Chapter 23: Scheming

“Father, Mother, I’ve invited Seventh Grandpa and Third Uncle over,” the eldest son, Cao Fugui, said to his parents upon returning.

Chen Zhu’s smile faltered when she saw the crowd blocking her doorway. She glared daggers at her eldest son. This idiotic son couldn’t even handle a simple task! He was only supposed to invite the village chief and Lizheng, but he brought all these people along!

“Seventh Uncle, Third Brother, please, come in and have a seat, please!” Cao Adie (Cao Father), quickly put down his pipe and stood up, inviting the village chief and Lizheng to sit down. “A’shan, did you call me and Seventh Uncle here for something?” As soon as he entered the courtyard, Village Chief Cao Ageng took in the scene and was puzzled by what was happening at the Cao family compound.

“I invited Third Brother and Seventh Uncle over today because of a matter,” Cao Adie said, rubbing his hands together, a bit uneasy. “Our family is planning to split up the household, and we’ve asked the two of you to witness it.”

In front of the village chief and Lizheng, even Chen Zhu had to behave properly, standing there respectfully.

“Hmm, this division of the household is a big deal. Have you discussed how you’re going to handle it?” Most of the village affairs were managed by Village Chief Cao Ageng. Counting the family lines, the two families were still relatives; Village Chief and Cao A’shan were cousins within five degrees of kinship. Cao A’shan even had to call Cao Ageng “Third Brother,” and the two families had a close relationship.

Lizheng Cao Gaozhi had a higher seniority in the village. In his fifties, he wasn’t very old. The younger generations all called him “Seventh Grandpa” out of respect. In his early years, Cao Gaozhi had studied a bit and was also a scholar. He returned to Caojia Village to take on the position of Lizheng, maintaining a sense of integrity. However, he understood some things in the village and sometimes felt helpless.

Seeing Cao Jiasilang sitting there looking dejected, with his wife and children beside him, he understood a bit of what was going on when he heard the Cao family mention the division of the household.

“The main compound has four big rooms and two small rooms. There are many children and grandchildren in the family. We discussed having the fourth son’s family move to the old house over there, and that piece of land will belong to the fourth son’s family. As for the farmland…” Cao Adie now felt that his wife’s suggestion of only giving two mu of lower-grade land was too little, so he automatically added one mu of upper-grade land. “*As for the farmland, we’ll give the fourth son’s family one mu of upper-grade land and two mu of lower-grade land. There’s still some grain left in the house. We’ll give 200 jin of red-brown rice to the fourth son’s family. The grain produced by those three mu of land will belong to the fourth son’s family from now on.”

So now that they were giving one mu of upper-grade land, it wouldn’t seem like too little. After all, the annual yield of one mu of upper-grade land was equivalent to two mu of lower-grade land, which was acceptable.

Chen Zhu was about to interject when her husband shot her a glare, and she didn’t dare to speak. Was this giving too much to the fourth son’s family? But now that the village chief, Lizheng, and the villagers were all at their doorstep, she didn’t dare to say anything.

Once these people were gone, wouldn’t it be up to him to decide whether to give it or not? Giving two hundred jin of grain! Dream on!

“Hmm, this is fair,” Village Chief Cao Ageng nodded, asking Cao Jiasilang, “Do you agree with your father’s division of the household?”

Lizheng also nodded, feeling that Cao A’shan’s distribution was acceptable and relatively fair.

“This… I agree with whatever Father says,” Cao Xiangnan knew that his father had given him an extra mu of land, so his mother was unhappy again.

Knowing his mother’s personality, he wasn’t even sure if he would get all the things his father had promised! The problem he was facing was how to make sure that what was given to them wouldn’t be taken back by the Cao family! What was given to them was theirs and theirs alone.

But what to do now?