Third Uncle Qin remained silent.

In truth, he didn’t need to speak; everyone knew what he was thinking—after all, it was just the issue of having no heirs.

But how could he bring that up himself?

Grandpa Qin said, “Regarding the matter of adopting Shoucheng as your heir, I just asked the eldest, and he disagrees.”

Third Uncle Qin clenched his fists.

He had anticipated that when he proposed adopting Shoucheng, the chances were slim.

Back when Shoucheng was still young, he himself was still youthful and didn’t know he wouldn’t be able to have sons.

Later, when his eldest nephew went to serve in the army, he naturally couldn’t bring it up.

After all, if something happened to his nephew, he would be criticized for making such a suggestion.

But now that his eldest nephew had returned, even if he brought it up, the eldest family wouldn’t agree.

Grandpa Qin continued, “I’ve thought about your situation as well, and I have a few ideas. Let me tell you, and you can listen.”

Third Uncle Qin opened his mouth but only managed to rasp out four words: “Father, you can speak.”

Grandpa Qin said, “If we divide the family assets, everything will be split into four portions. You three brothers will each get one, and your mother and I will stay with the eldest family. Since we’ll also receive some land, and that land will produce income, we won’t need you to take care of us in old age. Later, if we grow older and need money for medical expenses, you won’t have to worry about that either; the eldest family will handle it. I’ve already discussed this with the eldest and A Fang.”

Second Aunt Qin heard this and found no issues with it.

Although the eldest family would end up with more land, historically, the eldest always received the largest share during family divisions.

Plus, the eldest family would be responsible for paying the medical expenses for the elderly couple.

Although Second Aunt Qin liked to take small advantages, she wasn’t unreasonable.

Second Aunt Qin quickly said, “We, the second family, have no objections.”

Mother Qin wasn’t entirely happy.

The elderly couple living with the eldest family was tradition, but making them responsible for all the medical expenses seemed a bit much.

However, since her husband and eldest son had agreed, she didn’t say anything.

She thought it over—her eldest son was now an official, earning a salary, and likely had connections too.

With that in mind, her initial displeasure faded.

Grandpa Qin continued, “Now, about the third family. I’ve come up with four suggestions for your situation.

First, you could adopt a child from within the clan. However, this could be problematic. If you adopt from the clan, it’s impossible to hide the child’s true identity, and once the child grows up, they will surely learn the truth.

That brings me to the second option: you and your wife could live outside for a year, then bring an adopted child back. This way, no one in the village will know the child’s true parentage, and they’ll assume the child is your own.”

Third Uncle Qin slightly raised his head but still didn’t speak.

Grandpa Qin sighed and continued, “The third option is for you to marry off your daughter, Sanya, and have her husband live in our household. No matter what, Sanya is your flesh and blood.

Whether you adopt or bring in an heir, those are still someone else’s children. But if Sanya marries and has a child, that child will still be your own bloodline—your grandchild. Isn’t that closer than an adopted child?”

Third Aunt Qin was moved by this.

In fact, she had always preferred the idea of marrying off her daughter and having a live-in son-in-law over adoption, but she hadn’t dared to say it.

Grandpa Qin continued, “With Sanya bringing her husband into our home, you don’t need to worry. With so many brothers in the family, who would dare to bully her? If she married out and something happened, your brothers wouldn’t get there in time to help, don’t you think?”

Third Uncle Qin was silent for a moment before asking, “Father, what’s the fourth option?”

Grandpa Qin said, “The fourth option is that if you don’t agree to any of the first three, then after your mother and I are gone, our land will go to A Fang.

The income from that land will be sold for silver, which will serve as your and your wife’s pension until you both pass away. Only then will the land return to A Fang.

This way, you’ll have land to rely on, so you won’t have to worry about having no support in your old age. You’ll also have money for food, and if you fall ill, you’ll have money to see a doctor. I’ve already discussed this with A Fang, and he agrees.

As the eldest son and grandson, our land would eventually go to him anyway, but he’s willing to use the income from it for your retirement.”

Qin Fang was slightly surprised.

According to the discussion they had before dinner in Grandpa’s room, he had agreed to support Third Uncle Qin and Third Aunt Qin in their old age.

But now, hearing Grandpa’s plan for the land, he realized that Grandpa had always had this idea in mind.

His earlier questioning was just to test his own thinking.

How could Grandpa let him suffer a loss?

Qin Fang said, “Uncle and Aunt, don’t worry. As long as I’m here, you won’t be left without support in your old age.”

Yang Haiyan and Mother Qin stayed silent, not commenting.

This division of the family would leave the eldest family at a disadvantage if Qin Fang weren’t an official.

The elderly couple’s land was going to the eldest family, and the medical expenses should have been shared by all three families, but now the eldest family was taking on that responsibility alone.

If the third family didn’t adopt, bring in a son-in-law, or have any heirs before they passed away, the eldest family would continue supporting them.

Wasn’t the eldest family losing out?

But with Qin Fang now an official, Mother Qin decided to let it go.

Grandpa Qin asked, “Old Third, what do you think?”

Third Aunt Qin looked at Third Uncle Qin, who remained silent.

She spoke softly, “I want to choose the third option, to have Sanya invite a husband into the family.”

Third Uncle Qin glanced at her, then fell into another period of silence.

Everyone thought he might suggest adopting or passing on the family name, but finally, he nodded. “Let’s have Sanya invite a husband into the family.”

