Chapter 6

Jiang Wei looked at her daughter's innocent little face, then at the furious Li family members on the side, and her resolve to divide the family grew even firmer.

"Er Ya is right..." Thus, she deliberately revealed a look of heartache and disappointment. "Ever since I married into the Li family, I haven't asked for a single cent of a dowry. I serve my parents-in-law every day, work in the fields, and do my utmost, yet I live a life worse than a pig or dog..."

"And your eldest uncle's family lives in town, eating and drinking well. Mother is useless and can only let you live in a broken thatched shed with me. Mother will take you to town to find your eldest uncle right now."

Saying this, she pulled Jiang Xiaoxiao and walked outside.

"You dare to go! You stand still!" Before the Li Family Old Man could speak, the Li Family Old Woman shrieked sharply.

"Watch if I dare or not!" Jiang Wei didn't look back. "I won't live in this broken thatched shed anymore either. I'm going to town to find your eldest brother and sister-in-law right now. Surely, for the sake of his reputation in taking the imperial examination, he won't ignore us."

Seeing that the mother and daughter had already walked to the courtyard gate without looking back, the Li Family Old Man grew anxious, fearing his son's official career would be affected, and hurriedly said, "Don't go! Third branch, let's discuss things properly. You must not go to town to find your eldest brother..."

"If you don't want me to go to town, then divide the family right now!" Jiang Wei was unmoved.

"Fine, fine, we'll divide the family... just don't go to town." The Li Family Old Man finally compromised.

Hearing this, the mother and daughter, who had reached the courtyard gate, finally stopped.

"Then since it's not too late, let's go to the village head to find Li Zheng right now!" Jiang Wei turned her head and said.

She knew clearly in her heart that Li Shoude was the Li Family Old Man's Achilles' heel; as long as she gripped his fatal weakness, the Li Family Old Man would not disagree to dividing the family.

Just as she was thinking this, her daughter suddenly tugged gently on her sleeve.

"Mother, Father is dead, and I only have you left..." Jiang Xiaoxiao lowered her head, her voice muffled. "After the family is divided, can I take your surname..."

Once these words were spoken, everyone, including Jiang Wei, was stunned.

Jiang Xiaoxiao still kept her head lowered, but her heart couldn't help but rise.

She knew what these words meant.

She was completely severing ties with the Li family and would no longer be a granddaughter of the Lao Li family.

But she wanted exactly this result.

In the original book's plot, after the female lead divided the family, this five-year-old body of hers did not leave with her mother.

The reason was that the Li Family Old Woman used half an egg to coax the little girl into staying, saying the family wouldn't mistreat her and telling her not to live a hard life with her mother, who had been swept out of the house with nothing.

The five-year-old girl believed it, and because the original host was afraid of her mother, whose temperament had changed drastically, she didn't follow the female lead.

However, not a few months later, the five-year-old girl was resold by the family to human traffickers to raise money for the eldest branch to buy connections in the county.

In the end, the little girl was bought and sold multiple times by traffickers, drifted to villages suffering from severe famine, and was cannibalized.

Jiang Xiaoxiao didn't dare to gamble; even if she knew the current female lead mother wouldn't abandon her, she was afraid of eventually following the old path of the original plot.

The best way to prevent this was to completely sever ties with the Lao Li family!

By changing her name and her persona, she would no longer be that Li Er Ya from the original book who died an unnatural death!

After a long silence, Jiang Xiaoxiao felt a warm, large hand stroke her head.

"Alright." The woman's voice sounded above her head. "From now on, you will take the surname Jiang with me."

Hearing this, Jiang Xiaoxiao looked up and saw that the cold, sharp brows and eyes with which the woman gazed at her had softened a little.

"What did you say! You want to take your mother's surname?!"

In stark contrast to the warmth between mother and daughter, the Li Family Elders were full of disbelief. "You are my Lao Li family's granddaughter; how can you take an outsider's surname?!"

"Outsider?" Jiang Wei sneered. "I am her mother; what is wrong with my daughter taking my surname? Besides, has your Lao Li family ever treated her like a real granddaughter?"

The Li Family Old Man was so angry that the veins on his forehead bulged. "In any case, it's not allowed! She is a person of the Lao Li family; she cannot take your surname!"

"Severing ties is also fine."

Jiang Wei didn't rush to refute, but instead crossed her arms and said slowly, "Then when the child's eldest uncle passes the imperial examination in the future, he must show proper filial piety to us mother and daughter! After all, my daughter is your Lao Li family's granddaughter and the eldest uncle's own niece; at the very least, he'll have to scrape together a dowry of eighty or a hundred taels for my daughter!"

"Go to hell with your dog dreams!"

The Li Family Old Woman jumped up in anger and cursed, "You two curse stars want to cling to my son? You don't even weigh how much you're worth, and you want a dowry of eighty or a hundred taels? Do you deserve it!"

"Father, Mother, Eldest Brother is someone who is going to take the imperial examination. It's good that those two curse stars have severed ties with us, so they won't come to sponge off Eldest Brother in the future and ruin his luck!" Zhu Shi looked at the mother and daughter who were determined to sever ties, rolled her eyes, and took the opportunity to say this in front of the elders.

Hearing this, the Li Family Old Man didn't speak, his face showing some hesitation; clearly, he was moved by Zhu Shi's words.

Jiang Xiaoxiao watched and sneered in her heart.

It was uncertain who would be sponging off whom when the time came.

Having read the original book, she knew clearly that the Li family's eldest son still didn't pass the imperial examination, so he instigated the whole family to sell the original host to raise money for him to buy connections in the county.

Later, the matter was exposed, ruining his official career.

The Li family lost all hope and became destitute; later, seeing that the female lead's mother had become successful, they came to sponge off her every day.

This whole family was like a piece of chewing gum that couldn't be shaken off; she had to take advantage of the present to sever ties, lest they use such excuses to come and take advantage in the future!

"Sever ties then!" Finally, the Li Family Old Man gritted his teeth and spat out a few words, as if he had made a final decision, his gaze sweeping over the mother and daughter. "Don't you regret it!"

"No regrets." Jiang Wei looked at the neighbors outside the courtyard and said word by word, "Tonight, everyone is a witness!"

Once the decision to sever ties and divide the family was made, the Li family seemed even more anxious than the mother and daughter, not even waiting for dawn, and the whole family rushed to the village head to find Li Zheng.

That night, the document for dividing the family and severing ties was written.

When leaving, the Li Family Old Woman still glared fiercely at the mother and daughter, cursing, "Hmph, let's see how a widow with a drag-along child will live after being divided out!"

The mother and daughter didn't even give her a glance.

Jiang Xiaoxiao pulled Jiang Wei to look at the severance document in Li Zheng's hand, unable to stop her joy, and said, "Mother, from now on I will take your surname, Jiang!"

Jiang Wei nodded and took the initiative to ask, "The name Er Ya doesn't sound good; do you want to change it?"

"Yes!"

Of course she wanted to!

Jiang Xiaoxiao nodded without hesitation.

"Then in two days, Mother will take you to the county yamen to change your name."

Li Zheng Liu Dahong looked at the happy mother and daughter and couldn't help but shake his head helplessly. "Have you two found a place to stay for the night?"

(End of chapter)