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“Just stamp your thumbprint already. Dragging this out won’t lead anywhere,” a middle-aged woman said impatiently. She was obese, with a waist like a water barrel and a pancake face with squinty eyes full of disdain.
“Shuisheng, your sister-in-law is right. It’s not that your elder brother is heartless. Every family eventually splits up. Besides, Mother has agreed,” a potbellied middle-aged man chimed in. Though his words sounded warm, they were filled with cold indifference.
“Elder Brother, our family has worked tirelessly all these years. Now you’re saying we should leave, with not even a single acre of land? How are we supposed to survive?” A thin, dark-skinned man’s eyes reddened as he spoke. Xu Shuisheng’s emotions ran high; years of hard labor had made him look older than his brother.
“Xu Shuisheng, haven’t we given you a fishing boat? With your skills, supporting your family should be easy,” retorted the plump woman, Wu Cuihua, brazenly twisting logic to suit her argument.
“Sister-in-law, you’re not even letting us live in the house. Nan is still sick. This is truly outrageous!” A frail woman, Zhu Wanrou, couldn’t contain her anger. She had always been meek, but for the first time, she mustered all her strength to voice her resistance.
She glanced at her daughter, asleep in her arms, her heart aching.
Xu Sinan slowly opened her eyes, finding herself in a rustic farmhouse courtyard surrounded by villagers.
Before she could react, a flood of unfamiliar memories rushed into her mind.
The original owner of this body was also named Xu Sinan, a 16-year-old fisherman’s daughter and the second child of the Xu family. She had loving parents, Xu Shuisheng and Zhu Wanrou, and an elder brother, Xu Qianxing. Although their family bond was strong, they had long been oppressed by the eldest branch of the Xu family.
Due to two consecutive years of drought in the village and poor harvests, the eldest branch wanted to drive the second branch out to conserve food.
Looking at Zhu Wanrou’s tear-streaked face, Xu Sinan instinctively raised her hand to wipe away her mother’s tears.
“Nan, you’re awake?” Zhu Wanrou exclaimed with joy.
“How are you feeling?” Xu Shuisheng and Xu Qianxing asked anxiously.
Xu Sinan was instantly enveloped by the warmth of this “unfamiliar” familial affection.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry to have worried you,” she replied softly.
From the original owner’s memories, she knew how much her family cherished her. Seeing their genuine concern, she resolved to protect them.
Wu Cuihua sneered, “See? Nan is awake now. Nothing to fuss about.”
She recalled how Xu Sinan had fallen into the water days ago, caught a cold, and cost them 100 coins in medicine. The thought still pained her.
Xu Sinan slowly got to her feet. The second branch had always been exploited by the eldest branch. Farming and fishing were all done by her father and brother, while her uncle and aunt, Wu Cuihua, hadn’t lifted a finger.
Even their grandmother favored the eldest branch. Though she hadn’t explicitly pushed for separation, she tacitly approved of their actions.
There was no point in staying in such a household. Splitting up was a blessing in disguise.
“We’ll agree to the separation.”
“Nan!” Xu Shuisheng exclaimed anxiously. In a year of famine, separating would be akin to a death sentence.
Xu Sinan turned to reassure her family. “Don’t worry.”
Wu Cuihua, energized, quickly brought out the document. “Hurry up and stamp your thumbprint!”
Xu Sinan glanced at the document. The eldest branch would take the ancestral house and 20 acres of land, leaving the second branch with only a broken fishing boat and an abandoned straw hut.
“Let’s split the 20 acres equally,” Xu Sinan said calmly.
“Impossible!” Wu Cuihua’s squinty eyes widened for once, her voice rising in anger. “This little girl must be delirious from her illness!”
Xu Sinan smirked and tore the document in half. “Then we won’t sign.”
“You!” Wu Cuihua pointed at her, shaking with fury, her flabby body trembling.
Turning to the gathered villagers, Xu Sinan choked back tears and cried out, “Fellow villagers, isn’t it fair for brothers to split the family property evenly? But look at this—our family gets nothing! Is that just?”
She began to sob loudly, secretly pinching her brother Xu Qianxing. Startled, he quickly joined in, crying with her.
Seeing her children’s tears, Zhu Wanrou’s already aching heart broke further, and she too began to weep silently.
“The second branch is so pitiful.”
“They’re such a good family. What will they do if they’re driven out?”
“The eldest branch is too much, taking everything!”
The villagers whispered among themselves, sympathizing with the second branch.
The village head coughed lightly and approached. “The eldest branch has to care for the elderly. It’s normal for them to take a larger share.”
Xu Sinan snorted coldly. “Is taking a larger share the same as taking everything? My father is also my grandmother’s son. How can you say he shouldn’t care for her too?”
