"I truly regret it, if I knew your heart was this big, I would’ve definitely made you suffer more earlier on!" Gu Dafu wept, with only these two children, he was willing to risk his life to ensure they could have a good life, but Sister Mei was now cutting off his livelihood. "All the hardships she suffered escaping famine on the road, she’s just someone who remembers food but forgets beatings." Third Grandpa sneered, asking the weeping Gu Yumei sprawled on the ground, "Old man asks you one last time, did you really not tell anyone about the matters inside the Hua’er workshop?" Gu Yumei, looking at Third Grandpa’s stretched, gloomy old face, was so scared that she shivered, "I, I didn’t say ... Third Grandpa, I really didn’t ... wuwuwu ..." "What happened? Gu Yumei, why are you crying again? You cry every day, you’ve even made the God of Wealth run away with your crying." Mrs. Chen returned from closing her stall in town and heard Gu Yumei’s crying even before entering the house. Entering the main room, she saw Gu Yumei prostrate on the ground, Third Grandpa sitting with a cold face, Gu Jin’an holding a piece of paper on one side, the elder brother holding a piece of kindling in his hand, with Brother Xing stopping him with his hand as if to prevent the elder brother from hitting anyone. Her man was pulling their own two kids, looking painfully at Gu Yumei. Mrs. Chen immediately angrily asked, "Gu Yumei, what evil have you done again?" Third Grandpa didn’t hide anything and spoke about Gu Yumei secretly interacting with Zou Yuwan’s maid, meeting with Hua’er behind the family’s back, and receiving gifts from Zou Yuwan. Mrs. Chen was stunned, not yet recovered, when Third Grandpa took the severance document from Gu Jin’an’s hand, slapped it onto the table beside him, and said, "This is the severance document. You sign it with your fingerprints; from then on, there’ll be no relations between the workshop and your family. From there, your family can associate with whoever you please, and we will not interfere. Whether you live or die, are rich or poor, it’s all up to you." "Severance document? What is that?" Mrs. Chen had no idea what a severance document was. Gu Jin’an said, "Aunt Da Gui, it means that your family will withdraw from the workshop, and you’ll no longer be one of its Dong Families. Simply put, your family won’t get a single copper coin from the workshop’s earnings." Not a single copper coin from the workshop earnings! Mrs. Chen exploded, "Why kick my family out of the workshop?" Third Grandpa sneered, "Because Gu Yumei secretly kept in touch with Zou Yuwan, because the tofu and spices were made by Xiao Yu, your family just reaps money for nothing!" Mrs. Chen, hearing this, finally understood that today’s matter wouldn’t end well, and immediately snatched the kindling from Gu Dafu’s hand, and fiercely started to beat the still dazed Gu Yumei. "Ah! Don’t hit ... wuwuwu ... Auntie, don’t hit me!" Gu Yumei screamed miserably, rolling on the ground. But Mrs. Chen didn’t show any mercy, the kindling in her hand relentlessly hitting her body. "Stupid girl. Having you play the sorceress, having you interact with Zou family People, now you’ve ruined the entire family’s livelihood, I’ll beat you to death, you disaster-bringing star!" "I’ve warned you so many times, and you never listen, and now you dare to meet Zou Yuwan’s maid behind our backs, do you want to kill us?" "Now because of you, our family has to sign some severance document, and we’ll have nothing coming in, want the entire family to live on Northwest wind?" Mrs. Chen’s cursing intensified as she kicked Gu Yumei twice, spat on her, and continued to curse, "You’re still dreaming of being a young lady, pah! You’re just a girl from a poor family; it’s good enough that you have something to eat, not being sold is already fortunate. Forgot the time while fleeing famine, when you were so hungry you snapped up even boiled bean leaf mix? The family cares for you, but you only bring disasters, you damned girl, I’ll beat you to death!" Mrs. Chen was truly ruthless, snapping thick firewood as thick as a wrist, and Gu Yumei was beaten so severely she could not even scream. Blood marks appeared on her face, head, and body as she curled up on the ground, silently wailing. Mrs. Chen, still not satisfied, wanted to go outside to find an even larger piece of firewood to hit her with. Gu Dagui hurriedly stopped her: "Enough, stop hitting her, if you hit Sister Mei any more you’ll kill her!" "I intend to beat her to death today," Mrs. Chen said, landing a kick on Gu Dagui’s knee, almost bringing him to his knees. Despite fearing that Mrs. Chen might kill someone, he grasped the hem of her clothing firmly. Mrs. Chen yanked back her clothes, cursing: "You all indulge her, now see what has happened, now Third Uncle wants to kick us out of the workshop. With no money in the future, how will our family survive?" "No, this mess was caused by Gu Yumei herself, it has nothing to do with our family, we can’t be dragged down by her." Mrs. Chen fell to her knees with a thump in front of Third Grandpa, pleading, "Third Uncle, please decide for my husband and me to split the family, we want to live separately, not eat from the same pot as the elder brother’s house. Don’t kick my husband and me out of the workshop, we don’t ask for much, just half of the workshop’s dividends. Please make the elder brother’s house withdraw their shares, this is their fault!" "Brother Wang, Brother Fa, you two rascals come here and kneel quickly, beg Third Grandpa," Mrs. Chen called out, then immediately kowtowed to Third Grandpa. Gu Dewang and Gu Defa were already scared silly. After a while, Gu Dewang recovered and hurriedly pulled Gu Defa to kneel down and kowtow to Third Grandpa. Third Grandpa watched the three of them – Mrs. Chen and her sons – kowtowing in front of him, his face dark as he sat without saying a word. Gu Dagui said: "Wife, we can’t split up, we can’t split up." Mrs. Chen spat out: "The in-laws are dead, why can’t we split up?" "You had previously promised me," Gu Dagui pleaded softly, "Don’t make a fuss, from now on you can be in charge at home, I won’t touch a single copper coin of our money, I’ll keep it all hidden for you, alright? We really can’t split up now." Mrs. Chen had once promised Gu Dagui that if the elder brother did not remarry, their family would not split before Gu Yumei and Gu Dexing got married. Especially Gu Yumei, as a mourning eldest daughter, her reputation was not good. If they split up and she had no female elder to guide her, it would be hard for her to marry in the future, and people would gossip. Remembering the kindness of Gu Yumei’s birth mother, Mrs. Chen had agreed. "Gu Yumei refuses to reform. I’m fed up with her, we must split up this time!" Mrs. Chen shouted. Third Grandpa, however, said: "Your family is under Gu Dafu’s charge. When you first started the tofu and spices business, it was one family. If you want to leave now, it should be your whole family leaving, trying to split up now is pointless." Hearing Third Grandpa’s words, Gu Jin’an frowned. What was Third Grandpa trying to do? After hearing Third Grandpa’s words, Mrs. Chen cried miserably: "Third Uncle, please have mercy on Brother Wang and his brothers, give them a way out. They haven’t done anything wrong, they shouldn’t be implicated by Gu Yumei." Seeing Third Grandpa not agree with the family split, Gu Dagui felt a sense of relief, and hurriedly kneeled down to kowtow along with Mrs. Chen. Gu Dexing also immediately pulled Gu Dafu to Third Grandpa’s side, pleading, "Third Grandpa, Sister Mei doesn’t understand, we will look after her in the future. Please show mercy, spare our family this time, don’t drive us out of the workshop."