Chapter 20: Dividing the Family

Heard the words.

Bai Zhaodi crossed his arms at his waist and shot back.

"We are unfilial? How are we unfilial? We only want to split the family, not abandon Mother! And you, are you afraid that if we split off, no one will help you raise a son? I tell you, that son is yours, not ours…"

Gao Shi was nearly fainting with anger.

"You scoundrel, do you believe I'll have the elder kill you!"

Bai Zhaodi snorted coldly and said, "Kill me, if you kill me, who will wash Qiao Shanshui's clothes, who will warm his bedding? You're so stingy, would you be willing to spend money to get him a decent wife? When that time comes, he'll probably be even worse than me…"

She understood Gao Shi all too well, and knew that by saying this…

Qiao Shanshui would definitely side with her.

Gao Shi had never been this angry before; she smoothed her chest and cursed, "Shameless whore…"

Qiao Shanshui, defending, cut her off: "Mother, what are you shouting? She is your eldest daughter‑in‑law, the mother of your great‑grandson!"

She didn't come here to listen to their argument.

Qiao Sheng said bluntly, "Whether you split the family or not, you can argue about it later; for now, please give my father his rightful portion to him. You aren't drowsy, but we aren't as vigorous as you are."

"Exactly."

The Village Head agreed.

Gao Shi suppressed her inner displeasure and continued the division. She now held about sixteen taels of silver, but she didn't tell them there was that much, so she gave Qiao Hushui three taels of silver, a hundred wen.

There wasn't much cookware at home, so she only gave Qiao Hushui the bowls and chopsticks.

Of ten mu of farmland, she allocated three mu to them.

Of ten mu of land, likewise three mu were given to them.

There were now three pigs in the house—a sow and two pigs purchased for sale. The sow Gao Shi was unwilling to part with, so she gave Qiao Hushui one of the sale pigs.

Besides that, there were chickens: four roosters and ten hens.

One rooster was allocated, three hens were allocated.

Foodwise, the household only had about a hundred jin of black flour left, no other provisions; Gao Shi allocated thirty jin.

She could divide that much.

Qiao Hushui and the others were quite pleased.

Qiao Sheng, however, felt shortchanged.

"Grandmother, you're making my father lose out on everything! Since you didn't give that many things, the money—you ought to give more, right?"

Gao Shi was about to utter a rebuke to Qiao Sheng when the Village Head said, "Lianhua is right, Gao Shi, give Hushui some more money."

Biting her lip.

Gao Shi counted out a hundred copper coins and tossed them to Qiao Hushui: "That's all, there's no more."

"Thank you, Mother."

Qiao Hushui bent down and picked them up.

Qiao Sheng: "……"

She didn't want to deal with it, and left with Xiao Shitou.

Lan Yue Niang snatched two handfuls of copper coins from Qiao Hushui's arms, chased out the door shouting, "Lianhua, Xiao Shitou, wait for me."

Qiao Sheng and Xiao Shitou halted.

Lan Yue Niang came before them and said, "Lianhua, thanks to you today, take this money and hurry to Doctor Li to bandage the wound on your head."

"Hmm."

Qiao Sheng didn't bother to be polite with Lan Yue Niang; she had Xiao Shitou lift his outer robe and slipped the copper coins into his clothing.

As Lan Yue Niang turned to go back,

Qiao Sheng called her back: "Mother, I'm pleased you can change like this; I hope you keep it up, so that Grandma and they aren't afraid to scheme against Sanmei."

She didn't bring these up.

She even forgot one thing.

"Mother, understood."

Lan Yue Niang nodded and quickly left; she intended to return and tell Gao Shi to refund the betrothal money tomorrow.

Gao Shi was now being surrounded by Bai Zhaodi and the others, talking about the division.

(End of chapter)