A lawyer arrived to establish the will. Changzong ignored it, peeling boiled eggs for Hongguo.
Grandma instructed: “Guoguo, eat quickly, then come listen about the inheritance.”
Hongguo ate quickly, choking a bit on the yolk. Changzong handed her soy milk, glaring at Grandma—clearly uninterested in the inheritance.
Hongguo, caught between wanting it and being indifferent, finished breakfast in a few bites and listened as Grandma and the lawyer planned the estate.
The step-grandfather said, “Su Wen, Kai Sheng and his wife haven’t arrived. Let’s wait.”
Grandma ignored him. “My property distribution doesn’t need to wait for anyone. Ridiculous.”
Hongguo nodded like a little chick pecking rice. “Yes, Grandma, the legal heirs are Grandfather and Changzong. Everyone is present. I’m just here coincidentally. Listen to my wise grandmother—how to arrange the inheritance reasonably and spend her later years comfortably.”
The lawyer, also Grandma’s student, smiled: “This mouth of yours is as sharp as when you were young.”
Grandma said, “She’s telling the truth.”
She then asked Jiang Hongguo, “If you let the child in your belly take my surname Yan, I’ll leave the entire inheritance to you and Changzong. How about that?”
Hongguo glanced at the anxious step-grandfather. A halfway family trying to strip Changzong of his inheritance—it almost felt like they wanted to erase his line. If Grandma were easily fooled, the post-rehabilitation will wouldn’t have dragged on for half a year.
Jiang Hongguo refused firmly: “Grandma, my child with Changzong will take either my surname or Changzong’s—never yours. If you withhold from Changzong and give to grandfather instead, he’ll only pass it to his own children. That way, your inheritance would end up with someone unrelated by blood.”
Grandma sighed: “Yes, I knew that. I just wanted to scare you a bit—didn’t work.”
Hongguo wasn’t particularly attached to the inheritance. Whether she got it or not, she and Changzong could live well, so she wasn’t manipulated.
Grandma outlined the properties in her name. Post-rehabilitation, she had reclaimed two houses, including the one they were currently living in. She asked Changzong and the step-grandfather how they wished to divide them—they could negotiate.
“One is my second husband, the other my biological grandson. I won’t play favorites: one house each. You choose yourselves.”
Two houses! Each roughly worth over 8,000 yuan, yet the step-grandfather wasn’t concerned about that—he cared more about the valuables, like the handful of gold melon seeds worth 600–700 yuan from last night. Where were the other valuables? Could they be hidden beneath one of the houses?
Changzong didn’t care: “Doesn’t matter. It’s free. Take whichever.”
Hongguo agreed; since yesterday, she’d been nonchalant. Grandma giving one house to Changzong was already generous—no need to fuss.
“Grandfather should choose first,” Hongguo said to Changzong. “We’re younger. For the past ten years, you stayed with Grandma during her hardships; he should pick first.”
Changzong agreed—even if money made the hardships lighter, he had been present.
The step-grandfather was thinking the same: one house each was fine, but which contained hidden valuables was crucial. During the years of being sent down, he’d only brought a small box, without valuables. Yet when hosting students, Grandma suddenly had money to spend. Each visit, students left, and she had more than enough—money, food, cloth. The students were even more effective than sons. That wealth must have been stored in advance.
The step-grandfather hesitated: “Let Changzong choose.”
Changzong asked Hongguo: “Which one do you like?”
She replied, “I haven’t seen the other house. I like the one Grandma currently lives in—let’s pick this one.”
Grandma smirked at the step-grandfather: “So it’s settled?”
“Since we’ll live here for retirement, this one it is,” he answered firmly.
Grandma, impatient: “Stop dithering. Decide yourselves.”
“Done. No changes,” the step-grandfather confirmed.
Hongguo and Changzong didn’t care—any hidden valuables weren’t likely in these houses after years of scrutiny and demolitions.
Once decided, the house distribution was written into the will. The step-grandfather asked, “Su Wen, does the will only mention houses? Anything else?”
Grandma waved her hand: “Do you still not understand, child? Before being sent down, I separated gold and valuables among several students. In ten years in the countryside, I never lacked anything. Good food, supplies, spending on the farm—what you sent out was enough to buy two more houses. I have no regrets. If I can live a few more years, I’d spend everything. Now, one house to you, one to Changzong—you’re just lucky. After twenty-some years with me, living comfortably, you’re not losing out.”
