With a Hammer in Hand: The Xie family’s house is about to collapse.
The Xie family’s drama over splitting the household ended with a completely unexpected conclusion.
At this point, the division of the Xie family was no longer the focus of everyone’s attention. Instead, all eyes were on Xie Lao Wu’s true parentage, especially since it was linked to Jiang Yantang from their village.
If it was just that Xie Mingtu wasn’t the Xie family’s biological child, people might have been surprised but not overly so. However, swapping children—and the kind of children swapped—this was unheard of, almost unbelievable.
For the Xie family, it was like a thunderbolt.
For the Su family, it was equally shocking.
Initially, when Liu Shufeng learned her daughter and son-in-law were splitting from the Xie family, she was so excited that she wanted to send her son to town to buy firecrackers and parade them around the village to celebrate this joyous occasion.
Her daughter and son-in-law were finally breaking free from the burdensome Xie family and would be embarking on a smooth and comfortable life.
Liu Shufeng had already advised them to move out of the Xie family’s house after the split and live in the Su family’s old home. Just the day before, she and her eldest daughter-in-law, Yang Yingzi, had cleaned and tidied the old house from top to bottom, ready for her beloved daughter and son-in-law to move in.
When her daughter got married, there had been no dowry since there was no bride price. This time, Liu Shufeng had her eldest son make several new cabinets and even prepared tables and chairs to furnish the house in advance.
“Xiaoman and Mingtu can live here temporarily. Soon enough, we’ll build them a new house,” Liu Shufeng said cheerfully, humming a tune. She could already picture her daughter and son-in-law’s future: her handsome son-in-law driving a tractor along the rural paths while her daughter tended to mulberry trees and silkworms. The couple would live a life straight out of a Huangmei opera: “You plow the fields, and I weave; you fetch water, and I tend the garden.”
At this point in the song, Liu Shufeng chuckled and added, “…From now on, no more suffering and toil.”
As Su Guodong passed by, he covered his ears and muttered disdainfully, “What are you singing so happily about?”
“I’m singing about a hardworking couple.”
“All this fuss because your daughter is splitting from the Xie family? You’re too happy for something so trivial,” Su Guodong grumbled, finding Liu Shufeng strange.
He noticed that no other mother-in-law doted on their son-in-law as much as she did.
Feeling sour, he recalled how he used to beg for a piece of candy from Liu Shufeng, only to be refused. But when her son-in-law Xie Mingtu visited, half the candy jar would disappear.
He had never seen a young man who liked candy so much—it didn’t seem manly at all. How could he be worthy of his daughter?
Su Guodong still disapproved of Xie Mingtu, his son-in-law, looking down on him in every way.
Liu Shufeng, however, made a playful face at him. “I’m happy, so what? I’m thrilled for my daughter and son-in-law.”
As an elder, Liu Shufeng didn’t go to witness the Xie family’s drama herself. Instead, she stationed her eldest son and her daughter-in-law nearby, ready to step in if her daughter was wronged. If the Xie family dared to mistreat her daughter or son-in-law, the Su family wouldn’t stand for it.
Liu Shufeng waited at home in high spirits, humming her tune over and over until her elder brother Su rushed back anxiously.
“What’s the rush? Have some water,” Liu Shufeng said, unusually generous, pouring him a glass of sugar water.
But Su Yuemin waved it off, blurting out, “Big trouble, big trouble!”
“What is it? Didn’t the household split?” Liu Shufeng asked, her smile fading.
Her Su Yuemin hesitated. “Not sure if they’ll split now.”
Liu Shufeng’s expression darkened, thinking there had been some twist in the household division. “What happened? Instead of looking after your sister, you came running back here?”
“Something huge happened.”
“No matter how big, you should still protect your sister. What’s going on with the Xie family today?”
Su Yuemin took a deep breath and said, “Mother, during the split, Xiaoman and her husband brought out some kind of identification report. It says that her husband isn’t the Xie family’s biological child.”
