Chapter 81: Separation 2/2

“No need to wait for Dahai to come back; we can split now!” Aunt Jin interjected. She was afraid that if they didn’t do it today, Grandma Jin wouldn’t want to split up the family anymore.

Aunt Jin usually didn’t like Jin Xiaoye much, but what she really couldn’t stand was Grandma Jin. Apart from anything else, the fact that Grandma Jin made them eat brown rice every day was unbearable.

And besides… who wouldn’t want to be in charge?

“The other day, Xiaoshu’s father-in-law came back, and who knows when he’ll come back again… Let’s split now!” Jin Liushu added.

Jin Xiaoshu and Jin Xiaoye also wanted to quickly settle things, looking at Grandma Jin together.

Grandma Jin looked even more despondent.

Grandma Jin was getting old. She knew that her two sons would have to split up eventually, and she had long thought about it. In fact, she had even figured out how to split things up. If they didn’t split up soon, her two sons would probably become enemies… “So, you want to split, huh? Then let’s split today!”

Grandma Jin explained her plan for the split that she had already worked out: “We have two acres of land fields bought with the money earned by the eldest son. The eldest son has more children, and I’ll be living with the eldest son’s family in the future… In the family, there are twelve acres of land fields, three mu for the second son’s family, and nine acres for the eldest son’s family.”

With Grandma Jin’s proposed division, she actually intended to give one of her grandsons three acres of land fields.

Hearing this, Jin Xiaoye sneered, “Grandma, you always say Uncle earns more, that my parents have to rely on Uncle. Is this what you call relying?”

Originally, the Jin family had twelve acres of land fields, more than the Yao family’s original ten acres.

Of course, because the Jin family had more members, before Yao sold his land, the villagers considered the Yao family to be wealthier.

Out of the twelve acres of land fields in the Jin family, ten acres were originally theirs, and Grandma Jin had bought two acres a few years ago.

Jin Xiaoye knew that Grandma Jin favored her Uncle’s family, which had always been obvious, but she hadn’t expected Grandma to only give them three acres of land fields.

Usually, in the village, when there were two sons in a family and both had families of their own, the property was divided equally, and the elderly couple rotated between the two households for meals.

But now? Uncle’s family got nine acres of land fields, while their family only got three!

Her father had planted so much land in previous years, not only to feed their family but also to sell the surplus crops for money, yet they hadn’t received a penny… Now, after the split, her father was getting such a small share. It was quite interesting.

Even Jin Dajiang was dumbfounded.

Grandma Jin had previously said that the two acres of land fields bought later would go to Jin Dahai, and Jin Dajiang had no objection to this. But he thought he would get five acres of land fields.

Grandma Jin also seemed a little uneasy. “I will give you money! The four acres of dry land in the family will be equally divided between your two families!”

In Miaoqian Village, dry land was far less valuable than land fields, but Jin Xiaoye didn’t argue endlessly. She just looked at Grandma Jin, waiting to see how she would distribute the money.

The Jin family had a bit of savings, and Grandma Jin was especially frugal—clearly she had wood at home, but she always put in less straw when cooking rice, serving everyone half-cooked rice.

Plus, Uncle Jin paid twelve tael of silver to the family every year, and they also made money from selling grain, vegetables, and eggs… She could save at least fifteen taels of silver a year.

Before, she had spent some money on Jin Liushu, Jin Mulangshu, and even on Jin Xiaoshu’s wedding expenses, but she hadn’t spent much. In the end, she had even taken out over two hundred taels of silver.

Jin Xiaoye was a bit surprised, and Jin Liushu and the others were even more shocked.

With so much money in Grandma Jin’s hands, what had they been eating all this time?

Grandma Jin said, “Some of this money I will keep as a private reserve, and the rest of the two hundred taels will be divided equally between you two families, one hundred taels each. Since Xiaoshu has already built a new house and prepared for the family, the old house and belongings in the family will go to the eldest son’s family…”

“Grandma, based on the money Uncle has contributed to the family over the years, it’s less than twelve taels per year in silver, and he’s only been a soldier’s servant for sixteen years, meaning he’s only contributed about a hundred and fifty taels of silver to the family. If you want to give them an additional six acres, those six acres of land are already worth a hundred and fifty taels! Now you’re still favoring them when dividing the houses, and I won’t accept it!” Jin Xiaoye looked at Grandma Jin. “Why should all the houses and belongings in the family go to Uncle’s family? Over the years, my parents have worked both inside and outside the family, and Uncle’s family has eaten much more of the grain my father grew, and when there was extra, the money went into your pocket. My father was also conscripted to do hard labor every time… If this goes on, when I get married, you won’t give any money but will take ten taels from my bride price, and what about Jin Moli? You gave her dowry to the Yao family! Moreover, when Big Brother and Second Brother got married, you spent a lot of money, but what about Xiaoshu? You calculated and only gave him ten taels of silver!”

