After fleeing the famine, my older sister and I married the brother next door.

Upon arriving in town, a few people had already gathered in front of De Ge's eldest son's house, all there to watch the commotion. De Ge went up and knocked on the door. His eldest son opened it, his face ashen, his eyes sunken, as if he hadn't slept for days. Seeing his father and uncles arrive, he lowered his head and stepped aside without saying a word.

The Zhou family had arrived. Old Master Zhou sat in the main room, several sheets of paper spread out in front of him, with his daughter sitting beside him. The woman had her head down, her hand on her stomach, making her expression unreadable. Several Zhou relatives stood in the courtyard, some smoking, their voices low. The atmosphere in the main room was tense.

When De Ge entered, Old Man Zhou stood up, as if to say something, but then swallowed his words. De Ge sat down opposite him, while Second Uncle and Chen's father sat in the middle.

They argued all morning. The Zhou family wouldn't let go of the house, saying their daughter had been married into the family for so long, she deserved a share, even if she hadn't done anything particularly meritorious. De Ge's side wouldn't budge, saying the children weren't even theirs, how dare she ask for the house? They'd already done more than enough by giving her face and agreeing to a divorce. Both sides went back and forth, neither willing to yield.

In the end, it was Old Man Zhou who made the decision. He stood up, slammed his hand on the table, and said in a voice filled with anger and shame, "We agree to a divorce. My daughter will leave with nothing. The Zhou family accepts this."

The main room fell silent. The woman looked up at her father, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but was glared at fiercely by Old Man Zhou, and she lowered her head again.

Old Man Zhou had his family pack their belongings, then wrote a divorce agreement in front of everyone, signed it, and pressed his fingerprint on it. De Ge's son also signed it, his hand trembling so badly that he had to sign it several times before he could finish. From beginning to end, he didn't look at the woman he had once sworn brotherhood with once.

The Zhou family left. As the woman walked away, she paused at the courtyard gate, glanced back, seemingly looking at something. But she quickly turned around, got into the oxcart with her father, and never looked back again.

Chen's father and the others returned. The oxcart traveled back to the village, the sun already setting. Chen's father leaned against the cart, eyes closed, saying nothing. Chen Dashan and Chen Xiaohe sat at the back, neither speaking. Brother De got off at the village entrance, thanked them, his expression a mix of relief and heaviness.

"Let Brother De's family have a good talk," Chen's father said to Chen Dashan after getting out of the car, and then walked home.

In the Chen family courtyard, smoke was already rising from the kitchen chimney. Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing were busy in the kitchen, and the water in the pot was bubbling away.

Some things have ended, but some days still go on. The Chen family's life, too, continues.

----

"Dad, how come the news about De Ge's eldest son getting a divorce spread so quickly? The whole village knows about it. It shouldn't have spread like this when it was just a few of you who went there."

Chen Xiaohe squatted under the old locust tree in the yard, holding a twig in his hand, idly drawing on the ground, his tone filled with confusion. He looked up at his father, his expression as if pondering an unsolvable problem—everywhere he went these past few days, people were talking about this matter, even when he went to fetch water from the well. It was either about De Ge's family or how that woman was unvirtuous, repeating the same few things over and over, until his ears were calloused.

Father Chen was sharpening his sickle. The autumn harvest was just around the corner, and all the farm tools needed to be put away neatly. He pushed the sickle back and forth on the whetstone a few times, then stopped, tested the blade with his thumb, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast. How far is the town from the village? It only takes half an hour by oxcart at most. Many villagers go to town to sell things and do business; sooner or later they'll find out. If one person knows, won't the rest know too? Your Aunt Ermu has such a mouth; she can circle the village three times a day. If she knows, it's the same as the whole village knowing." Father Chen put down his sickle and picked up another. "I estimate this matter will spread throughout the village for ten days to half a month before something new can suppress it. People's mouths are like two layers of skin; they can talk a lot."

Chen Xiaohe threw the branch he was holding on the ground, stood up, patted the dirt off his pants, hesitated for a moment, and finally asked, "Dad, do you think if Brother De hadn't insisted on finding a girl from town, would all this have happened? If he had just settled for marrying a farmer's son, someone he knew well, hardworking and reliable, wouldn't all this mess have been avoided?"

Chen Dashan came out of the carpentry workshop, holding a freshly planed wooden board in his hand, squinting in the sunlight to check its smoothness. Hearing his younger brother's words, he put down the board, walked over, squatted down by the well, scooped up a ladle of water, drank a few mouthfuls, wiped his mouth, and then took over the conversation.

"Brother De was blinded by greed back then. The woman's family only had her, plus shops and a house. After her parents passed away, wouldn't everything belong to her? If they continued living together, wouldn't everything belong to Brother De's family?" He put the ladle back in the bucket, looked at his younger brother, his tone not harsh, but every word hit the nail on the head. "Brother De's family also had the mentality of taking advantage of someone else's family fortune. Otherwise, they wouldn't be in this situation today. Those who try to take advantage often end up suffering the greatest losses. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."

Father Chen stacked the sharpened sickles against the wall, stood up, rubbed his back, looked at his two sons, and sighed. He neither agreed nor disagreed, only saying, "One must have a kind heart. When choosing a wife, choose virtue, not a dowry. When looking for someone to settle down with, don't look for a shop or a house. If your heart is not upright, everything is empty."

As Chen Xiaohe listened, he suddenly shuddered, rubbed his arms, and spoke in a serious tone unlike his usual talkative and cheerful youngest son: "This whole thing has given me a psychological trauma. When Shi Tou, A Ji, and A Fu are looking for a wife, they'd better be very careful and not marry a woman like this. It's terrifying. Just thinking about it makes me scared."

Mr. Chen glanced at his youngest son, a barely perceptible smile appearing at the corner of his eye, but he quickly suppressed it. He bent down, picked up the freshly sharpened sickle, examined the blade against the light, and said with a firm yet calm tone, "We'll see. The child is still young; focus on his studies first. Being a good person is more important than academics. If your heart is upright, you won't go astray."

The sun gradually rose higher, and the shadows shrank inch by inch. In the Chen family courtyard, the sound of sharpening knives rose again, a sharp, rhythmic sound like autumn sharpening its sickle, awaiting the harvest. Life is like that, with good times and bad, sunny days and cloudy days, but as long as the string in one's heart remains taut, the path won't stray. The Chen family's life must continue, well done.