“What?” Liu Shufeng paused, then suddenly clapped her hands and laughed. “That’s good news! I always said Sun Mei couldn’t have given birth to such a handsome young man.”
Liu Shufeng chuckled, thinking she had seen it all. This little twist couldn’t shock her. She patted Su Yuemin on the shoulder and said, “Look at you, so jumpy even though your sister is already married.”
“This isn’t a big deal. It’s great news—better that he’s not a Xie family child,” Liu Shufeng said confidently, preferring that her son-in-law be an orphan rather than deal with troublesome in-laws.
“They don’t want to give him a share of the Xie family’s property? Fine, we don’t need it.”
“Tell Xiaoman to bring her husband home for dinner tonight.”
Her elder brother, seeing how calm she was, thought she truly had a seasoned outlook. “Mother, the thing is, my brother-in-law was swapped at birth with Jiang Yantang.”
“What?” Liu Shufeng frowned. “Swapped with Jiang Yantang?”
“Yes, swapped with Jiang Yantang.”
“Why are you bringing him up now?” Liu Shufeng felt uneasy at the mention of Jiang Yantang. She just wanted her daughter and son-in-law to live peacefully, without any entanglements involving Jiang Yantang or anyone else.
“They were swapped!” Su Yuemin said urgently, growing frustrated that she didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation.
“Can you explain it clearly? I told you to study when you were younger, but now you can’t even speak properly.”
“Mother, everyone in the village is saying that Xie Mingtu is the Jiang family’s child and Jiang Yantang is the Xie family’s biological son!”
“When I came back, Sun Mei had already gone to the educated youth camp.”
Hearing this, Liu Shufeng nearly dropped the basket in her hands and struggled to stay on her feet.
What? Her son-in-law was the Jiang family’s child, and Jiang Yantang was the Xie family’s?
…The world seemed to be turning upside down.
“Are you serious?”
“I don’t know for sure, but they say Jiang Yantang looks just like the Xie family brothers.”
The Xie family’s attempt to split households ended in a fiasco and ultimately didn’t happen. No one had the heart to continue after the shocking revelations. Xie Jianping decided not to bother asking for the parents’ money. He simply took Qin Xiuying, their children, and their belongings back to their own house.
The next day, they built a fence, marking their separation. For now, they stayed where they were, planning to build a few more rooms in the village later.
Xie Mingtu and Su Xiaoman moved their belongings from their former house to the Su family’s old house. No one from the Xie family dared to stop them. Old man Xie stayed cooped up inside, smoking, enveloped in a cloud of smoke, as if hoping to ascend into immortality and escape the harsh reality of the world.
He was a man who cared about appearances, and now that the family scandal was known throughout the village, Old man Xie couldn’t imagine how he would face others’ gazes when he went outside.
Reflecting on everything, Old Xie deeply regretted his decision to marry Sun Mei all those years ago.
Xie Jianping (the eldest) focused on his own family matters and didn’t bother with Xie Mingtu and his wife moving their things. Xie Weiqiang (the second brother) chased after Sun Mei, while Xu Yanlan stayed quiet on the side-lines with Xie Yaozu. Even though Yaozu wanted to speak up, Xu Yanlan stopped him.
Xu Yanlan understood the situation clearly. Without Sun Mei around, she wouldn’t dare to act out.
As for Xie Huadong (the third brother), he didn’t care whether Xie Mingtu was a biological child of the Xie family or whether Jiang Yantang was his real brother. His own life was in ruins—his wife Zhou Xiaohui had divorced him, his two daughters had left with her, and his only son had died in the womb. Nothing could hurt him more than these losses.
Xie Mingtu quickly finished moving his things and, finally, took a large sledgehammer to his former room, smashing it down completely. With a few loud bangs, the house was reduced to rubble.
He watched as the room he had lived in for thousands of nights collapsed. The dark, painful days of his past crumbled along with it.
All that remained were the bright, warm memories he now had with Xiaoman—their shared space, filled with light and happiness.
Xie Mingtu had no intention of leaving the room for the Xie family.
Su Xiaoman stood by, silently watching his actions.