Grandma Jin had always felt that her youngest son was taking advantage of her eldest son, after all, the eldest son could earn money.

But with Jin Xiaoye’s words, Grandma Jin’s face turned ugly. “So what do you want?”

Jin Xiaoye said, “My parents want one hundred and twenty taels of silver! The house, hoe, stone mill, rice bucket… and even the bowls, chopsticks, tables, and chairs in the house, totaling at least forty taels in value. Since these have been given to Uncle’s family, you should give my parents an additional twenty taels of silver.”

The Jin family had quite a few possessions, with many rooms in the house. Not to mention other things, iron tools like hoes and pots were quite valuable, and items like water jars and stone mills were not cheap.

When Grandma Jin heard Jin Xiaoshu’s words, she instinctively looked at Jin Liushu and the others.

Jin Dajiang’s family had always felt unfair before, but now that Jin Xiaoshu had spoken up, they carefully calculated and found that they hadn’t actually been disadvantaged.

The money their father contributed to the family made up for the six acres of land fields they received!

Over the years… their family members ate more and did less work, taking advantage of the situation.

In the end, Aunt Jin said, “Twenty taels is too much…”

“Then my parents would get too little with only three acres of land fields!” Jin Xiaoye retorted.

“Twenty taels is twenty taels,” Aunt Jin agreed without further thought. She had thought they would get at most seven acres of land fields, and with other things to be divided equally, she hadn’t been happy. But now they were getting nine acres of land fields!

And with their family’s house and belongings, which totaled around fifty taels in value, giving out twenty taels of silver meant that the house would become theirs. That was great!

Aunt Jin was afraid that if she hesitated, Jin Dajiang would not agree to the split.

The Jin family split up very quickly. Grandma Jin distributed the silver, arranged where Jin Dajiang would live, and decided that the grain and firewood in the house would be distributed per person. The split was complete.

Jin Xiaoye and Jin Xiaoshu went straight to the house to help Jin Dajiang and his wife pack their things.

“Father, mother, you can stay in the main hall for a few days. I’ll find someone to build two more rooms, and you can live separately,” Jin Xiaoshu said.

Jin Dajiang had been silent all along, but now he said, “There are only three acres of land left in the family…”

“The grain from three acres of land fields will be enough for us to eat,” Jin Xiaoshu replied.

“Yeah, as long as it’s enough to eat, that’s fine. Now that Xiaoshu can earn money, and you can too, our family’s days will get better and better,” Jin Xiaoye added.

If her parents stayed in the Jin family, they would definitely get sick from overwork, but if they split up… with only three acres of land in total, what was there to fear?

In the future, they could even hire people to farm the land!

Although they got less in the split, Jin Dajiang didn’t feel too bad, but he felt sorry for Jin Xiaoshu.

Now that Jin Xiaoshu doesn’t care about this matter anymore… Jin Dajiang breathed a sigh of relief.

Jin Xiaoshu’s things had already been moved to the new house. In the house where Jin Dajiang and his wife currently lived, there were only a few things left for them.

Seeing these old and broken things, Jin Xiaoye didn’t even want to help them pack, but Jin Dajiang and his wife were unwilling to throw anything away… Jin Xiaoye and Jin Xiaoshu could only help them move their things to the new house’s main hall.

“Split up?” Li Qingzhi asked.

“Yes, we split up!” Jin Xiaoye was very happy.

“I’ll help you move your things,” Li Qingzhi offered, and Fang Jinniang quickly stood up as well.

But Jin Xiaoye refused, “You both sit and rest. There’s hardly anything to move, we’ll finish it in one trip.”

Jin Dajiang’s family also hurriedly said, “Yes, yes, just sit down!”

Seeing this, Li Qingzhi didn’t go to move their things, but just helped tidy up what they had brought over.

The bed of this couple was just a few wooden planks, and there weren’t many other things, their clothes were all tattered.

They had not lived well in the Jin family before.

But it would definitely get better in the future. Jin Xiaoshu and Fang Jinniang could both earn money, and their days would only get better and better.