Divorce with three kids? I'll build a house and eat meat, driving my in-laws crazy.

Chapter 279 Punish Together
Qiqi didn't chase after the two; she just tilted her head and stared at Chen Jintong.

Chen Jintong knew that she had been abandoned by her elder brother and Chen Huaidi, and she was both angry and scared.

That wretched girl Chen Huaidi has always been selfish; it's one thing for her to run away.

But his older brother, that's his own brother, how could he abandon him?

Since we all came together, shouldn't we have said something before we ran?

Chen Jintong, holding two wooden sticks, waved them haphazardly and quickly ran to the door.

Chen Huaidi and Chen Jinbang exchanged a glance, both filled with hatred for Chen Jintong.

That idiot always manages to lure the dogs to them.

He's trying to kill them, you fool!

After fiddling around for a while, the two realized that the door was actually locked from the inside.

Chen Jinbang was sweating profusely. What was going on?

Why is the door locked from the inside too?

Chen Huaidi thought about it more deeply, "Is someone keeping watch at night?"

That means there are other people here.

The three siblings huddled together in fear.

Chen Jinbang said, "Impossible, everyone has gone home after work."

Who wouldn't want a warm bed and a wife and kids? Why stay in this cold workshop?

"Big brother, I'm hot!" Chen Jintong cried out. "Big brother, I'm cold!"

Chen Jinbang was thoroughly annoyed by the calling. "Are you stupid? One minute it's hot, the next it's cold."

"What are you doing?" A cold voice came from above the three of them.

Wang Tieniu's tall figure was stretched to a full three meters long by the moonlight.

Chen Huaidi stared at him blankly, then her eyes lit up.

It seems she's been working in the wrong direction all along.

She tried to climb up to wealthy people like Master Bai and Chu Yu several times but failed.

Since she can't find a rich man, why doesn't she find someone with a fist?

With fists, why worry about not making money?

If someone refuses to give it to you, just take it.

Chen Huaidi looked at the tall Wang Tieniu and suddenly became aroused. "Brother Tieniu, you are so mighty! I'm so scared. My heart is pounding. You can touch it if you don't believe me."

As he spoke, he reached out and pulled Wang Tieniu's hand to his chest.

Wang Tieniu jumped back a step in fright, shouting, "Are you crazy?!"

This girl must have some serious illness; why does she try to give herself to everyone she meets?

Is she some cheap, worthless slut?

As a fellow villager of Chenjia Village, Wang Tieniu naturally knew about the Chen family taking Chen Huaidi around to find a partner.

After looking at so many people, none of them took a liking to Chen Huaidi.

This girl definitely has something going on.

Now, he thinks her biggest problem is her brain.

Aunt Li once said that people with poor brains are most likely to take advantage of their lack of brains to do whatever they want.

He's already engaged; everyone in Chenjia Village knows that.

Chen Huaidi is still like this; she's not only sick, but also shameless.

Wang Tieniu retreated as if he had seen something dirty.

Chen Jinbang suddenly felt this was a good opportunity and pushed Chen Huaidi out.

Chen Huaidi reached out to grab the key from Wang Tieniu's waist, and Wang Tieniu was so frightened that he kicked her away.

With a bang, Chen Huaidi was kicked to the ground and swallowed a mouthful of dirt.

She spat out a mouthful of blood and lost a tooth.

"Brother Tie Niu, Brother Tie Niu."

Chen Huaidi's ghost lingered, and Wang Tieniu's head was buzzing.

Just then, the heavy door was suddenly opened. Lü Da appeared, holding a torch, accompanied by several workshop workers. The group of people stared at the three Chen siblings.

What are you doing here in the middle of the night?

Lu Da glanced at the scene in the yard and quickly understood what was happening. "You little brats, you actually tried to set a fire! Arrest them all!"

"I'm so hot! I'm so cold! Why am I both hot and cold?" Chen Jintong suddenly waved his hands and cried out.