The villagers naturally noticed Xie Mingtu’s actions, but no one dared to intervene. After all, he wasn’t damaging public property.
Most importantly, he had a hammer.
And that hammer didn’t recognize faces.
Everyone understood that Xie Mingtu had every reason to be angry. Anyone would be, knowing they were meant to grow up in comfort and privilege but were swapped at birth, only to endure poverty, abuse, and mistreatment.
Smashing a house? If it were anyone else, they might have smashed people instead.
Some relatives of the Xie family initially thought about playing the “emotional card” to persuade Xie Mingtu to forgive the Xie family and Sun Mei for her past mistakes. After all, despite everything, she had raised him.
But with that hammer in hand, no one dared to approach. Rural folks knew better than to get involved in a fight—they had all heard stories of peacemakers suffering the most.
In a neighbouring village, two families had a dispute. A well-meaning onlooker tried to mediate, only to be stabbed repeatedly by one of the parties in a fit of rage. That peacemaker died for nothing, while the family he tried to help just stood by and watched.
So when Xie Mingtu smashed the walls with a few loud bangs, the onlookers swallowed their saliva and retreated.
At least he was smashing a house, not a person. A good kid, they thought. He just needed to vent his anger.
After reducing the house to rubble, Xie Mingtu took Su Xiaoman’s hand, and they left the Xie family.
At the Su family’s old house, Su Xiaoman began organizing the items they had just moved. The sewing machine in the centre of the room was already piled with miscellaneous items.
“Thinking about Sun Mei’s snarling face just now, I really wanted to grab a knife and finish her off,” Su Xiaoman said, taking a deep breath as she recalled the earlier events at the Xie family house. She still felt angry.
They had tolerated Sun Mei’s antics for so long, letting her wreak havoc unchecked.
Sun Mei could keep acting up and shouting—it only helped make her own crimes more public. Everyone in the village had heard her admit to swapping children. There were plenty of witnesses.
Child abduction, abandonment—did Sun Mei really think she wouldn’t face legal consequences?
“So did I,” Xie Mingtu said, washing his hands and tidying the bed. The old house had a simple wooden bed with no carvings, and he started contemplating whether to add some decorative floral or animal designs to it.
Su Xiaoman was surprised to hear him say such a thing. “You don’t see her as a mother anymore, do you?”
“She’s not my mother, and she could never have given birth to a son like me,” Xie Mingtu said in a matter-of-fact tone. Then, as if stating an undeniable truth, he added, “My mother would give me sugar water.”
With half a cup of sugar, no less.
Su Xiaoman almost laughed.
“Can you stop saying such audacious things with that honest face of yours?” she said, kicking his leg lightly as she walked over. “You don’t have to pretend with me. Tell me, is the Xie family house going to collapse?”
Xie Mingtu tilted his head, answering with a nonchalant “Hmm?”
“What do you mean, ‘Hmm?’ Is it going to collapse or not?” Su Xiaoman pressed.
Xie Mingtu lowered his gaze, his tone steady. “A few more heavy rains.”
In other words, a few more rainstorms would bring the house down. Xie Mingtu had destroyed the structural framework, leaving it barely standing.
His knowledge of physics had served him well in demolition.
Watching his skilful dismantling earlier, Su Xiaoman couldn’t help but be impressed.
If he played demolition games, he’d surely dominate.
This crafty wolf, Su Xiaoman thought.
The Xie family was unlikely to see better days. After today, Old man Xie, who cared so much about appearances, would probably crumble under the weight of the scandal. As for Sun Mei, she could look forward to prison. Xie Jianping, with his limp and six children, would struggle to get by.
Xie Weiqiang’s family of three would have to adjust to losing Sun Mei’s favouritism and the support of the other brothers. It would be a hard fall from indulgence to frugality—his meagre earnings wouldn’t sustain the household.
Xie Huadong, devastated by his divorce and the loss of his son, had fallen into a state of despair and hadn’t shown up for work at the production team in days.