The village head, who was on good terms with the eldest branch, naturally leaned toward their side.
Unhappy with her defiance, he asked sternly, “What do you want then?”
“My family must receive ten acres of land,” Xu Sinan declared firmly.
She glanced at Wu Cuihua, who was about to explode with anger, and added, “The ten acres can remain under Uncle’s family’s management. The profits from the land will count as filial support for Grandma.”
Xu Sinan wanted a clean break from the Xu family, but in ancient times, being labeled unfilial could ruin one’s reputation. By making her stance clear in front of everyone, she could silence any potential criticism.
“Fine!” Wu Cuihua agreed quickly, fearing Xu Sinan might change her mind. Since the land would remain under their control and the profits would be theirs to allocate, she didn’t see it as a loss.
Xu Sinan’s lips curved into a sly smile. With her background in history and knowledge of the Sheng Historical Records, she vividly remembered that their village in Jizhou would face another drought the following year.
Most of the fields were already cracked and yielded poor harvests. The Xu family’s land, though near a water source, only survived through laborious manual watering—a task primarily borne by her father and brother. Despite their backbreaking efforts, the yields had diminished significantly and would soon fail entirely.
In a year of famine, land became more of a burden than a blessing. Leaving the land to the eldest branch not only gave her family a chance to escape the struggle but also earned them the reputation of being dutiful. And if they ever needed the land back, they could easily demand it by accusing the eldest branch of neglecting their filial duties.
“We won’t take any share of the profits, but the house must belong to my family,” Xu Sinan added.
Wu Cuihua was about to object when Xu Sinan interrupted her. “You can keep living there, but you’ll pay us five taels of silver annually as rent.”
Their grandmother would undoubtedly continue living in the ancestral house, and the eldest branch would insist on staying there as well. Xu Sinan didn’t care much for the old house; she preferred the idea of building a new one.
“You wish!” Wu Cuihua nearly choked with rage. Five taels? Why didn’t she just go rob someone instead?
Xu Sinan’s uncle, however, quickly whispered to Wu Cuihua, “We’ll still be living there. Even if we don’t pay, what can the second branch do? They’re too soft to evict us.”
“Besides, when Wenchang passes the imperial exam next year, we’ll move to the city. Why would we care about this broken house then?”
Hearing mention of her pride and joy, her son Xu Wenchang, Wu Cuihua’s mood brightened. Although she found Xu Sinan unusually difficult to deal with today, she knew losing the house wouldn’t hurt them as much as losing the land’s profits.
“Fine, the house is yours,” she agreed reluctantly.
Xu Sinan smiled. With the house now legally theirs, she had a card to play against the eldest branch in the future.
“Pay five taels upfront for the first year’s rent,” Xu Sinan demanded.
“What?! On what grounds?” Wu Cuihua exploded.
“Then I’ll head to the county school and ask Cousin’s teacher about which Sheng Dynasty law permits living in someone else’s house rent-free,” Xu Sinan said, turning as if to leave.
“Stop!” Wu Cuihua couldn’t risk her son’s reputation being tarnished.
Glaring daggers at Xu Sinan, she begrudgingly pulled five taels of silver from her pocket, her face twisted in pain as she handed it over.
Xu Sinan felt the warm silver in her hand, her delicate lips curving into a satisfied smile.
On the surface, the eldest branch seemed to have gained the upper hand. In reality, the second branch now had official ownership of both land and house, which was more than enough.
In times of famine, having less visible wealth could even be an advantage.
Zhu Wanrou leaned in and whispered, “Shouldn’t we take the money from their future exam success?”
Xu Sinan shook her head slightly. “Mother, they don’t have any money to spare.”
The Xu family’s resources had been drained to fund Xu Wenchang’s education. His increasing expenses were the main reason Wu Cuihua was so eager to drive out the second branch—to sell the remaining grain for profit.
With famine driving grain prices higher by the day, selling it could yield significant returns.
The village head rewrote the agreement and said, “Both parties, sign and press your thumbprints.”
Once the process was complete, Xu Sinan handed the document, house deed, and land deed to Zhu Wanrou. “Mother, keep these safe.”
She then turned to the crowd and declared loudly, “Fellow villagers, from this day forward, the two branches of the Xu family are no longer connected. We are strangers to one another!”
She wanted everyone to remember this moment so that when the second branch prospered, the eldest branch wouldn’t dare claim any benefits.
If the eldest branch fell into poverty, the second branch would bear no obligation to help.
Unlike her parents and brother, who wore worried expressions, Xu Sinan felt elated.
She had rid herself of these toxic relatives and felt as free as a bird!