Chapter 25: Adoption

Young Physician Li naturally agreed. After applying the plaster cast, he couldn’t help but remind them, “If you really want to sever ties with your family, simply separating within the clan won’t be enough.

If your Father finds out you have a thousand taels, he might take you to court over the silver.

At that point, I’m afraid the clan’s decision won’t hold any weight.

In recent years, because clan powers have grown stronger, the imperial authority has introduced new laws to suppress these clans, and none of their decisions are recognized.

That amount of money you have is not insignificant.”

“What if they risk being expelled from the clan and cause trouble with you? After all, ‘Heaven, Earth, Monarch, Father, Teacher’—the Father is the guiding principle for the son, and it’s hard to go against a parent’s orders.”

“With such a large sum of silver, if they truly break away from the clan, they could buy a house in the county seat and live quite well.”

Song Jinxiu frowned. “Then what should we do?”

Young Physician Li said, “The best course is to quickly register the separation with the authorities. Once the severance of ties is officially recorded, there’s no need to worry.

But if you register with the government, a Father and son’s severance is a grave taboo and will affect future imperial examinations.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Qiusheng.

This little fellow held the Three Character Classic in his hands every day—he’d seen it with his own eyes.
Song Chunsheng and Song Jinxiu also turned to look at Xiaodi.
The child didn’t speak much, but when it came to reading and literacy, he was indeed a promising seedling. The two of them hesitated.

“There’s another way,” said one of the laborers who had come to help.

“What way?” Song Chunsheng and Song Jinxiu asked in unison.

If it had been in the past, they wouldn’t have cared about reputation. Survival alone had been the greatest goal.

But now, with a house and land soon to be theirs and a comfortable life ahead, sending little Qiusheng to the academy was something worth considering.

The laborer chuckled and said, “It’s actually quite simple—just transfer the household registration to someone else’s name. Once he’s entered into their clan registry, make sure to file it with the local authorities. That way, not only within the clan but also under the law, there’ll be no ties left. And your reputation won’t suffer either. However…”

He glanced at them and asked, “Once he’s adopted, he’ll have to support his adoptive parents. Are you really prepared to take the money and care for them instead of spending a single coin on your own Father?”

“Though the Father may be unkind, a child cannot be unfilial. After all, blood ties are still blood ties.”
The laborer had grown somewhat familiar with the four siblings by now and had a general understanding of their family situation. It was only because he saw how hard life had been for the children that he couldn’t help but speak up.

But they still had a living Father. If he gave them such advice and they later regretted it, blaming him—what then?

Song Chunsheng and Song Jinxiu exchanged a glance and said in unison, “We’ll proceed with the adoption.”

All four siblings were resolute. They would rather be adopted out than remain tied to that wretched family.

However, choosing whom to be adopted by required careful thought. They couldn’t escape one den of wolves only to fall into a tiger’s jaws.

Song Jinxiu thought for a moment and said, “Let’s narrow it down first. We need someone willing to take us in, someone who isn’t afraid of the old Song family. Best if they’re childless—just someone to care for in their old age, without too many strings attached.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly turned to her Big Brother. Song Chunsheng also looked up at her, and the two said in unison, “Third Grand uncle.”

Song Chunsheng nodded repeatedly. “We’ve already inherited Third Grand uncle’s house and Courtyard—why not just transfer the household registration to his line as well? It’s simple, too. We just need to speak to Grandpa Lizheng.”

Third Grand uncle was the third uncle of Grandpa Lizheng.

Song Jinxiu said, “Then we’d better not delay. Big Brother, I’ll head back to the village now and speak to Grandpa Lizheng.”

Just then, someone entered through the doorway. The newcomer asked, “Chunsheng, Sanya, what’s going on?”

Seeing who it was, Song Chunsheng quickly said, “Brother Fusheng, what brings you here?”

The newcomer was none other than Song Fusheng, the eldest grandson of  Grandfather Lizheng. Like Song Daliang, he was also studying at the academy in the county town. He had failed the xiucai exam last time and was preparing to take it again this year.

Song Fusheng glanced at his nose and asked, “Did Erlang hit you again? So those injuries on him were really from Sanya and the others?”

As it turned out, after hobbling back to school, Song Erlang had gone straight to pick a fight with Song Dalang.

