Zi Qing didnt expect God to hear her prayers so quickly.

  After dinner, Zi Qing was about to take Zi Shou out when he heard Old Man Zeng say: "Zi Qing, go call your mother out, well discuss the division of the family property later."

  "Whats the point of dividing the family? Old man, what nonsense are you talking about?"

  "Its not me who wants to separate, its your two sons who want to separate. What are you rushing about? I have my own plans."

  "I dont agree with the division, didnt we say to wait until our two daughters get married before dividing? What kind of ghost is possessing you today to want to divide the family?" Tian was still worried about his two daughters.

  "Mother, dont worry, isnt this a discussion? We wont neglect our sister." Zeng Rui Xiang still couldnt bear to see Tian Shi complaining.

  "My opinion is still divided, and its not like were a big family that can afford to support so many people. Whether we divide early or late, well still have to divide. Dividing early is better, its more convenient and avoids conflicts." Zeng Ruiqings words were decisive, after all, he was the eldest, and his tone was much stronger.

  "Xia Yu and Qiu Yu go pick vegetables, let your sister-in-law sit over here. Zi Qing, go call your mother."

  Ziying quickly ran to Shens room, "Mother, Father said he wants to discuss dividing the family property and asked you to go over."

  "Really, its great, Bodhisattva bless, finally going to separate households."

  "Mother, are you so happy that youre confused? My recovery is due to the blessing of the Bodhisattva, and even our family division is also due to the Bodhisattvas blessing. Can the Bodhisattva handle all this?"

  "Forgive me, Bodhisattva, for the sin of speaking without thinking."

  "Girl, are you going or not?"

  "My daughter wont go, whatever it is, Ive known for so many years that some things cant be forced. After all, our familys foundation is here, and I dont even bother to get angry about it. Separating is better than anything else. Everything will be decided by your father." It seems Shen Shi is quite open-minded, she must have some wisdom.

  Then Zi Qing quickly ran back and told her mother that she wasnt coming, everything would be decided by the adults. Every elders face was filled with shock and disbelief.

  "Hmph, this will teach her to pretend to be a good person. Its all because of her meddling that things have come to this pass. Otherwise, the family wouldnt have fallen apart like this." Mrs. Tian muttered resentfully to herself.

  "Alright, lets get down to business. First, let me tell you about our familys assets. We only have this one house, and its not easy to divide it up. I think your second brothers family will definitely need to build a new house. Theres a plot of land in the village that belongs to us, and although the house is gone, the land is still there, so we can give it to your second brothers family. You can move in whenever you want, but youll have to build the house yourself and figure out how to pay for it. This side will be left to your older sister after were gone.

  As for the fields, our family has three mu of paddy fields, two plots of land, one mu each, and six mu of sandy land. My suggestion is that one mu of paddy field should go with four mu of sandy land, and two mu of paddy field should go with two mu of sandy land. We shouldnt divide up the good paddy fields into small pieces.

  Im almost 50 years old now, and your mothers health isnt good either, so we cant work in the fields anymore. Your younger sister will be getting married soon too, so we wont be able to take care of the farmwork. Well just plant some vegetables for ourselves to eat, and you can take turns using the cow. The farming tools will be divided equally between the two families.

  Ruiqing, as the eldest son, you get to choose first. Does Rui Xiang have any opinions?"

  "No, Father." Zeng Rui Xiang quickly expressed his stance. Zhou Shi had a delighted expression, while Tian Shi and her two daughters looked anxious. Zeng Rui Qing still had a dark face.

  "Its better not to have it, now lets get to the point. You also know that your mother and second sister are not in good health, especially your second sister. The annual medical expenses are a significant burden, so over the years, our family has hardly saved any money. From now on, you will give us 15 taels of silver and 2 dan (about 180 kg) of rice every year. How about dividing it equally among the two families? If you agree, we can split the household."

  "Father, your eldest son only earns ten taels of silver a year. He has been worrying about this family since he was young and hasnt even had the chance to read any books. The second son has read so many more years of books and spent so much more of the familys money, and yet they have more children to raise, which naturally means they spend more too. Now that he earns more than us, how can we divide it equally? At the very least, shouldnt he give a bit more to your eldest son for household expenses? Cant let our whole family tighten our belts, can we?" Madam Zhou was not having it.

  Zeng Ruixiang heard it and knew it wouldnt be easy to get through.

  Zeng Lao Ye Zi thought for a moment and asked, "Old Second, whats your idea?"

  "Ill listen to Dad." It seems that Zeng Rui Xiangs prediction was accurate, he predicted last night that it would be ten taels.

  "Older brother, youre the eldest son, what do you say?"

  "Alright, Ill take two mu of paddy field and two mu of sandy land. Ill pay five taels of silver, and the rice will all be mine to provide. Anyway, there are not many people in my household now, so its enough for us to eat. Second Brother, what do you think? Dont say that as the older brother Im taking advantage of you, this is just how things are." Once Zeng Ruiqing opened his mouth, he basically had already reached a conclusion.

