Xu Zifan thought of Xu Shengnan's rebirth and felt quite sorry for the original owner. The original owner had little education and grew up in extremely difficult circumstances, doing everything just to survive.
Supporting his wife and children when he was young, being cared for by his children and grandchildren when he was old, and managing the household finances as the head of the family—these were all deeply ingrained principles in his mind, because that's how everyone around him lived.
He never imagined that the reform and opening up would happen in the future, and everything would change drastically. In particular, the definitions of "blind filial piety" and "autonomy" were exaggerated. If he didn't work, he was considered unkind; if he was the head of the family and the housekeeper, he was considered controlling. He inexplicably got a bunch of charges without even knowing why.
In his previous life, he lived a quiet and uneventful life in the countryside with his eldest son and his wife until he was sixty-five. Although he felt that his second and third sons were unfilial, he didn't think much of it. After all, he had never experienced the good life in the city, so how would he know the difference? In his view, being able to eat and dress warmly was a good life.
However, after Xu Shengnan was reborn, she resented the original owner's selfishness and favoritism, so she openly challenged the original owner's authority, causing the original owner to faint several times. She even pretended to be weak and cried in public, complaining that the original owner was unreasonable. Given the contrast between a reclusive old man and a beautiful, aggrieved young girl, people naturally believed the young girl more.
Xu Shengnan seized every opportunity to sow discord and escalate the conflict between her family and the original owner. Gradually, the whole family came to believe that the original owner was unreasonable and a strange old man.
She also resented her cousin for stealing her fiancé, Song Xin. Upon her rebirth, she immediately used the spiritual spring water to nourish herself, becoming the most beautiful girl in the surrounding area. She would occasionally bump into Song Xin, showing a shy expression, and successfully started a relationship with him. She deliberately orchestrated a situation where her cousin married a county employee, but that man beat his wife, plunging her cousin into a living hell.
She also resented her parents for being useless and blindly obedient like pushovers. However, she couldn't abandon her parents, so she simply brainwashed them every day. When the atmosphere in the Xu family was at its most tense, she pushed them to completely separate from the family. Then she quickly took her parents to the county and lied to them that she sent money to the original owner of the body every month, so they could rest assured.
The entire family had a lot of grievances against the original owner. Given the opportunity, they all went to live in the county. They felt that leaving the entire house and the land allocated to the original owner was already a great act of filial piety, and they would never return home except for the Chinese New Year.
Just as he feared, the original owner became a lonely old man. Going to them only resulted in being scolded, and his health deteriorated. He even broke his arm while getting up in the middle of the night. No one came back to take care of him. The night before his sixtieth birthday, he developed a high fever and died in his house. When he was discovered, his body was already decomposed.
The worst part is that he died with his eyes wide open, unable to understand why he had become unkind. During the famine, he would starve himself to the point of injuring his own body to give food to his children. Now that he was old, he didn't crave rich food; why couldn't he eat rice and eggs? His family wasn't that poor.
What saddened him most was that he was left alone in his old age, with no one to rely on, only an empty house, and none of his children or grandchildren around. Compared to other families who, despite their quarrels, still cared for their parents, he truly died with regrets.
He invited the interdimensional messenger because he was unwilling to accept his fate. He wanted his children and grandchildren to be filial to him, yet he harbored resentment towards them and didn't want them. He didn't want to be a lonely old man; he had worked hard all his life, and his health had deteriorated. He just hoped to enjoy his remaining years and live a happy and carefree life. He couldn't do it himself, so he hoped the interdimensional messenger could, thus fulfilling his wish.
Xu Zifan had lived in this era before and had seen many large, noisy families. Even after the family split up, the different branches would often clash and argue, some even betraying each other. But most still valued family ties, and no matter what, the siblings would discuss how to settle the elderly. Any conflicts would only be brought up occasionally, and they would generally get along well.
It's extremely rare for someone like the original owner to be abandoned by their children and grandchildren like this. The main reason is that Xu Shengnan instigated the conflict to the point of complete estrangement.
Most of them were Xu Shengnan deliberately distorting the original owner's meaning. How could the original owner, a native old farmer, possibly compete with a reborn woman who had lived in a big city?
And just then, the national situation changed, and people's hearts were restless. Their children and grandchildren had been exposed to education and had seen life in the city, so they vaguely looked down on the original owner who was ignorant and uncultured. At first, they might have felt a little guilty about leaving, but later they found that life without anyone to care for them was free and easy, so they all forgot about the original owner.
The only one who might still care about the original owner was the eldest son, but he himself wasn't very capable and trusted his daughter, assuming she had everything arranged. He never considered the dangers an elderly person living alone might face. Even though he wept bitterly at the original owner's funeral, the original owner remained unmoved.
What's the use of regretting it after your father's death if you didn't take good care of him while he was alive?
Xu Zifan felt that the original owner probably treated his children and grandchildren like ingrates, and his heart had completely turned cold. He also looked down on this whole family. He wondered if the original owner's three sons' children and grandchildren would be filial to them when they got old.
Teaching by example is always the most profound form of education. Compared to them, the original owner's mistakes really don't matter.
Xu Zifan went through everything in his mind and felt that the task was not difficult. Now he was a 58-year-old man and had no plans to pursue any career or strive for success. The restoration of the college entrance examination had nothing to do with him. He was content to enjoy his retirement.