When Song Fusheng heard about it, he had planned to step in and mediate. After all, they were from the same village and childhood friends—it wouldn’t look good if he didn’t try.

But just as he reached the doorway of Dalang and Erlang’s dormitory, he heard the two of them inside, hurling curses and shouting at each other.

Song Erlang had cursed Dalang for being heartless, accusing him of refusing to help and letting “those three filthy brats” beat him up like that.

He even threatened to find a chance to throw a sack over the two “wretched girls” and give them a savage beating, and to toss little Qiusheng into the river to feed the turtles.

At that, Song Fusheng couldn’t listen any longer. He immediately turned on his heel and left the academy, heading straight for the physician’s hall.

He knew full well how vicious Song Erlang could be. Since childhood, he had treated his younger siblings with nothing but punches and kicks—especially Chunsheng.

Back during New Year’s as children, all the youngsters would line up to kowtow to their ancestors in the ancestral hall.

Because Chunsheng was good-looking, the elders—uncles, aunties, and grannies alike—would always lavish praise on him.

Naturally, the others were displeased. And truthfully, at the time, he himself hadn’t been too happy either.

Why was it that, out of so many children, only he got praised?
Wasn’t I outstanding too?
Why did no one ever praise me?

Because of this, everyone more or less harbored some resentment toward little Chunsheng.

While the others simply kept their distance, Song Erlang would always find a quiet place with no one around, then swing his fists straight at Song Chunsheng’s face.

In Erlang’s own words: “You think you’re so pretty? I’ll ruin that face of yours—let’s see how beautiful you are then.”

It wasn’t until later, when Song Chunsheng fell off a cliff and his face was permanently scarred, that Song Erlang finally restrained himself a little.

Song Fusheng even suspected that the wound on Chunsheng’s face had been deliberately inflicted by Erlang while Chunsheng was unconscious.

Back then, in order to rescue Chunsheng, they had tied a rope around Erlang and lowered him down the cliff first. But when Chunsheng was pulled back up, his face was covered in blood, still flowing.

There had never been any proof, so Song Fusheng said nothing. But in his heart, he silently warned himself: Song Erlang was not someone to associate with—nor someone to provoke.

As his grandfather always said, “Better to offend a gentleman than cross a petty man.”

Song Jinxiu smiled and said, “Brother Fusheng, did Song Erlang say something to you? He beat my Brother and tried to hit my little sister too, so we fought back. Don’t worry—we didn’t come out the worse for it.”

Song Fusheng let out a sigh and said, “It’s precisely because you didn’t suffer any loss that I’m worried.”

Song Chunsheng frowned. “Brother Fusheng, did Brother Erlang say he’s going to retaliate against us?”

Song Fusheng nodded. “Isn’t that obvious? With his temper, do you think he’s the kind to swallow a grievance? Just now, I heard him ranting about throwing a sack over you all and giving you a beating. He even said he’d toss Qiusheng into the river to feed the turtles.”

“I came straight here because I’m worried. For the next few days, don’t wander around. Stay inside the physician’s hall and don’t step outside.”

Song Chunsheng’s face darkened.

He knew better than anyone how vicious Song Erlang could be. Just because he had been more handsome, Erlang had always gone for his face when he hit him—deliberately, mercilessly. He even suspected that when he’d fallen off the cliff, Erlang had taken advantage of his unconscious state to slice his face with a tree branch.

Later, when he told his Mother, she tried to confront Erlang about it—only to be beaten by their Father.
Then he went to tell their Grandfather, but Grandfather simply dismissed him, saying he was spouting nonsense, slandering his elder Brother, and that he was nothing but a block of rotten wood.

Now, he was genuinely worried that Erlang would cause trouble for his sisters and little Brother.

Seeing that Chunsheng was taking the matter seriously, Song Fusheng asked again, “Sanya, just now you mentioned going to see my grandfather—what was that about?”

Song Jinxiu quickly explained the matter of the adoption.

Song Fusheng said, “Leave that to me. I’ll head home today and speak to my grandfather about it. You all stay inside and don’t go out. Don’t worry—my grandfather will definitely agree to this.”

After seeing Song Fusheng off, the four siblings all looked grim.
The night passed in silence.

The next morning, Fuquan and Grandpa Lizheng arrived bright and early.