Chapter 439: Chapter 439: The Resentment Grows Stronger

Return to the maternal home, and break away from the family.

Those five words, thrown out there, on top of that brutal statement that was like peeling off their clothes and stabbing straight into their hearts.

The faces of the women present took a rather ghastly turn.

Especially Mrs. Qian and Mrs. Zhang, who were just last night thinking that had they known this would happen, they wouldn’t have married into the Tong family. As if Tong Tiehu was a mind reader, he laid bare and rebuked these thoughts.

Their faces kept alternating between green and white

Could they find a better house to marry into than the Tong Family?

The answer was oblique. They could not.

Like other women, would they be content with getting married then incessantly caring for in-laws and busying with domestic chores and field work, working until they half-drop dead and at a young age morph into haggard and sallow women?

They would not.

So, if they could turn back time, they would…

Still choose the Tong family.

Tong Tiehu was right. They all had a bulging purse, more private savings than other families could accumulate in a lifetime.

But one’s good days are in contrast to the past.

They were now deprived of the lifestyle they had been accustomed to. This displeased them!

They lived comfortably these years, but also birthed children and raised them!

They had jobs to do too, they were busy with chores!

This brutal honesty was too much!

Both Zhu Hongyun and Li Rou had grim expressions. They didn’t hold the same regrets as Mrs. Qian and Mrs. Zhang, but resentment was growing in their hearts.

The Tong family hadn’t separated yet, but that was inevitable.

The vinegar shop had always been managed by Tong Dalong and Li Rou, so they treated it as their private property.

Even if a separation did occur, as the eldest grandson, the vinegar shop should end up as theirs.

But now, the shop had been sealed, and they were forced back to the village.

This resentment was beyond words. They were the young ones, so they couldn’t make a fuss, and all their feelings lingered inside them.

Zhu Hongyun didn’t manage the vinegar shop, but she always knew she and Tong Erlang had a share in it.

Moreover, since they were incompetent in most tasks, the products of the vinegar shop and the fields were their sole income.

Now, overnight, they had lost everything.

Life was hollowed out. It felt like the sky was falling.

Under such circumstances, wasn’t it normal to lie in bed without moving?

Wasn’t it normal to argue over a rabbit?

Did they have to use such harsh words?

Even Tong Dalong and Tong Erlang were in low spirits.

They were also bitter, loose in their discipline, and their wives had decided to strike. But they had never contemplated a family separation.

Tong Erlang was inept at everything, if he was expected to support the household all by himself, he would unquestionably starve to death.

Tong Dalong was thinking his grandfather was the village chief and his third brother knew martial arts. It would be best if their family sticked together like before.

In short, this bunch, each harbouring their own thoughts, had their secrets and intentions exposed by Tong Tiehu. Their faces turned uglier, and the resentment within them increased.

Tong Tiehu huffed heavily, “If you want to separate, speak now. If you want to return to your maternal home, leave now. Otherwise, when Third Son buys back the fields, everyone will have to work!”

Nobody made a sound.

Everyone hung their heads.

Seeing that, Tong Tiehu slammed the chopsticks on the table and stood up, “I am giving you a day to think it over. If you slack off when it’s time to work, don’t blame me for wielding a whip.”

After he said that, he turned to Tong Sanlang, “Sanlang, let’s go to town.”

Tong Sanlang simply nodded, led the ox out, tied it to the cart, and put all the game on it.

Once Tong Tiehu was seated, he waved the whip and leisurely headed towards the village entrance.

At the edge of the village, Qiao Xiaomai was waiting for him.