But his children and grandchildren are keeping him busy. They have to study, take the college entrance exam, find jobs, get married, and in the future, they will be responsible for household production, building houses, and doing business. There's so much to do.
He was not willing to give them to them.
Worrying about this is a thankless task; they'll complain at the slightest inconvenience. His three sons and daughters-in-law are all grown up, and re-education won't change their personalities. At best, they'll be outwardly obedient, but it's pointless. He'd rather be single and have no family to worry about; that's a much more carefree life.
Having made his decision, Xu Zifan searched through all the money and receipts that the original owner had locked in the cabinet, and had Shaohua record them. Based on the original owner's memories, he also tallied up the total work points for each person in the family over the past ten years, the money and receipts earned, and the family's expenses. For places where he didn't remember clearly, he filled in appropriate figures by combining the preceding and following numbers. Anyway, no one else would remember these things clearly, as long as the final number was correct.
The accounts clearly marked his food, clothing and daily expenses over the past ten years, and a detailed ledger with a clear distinction between income and expenditure was completed. It was all written in pencil and even artificially aged, making it perfect.
Xu Zifan listed the details of the family division on the last page of the ledger, then rolled up the ledger, held it in his hand, and went out.
Dong Fan, who was sitting under the eaves mending clothes, saw him and quickly stood up. "Dad, are you feeling better?"
Xu Zifan snorted coldly, "He won't die."
Dong Fan smiled awkwardly. Xu Aiguo came out of the house carrying his youngest son and said with a grin, "Dad, don't be angry. That little brat dared to talk back to you, so let your older brother beat her up. I'll have my sister-in-law cook you two eggs tonight to help you recover. We won't tolerate that thief in our house."
He noticed the booklet in Xu Zifan's hand and asked curiously, "Dad, what are you holding? Where are you going, Dad?"
"It's none of your business. You'd be better off fixing farm tools than talking nonsense." Xu Zifan left the yard with those words and walked towards the village chief's house with his hands behind his back.
Dong Fan frowned and said unhappily, "Xu Shengnan made Dad angry, why is he taking it out on us?"
Xu Aiguo pulled her to sit down and said with a smile, "He's just taking it out on us. When Dad comes back later, we'll go back to our room and let him vent his anger."
Xu Dawei came out and looked around. "I heard Dad talking. Did Dad go out? What did he do?"
"I don't know. She even took a notebook. Maybe she went to chat with someone. Second brother, you and your wife have seen a lot of naughty kids at school, haven't you? When you have time, teach Xu Shengnan a lesson. She was definitely wrong today." Xu Aiguo shook his head and sighed. "The little girl is eighteen now. She should be sensible by now. She can't do any chores well and even made Dad faint. This is extremely unfilial. She must be properly educated."
Xu Dawei glanced at him and said, "Xu Shengnan has her older brother and sister-in-law teaching her. What am I, her second uncle, getting involved in? If you want to teach, go ahead and teach. Alright, I'm going back to my room to prepare my lessons. School is starting soon, so I'll be busy. When you have time, tidy up the yard and don't forget to take the dishes out of Dad's room."
After Xu Dawei finished speaking, he went inside. Xu Aiguo muttered something and went to Xu Zifan's room to pick up the food. He found that Xu Zifan hadn't eaten anything, so he quickly took the porridge and eggs out. "Dad didn't eat anything either. He must be really angry this time."
He thought for a moment, then winked at Dong Fan to let her come inside, saying, "Dad doesn't have an appetite. You eat with our son. I'll call our eldest son back too."
Dong Fan hesitated and said, "No, this is no good. Today's trouble was caused by the eggs. If Dad wants to eat them when he comes back and finds out we've eaten them, he'll be even angrier. Let's not eat them today. You can take them to the kitchen. I feel like my right eyelid is twitching a lot. Let's not upset Dad today."
Xu Aiguo thought about it and agreed. He swallowed hard as he looked at the eggs and took them to the kitchen.
They continued with their lives as usual. No one wanted to take their unconscious father to see a doctor, nor did anyone want to comfort him. They didn't take it seriously at all, and there was even a hint of schadenfreude in their eyes.
After all, they didn't dare to voice their opinions, and it was quite satisfying to see Xu Shengnan silence the old man. Although it felt rather unfilial, Xu Shengnan was right about one thing: the best food at home should be given to those in need, and they all felt that they were the ones who needed it.
Meanwhile, Xu Zifan had already entered the village chief's courtyard. Now it was a commune system, and the village chief was called the brigade leader; theirs was the fourth production team. The brigade leader, Wang Baoguo, was in his thirties. As soon as he saw Xu Zifan, he invited him in, asking with a smile, "Uncle Xu, is something wrong? You could have just told the boys, why did you come all this way yourself?"
Xu Zifan sat down and handed him the account book, saying bluntly, "I couldn't have come in person. There's no one in the family I can rely on. I'm here today to ask you to make a decision for me. I want to divide the family property, to separate them all out, and to live alone."
Before Wang Baoguo even opened the account book, he couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this. "Uncle Xu, what are you saying? Are you arguing with a few young men? I'll talk to them later. They're not young anymore, how can you upset an old man like that?"
Xu Zifan waved his hand, "I'm determined to split this family. I just woke up after being angered by my eldest granddaughter. If I don't separate from them, I'll die at their hands sooner or later. This family is going to be divided!"