"I heard he made Xiao Lan cry. I don’t know what exactly he did, but your aunt is furious."

Qin Xiaolan was Qin Jiao’s cousin, three years younger than her and in the ninth grade.

She was a rather delicate girl. Although she had a temper, like her mother, she knew the difference between right and wrong.

’For a girl like that to be driven to tears... I wonder what Xiao Tao did this time.’

’Things must have gotten really ugly. Her aunt might actually skip going back for the New Year.’

After a moment of thought, Qin Jiao said, "Mom, if Aunt and her family don’t go back for the New Year, then we won’t go either."

"Okay. I’ll talk to your dad about it later."

That evening, before they went to bed, Su Yun said to Qin Zhonghui, "When it gets closer to the New Year, ask your eldest brother if his family is going back."

"Why do you ask?"

"Your sister-in-law came over today. Third Brother’s family stayed at Eldest Brother’s house last night and caused trouble again. They even made Xiao Lan cry. So, your sister-in-law kicked them out first thing this morning. There was that one time she got into a fight with Third Brother’s wife and didn’t go back for the New Year. I’m thinking, if they don’t go back this year, we won’t go back either."

Qin Zhonghui didn’t answer right away.

Su Yun knew what he was hesitating about. She said, "If we go back, where do you think they’ll have the four of us stay? Xiao Jiao and Xiao Shi are young women now. Are they still going to make our family of four squeeze onto that little kang bed in the north room? Zhong Hui, I know you can’t bear to cut family ties, and I’m not asking you to. But look, sometimes your sister-in-law’s family skips the New Year, and when they do go back, aren’t Mom and Dad just as good to them? They even let them stay in the big house up front."

Sometimes, people have a perverse nature.

You’re always good to them, following all the rules and being completely honest, and they just get used to it. They start to take it for granted.

Then, the one day you stop, they think you’re the one in the wrong.

On the other hand, someone like Sun Li is only nice to the old couple once in a while, and they think their eldest daughter-in-law is so dutiful. And why is that? It’s simply because Sun Li is strong-willed and has a lot of money, isn’t it?

Qin Zhonghui’s heart ached as he hugged his wife. "Xiao Yun, I’ve made you suffer all these years."

Su Yun sighed. "It’s not that I’m afraid of hardship or hard work. The problem is that I endure it all and get no appreciation in the end. It’s truly disheartening. Since we’ve already taken the first step in separating ourselves, we shouldn’t hesitate on the second. Don’t worry about anything else. We can just be like Eldest Brother’s family. We’ll be filial when it’s called for, so they can’t look down on us. But of course, we absolutely will not let Third Brother and his wife leech any more money off of us. The money I earn is for my two daughters. That lazy, greedy couple can forget about getting another single cent from me!"

Hearing his wife speak so reasonably, Qin Zhonghui finally nodded. "Alright, I’ll listen to you. When it’s closer to the New Year, I’ll sound out Eldest Brother beforehand. However, if his family does end up going back, then we have to go too, no matter what. If it’s really bad, we can just stay one night and then come back."

"Deal."

The couple always discussed things and made decisions together. Having settled the matter, they fell into a deep sleep.

But the New Year was still far off, more than two months away, and Qin Jiao’s third monthly exam had arrived.

Qin Jiao didn’t know what happened with the Shen Family’s affairs afterward, but she saw that Shen Yi seemed to be doing alright every day, so she didn’t ask.