Chapter 64 - Dividing the Family 2 (2/2)
Although on paper Dongshan Village was a small fishing village, the village chief, Liu Jiashun, still had a lot of prestige. He glanced at Madam Zhang, and she became quiet immediately. Only then did he open his mouth for the first time to speak to Old Yu, “Brother Liqiu, what are your plans on splitting the family?”
Old Yu puffed on his tobacco pipe, thought a bit, and said, “I’ve already have a plan. We’ll split the family assets equally into four. Dashan and his other brothers will all get a piece each, and then I and my wife will get a piece…”
“That’s not okay! Caidie hasn’t married yet and should also get a share! Otherwise, who will give her a dowry? The Zhan Family offered eight taels as a betrothal gift for her! Also, Third Son will be participating in the preliminary round of imperial examinations in the future. His expenses will be quite a lot. Are you saying that his brother who has left the family will be raising some money for him?” As soon as she heard the proposal, Madam Zhang instantly became unhappy and blurted out her complaints to show her objections.
Old Yu tapped his pipe under the table and said, “Then we’ll split it into five equal parts and Caidie will have a portion! After we split the family, your mother and I will live with one of you and in the future our portion will go to that person’s branch when we die. After we come to an agreement, it doesn’t mean that splitting the family will lead to leaving the family. Second Son’s family can still live in the main residence with us, that way we can live in harmony and not drift apart. Dahai earned most of the money for the family’s new boat, and his legs aren’t good anymore, so the boat will go to him. In the future, renting it out could be a form of income…”
Before he could finish what he was saying, Madam Li forcefully pulled on her husband’s arm. Seeing that he didn’t say anything, she promptly spoke, “Father, Dashan and Heizi are the first son and first grandson of the family, so it is their duty to look after their parents and grandparents. Naturally, you two should live with us. However, my husband only knows how to go fishing to make an income. If the boat is given to Second Brother-in-law, are we supposed to eat and drink solely from the wind itself ah?”
Madam Zhang had long been holding back her complaints and this time they finally all came out, “Eldest Son’s family is correct! As the head of the household, you are clearly being too biased! Without a fishing boat, how are we supposed to make a living? Do you still want Third Son to take his examinations? Do you still want Caidie to get married in the future? What about Heizi’s future marriage? You really want all of our lives ah! I don’t agree, I absolutely don’t agree!”
“Don’t we also have three plots of land? Eldest Son and I can go into town and work some temporary jobs again…didn’t we also live life like that before?” Old Yu stayed silent for a bit before he finally replied as he was thinking about his studious and talented Third Son.
Madam Zhang’s loud, shrill voice pierced the ears of everyone in the room as she hollered, “The amount of crops produced by those three plots of sandy land in one year is only enough to feed our household for six months. In the past we had fewer children, I didn’t dare to eat too much or get new clothing in an effort to save. We were only able to amass this much property with great difficulty. But you, you’re giving it all to Second Son! Yes, Eldest Son was from my first marriage, if you don’t care about him, then whatever! But aren’t Third Son and Caidie both your flesh and blood? You old man, you’re not giving us a living road! This is not okay! The fishing boat absolutely cannot be given to Second Son unless you want to strangle the rest of us to death!”
The slow of speech and honest Eldest Son, Yu Dashan, also timidly interjected after being pinched by his wife several times, “Father, other than fishing, I don’t know how to do anything else. If I go into town, I won’t be able to find any work…I also don’t agree in giving the boat to Second Brother…”
“That’s right, that’s right! Mother and Father are living with us, while Youngest Sister-in-law hasn’t gotten married yet. Third Brother-in-law is still in school and still needs to be with the family. Thus, the fishing boat absolutely cannot be given away!” Madam Li hastily agreed and stared at Old Yu pathetically.
Both Yu Bo and Yu Caidie stayed silent with their heads lowered. No one could tell what their thoughts were on any of this.
Yu Hai calmly listened to everyone and only now did he speak, “Father, the doctor told me that my leg will never get better. It’s still up in the air whether I can stand on them in the future. Even if I had the fishing boat, I wouldn’t be able to go out to sea and catch fish. I don’t want the fishing boat. As for the three plots of land, there’s a decent amount of harvest to be had from them in a year. So just give the land to us and we’ll have my wife and children farm them.”
Yu Xiaocao didn’t know how to catch fish so she really didn’t care much about that fishing boat. She was currently thinking about the future. If they were still living together, it still wouldn’t be a clean break. If their branch suddenly started living well, with Madam Zhang’s and Madam Li’s temperaments, wouldn’t they still cause trouble for them every couple of days? What did they have to do to live farther from this pack of wolves?
Just as she was thinking, her father spoke again, “Eldest Brother’s child is about to grow up and Third Brother can only squeeze into the tiny west room when he visits. If our whole family still lived together, it would definitely be crowded. How about you give the Yu Family’s old residence to us? After cleaning it up a bit, it should be livable…”
The Yu Family’s old residence was at the foot of the West Mountains and it was a three-room house made of mud bricks. It also had a decently sized courtyard and behind the rooms was a large pond. Back when Yu Hai’s mother was still alive, the whole family had lived there. Later, as their circumstances got better, the whole family moved into the village, where it was closer to the sea.
No one had lived in the old residence for the past ten years. Although every year they would go back and do some small fixes, no one knew how much damage there was on the house. Madam Zhang thought for a bit, decided not to make a fuss, but wished she could still keep those three plots of sandy land. Even though the land didn’t produce a lot, not having it meant that in the future they would need to spend money to eat grains and starches. It was not surprising Madam Zhang wanted to keep it. However, compared to the fishing boat, the three plots of land were really not as important.
In the end, other than the shabby, old residence and those three plots of land, Xiaocao’s family also got a cooking pot, a few bowls and plates, and some farming tools. When Old Yu raised the issue of splitting the money into five parts, Madam Zhang’s face turned so dark that someone might have thought her mother had died.
However, with the village chief and the rest of the Yu Family elders present, no one would believe her if she said that there wasn’t any money. She reluctantly fished out a few strings of copper and a few silver bits from a jar and threw them onto the kang bed. She huffily said, “When Second Son got injured, we spent almost all of our money. Look, this is what’s left!”
Xiaocao eyeballed the money and estimated that the coins and bits together at most came out to be about ten taels, and they needed to split them five ways. Her family could only get two taels at most. It wasn’t even enough to fix their new home!