Chapter 11

Ning Guan, who was still young and ignorant, could not understand why his mother did not love him as much as his brothers. In fact, Lan Jiu hated Ning Guan because she could not have any more children. After giving birth to Ning Guan, she hated him for only having three children. She wanted a daughter so that she could raise her well. Ten years later, the grown-up Ning Guan knew what his mother was like and did not hold a grudge. He was still as filial to her as ever. Even though his father tried to prevent him from hating his mother, he only felt resentful. When he was old enough to marry, his two brothers asked for his hand in marriage and received a lot of money from his mother. As for him, who had a lover in another village, he did not receive a single cent from her. She also refused to let him take her into his home. Until his father had to step in and handle things for him. His father gave Ning Guan a lot of money and betrothal gifts, which made Lan Jiu even more dissatisfied with her husband's favoritism. Ning Zheng explained that it was because Ning Guan had been helping him with his herb garden all along. It was not strange for him to repay his beloved son. It made the others in the house not dare to say anything. They were not as good at studying as Ning Guan. Let alone working on growing herbs in the house. They had never done it since they were children like Ning Guan. Ning Ai and Ning Yi could only wander around the village without doing anything. Because of Lan Jiu's teachings, they could only act like young masters and not care about the housework. No matter how Ning Zheng taught them, the two sons would always claim that they were their mother's beloved sons. Their father could not make them work. Since then, Ning Zheng really did not care about his two sons. Regarding the property that his grandfather left for him, he only told Ning Guan to take it out and use it whenever he was in trouble. He also told Lan Jiu and his other children not to tell Lan Jiu or his other children about this. Ning Guan, who believed everything his father said, promised not to tell anyone. If he was really in trouble, he would take it out and use it in the future. However, now the money he made from selling herbs was always taken by his mother. Ning Guan thought this was a way of showing his filial piety to her, so he didn’t think much of it. But Ning Zheng, who knew his wife’s nature well, told him to save some money for himself so that he wouldn’t have any problems later on. Ning Guan, who thought he had done the right thing by giving his mother money, realized that he was also going to have a family. If his mother didn’t let them eat like they usually did, what would they eat? Even though his father had bought some servants to cook for the father and daughter, if they didn’t have money to buy ingredients, they wouldn’t have anything to eat. Ning Guan promised Ning Zheng that he would save some money every time he went to sell herbs, so that he wouldn’t have any problems in the future. The following year, Ning Guan married his lover Xiao Shui. His mother didn’t care about participating in the ceremonies, so only his father helped him arrange things. His father also took care of the guests. Lan Jiu was afraid of losing face, so she could only smile unwillingly at this marriage. She could only be angry at the father and daughter who didn’t respect her. Even though she had planned to let her granddaughter marry Ning Guan so that she could control him. But Ning Guan married his lover instead. This made her detest Ning Guan and Xiao Shui even more.

Lan Jiu, who saw that Ning Guan's family looked happy, could not stand it anymore. She made Xiao Shui come to serve the people in the house. Fortunately, Ning Zheng was there, so he helped his daughter-in-law not to get involved with Lan Jiu and the others, just like he had his son stay with him.

Xiao Shui had no idea that this would happen when she got married. Ning Guan did not tell her what kind of person her mother-in-law was. Now that she had gotten married, she could only endure it with her husband.

Ning Zheng had seen Lan Jiu's bad situation for a long time. He wanted to separate the family for his youngest son, but Lan Jiu did not allow it. She said that if she did not die, they would have to live together like this. This made Ning Zheng unable to stand Lan Jiu's temper. He asked for a divorce and sent her back to her old home. If she wanted to bring her children, she could, but he and Ning Guan would stay here with their daughter-in-law. Lan Jiu had long forgotten about the divorce. When she saw Ning Zheng’s serious attitude, she could only cry and yell at him. This made Ning Zheng even more ready to get a divorce. He had long disliked her ill-mannered nature. Ning Zheng ordered Ning Guan to call the village headman so that he could file for the divorce and send her back to her hometown properly. As for the two children, if they wanted to stay in this house, they had to work. They couldn’t just be lazy and wait for dinner and sleep with their wives. Not long after, the village headman came with Ning Guan. He had thought that one day Ning Zheng would be unable to stand her anymore. And that day finally came. The village headman didn’t think to mediate and help Lan Jiu anymore. He pitied Ning Zheng who had endured for ten years until his children were all married. After the divorce, Ning Zheng also gave her and her two sons a lot of money to get started. From now on, they would not have any more contact with each other. No matter who you are, don't mess with his family here. Otherwise, he will call the authorities to come and handle this matter. Lan Jiu could only feel sorry that she had behaved so badly that something like this had happened. If she went back to her old home, everyone would probably gloat over her rather than welcome her. What about her children whom she had never taught anything good about? What was she going to do? It was true that she could rent or buy a house, but she didn't want to waste the money her husband had given her.