Chapter 25: Dividing Clearly

“Wanfeng, don’t cry.” Cao Xiangnan felt his heart ache when he saw Qi Wanfeng crying. He reached out to pull Qi Wanfeng, wanting him to stop crying, and could only helplessly reach out to wipe the tears from his face.

It didn’t matter if they didn’t have money; they could find a way. Didn’t they still have three mu of land? At worst, they could sell the land. There was no need to cry and ask these people from the Cao family for money. As a man, if he couldn’t even support his “wife” and child, he would be ashamed to be a man.

Seeing his amo (mother) cry, An’an (child’s name) was frightened and burrowed into his amo’s arms, on the verge of tears.

“It’s okay, amo is fine.” Qi Wanfeng reached out to touch the child’s head, forcing back the tears in his eyes, lowered his head to wipe away the tears, and shook his head to tell his husband that he was okay when he saw him looking at him with concern.

Hearing his amo’s sharp words, Qi Wanfeng wouldn’t have dared to refute his amo in the past. But now, for the sake of his husband, he had to support this family and couldn’t compromise at this moment. Qi Wanfeng looked directly at his amo, saying, “Amo, after Silang’s accident, Silang’s boss also sent two liang (taels, a unit of currency) of silver to pay for a doctor to see him. I don’t want anything else. I just want those two liang of silver for Silang to see a doctor.” These days, he had been feeling uncomfortable and suffocated. His amo could be so cold-blooded towards her own flesh and blood.

His boss had sent him money? Cao Xiangnan didn’t know about this. He saw the tears in Qi Wanfeng’s eyes and felt very bad. It was true that “a penny could drive a hero to his death.” He was penniless now, and wanted to refuse those two liang of silver to show some pride, but when he thought of Qi Wanfeng and the child, that money was rightfully theirs and should be returned to them.

What’s more, now that Qi Wanfeng wanted the money, he would have to find a way to get it.

When the people outside heard this, they gathered in small groups and began to chatter. The Cao family was trying to abandon Cao Silang’s family by dividing them off at this time? Three guan a month was more than three liang a year. Many families couldn’t even earn two liang of silver a year. So, Cao Silang had originally handed over three guan a month to Chen Zhu. That was truly a lot.

The boss gave two liang of silver for medical treatment, but Chen Zhu still wanted to put the money in her own pocket.

The Cao family’s actions at this time were really wrong. Cao Silang was family when he could work, but now that he was crippled, they wanted to drive his family away, not even wanting to give them a single copper coin, and send them away. This was really unkind. “Where is there money?” Chen Zhu’s face turned ugly when this matter was exposed. Clearly, she was the only one at home when someone sent the money that day. How did Qi Wanfeng know? Her eyeballs rolled around. As soon as her money was mentioned, Chen Zhu’s face changed.

Cao Adie looked at Chen Zhu. He usually wasn’t at home much and didn’t manage the household. Chen Zhu managed all the money, and he never cared about it. But he really didn’t know that Silang’s boss had sent two liang of silver over. Chen Zhu hadn’t even mentioned it to him.

“This silver… wasn’t it that I entrusted someone to use it for Fifth Son’s studies? Fifth Son needs money every month to buy books and writing materials. I, as a pitiful amo, have no ability and can’t even afford to buy pens, ink, and paper for my Fifth Son. Caojia Village hasn’t produced a xiucai (someone who passed the county-level imperial exam) in a hundred years. If we ruin Fifth Son, we would ruin the xiucai gong (term of respect for a xiucai) that our Caojia Village will produce in a hundred years. The sin would be heavy.” Seeing her husband angry, and everyone watching her, Chen Zhu had no choice but to tearfully mention the difficulties of supporting a scholar in the family, how the family was penniless, and the money was only used for Fifth Son’s studies as a last resort.

Who was their Cao family’s Fifth Son? He was the only xiucai that Caojia Village had produced in a hundred years. If anyone ruined this scholar, they would be the sinner of Caojia Village.

