Chapter 81: I Won't Split the Family

She originally wanted Qiao Mai to also go that day to help with planning, but seeing her so busy, she abandoned the idea.

After Yuan Jiaqi and the children arrived at Wangfu, they were assigned to a courtyard, and for this Wang Zongsheng even went to take a look.

He had a good impression of Yuan Jiaqi and the three children; although the old Mr. Wang took them as Wang Jiaru's Student, it was limited to teaching lessons and not taking disciples, so the proper form of address could not be taken lightly.

Qiao Mai and Miss Wang called each other sisters, and Yuan Jiaqi naturally had to address Wang Zongsheng as Uncle.

The children called the old Mr. Wang "Grand Uncle", and Wang Zongsheng, to give his daughter face, each gave a meeting gift.

Seeing that the Wang family treated them well, the four of father and sons finally felt at ease.

The food and drink at the Wang household were provided as a normal family would, one hour in the morning, one hour in the afternoon, and at night they still had to study; the old Mr. Wang filled their schedule with lessons.

Starting from the basic strokes of a dot and a horizontal line, he laid the foundation for them, and Yuan Jiaqi was no exception.

Don't think the dot and horizontal line are trivial; each has a story, and the old Mr. Wang explained the origins of the characters to them.

Listening to the adult and the three children each class so intently, given their distinguished background and erudition, Yuan Jiaqi admired them greatly and thanked Qiao Niang again—without her, he couldn't have heard the old gentleman's lectures.

He also wrote the items for sale on a signboard, so if a person didn't see what they wanted, they wouldn't waste a trip.

Thus her business not only didn't decline, but became more prosperous.

She specifically arranged the goods for sale, and recently she hasn't intended to open a stall.

Seeing the four sons, she glared at them coldly, as if refusing to split and ready to go to extremes with them; the Yuan couple felt extremely distressed.

If she can raise other people's daughters, can't she raise her own nephews and nieces?

Every day at home she boils or stir-fries the goods for sale, adding items to the Shelf that need to be sold.

The Village Head was also helpless, looking at them pitifully, but everyone knew the Yuan family's affairs and couldn't intervene.

Just daydreaming in the daylight!

She never loses her temper; being amiable brings wealth—who would go against money?

"No, I won't split the family; you and they teaming up are bullying us."

The Yuan family was surrounded by villagers so tightly that there was no way out; historically, they were the first to be forced by all their sons to split the family.

When the Qiao family heard that Qiao Mai had adopted another daughter, they were even more enraged, especially her two brothers, Qiao Jiang and Qiao He.

After signing documents with Yahang, the Yahang people were delighted; this was a huge deal—once signed by his hand, gaining the patron's favor, he could receive the patron's reward, either a promotion or a raise.

It's not that Qiao Mai's eyes lit up at money; rather, adhering to the principle that classics cannot be easily obtained and rarity makes things valuable—if one desires rare items, they cannot be cheap; this is an age‑old unbreakable law.

Back home, Qiao Mai was delighted, cooking meat porridge for the daughter, feeding her until full and sleepy, and she herself ate a bowl as well.

After everything was ready, she fed the Quail and the horse, watching the two puppies run around behind her.

Only her goods aren't cheap; before coming, don't hold a cheap‑price mindset, otherwise not only will you fail to buy anything, but you'll also be met with Qiao Niang's cold stare.

Always daydreaming that the silver could be theirs, hoping that Qiao Mai might one day change her heart and return to the Tian Family.

She placed a signboard at her original spot, stating that Qiao Niang's stall had moved back home, and anyone wanting to buy can come to the house.

The house and shop occupied 35 mu, with 65 mu of cultivated land.

On the 20th day of the first month, Qiao Mai handed the plans to Yahang, and both sides discussed the drawings; on the 21st they finalized the plans.

When there are people, she sells goods; when there are none, she stays with Ling'er in the house to practice walking, learning to vocalize, and with simple objects, she can gradually teach her to recognize and read them.

The Village Head really wants to scold them, still unable to see the situation clearly.

The Tian Family has been constantly angry; knowing Qiao Mai's business is booming only makes them itch like a cat clawing at their heart.

Otherwise, everyone would think they could spend a few coins to buy something hard to find in the world.

So now she doesn't take it easy at home; from early dawn she must prepare the goods for sale, and each day it's either this or that, leaving no idle time.

Anyway, everyone knows she sells goods at home; if they want to eat something they come to buy, bringing Ling'er along; she can endure the wind and sun, but Ling'er cannot.

At this moment the Yuan Family couldn't even attend to Yuan Jiaqi; the day after the 15th, the four brothers went to the Upper Room and asked the old Yuan couple to split the family.

As long as the price offered is suitable, she will have people come back the next day, saying they'll help look for it; basically she hasn't disappointed anyone.

Ten shops were reduced to eight; a wide road was left in the middle leading to the house, because she hadn't considered comprehensively and forgot to design a main gate for her own house.

In the end, they were the ones who suffered loss; they could only be anxious and angry, with no solution.

"If you split the family, you can live your own quiet lives, and the children won't come to resent you. We know everything about your family; after all these years of grinding the children, it's time to let them live well, right?"

Brick, wood, and stone structure, ordinary timber about 5,300 taels, good timber about 8,500 taels, construction period half a year, so by around July it can be completed.

Her reputation for making delicious food spread throughout the surrounding ten‑plus miles.

However, occasionally at night someone knocks, but only in a few special circumstances.

Now she's alone at home; seeing the living room in disarray, she cleared out another room of the Xi Xiangfang.

Only when night falls completely dark does no one come to the door.

If other families' children can eat so well and dress so warmly, can't we also help our own children?

The Yahang people brought the plans and land deed, reported to the higher‑level Yahang, completed the necessary procedures, and finally gave the total construction cost.

Some people, wanting to buy rare items, approached the Qiao family with a try‑it‑out attitude.

Qiao Mai calculated her silver, realizing that even without a stall she had surplus, so she made a grand gesture.

But what could be done? They just ignored them with the Family Severance issue; if they cause trouble, she dares to report it to the town mayor.

"No, I won't split the family. They are my offspring, so they must be my lifelong oxen and horses. As long as I'm alive, they will forever earn money for me and serve us until old age."

Who can be blamed? They did it themselves.

Not only did they summon the Village Head, they also invited the entire Yue Family, saying today a split is mandatory; otherwise, not only would the old Yuan couple be unable to leave the house, their lives would be seriously threatened.

Other families are fortunate to have a son they can cherish; their family, however, doesn't even have a son who respects the elders.

He sighed and said, "Older brother, older sister-in-law, perhaps we should split after all?"

Either the child at home has a fever and wants fruit, or the elder feels unwell and has no appetite, craving food from Qiao Niang's house.

Including all landscaping and road paving, everything is included; all follows the blueprint's requirements, with slight modifications that aren't significant.

Whenever an elder at home craves something unavailable in the world, they involuntarily think of her.

He poured the remaining meat porridge all over them again; the two little brats really can eat a lot. After the New Year, they had grown a big round.

At that moment, four people from the Yue Family lunged forward with a whoosh and pounced onto the Yuan Family old couple, people on top of people, and the couple let out a wail.

The people behind hurriedly stood up and shouted toward the rear.

"Who was it? Who pushed me here? Ouch, sorry, I don't even know which grandson pushed me, I didn't notice I stepped on you, sorry."

After each of them got up and looked at the Yuan Family old couple, one was lying on the ground, paralyzed and unable to move, the other clutched his leg and kept shouting in pain.

(End of chapter)