After all, even if the children born through this arrangement would be considered outsiders, they would still be his grandchildren.

With Sanya’s brothers around, she wouldn’t be wronged.

Although Afang had become successful, and passing the family name to him would allow him to look after Shoucheng, the reality was that Shoucheng was too old, and it wasn’t possible to force his elder brother to pass on the name to Shoucheng.

Given this, the best compromise was to let Sanya invite a husband.

In the future, when Afang becomes even more successful, wouldn’t he also take care of Sanya?

The decision to split the Qin family was quickly made.

As it turns out, there were no daughters-in-law who disliked the idea of splitting the family.

Especially since Er Ya and San Ya had been learning embroidery at the workshop and were about to master it.

Once they started earning money from selling embroidered handkerchiefs, it would belong to their households and wouldn’t need to be handed over to the shared family pool.

So, Second Aunt Qin and Third Aunt Qin were both in favor.

Furthermore, the main family had many mouths to feed, while the second and third branches had fewer people, and the daughters could now earn money.

Splitting the family was obviously the more economical choice.

Grandfather Qin said, “There’s one more thing. Four days from now will be Afang’s wedding banquet. The banquet will be organized by the communal family funds, but after that, each branch will manage their own celebrations. Don’t feel shortchanged. If we hadn’t split, the main family would still have several more banquets to host.”

Neither Third Uncle Qin nor Second Uncle Qin had any objections, as they weren’t concerned about this.

Qin’s Mother and Second Aunt Qin also didn’t object.

For Third Aunt Qin, after all, her daughter would soon invite a husband into the family, and her brothers from the main family would still support her.

So this small issue didn’t matter.

As for Second Aunt Qin, since Afang had become successful, these minor details didn’t concern her.

In the face of the bigger picture, Second Aunt Qin knew her place.

At this point, Yang Haiyan spoke up, “There’s no need. My husband and I will handle our own banquet.”

Qin’s mother was surprised, “Yanyan?”

Yang Haiyan continued, “What I mean is that the cost of the banquet will be covered by our branch, though Grandpa and Grandma should still be the hosts. We won’t mention this matter to anyone outside. After all, the communal funds already covered the cost of my sister-in-law’s wedding banquet. Since we are now splitting the family, it wouldn’t be fair for us to take advantage again.”

Grandfather Qin looked at Afang, “Afang, what do you think?”

Qin fang replied, “I agree with Yanyan.”

Grandfather Qin studied him for a moment before nodding, “Alright, that’s how we’ll do it. Now let’s divide the rest of the property. We’ll keep the houses as they are. The main branch has three rooms: one for the eldest and his wife, one for Afang and his wife, and one for Shouye and Shoucheng.

The second branch has two rooms: one for the second son and his wife, and one for Niudan.

The third branch has one room for the third son and his wife. There’s still one more room, shared by Er Ya, San Ya, and Si Ya.

This room will go to the third branch for San Ya, as she will invite a husband. But for now, let Er Ya and Si Ya continue living there. Do you have any issues with that, Third Son?”

Third Uncle Qin replied, “No issues.”

In fact, he was quite moved that his father had given them an extra room, something he hadn’t expected.

Grandfather Qin nodded, “Then it’s settled.”

Next came the division of money.

The Qin family had recently built extra rooms, so there wasn’t much left.

After the division, each household received 600 coins.

Afterward, Qin’s father invited the village head, a local scholar, and the village elders to witness the division.

It was known to be one of the most peaceful and fair divisions of family property they had ever seen.

It’s worth noting that the so-called Qin family elders weren’t true elders in the traditional sense.

In many ancient villages, most of the villagers had the same surname, but this wasn’t the case in Baili Village, which included people with different surnames, such as Qin and Han.

This had to do with the disaster that struck during the founding of the Qi Kingdom.

During that disaster, many people fled their homes.

The Qin family originally came from Qin Village, where everyone shared the same ancestor.

After fleeing to Jintian County, under the arrangement of the county magistrate, the refugees settled here.

This village of refugees became known as Baili Village, a name given by the magistrate at the time.

When the Qin family arrived, only Grandfather Qin and his parents survived.

Not long after Grandfather Qin got married and had children, his parents passed away.

Since his parents had been weakened by the disaster, only Grandfather Qin remained.

The Qin family elders were those who had fled with them from Qin Village.

During those difficult times, sticking together was essential for survival.

After the family division, everyone returned to their respective houses.

Qin’s mother called for Afang and his wife, “There are only four days left before the wedding banquet. Do you have any thoughts or requests?”

Afang looked at Yang Haiyan.

Yang Haiyan replied, “Mother, this is my first time getting married, so I don’t have any specific requests. I’ll leave everything to you. Oh, and here’s something for you from us.”

Qin’s mother looked and saw it was a silver note worth ten taels.

She immediately returned it, “You need to save money while living on the frontier. How will you manage your daily life if you give it all to me? You should keep this.”

Yang Haiyan pushed the money back and said, “Mother-in-law, my husband has his official salary, and I have my dowry shop. The younger siblings are still small, and as the eldest brother and sister-in-law, if we don’t take care of the family and instead use the family’s money, it would be too inconsiderate of us.”

Qin’s mother replied, “But this…”

Yang Haiyan said, “This money should be considered our filial offering to you and father for this year. From now on, we will give the family ten taels of silver each year. Please don’t worry about us; we’re only offering what we can afford, and we won’t let ourselves suffer.”