How I Survived in Transmigration with My Ghost Hubby

21. Living Apart from the Lu Family

Translator: Annsmiley

Ji Ran was really pissed off by Granny Lu’s unreasonable statements. In modern times, he was born in a family of farmers. He had seen all kinds of shrews. They fought almost over everything, for example, a piece of land, a dead chicken, a lost goose, etc. And catfights were quite common. But it was the first time that he saw what happened to himself: a man being called thief by his family members while his families stole food from his own house. They didn’t treat him as a member of this family and that was fine. But on the one hand, Granny Lu kept saying that as a member of the Lu Family, Ji Ran should do what he should do for this family and this house; on the other hand, she called him thief for eating food in this house. What was wrong with her? Why did she keep saying that the members of the Lu Family who ate the food in this house were thieves? Was she suffering from dementia?

‘She thinks that the louder she spoke, the more reasonable she is? Then how about I break everything here before I argue with her?’

“Fine,” Seeing that the head of the village said nothing as if he was here to watch a show, Ji Ran said with the corner of his mouth slightly turned up, His sharp gaze swept the room before he fixed it on Granny Lu. “So all of this is about one egg and some flour? Alright, I’ll compensate you. But I have one condition: From now on, I’ll live apart from you. I won’t take anything from you and once I’m out of here, we’ll live separately and we won’t interfere with each other’s business. And don’t tell me that we’re a family and that I’m not justified in living apart from you. Just like you said, since I’m married into this family, then I’m a member of this family. Whatever I earn, I should give it to you. And whenever I eat, I’m a thief. Let me ask you, how am I supposed to live in this family? Today you invite the head of the village here to see a farce. And tomorrow, you’ll ask him to uphold justice for you? In that case, I suggest that you prepare a straw mat and with it I’ll cover my dead body. I just have one question, when a man dies of exploitation and abuse, do those who exploit and abuse him commit a crime?”

By saying that, Ji Ran stopped the head of the village from interfering in this matter. His message was clear: it was okay for you to watch the show, but if you were to take part in it, then you’d better think twice before you said anything!

The truth was, the head of the village planned to be just a watcher as he knew that even the most upright judge could not settle a quarrel within a family. So this whole time, he was just pretending to look serious. He planned to smooth things over and act as a peacemaker. But the plan couldn’t keep up with the changes. With Ji Ran revealing his true intention like that, he felt that he must do something about it. And he thought that what Ji Ran said made some sense. In fact, he didn’t like how the Lu Family treated a newcomer as well.

“Ahem! Ahem!” He glanced at Ji Ran. The head of the village, who had been sitting there as if he were a backdrop, faked coughing twice. And when he spoke, he sounded fair and just, “Granny Lu, this is your fault. Just now, I’ve heard stories from both sides of you. And the argument between you two boils down to the fact that you don’t like it that your new daughter-in-law ate food in your house right after he came here. But he just came here and he knew nothing about the family. As his mother-in-law, you could’ve just told him. Instead, you made a fuss over it and you called him a thief. Don’t you think you went too far? You also said that once he is married into your family, he is a member of your family. Since you’re a family, he ate some food in your house and how could you say that he was a thief? I think that you care too much about the missing egg and flour. But your daughter-in-law also said that he would compensate you. In my opinion, both of you should take a step back and compromise with each other. And you’ll both let this matter go.”

“Sir, it’s not like that. He…”

Granny Lu was not persuaded and she meant to keep arguing, but the head of the village didn’t even give her a chance to talk. He raised his hand and interrupted her.

The head of the village said, “Besides, from what I just heard, you took away all the food that your daughter-in-law got by exchanging wild animals with the villagers while he wasn’t home. Do you think that it’s appropriate for you to do that? You don’t give him any food, and when he got food on his own, you took it away from him. What are you trying to do? Are you trying to starve him to death? Yes, he won’t be able to redress the grievance to others once he dies of starvation, but don’t you forget that this marriage was granted by the Emperor. If he dies, you won’t necessarily end up well.”