For now, the Xie family hadn’t officially split, but with Old man Xie, Xie Huadong, and Xie Weiqiang still together, their future looked bleak. Once hardworking pillars of the household, Old man Xie and Xie Huadong were now shadows of their former selves. Xie Weiqiang, once the favoured one, would now struggle to support everyone else—a fitting comeuppance for his previous indulgence.
And in a few days, when the Xie family house inevitably collapsed, they wouldn’t even have a roof over their heads.
Looking at Xie Mingtu, Su Xiaoman thought it was fitting for them to taste the suffering he had endured in the past.
This quietly scheming approach of his—there was something almost villainous about it. Smiling slightly, Su Xiaoman said softly, “I guess I’m not such a good person either.”
At the Xie family, she had intentionally sown discord between the eldest sister-in-law and the third sister-in-law against Sun Mei, deepening their resentment toward her. Especially with Zhou Xiaohui, Su Xiaoman had deliberately stirred her feelings of guilt toward her daughters, making her dissatisfied with both the Xie family and Xie Huadong. In the end, Zhou Xiaohui had chosen to divorce and even aborted her child.
As for Xie Weiqiang’s family, Xie Yaozu would surely grow more disdainful of his grandmother, Sun Mei, and his contempt would only deepen in the future. Xie Weiqiang’s family, a group of parasitic leeches, were always eager to take but unwilling to give.
For Sun Mei, being betrayed by the very grandchildren she had favoured would likely be more painful than any prison sentence. Death might bring finality, but living with regret and consequences would be true suffering.
“Manman is the best,” Xie Mingtu said as he walked up to her, gently caressing her face with a tender gaze.
Su Xiaoman smiled warmly.
She couldn’t wait to see the Xie family’s downfall. However, it was unfortunate that she wouldn’t witness the end of the Su family.
Su Xiaoman knew that in her previous life, the Su family would never have had a good ending either.
That aloof Madam Su had no idea that her spoiled, self-indulgent son, Su Huai, had already become a drug addict. Su Xiaoman had known, but she had chosen to remain silent. Similarly, Su’s father, who flaunted his extramarital affairs, left behind illegitimate children and colluded with a few uncles to drain the Su family’s wealth. Su Xiaoman had known but feigned ignorance. As for the Su family’s decline, they still harboured delusions of relying on Xue Zhenzhen and her so-called childhood sweetheart, the young master of the Qin family…
Little did they know, he was merely an illegitimate son of the Qin family.
Su Xiaoman had seen the real heir of the Qin family, the future master of the Qin household. That illegitimate child wouldn’t be able to remain in the limelight for long; he was merely a scapegoat.
Thinking of this, Su Xiaoman smirked slightly. As she raised her head, she caught sight of Xie Mingtu across from her and froze.
For a fleeting moment, a spark of realization flashed through her mind. She thought that Xie Mingtu, with his deep black eyes and high nose bridge, bore an uncanny resemblance to the Qin family’s true heir from her memories.
However, one was dressed in a tailored suit, exuding maturity and the charisma of a powerful man, a true aristocrat. In contrast, the Xie “puppy” in front of her was just an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old tall, lanky boy with a touch of youthfulness.
How could they possibly look alike?
Su Xiaoman was embarrassed by her own sudden thought. She figured it must be a trick of her imagination since she barely remembered the Qin heir’s appearance—his aura had been so overwhelming that she hadn’t dared to look at him closely.
Maybe it was just her feelings of love clouding her judgment. Somehow, she was projecting Xie Mingtu’s features onto everyone she thought about.
And even if they did look alike, so what? The people and events from her previous life were gone, never to return.
She was Su Xiaoman of the 1970s now.
If she ever returned to the 2020s, she would be in her sixties by then.
“Manman, what’s wrong?” Xie Mingtu’s concerned voice pulled her out of her reverie.
Su Xiaoman grabbed his hand and playfully scratched his palm. “It’s nothing. I just realized how much I like you.”
Otherwise, how could she have memorized Xie Mingtu’s face so vividly?
