This Family Must Be Split Up!
“Mother! You saw it, didn’t you? Wang Ya used to be so tongue-tied she couldn’t get a word out, but now she’s become quite the smooth talker! And Second Son Lin and those two little brats—every one of them is rebelling against Heaven!” Xiao Liushi ground her teeth.
Old Madam Liu’s eyes were grim. “I saw it! That bunch of wretches! They’re only acting this way because Minghai is about to take the examinations. They think there’ll be advantages to grab, so their minds have started turning! Before, they had no hope. Now that they’ve caught the scent of meat, every one of them has turned into a jackal!”
Xiao Liushi nodded vigorously. “Exactly! That’s what’s going on! They’re plotting to cling to Minghai and suck him dry in the future! Today, they dared to spout nonsense outside and make fools of themselves. Tomorrow, they’ll dare to go to the town and demand money and goods from Minghai! How can we allow that?!”
At the thought of her precious son possibly being pestered by this group of “poor relatives” in the future, Xiao Liushi felt as though a knife were twisting in her heart.
Old Madam Liu slapped her thigh and made up her mind. “We can’t keep them anymore! This family must be split up! And we can’t split off only the Second Branch!”
Xiao Liushi froze. “Mother, what do you mean?”
A calculating and vicious gleam flashed through Old Madam Liu’s eyes. “What do I mean? That good-for-nothing Third Son Lin and his whole family of money losers are an eyesore! They’re not much use when it comes to work, yet they eat plenty of idle meals. In the past, we could keep them around to order about, but now that the Second Branch has made such a fuss, who knows whether the Third Branch’s wife will follow their example! We might as well take this opportunity to split them off together. That will save us trouble later!”
Xiao Liushi’s eyes lit up. That was right! She should kick out that woman from the Third Branch who could only give birth to daughters! Afterward, this entire household would completely belong to the First Branch! Everything would belong to her sons, Minghai and Mingjiang!
“Mother! You’re right! We’ll do exactly that!” Xiao Liushi grew excited. “But… how should we divide everything? What about the Clan Head?”
Old Madam Liu sneered. “How should we divide it? Naturally, we’ll make them leave with nothing! Isn’t the Second Branch always shouting about enjoying the good life? If they have the ability, they can earn it themselves! The Third Branch is a bunch of money losers. It’s already generous enough if we give them a bite to eat! As for the Clan Head… Just say that the family is truly struggling and can’t support so many idle people, so everyone should separate and seek their own livelihoods! That argument will hold water wherever we make it!”
Old Madam Liu had her own plans as well. Although the family would be split up, the Third Branch would still have to work for the household. Otherwise, who would farm the family’s land? Who would feed the pigs? Who would wash the clothes?
It would only be a split in name. The Third Branch did not even have a son, yet they still expected the two nephews to perform the ritual of breaking the basin and carrying the funeral banner for them someday. Would they dare not serve the family wholeheartedly?
The more the two women discussed it, the more marvelous they felt the plan was. Xiao Liushi could almost already see the beautiful future ahead: without the irritating Second and Third Branches, all the household’s resources would be poured into her precious son.
But they had something even more important to attend to. Tomorrow, their beloved eldest grandson/eldest son, Minghai, would be on break from school and return home!
Lin Changdong sat to one side, pretending to read. He had attended the village school for several years as well, but he was not cut out for studying. Still, he knew how to put on the airs of a scholar. He had heard every word of the conversation between his mother and wife, but he had not said a thing. In any case, his mother loved him most and would never let him suffer a loss.
After they finished making their plans, Old Madam Liu said to her eldest son, “Changdong, go pick up Minghai tomorrow. While you’re at it, buy a pound of meat and bring it back. Those damned beasts ruined one of my cured meats!”
“All right, Mother,” Lin Changdong replied.
When Xiao Liushi heard the word “meat,” she unconsciously swallowed as well and verbally agreed.
No one noticed a small figure stealthily slipping away beneath the window of the First Branch.
The next day, the Old Lin family’s precious treasure was coming home. Before the rooster had even crowed, Old Madam Liu had already begun rousing the entire household.
“Second Son Lin, go borrow an ox cart from your eldest uncle’s family. Your Eldest Brother is going to town later to pick up Minghai.”
“Second Son’s Wife, hurry and take Erya to sweep the courtyard. All you do every day is waste grain; there isn’t a bit of work in your eyes!”
“Third Branch’s wife, go make breakfast. Move your hands and feet faster!”