Chen Zhu cried there, talking as she cried.

Village Chief Cao Ageng was from the same clan as Cao A’shan’s family. If the Cao family produced a xiucai, Caojia Village would be honored, and he, the village chief, would be honored as well. Seeing a doctor was important, but it was also understandable that the money was used to support Cao’s Fifth Son’s studies. He looked at Cao Jiasilang hesitantly, wanting him to forget about the two liang of silver. He hesitated, wanting to speak, “This matter…”

Was really not easy to handle!

“Cough cough… Father, Amo, I also know that Fifth Brother needs money for everything in his studies. I can understand Amo giving the silver to Fifth Brother to buy books. It’s just that everyone now knows that the two liang of silver was sent by my former boss for me to see a doctor.” Cao Xiangnan coughed, looking troubled, also expressing his understanding of Amo’s actions.

“If people knew that Fifth Brother’s study money was saved from my Fourth Brother’s medical money, it would be embarrassing to say. If Fifth Brother becomes an official in the future, it would be looked down upon if outsiders knew about this.”

Cao Xiangnan hit Chen Zhu’s weak spot with one sentence. Her weak spot was her beloved son, Cao Gaojin.

Chen Zhu’s face was extremely ugly. There were so many neighbors standing outside the gate. If this matter was spread and people knew about it, it would probably be bad for her Fifth Son’s reputation.

“Cao Silang, what do you say about this?” Village Chief Cao Ageng’s face changed, paused, and asked.

“This question should be asked to Amo. Amo, what do you say can be done?” Cao Xiangnan threw the question back to his amo.

“Ask me what to do? I don’t have a penny. Even if you force me, you’ll only force me to death, and I still won’t have two liang of silver. Poor Chen Zhu, today my son is trying to force me to death here because of two liang of silver.” Chen Zhu sat on the ground, crying loudly, saying that her son was trying to force his amo to die.

Cao Xiangnan’s nerves were twitching. He had seen shameless people, but he had never seen such a shameless person. She wanted to deny him his two liang of silver like that?

“Father, if you don’t have these two liang of silver, then give our family an extra mu of land as compensation. Do you think that’s okay?” Since there was no money, he would use land to offset it. He would sell the land later, and it would still be money. Cao Xiangnan spoke to his father.

Hearing him propose to take more land, the second son, Cao Fuqiang, and the second brother’s wife, Wang Yan, jumped out. The second son, Cao Fuqiang, said, “No way! Your family of three already wants three mu of land, and you dare to ask for so much more land, Cao Xiangnan! The money was used by Amo for Fifth Brother to study. If you want money, you should ask Fifth Brother, not ask for the family’s land. This land will be ours in the future.”

Sun Bailian, watching the Cao family, that shameless family, treat Qi Wanfeng and his family of three like that, as if they were easy to bully, was so angry that his chest rose and fell. He wished he could pounce on them and slap the second son of the Cao family in the face.

“Father, if you don’t want to give me these two liang of silver, and don’t want to give us an extra mu of land, I can’t force you to give it. I went out to work these past few years, earning three liang and six guan a year, and over a dozen liang of silver over the years, and I handed it all back to Amo, not keeping a single penny. Today, you’re mentioning the division of the household here, and I have no objection. Qi Wanfeng, the child, and I can all move out.” Cao Xiangnan looked disheartened, looking at his silent father with cold eyes, saying, “Since we’re dividing the household, we’ll move out and each live our own lives from now on.”

“Everyone has witnessed what happened here today, so don’t expect Cao Xiangnan to be lucky enough to earn money one day, and the Cao family compound will take it for granted to ask me for it. That’s not possible, is it?”

“Father, Amo, you chose to have Eldest Brother, Second Brother, and Fifth Brother live with you in the compound, so I won’t care about how your life in the compound will be like in the future. If one day Eldest Brother and the others really can’t give you a single bite to eat, I, Cao Silang, don’t mind giving you a bite to eat, and that’s it! Since we’re dividing the household here today, let’s divide it clearly, and don’t be entangled in the future.”

