Chapter 18: Mother and Child’s Fate

“How could that work?” Chen Ming, Chen Lu, and Mrs. Wang all spoke in unison. Chen Ming added, “A’Feng, you’re still my daughter. When a female lineage is established separately, the parents should provide you with a house. Your mother and brother aren’t heartless and unreasonable people. They should ensure that you and Dabao can survive.”

The whole family continued discussing until late into the night.

They eventually decided to follow Chen Ming’s plan, allocating one acre of land to Chen Feng and Dabao. They would temporarily borrow a sum of money from Chen Ye to purchase the plot of land next to their home for establishing their lineage. After the winter wheat harvest, they would sell the land and begin construction on the house.

Their land was prime farmland, and one acre could be sold for five coins. Since Chen Feng and her son were just two people, a smaller plot of land could be purchased with just one coin, leaving four coins to build the house and purchase some basic furniture.

The following day, Chen Ming went to discuss with Chen Old Lady and Chen Ye at their home, and also invited the senior family elders, Wu Laozu and San Yeye, as well as Gao Lizheng. He didn’t invite his second uncle, as they had cut off contact after the inheritance dispute.

After hearing Chen Ming’s proposal, Chen Old Lady and Chen Ye both agreed. Separating the two outsiders with one acre of land was worthwhile. While Chen Feng and Dabao were currently a fool and a child, and would definitely impose a burden on the second branch, they couldn’t be left with no means of livelihood. Moreover, they couldn’t afford to offend Mrs. Wang. If Chen Feng were to officially establish her female lineage, recognizing a son wouldn’t be considered a shameful act, and A’Jue might find it easier to find a suitor.

Originally, Chen Feng had asked Chen Ming to calculate the living expenses for the period before she and her son could be truly independent. As for how much money was needed, she didn’t know, so she asked Chen Ming to decide. Chen Feng was afraid that there might be complications in establishing her female lineage, so she was willing to compromise as much as possible. However, Chen Ming didn’t say anything, as he didn’t want her to suffer too much.

Chen Ye and San Yeye then pointed out that when a woman establishes her lineage, she should stand alone and be self-sufficient. It was clear that Feng and Dabao couldn’t support themselves at the moment, and would have to continue being supported by the second branch. It was fine to support them for now, but when Chen Dabao could stand on his own, he would have to repay the money that Chen Ming had spent to raise them over the past few years. It wouldn’t be much, just one coin per year.

In their eyes, a daughter couldn’t be treated the same as a son, and it was not possible to support them for free, especially since Dabao wasn’t even a member of the Chen family. Allocating one acre of land for them to establish their lineage was already quite generous.

Chen Ming argued for a few moments, but Chen Ye and San Yeye were quite insistent, as was Chen Old Lady, who also believed that Chen Lu should receive more benefits considering his lame leg. In case he remained disabled, it would affect not only his chances of finding a wife, but also his ability to perform physical labor in the future.

Reluctantly, Chen Ming had to agree. When he saw Dabao’s joyful expression at home, he felt extremely guilty. The child didn’t even realize that at such a young age, he had accumulated a significant amount of debt.

He also apologized to Wang and Chen Feng many times.

Mrs. Wang also felt sorry for her daughter and grandson, and her eyes turned red. She decided to take on more work in the future and secretly save some money for them.

Chen Feng didn’t mind, as establishing her female lineage was her top priority, and she had a way to support her family.

Later, Chen Ming asked Wang to purchase two pounds of meat and take it to Gao Lizheng’s house to ask him to fix the land, and then go to the county office to help with the household registration and land deed.

In no time, Gao Lizheng arrived and fixed a piece of land not even three acres in size outside the eastern fence of Chen’s house. The land was narrow and long, just enough to build three thatched houses, and the fence between the two households could be shared, making the area much smaller than the current small courtyard. Unfortunately, one coin was only enough to buy such a small plot of land.

Two days later, the household registration and land deed, sealed with large red stamps, were handed over to Chen Feng. She was overjoyed as she finally felt relieved.

Beside herself, Dabao urgently tugged at Chen Feng’s clothes, “Mom, quickly let me see, quickly let me see.”

Dabao held the household registration, looking at it carefully, word by word, and asking Chen Ming about any unfamiliar characters. After finishing, realizing that he had officially become his mother’s son, and that no one could change it, and that he and his mother now had a piece of land, he was overjoyed.

He solemnly handed the household registration back to Chen Feng, saying, “Great. Mom, put it away and keep it safe, don’t lose it.”

Then, the mother and son held hands and went to the yard, gazing at the piece of land in the east with pure joy. The land was overgrown with weeds, with a few clumps of bamboo and an eucalyptus tree.

Chen Feng gestured, “When we build the house, we’ll keep that eucalyptus tree; it will provide shade in the summer. We’ll also build a chicken coop in the backyard and raise a few chickens.”

Dabao, with excitement in his eyes, tugged at her clothes and said, “Mom, mom, hug, I want a hug.” His tone was much more tender than before, and his words were a bit slurred.

This kid really had a knack for being affectionate.

Chen Lu chuckled at the side.

Chen Feng couldn’t help but smile, she struggled to lift him up. Seeing his hopeful eyes and triumphant expression, she felt a softness in her heart. Her mother’s illness hadn’t fully healed, and the thatched house that could provide shelter hadn’t even been built yet, but he was already this excited. She couldn’t help but kiss him a few times — first on the cheeks, then on the nose.

Dabao giggled and also kissed his mother’s face three times, first on the cheeks, then on the nose. Afterward, he said, “Mom, Dabao is your real son, don’t ever say that Dabao was found by you again.”

“Okay,” Chen Feng nodded.

Their mother and child fate was finally set. At present, they hadn’t realized the experiences of happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy that they would face as mother and son in this lifetime.

After the joy, Chen Feng knew that, with debts in the household and so many empty promises made, the next step was to figure out how to make money. But since her hands and legs weren’t very agile, she would let Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang handle it for now.

She took a stick and drew the shapes of two baskets on the ground, one slightly larger and shallower, and square, the other smaller and deeper, and rounded, explaining their specific features. She said these were needlework baskets and asked Chen Ming to weave baskets of various sizes in this way. She planned to sell them at the Lingyin Temple in Honglin Mountain on the 19th of June, the birthday of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

She had heard from her mother that on that day, Lingyin Temple would attract many female worshippers, many of whom would come from the provincial and prefectural cities.

Chen Ming looked at the shapes on the ground and felt doubtful, saying, “I’ve woven needlework baskets before, and they didn’t look like this.”

Chen Feng laughed, “Needlework baskets are a bit different from the ones we’ve used before. After they’re woven, they’ll be decorated with fabric and ribbons to make them look much nicer.”

Having seen the ancient needlework baskets and consulted with her mother, she found that they were all uniformly woven from grass or bamboo, all looking similar and too plain. Even the most luxurious needlework baskets used by wealthy women were at most made with a wooden lid, carved with flowers, and coated with lacquer. The styles of needlework bags were also very simple, some resembling purses, but with several layers of fabric sewn together, and a pin cushion inside.

Needlework baskets and bags were indispensable items for women in ancient times, almost accompanying a woman throughout her life. If they were made to look beautiful, they could earn quite a sum.