughter-in-law, fearing infidelity—a common move among mothers-in-law.
"We’ll discuss accompaniment later. Right now, I’m talking about dividing the household." Wang Cuifen narrowed her eyes. "Do you disagree?"
Before Cripple Xie could answer, she was already making a scene.
"You heartless wretch, Cripple Xie! Back when I was pregnant, you vanished without a word. I took care of your mother till her dying day, I bore and raised your children—and this is how you repay me?!"
She punctuated each word with a sharp scratch to his face, her technique well-honed.
Cripple Xie shielded his face and surrendered. "Fine, we’ll divide it. Since Jianhua’s home, we’ll hold a family meeting tomorrow night and split the household."