“I like Manman too!” he replied earnestly. Then, this “big puppy” engulfed her in a bear hug. Tall and increasingly strong, he held her so tightly that she couldn’t break free.
She had no choice but to let him hold her in his excitement.
Fortunately, her “puppy” hadn’t yet learned how to spin her around or perform any French kisses. He was still a rather simple-minded boy who only knew how to give straightforward pecks on her lips.
She retaliated by biting his lips. Su Xiaoman wanted to add some romantic flair between them, but as someone who had just lost her first kiss not long ago, she was inexperienced and clumsily tried to suck on his tongue.
It turned out to be a big mistake.
While Xie Mingtu was straightforward and inexperienced, he was highly intuitive. Su Xiaoman soon felt like her tongue was about to be devoured.
Pinned in his embrace, she hung onto him pitifully.
When he finally let her go, she felt like she had been on a pirate ship, her legs wobbly and her sense of balance completely off.
Kissing him was intense. Having not experienced much in life, Su Xiaoman was afraid of taking things to the next level.
Let’s stop here for now.
Despite his lean and lanky appearance, Xie Mingtu was surprisingly strong and agile, with a stamina that far exceeded ordinary people.
He was indeed just a tiny bit strong.
—Just a smidgen.
Feeling utterly overpowered by him, Su Xiaoman changed the subject: “What do you think about the Jiang family?”
“Why do I feel like you’re not too keen on acknowledging them? Aren’t you curious about your biological parents?”
Anyone learning they were swapped at birth would be curious about their real parents, wouldn’t they? But Xie Mingtu’s demeanour suggested that he wasn’t interested in the Jiang family at all.
Xie Mingtu shook his head. He truly didn’t have much interest in the Jiang family and didn’t know much about their situation.
The Jiang family already had three sons and one daughter; they probably wouldn’t care much about a biological son they had never raised. Besides, Jiang Yantang, the family’s golden boy, was apparently well-loved.
Xie Mingtu didn’t expect to receive much affection or care from the Jiang family.
Seeing him shake his head, Su Xiaoman curiously asked, “Why?”
“I already have a mother,” Xie Mingtu said, blinking. “She said I’m perfect for marrying Manman.”
Su Xiaoman: “…I feel like you’re eager to be a live-in son-in-law.”
Xie Mingtu nodded. Su Xiaoman laughed and lightly tapped his head. “Too bad you’re not old enough yet. You’ll have to settle for being a child groom for now.”
Xie Mingtu: “…”
He hated his age. Why couldn’t he have been two years older?
“Manman, men in the countryside my age are already married…” After all, in rural areas, some didn’t even bother with marriage certificates—just holding a banquet meant they were married.
“Hmm?” Su Xiaoman gave him a warning look.
Xie Mingtu nodded knowingly, enduring the pain as he said, “I’ll wait until I’m twenty to marry Manman.”
Su Xiaoman inexplicably felt a sense of danger. She could already imagine that in a year, this stubborn puppy would probably bundle her up and drag her to get a marriage certificate.
Letting him remain unsatisfied for too long—she wasn’t sure if this was a good idea.
For her, avoidance might be shameful, but it worked.
Xie Gouzi should endure a bit longer, restrain himself a little more. But she feared he might gradually become twisted in his silence, and if he exploded later, she might not be able to handle it.
“Cough, cough…” Su Xiaoman cleared her throat a few times and decided to change the subject to the Jiang family. She couldn’t let things remain ambiguous. “Xie Mingtu, you should go back and acknowledge your birth family. You need to reclaim what’s rightfully yours.”
Sun Mei must not be allowed to get away with it.
How dare she claim that Xie Mingtu was trying to steal Jiang Yantang’s identity? Ridiculous.
Their puppy brother would undoubtedly outshine Jiang Yantang. With or without that identity, it wouldn’t diminish his brilliance.
“Okay,” Xie Mingtu looked at her seriously. “Manman must always stay by my side.”
Su Xiaoman hugged his waist and promised, “I’ll always be with you.”
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