After eating, Mr. Shen called everyone together in the main living area once the village chief and the others had left.
"The fall harvest is coming. The last couple of years have been tough, first with floods, then drought. Luckily, our family had some reserves, and our village didn't suffer as badly as some others, allowing us to get through these difficult years. This year, we finally expect a good harvest. Now that we have split the family, the crops that we harvest this year will be divided based on the farmland that was divvied up during the split. Whoever's plot it is, that person will own the crops. Any objections?"
The siblings all chimed in unison, "No objections".
"Let's all harvest this year's crops together!" Mr. Shen commanded. "Starting tomorrow, everyone older than eight years of age must hit the fields to help with the harvest. Nobody can be left behind, and that includes the main family. The weather has been good for a while now. Many elders in the village predict it won't be long before it rains. We need to quickly bring in the crops and dry them before storage."
Everyone? Upon hearing this, Xiao'er knew she'd have to remind her grandfather again: "Grandpa, my mother is still in confinement and can't do work. Otherwise, she might get sick and it could cause problems when she's older."
Mrs. Shen was furious. "You ungrateful child! In our farming families, when it comes time to harvest, everyone is expected to pitch in! I have been fussing over all of you, yet you just lay around in bed without a care for your own health?" As for the idea of confinement and sickness, that's not her problem. Now that the family was divided, future medical expenses won't come out of her pocket.
"The third son's wife is exempted. Special cases require special measures." Mr. Shen scowled at Mrs. Shen. He had just managed to calm the situation, and here she was starting another dispute.
Mrs. Li wasn't happy either. With the other branches of the family, the main family was just a foil, disrupting them rather than helping. The third branch had two capable adults and two children, but with Mrs. Liu not having to do any work, they only had one person left. The fourth branch only had two people. But their second branch had the most people, and now it seemed all the work fall on them. Now that the family was divided, she was not willing to help others: "Dad, since we've already split up and the crops on the field belong to each household, each family should harvest their own crops."
Mr. Shen ignored Mrs. Li's words directly. These wives of his second son were just too troublesome, unwilling to suffer the slightest bit. He turned to Mrs. Shen, "Wife, starting tomorrow, make sure there's enough food for three meals a day, and at least one dish per meal should be meat."
Mrs. Shen was unhappy with this: "You want enough food for three meals, with meat in every meal. All the silver has been divided, where am I supposed to get the money for that? You damned, helldamned lot, I'm no spring chicken yet I still have to cook for you all. If you don't want to eat, I don't care. We've split up and everyone should go back to their own homes to eat once the work is done."
Mr. Shen had a headache. Older or younger, none of them were sensible, not for one moment.
"I say it and so it shall be, why are you making such a fuss!"
"I'm making a fuss? I've given birth to your children, managed the household, followed you through God knows how much hardship. And now in my old age, now you're tired of me, oh heavens, what wrong have I done, I..."
"Alright, enough! You're utterly unreasonable! Stop crying out to the heavens and pointing at the earth! The new grain hasn't been gathered yet, and you control the remaining grain. How can everyone eat separately? You'd better divide the remaining grain among everyone!" Mr. Shen was so angry these days he felt like his lungs were about to explode.
Hearing these words, Mrs. Shen stopped shouting immediately. She managed the Shen family frugally, the meals were modest, and they had even bought several measures of cheap grain the year before last. They still had quite an abundance of surplus food. Even if they were to harvest a month ahead, there was more than enough to feed a large family, they couldn't run out.
Master Shen had truly found Mrs. Shen's weakness this time. The one who knew Mrs. Shen best was still Master Shen himself.
Upon hearing Master Shen's words, Mrs. Li's eyes brightened significantly. Just as she was about to speak, Master Shen intercepted her, "The matter is settled then. Whoever has an objection, they can provide food for everyone during early harvest. I won't interfere. Everyone should now return home and rest well. We must get up early tomorrow to work."
Hearing this, Mrs. Li did not dare to respond but she was not satisfied in her heart.
When Xiao'er returned to her room, she closed the door and entered her space. She first washed herself in the stream within her space. Then she managed her space: She had collected some seeds from the space's herbs last night. She first planted a field of ginseng and a field of reishi mushrooms, then a field of other common herbs. She also secretly took some rice, wheat, corn, and other vegetable seeds from the Shen family's warehouse, planting a field of them. The ginseng and reishi mushrooms had already grown while other herbs were ready for harvest. The rice, wheat, corn, and other vegetables were also ready. The vegetables had flowered and seeded; their seeds had fallen to the ground and sprouted new vegetables. The new vegetables were just ripe for eating. Xiao'er immediately harvested what was ready, things ripened so fast!
She then planted another field with the harvested rice. She then went to Huaguo Mountain, harvesting all the flowers and fruits, stored them according to their categories in the cave. In the ranch, the rabbits were also prolific breeders; she saw more than ten rabbits.
She took a few fruits and sat beside the stone pool under the Ashoka tree to eat. Today she was very happy. The Shen family had finally split up, and she did not have to think of a way to make it happen, saving quite a bit of effort. After the autumn harvest, she could work hard with her family members to make money and prosper. She needed to figure out a way to get some food from the space to feed them. Life would surely be more comfortable in the future.
The space was truly magical. There were no seasons or dark nights here, it was always a warm spring, with sunlight gleaming everywhere, the climate was pleasant. After Xiao'er finished eating her fruit, she laid down beside the stone pool, gradually dozing off.
In the west wing's other room, Shen Chengyao and his wife were still awake, discussing the division of the family and planning how to earn and save money. Once they had saved enough money, they would support Jinghao in his studies. Jingrui was older already and they guessed he probably wouldn't be able to study once they saved enough money. The couple carried on talking about their plans after the family separation and eventually, fell asleep filled with aspirations for the future.
Shen Chengzu and his wife were discussing similar topics.
Meanwhile, in the east wing, the main family was the happiest. Mrs. Lan and Shen Bao'er were very excited. They had finally gotten rid of these poor relatives. In the future, they wouldn't always have to hide their gold and silver jewelry and live in frustration. Moreover, every time they came back and had to dine with a bunch of country relatives, they felt it was dirty. It would be perfect if Master Shen and Mrs. Shen didn't live with them. However, that wasn't possible, those farmlands were worth dozens of taels of silver.
"Wen'er's father, my father said Wen'er has an eighty percent chance of becoming a talented scholar this time. If he becomes a scholar in the central examination next year and then becomes an official. Bao'er is also engaged to the second son of the County Magistrate's family. Then our good days will start." Mrs. Lan was so excited that she wanted to jump for joy thinking about it.
Mrs. Lan's father was the master of a private school in the town, also a scholar. Mrs. Shen esteemed her because of this. Mrs. Lan always felt herself superior, being a scholar's daughter, so she had always looked down on the Shen family, considering them rural bumpkins. Under the influence of Mrs. Lan's mindset, Shen Bao'er felt she was a lady and was not close to her cousins, even feeling it beneath her to talk to them.
Master Lan had also thought that Shen Chengguang had some talent for studying and was diligent, hence he had agreed to let his daughter marry into the Shen family. Who knew that after studying for more than ten years, Chengguang didn't even pass the examination to become a scholar. Fortunately, their grandson was promising, carrying the title of young scholar at a young age. Even the master of the academy said that he could qualify as a scholar the following year.