Although the head of village was being fair and just, he was also envious. Though there was nothing to envy about that it was a posthumous marriage and their daughter-in-law was a man, the rewards the Emperor had given them were handsome. Granny Lu was too greedy. She had gotten so many benefits from this marriage and yet she was so stingy with the food. Also, he took Ji Ran’s side because he saw Ji Ran was a capable man. The head of the village had met all kinds of people in his life. Ji Ran, who was new here and who was bullied by the whole family, didn’t resign himself to it. Instead, he managed to earn food on his own. The head of the village could tell that Ji Ran was a man who was able to change his fate. A man who didn’t accept his fate, who had brains, and who was competent and diligent would surely achieve great things. The Lu Family were too shallow, and one day they would regret it.

But no matter why the head of the village said that, Granny Lu and Grandpa Lu were both stunned. It was not that they were afraid of the head of the village, but rather, they were intimidated by the possibility that the Emperor might punish them when something went wrong with the marriage. Even though the Emperor was far away, they couldn’t afford to take any risks. What if the Emperor heard about it and got angry? Besides, they were well aware of the fact that the villagers were envious of them.

However, even though Granny Lu was a little angry, her brain was working fast.

She didn’t say anything at the moment, but Leng Xianglian stood up with one hand supporting her big pregnant belly and with the other hand supporting her waist.

“Sir, it’s easy for you to say that. After all, this didn’t happen in your family, so you can talk about this matter in whatever way you want without considering the consequences. You’re after all the head of our village. How can you be so partial?” Leng Xianglian purposedly cast flirtatious glances at the head of the village.”My mother-in-law isn’t an unreasonbale woman. It’s totally understandable if he ate the food because he was hungry. The problem was that my mother-in-law knocked on his door many times but he stayed in the room and continued to sleep. And when everyone else was out doing the farm work, he came out and ate the food. It’s not even about the missing food. He is purely lazy! As for the matter that we took all of his food away from his yard, it’s because my father-in-law got injured yesterday. He is old and needs more nutrition. As his daughter-in-law, Ji Ran should do his part to take care of his father-in-law. There’s nothing wrong with that! Yes, yesterday, my parents-in-law called him thief because of the missing food. But we all know that there are no perfect parents in this world. Sir, don’t you agree with me?”

Ji Ran raised an eyebrow and was about to refute when he was stopped by Lu Zhen.

“We did not lose much food. Just let them have it. Don’t forget your goal of living apart from them,” Lu Zhen said.

Ji Ran did not expect Lu Zhen to be a doormat. No wonder he was bullied when he was a child, and when he grew up, he was forced to leave home. Ji Ran felt both sorry and angry. He hated that Lu Zhen stopped him from refuting, so he looked sullen while remaining silent.

“Later, I will help you take revenge. I won’t let them get it for nothing,” Lu Zhen said in a hurry when he saw that Ji Ran was angry. Actually, he also did not intend to let this family get away with it so easily.

Knowing that Lu Zhen would help him take revenge, Ji Ran felt much better. He instantly looked like he didn’t give a damn about it, “Alright, since our father-in-law is sick and he needs more nutrition, I will give those stuff to him. And here is another matter: From today on, I’ll live apart from you. I’ve compromised, and you should do the same. Otherwise, I’d rather smash everything than give it to you!”

“You! How dare you!” With Leng Xianglian backing her up, Granny Lu instantly felt that what she did was justifiable. So when she heard what Ji Ran said, she was so angry that she stomped her foot.

“You can try and stop me,” Ji Ran swung the rolling pin expressionlessly, “I will count to three. If you don’t agree, I will smash one item in this family! And then I’ll count again.” Since they refused to listen to reason, then Ji Ran would stop trying to reason with them. “One… two… three…”

Bang!

Ji Ran did as he said. Seeing that the Lu Family didn’t say a word, he raised his hand and knocked over the shallow handle-less basket by the door and the beans in it fell all over the place.

“Ah!”

Granny Lu screamed as if she was crazy. And she looked like she wanted to eat people alive.

Ji Ran was not affected and he continued to count, “One… two…”

“Alright!” Granny Lu said that before Ji Ran counted to three. She felt heartbroken when she saw the beans falling on the ground. And then she saw that Ji Ran was ready to knock over the dried millet on the other side, and she couldn’t bear it. “You can live apart from this family, but don’t you think that you can get even a single grain of rice from here. You think that you’re quite capable, right? Then you can make a living on your own. I’ve got a big family to feed and I have nothing to spare to you. And even though you’re on your own from now on, you still should undertake your due obligations. As a daughter-in-law, it’s your responsibility to take good care of your parents-in-law!”