Cao Xiangnan meant that now that the household was divided, he could also not want the two liang of silver, but the affairs of the compound had nothing to do with him. Today, his amo and brothers wanted to force their family of four to their deaths, and everyone had witnessed it. Since you are unjust, don’t blame him for being unrighteous.

Now, with so many people as witnesses, his amo and father were partial to this extent, and his brothers were ruthless to this extent, so the compound shouldn’t even try to get anything from them again. At most, they would give them a bowl of rice, which would be considered fulfilling their filial piety.

“This…” Cao Adie hesitated when he heard Fourth Son’s words.

Chen Zhu, who had long since stopped crying, shouted loudly when she heard this, “Good, you said those words. Divide, we’ll divide clearly. From now on, the compound and Fourth Son’s side will each live our own lives, and the two sides won’t interfere with each other.”

She was now disowning this Fourth Son for the sake of those two liang of silver. She was afraid that Fourth Son’s family wouldn’t want to move out! It was best that they were willing to move out now. They even didn’t want him to give the silver. Divide the household, and it had to be divided clearly.

“Good, since that’s the case, let’s write it down clearly in black and white.” Cao Xiangnan was waiting for this sentence from his amo, Chen Zhu. It really made him wait hard. He just wanted to make a scene, the bigger the better. Only then would he have a basis for breaking away from the Cao family in the future.

Otherwise, in this world where filial piety was paramount, if the Cao family compound entangled them again and asked for money, he wouldn’t be drowned by the villagers’ spit if he didn’t give it!

Because Cao’s Fifth Son was studying, the Cao family had some pens, ink, and paper in his room. Cao Fuqiang went to the room to find the pens, ink, and paper and set them out. The Lizheng thought that he was the only one who knew how to read here, and he wondered if he should write it for them.

“Wanfeng, go get the paper and pen.” Cao Xiangnan gestured for Qi Wanfeng to bring the pen and paper over for him to write. Fortunately, the characters of this era in his memory were similar to the traditional characters of their time.

He picked up the brush and wrote the household division agreement on the paper. He wrote clearly inside. After Cao Xiangnan finished writing, he asked Qi Wanfeng to take it to the Lizheng. After the Lizheng confirmed that there were no problems, he handed it over for someone to take it to Cao Adie to stamp it with his fingerprint.

Cao A’shan saw this piece of paper, and he didn’t recognize a single word on it, but he knew that this family was going to be divided today. For the sake of this family, he gritted his teeth and pressed his fingerprint on it.

He couldn’t get the two liang of silver, but he did get three guan from Chen Zhu. These three guan were what Cao Xiangnan had handed over to his amo when he came back this time. The pained look on Chen Zhu’s face as she took out the money was something he would remember for the rest of his life! Cao Xiangnan handed the three guan that he had gotten to Qi Wanfeng.

The matter of the Cao family’s division came to an end, and the people who were watching the excitement outside dispersed one by one. The matter in the Cao family compound today would be talked about in the village for a long time after dinner.

“We’ll move out today.” Cao Xiangnan felt helpless about being half crippled. He could only say to Qi Wanfeng, “Go outside and see if you can rent a cart. We’ll move to the old house over there.”

Now that they had decided to leave, they should leave as soon as possible. He didn’t want to stay here for another moment.

“Okay.” Qi Wanfeng knew that they couldn’t stay in this place for another day. If they stayed any longer, they didn’t know how their amo would treat them behind closed doors. It was better to leave early. Seeing the child looking at him in a daze, his heart ached. He touched his head and asked, “An’an, we’re moving to a new home, and we won’t live here anymore, okay?”

Hearing that they wouldn’t live here anymore, that everyone wouldn’t be able to bully his amo and adie, the well-behaved An’an nodded happily, saying loudly, “Okay.”