Lü Da: "Playing the fool won't work, arrest him!"

The three men were tightly bound together with thick hemp rope.

As dawn broke, Lü Da convened a village meeting.

He denounced the actions of the three Chen siblings, pointing to the dying Hei Zi: "These three are vicious and cruel, setting fire to the workshop and poisoning my dog."

"I'm not saying anything more, let's handle it according to village rules."

Chen Bingxiao and Zhao were summoned and lectured for a long time, leaving them with only two choices.

Either drive the three siblings out of Chenjia Village and sever ties with them.

They should either compensate the workshop for its economic losses, or cover Hei Zi's medical expenses.

Chen Bingxiao was hoping that Chen Jinbang would pass the imperial examination and be filial to him, so how could he sever ties with his grandson?

He pursed his lips and said, "Lord Village Head, could we sever this relationship?"

His eyes were full of flattery, and his attitude was unusually respectful.

To survive in Chenjia Village, one must be a low-level, humble individual.

Chen Huaidi was the first to react, "Grandpa, what do you mean? You want to sever ties with me?"

Chen Jinbang is the future hope of the Chen family, while Chen Jintong is a boy.

Of the three, she was naturally the least valuable and the easiest to be discarded.

Without hesitation, Chen Bingxiao nodded and said, "I won't be your grandfather anymore."

Sacrificing one granddaughter to save two precious grandsons—this deal seems like a great bargain no matter how you look at it.

Feng Yuzhu rushed out, clutching her stomach. "No, we're willing to compensate for the losses. Village head, how much do you want in compensation?"

Fang Xingzhi took out his abacus and said rapidly, "Hei Zi's medical expenses will be at least 10 taels, and there's no guarantee he can be saved."

The workshop's firewood is counted as 1 tael, the damaged wall plaster as 2 taels, and the door lock as 3 taels.

That adds up to 15 taels in total.

"What? Aren't you trying to extort money from me?" Chen Bingxiao exclaimed, jumping up and down.

There are plenty of those things on Chaihu Mountain, how could that stuff be worth a tael?
A padlock only costs a few coins, right? This is robbery!
Zhao said, "Let's sever ties."

They can't afford to lose money.

Feng Yuzhu disagreed, saying, "The trouble was caused by three people, so you can't just blame my daughter."

Chen Huaidi looked at her mother gratefully. Her mother was about to give birth to her younger brother, and she was still thinking of her. Her mother had been so gentle lately.

Chen Ertong chimed in, "Yes, all three of them are responsible, and they should all be punished together."

Chen Bingxiao jumped up again, "You can't punish my precious grandson!"

Chen Ertong knew his father was always biased, favoring his eldest brother and his third brother, leaving him caught in the middle and suffering mistreatment from both sides.

He gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and said, "Since that's the case, let's split up and each bear our own losses."

Feng Yuzhu couldn't contain her joy.

She had wanted to separate the family for a long time, but now she had to pay 15 taels of silver in compensation. If they didn't separate, they would have to split the cost together.

If the three of them caused trouble and the money was split equally, she would only need to pay for one person's share, which would be 5 taels.

Although Huai Di was just a maid, her dowry should be at least 10 taels, and even after she got married, she could still be expected to continuously subsidize her family.

Even if she couldn't find a husband, she could still get seven or eight taels of silver by selling herself to the Bai family.

This deal is a win-win situation no matter how you look at it.

Chen Huaidi was unaware that her parents had already calculated the costs for her, and was still immersed in the excitement of her mother's kindness towards her.

Chen Jinbang kept gesturing to Chen Jintong with his eyes, and when he saw that Chen Jintong didn't respond, he simply stepped forward himself.

“We didn’t start the fire. It was Huai Di’s idea. She forced us to come. She even said she wanted to take revenge on Li Shi and make her lose everything.”

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he swore to the heavens, "A scholar does not lie. She was the one who drugged Hei Zi. If you don't believe me, you can ask Jin Tong. He can testify."