The night was deep and still.
The female lead lay on the strange ancient bed, her heart filled with anxiety about the days to come, unable to fall asleep. Just as she was feeling restless, a strange light suddenly flashed in her eyes in the darkness, and a mysterious system unfolded right in front of her. Inside it was like an online shopping world in the 21st century!
In an instant, the light and shadow on the screen changed constantly, and all kinds of goods were displayed in great abundance, ranging from exquisite clothes and jewelry to novel daily necessities, and then to delicious snacks. The vivid display seemed to have truly brought the female lead back to the familiar 21st century. Her eyes were full of surprise and excitement, and she was completely immersed in this unexpected joy.
However, the female lead soon discovered that each category was locked by a faint light and required gold coins to unlock. Gold coins? Where could she find gold coins?
But at this moment, the whispering voices coming from the mother-in-law's room next door interrupted her thoughts. It was so late, and they hadn't gone to bed yet? Doubts filled her heart, and she tiptoed around the three children and crept to the wall to eavesdrop.
"Big Ya is so skinny. It won't be easy to bargain with that old cripple. We should let her eat more and fatten her up a bit." The mother-in-law's voice was hoarse but carried a cold calculation.
"Mother-in-law is absolutely right. When we dress Big Ya up properly, that old cripple will surely offer more betrothal gifts, and then our Dazhuang can also choose a good wife." The eldest sister-in-law quickly agreed, her words full of greedy desire for money.
On the other side of the wall, the female lead was shaking with anger. Big Ya was only fifteen years old, and that old cripple was old enough to be her father. How could this family be so despicable and shameless? Just because Dazhuang didn't have money to marry a wife, they were going to sell Big Ya? Big Ya had been working hard every day to serve them without complaint, yet they showed no mercy and were casually pushing her into the old cripple's clutches?
Although she wasn't Big Ya's biological mother, she had seen and remembered Big Ya's dedicated care when she was recovering from her injuries. Since she had taken over the original owner's body, she had to protect the original owner's family!
She clenched her teeth tightly. In this era, marriages were arranged by the elders. If she defied her mother-in-law's arrangements, it would be considered unfilial. If she wanted to save Big Ya, she had to split the family!
In the morning,
The female lead hadn't slept all night, but she had already made up her mind.
When the mother-in-law and the eldest sister-in-law's family were sitting around the simple dining table waiting for breakfast, they found that no one had cooked this morning! Just as they were about to get angry, Lin Wan said in a loud voice, "Mother-in-law, eldest sister-in-law, I've thought about it for a long time and would like to discuss splitting the family with you all."
Everyone looked at her in astonishment. The mother-in-law frowned and said unhappily, "Everything is fine. Why split the family? Such a big matter should at least wait until the second son comes back." "Mother! Since the second son's wife is so serious about it, let's just split it." The eldest sister-in-law said and winked at Mother Chen. Although the second son was a taciturn person and only knew to bring back money and meat every time he came home, if they really waited for him to come back, the second son's family would surely be more confident in dividing the family property. It would be easier to take advantage of them, just the mother and her three children, now.
Lin Wan ignored her and continued, "I've calculated that our family has a total of eighteen mu of fertile land. Calculated by the number of people..." "No way. How can mother-in-law divide it the same as us? Divide it into three equal parts, one part for each of our two families, and one part for mother-in-law." Before Lin Wan could finish speaking, the eldest sister-in-law interrupted.
Lin Wan pretended to think for a moment and said, "My husband has been away from home all year round and hasn't had time to fulfill his filial duty to mother. Now that my husband is about to retire from the military soon, how about letting me..."
The eldest sister-in-law got anxious when she heard this. She had asked mother-in-law to have a separate share for the sake of her own family!
How could she let the second son's family take it away?
She interrupted and said, "Your eldest brother is the eldest son, and Dazhuang is the eldest grandson. It wouldn't make sense if they didn't take care of mother in her old age."
Lin Wan frowned with a troubled look, "But if mother's share of the family property is used up and eldest brother and sister-in-law want to send her to live with me again, this..."
The eldest sister-in-law shook her head like a rattle, repeatedly assuring, "No, no, definitely not!
Whether mother has money or not, whether our eldest son's family has money or not, we will always take care of mother!"
She said this to Lin Wan and also to Mother Chen.
Mother Chen looked even more relieved.
Chen Dazhuang promised beside them, "Auntie, don't worry. As long as we have something to eat, grandma will have something to eat too!
No, even if we don't eat ourselves, we'll give it to grandma!"
Hearing her eldest grandson's words, Mother Chen was extremely moved. She raised her sleeves to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes and said with emotion, "Grandma really didn't love you in vain! Unlike those two ungrateful brats in the second son's family. They were caught stealing steamed buns and didn't even want to hand them over." As she said this, she also gave Big Ya a sidelong glance.
"So we and mother-in-law will divide twelve mu of land. Divided equally into three parts, it seems that your second son's family is taking advantage. Your two daughters eat less and use less. When they get married, the betrothal gifts will be a large sum of money. And your youngest son is still young. It's not like our eldest son's family who is about to marry Dazhuang off soon." The eldest sister-in-law added.
Although Chen Zhi didn't do any proper job every day, he also knew that his wife and mother must be on his side, so he just sat there listening silently.
Mother Chen had originally planned to stop the family from splitting up, but after hearing this, it seemed not bad. The family wouldn't have to support these four freeloaders anymore. As for the youngest son's military pay... Over the years, except for the necessary expenses, she had hidden all the rest. And even if the family split up, she could still ask the second son's family for alimony.
"Alright, let's do as the eldest sister-in-law said. Just consider it as our second son's family's filial piety to mother-in-law. Besides, our family also has two hills..." Lin Wan looked at the eldest sister-in-law.
"The hill next to our house will belong to us. The other hill next to the old house, along with that small piece of wasteland, will be given to your second son's family." What the eldest sister-in-law said sounded generous and reasonable, but everyone knew clearly that the hill next to the house had several small vegetable plots that had been cultivated, and usually Lin Wan took care of them. While the hill next to the old house was full of weeds and miscellaneous trees, and that wasteland couldn't grow anything and was almost useless.
"Okay." Lin Wan said calmly.
After dividing the fields and mountains, they began to divide the existing grain in the family.
Grain had always been the most important thing for farming families. Strangely enough, even at such a crucial moment, Lin Wan didn't show any intention of competing for it.
"Second daughter-in-law, your nephews are at the age when they can eat a lot. Don't blame mother for being partial." Mother Chen said guiltily.
Lin Wan shook her head, with a calm expression, "Mother, just give us enough grain for our mother and children to eat until the next harvest season."
Mother Chen was overjoyed when she heard this. She was asked to divide it for them? Since she had said so, it couldn't be blamed on her if the amount she divided was enough or not.
"Now there are eleven jars of black flour, six jars of millet, three jars of wheat bran, and two jars of cornmeal in the public grain. It's all mother's fault for being useless. I'm afraid your second son's family will only be able to drink porridge after the family splits up..." Mother Chen said while secretly looking at Lin Wan, trying to confirm whether Lin Wan really didn't want to compete for it.
Seeing that Lin Wan still looked at her calmly, as if leaving everything to her arrangement, Mother Chen felt relieved.
"Then let's do this. Give the second son's family more black flour, four jars, and one jar of wheat bran. We won't give them any cornmeal. It's for your own good. The second daughter-in-law is busy in the house all day and doesn't have any experience in dealing with others. It's easy to be cheated if you take cornmeal out to exchange. " Nonsense! One jar of cornmeal can be exchanged for over a dozen jars of black flour. Such precious things, how could she be willing to share them with you.