The lawyer, touched, confirmed: “My teacher also stored a few antiques with me. Over the years, I sold them and sent money back. Only one remains, kept as a memento. Indeed, during those times of confiscation and being sent down, valuables couldn’t be hidden in the houses—they were entrusted to a few trusted students. We took our shares directly and spent them. She truly used it up.”
Grandma instructed the step-grandfather and Changzong not to pursue the students: “They took risks holding and selling the items. I left them small rewards—it’s fair.”
Hongguo admired her—Grandma must have had tremendous charisma to have students she could trust completely.
….
After handling the will, the lawyer brought out a valuable gift: a large wild ginseng, thumb-thick, displayed on bright yellow padding. The ginseng’s roots vaguely resembled a human face, showing its high quality.
“Teacher Yan, I happened upon this ginseng and bought it to help you with your health.”
Before Liberation, such a ginseng was hard to buy even with money. But Grandma Yan’s illness wasn’t something ginseng could cure.
“After leaving only a modest antique, you still buy ginseng? You probably lost money on it,” the step-grandfather remarked, examining it.
Recognizing its value, he nodded: “Cannot be less than 500 yuan. Your student’s kindness—I’ll have Yan’er stew it tonight for nourishment.”
The lawyer lamented the rarity: “It’s great, but hard to find. A local collector previously got a slightly inferior one from a Kong family in Dayang Village, then sent it to the provincial city. I unexpectedly got this better one—bought for 650, seller asked 700.”
Changzong clenched his fist—traders bought it for 280, sold it multiple times, now over 600.
Hongguo explained: “The Kong family’s ginseng was found by their young daughter-in-law by chance. Lucky girl. That household has always had good fortune—first to buy a TV in our village. I remember when watching Huo Yuanjia, half the village came to their house.”
The lawyer was curious: “Such luck! If she found another, I’d buy it and skip middlemen.”
Hongguo shook her head regretfully: “She died. After her death, except for the eldest’s family, all perished. Even remarried daughters-in-law couldn’t survive.”
Grandma laughed, coughing: “Dead? That’s not luck—that’s misfortune. Luckily, you bought a different ginseng. I won’t eat another like that if sent to me.”
They chatted for a while, and later the maid cut the ginseng into pieces to stew for Grandma.
….
Uncle and Aunt returned the next day, looking battered. They’d quarreled with passengers en route, fought back, and were detained overnight, causing delay.
Schemes, lies—it didn’t matter. The will was set; one house each could not be changed.
During the New Year, they ate together. Grandma insisted the ginseng had restored some vitality. Afterward, she visited the other two-story house—older, run-down, unfurnished. They could move in only after repairs. The step-grandfather and Uncle’s family were quietly pleased they hadn’t chosen wrongly.
Grandma completed the property transfers: one house to Changzong, the other to the step-grandfather.
Originally, Hongguo and Changzong had planned to return home, but Grandma fell ill and was hospitalized. Within a day, she passed away, requesting immediate cremation. The lawyer who handled the will also assisted with the funeral, and afterward, there was no reason to remain gathered.
In front of the dilapidated house, the step-grandfather felt relief at his choice; Uncle and Aunt felt balanced, showing polite smiles toward Hongguo.
“Changzong, Hongguo, don’t be too upset. At least it’s free—something is better than nothing.”
Hongguo replied: “Exactly. Changzong and I don’t need to divide anything. Grandpa has more than one child and his own retirement to consider—you two can quarrel over that.”
Since it wasn’t Changzong’s biological grandfather, he had no obligation to care for him. Hongguo spoke without burden.
They looked at the run-down house, unsure what to do. It might hold treasures, but Grandma had been so wealthy and thorough that everything had been cleared. The tiles had been replaced after confiscation; nothing was buried. They could only wait until they earned enough to renovate.
The lawyer stayed behind. After Uncle and Aunt left, he revealed another detail:
“My teacher left a verbal will. Whoever gets this dilapidated house, I was told to buy it from them. The money—8,000 yuan—has been stored with me for years. Do you want to sell?”