  "Whats the point? Thats a big stone of rice, even if its early glutinous rice, it would cost at least 5 cents per catty, and a stone of rice is worth around 800-900 cents, almost two silver coins." Mrs. Zhou felt she had lost out.

  "I have no opinion, Ill listen to big brother."

  "Wife, what do you think? Is it enough for expenses?"

  "Whats enough or not, in the past even thirty taels of silver were left with nothing, you also know that our familys days are very tight. Now only half is left, and theres no harvest from the fields, you also know about Er Yas situation. Oh my poor daughter, Im useless to raise you anymore." Tian Shi wailed, Xia Yu and Qiu Yu immediately sobbed, and Mama San hugged them all and cried.

  "Why make a fuss? Youre their mother, they wouldnt dare disobey you." Ah Gong is also quite cunning, I didnt notice before.

  "Then add five more taels of silver for another year, and my two daughters will be married off soon. After they get married, I wont need this five taels of silver anymore." Tian Shi was not afraid of her eldest son for the sake of her daughters future.

  "Whats going on? Just four people, fifteen taels of silver are not enough, they want twenty taels. And our family of seven only has five taels left, and my elder brothers still need to go to school, we dont even have a house." Zi Qing couldnt help but mutter under her breath. Zi Fu was startled and quickly grabbed her hand, signaling her to be quiet, but it was too late.

  "Even a five-year-old has an opinion. Zi Ping, you silly little fool, just like your mother, foolish to the point of only knowing how to do things and deserving of suffering." This is a great sin, originally not likable.

  Zeng Lao Ye Zi stared at Zi Qing for a moment, ignoring her. He looked at his eldest son instead.

  "Rui Qing, what did you say?"

  "Dad, to be honest, its a bit difficult to take out another five taels. Whether its me or my second brother, how about this: Ill take out one tael, the second family will take out two taels, and then well add three more taels, and everyone will make do."

  What else can this be called if not bullying? No wonder Shen has a foresight and doesnt bother to come and waste his breath.

  "Alright, wife. Lets just do it this way for now. If everyone has no objections, well find the village head and some relatives to witness it tomorrow, and then divide up the household registration. It will be more convenient for Ernius family to build a house. The Chinese New Year is just over a month away, so lets just make do until after the holiday, and then completely separate. The wheat in the field and the rape in the paddies can be given to each household, theyve just been planted, and you can take care of them yourselves. Next year when we harvest the rape, well give you 10 kilograms of oil, and thats it. Does anyone else have anything to say?"

  "How can we divide the pigs and chickens? We cant be busy for a year and have nothing to show for it." Zhou Shi still felt a bit unwilling.

  "Whats the point of dividing, cant I and your mother support you? The vegetable field will be given to your family, two mu of land. If Old Seconds family is moving away because its too far, they can open up their own place. One family will give you an old hen to incubate eggs." Zeng Lao Ye spoke quickly at the critical moment, without hesitation.

  Zi Qing was puzzled by his repeated mention of her family moving away, what did he mean? If he really cared about this family, why not give them some silver to build a house? Had Old Dad been secretly storing money all these years? But it didnt seem like it. If he had stored money, according to Tian Shis personality, she would definitely not agree to it. Moreover, there was also the astute Zhou Shi keeping an eye on things at all times, and the two aunts were not easy to deal with either.

  If they hadnt stored any private funds, what would they use to build a house? This question was a bit puzzling. Shell ask her mother about it later.

  Zi Qing took a look and saw that everything was settled, so he brought Zi Shou back first. He told Shen Shi about all the things that had happened.

  "Its a good thing your mother and I had the foresight, didnt go to suffer that idle gas. In all these years, which matter can we take advantage of? Is your father okay?"

  "Mom, does our family have any private savings? How can we afford to build a house?" asked Zi Qing.

  "Youre really a little housekeeper. Now that weve divided the family property, Ill tell you, when your mother got married, your maternal grandfather was still alive and our family was well-off, so he gave your mother twenty taels of silver as a dowry, which she never dared to touch, waiting for us to divide the property to build a house. Nowadays, your maternal grandmothers life is not as good as before, her three sons have all divided their shares, fortunately, your youngest uncle is doing okay, and his wife is capable and can support your maternal grandmother a bit. I reckon your paternal grandparents are also counting on you being able to borrow from our family."

  Just then, Zeng Rui Xiang returned with his sons and they discussed that after finishing the household registration tomorrow, they would go take a look at that piece of land. With farming being slack, it was just right to ask people to build the house.

  "Dad, our family has silver to build a house, given by grandma. Our family is building a big house." In fact, Zeng Ziying knew nothing about the prices of this time and space, and it was still unknown what twenty taels of silver could do.

  "Who would have thought that Zeng Rui Xiangs face turned red with guilt, Child, youve suffered, Im sorry. I wasnt able to let you and the child live a good life."

  "Whats the point of saying these now? Youre not unaware that I have these twenty taels of silver in my hand. Lets settle down at home first and then think about other things. I still dont believe we cant live a good life."