Lin Changsong looked at the sky, which was only beginning to brighten, and stretched. What a sin—rising earlier than a chicken and eating worse than a pig.
After an ordinary, uneventful breakfast, Lin Changdong led the ox out of the yard.
Old Madam Liu secretly slipped him a string of copper coins. “When you get to town, take Minghai to buy something to eat first. Don’t let father and son go hungry. Then buy a pound of good meat and bring it back.”
Lin Changdong nodded repeatedly. His old mother did this every time, and he was already used to it. He tucked the copper coins away and left.
In truth, Kaoshan Village was in a fairly good location. It was six li from the town and ten li from the county seat. The year before last, when large numbers of refugees had flooded in, the county magistrate had arranged for them to repair all the nearby irrigation ditches and roads in exchange for relief.
As a result, the roads to both the town and the county seat were level. Unless they needed to transport heavy goods, the villagers usually went back and forth on foot.
When Lin Minghai had first begun studying, he had walked to and from school every day. This past year, while preparing for the county examination, he had stayed at the private school. How could Old Madam Liu possibly let her precious grandson walk home? So every time he had a break, she deliberately borrowed an ox cart to pick him up.
Of course, the ox cart was not borrowed for free. They had to give the owner copper coins when they returned it. That money was spent on the father and son of the First Branch, which was why Old Madam Liu felt it was worthwhile.
By the time Wang Ya and her daughter finished washing the clothes and returned, the ox cart happened to be stopping in front of the Old Lin family’s house.
A young man climbed down from the cart. He wore a long gown that had been washed until it had faded white, and his chin was raised slightly, carrying a scholar’s haughty air. When he saw Second Aunt and his second younger cousin openly sizing him up, Lin Minghai felt somewhat puzzled. But before he could say anything, Old Madam Liu and Xiao Liushi had already come forward.
“Oh, my precious eldest grandson! You’ve lost weight, you’ve lost weight! You must have suffered at the private school!”
“Grandmother, Mother, I’m home.”
“Good, good, good…”
Just as Old Madam Liu was about to shower her eldest grandson with more affection, Wang Ya handed the wooden basin to her daughter, rushed over in a single stride, and squeezed between the excited aunt and nephew.
“Minghai! You must be tired. You haven’t been home for more than half a month, and everyone has been thinking about you. Studying is truly hard work. Your Second Aunt will make you some tea.”
As Wang Ya spoke, she snatched Lin Minghai’s small bundle away. Treating him as though she were welcoming an emperor, she “escorted” him into the main room, serving him tea and water and asking about every little thing, as if he had not gone off to study but had returned from a journey to the Western Paradise to obtain the scriptures.
Lin Xiaowei saw the two women suffer a setback and held back her laughter, but she did not dare stand around and watch the spectacle. After all, she was a little fish in the pond now.
Before the two women could react, she tucked the wooden basin under her arm and slipped into the courtyard.
Inside the main room, Lin Minghai had just set down his teacup when Second Aunt drew close. Her face held an admiring expression utterly different from her usual meek submissiveness—slightly bashful, yet completely sincere.
She did not pounce on him and hug him directly as Old Madam Liu had. Instead, she maintained a little of the “distance proper for a scholar,” but the adoration in her eyes was almost spilling out.
“Minghai.” Wang Ya spoke in a gentle voice, with just the right amount of ingratiation. “You’ve worked so hard, devoting yourself to your studies day after day, haven’t you? Just look at your bearing! You truly are a scholar. You’re completely different from people like us who scrape food from the soil.”
The opening was nothing extraordinary, but her respectful attitude made it pleasant to hear. Lin Minghai gave a slight nod and affected a measured tone. “Second Aunt, you flatter me. A person seeking knowledge should not speak of hardship.”
Wang Ya immediately seized the opportunity to climb higher. “Oh, isn’t that the truth! Look at your hands—so fair and slender. Anyone can tell they’re the hands of someone who holds a brush. You were born to study and write! And look at your forehead—full and bright. I heard a teacher in town say that this is called a high and ample heavenly court, a sign of intelligence and good fortune. You’ll certainly place high in the examinations in the future!”
When Old Madam Liu and Xiao Liushi entered, the last sentence they heard was that one.
Their faces blossomed into smiles, yet they also faintly sensed that something was wrong.
The two exchanged a glance. Was Second Son’s Wife trying to cling to them again? At that moment, both of them were thinking the same thing:
Second Son’s Wife has ambitions like a wolf. Her intentions deserve death!