Old Madam Liu suddenly slammed her hand on the table. “You unfilial wretch, shut up! This household isn’t yours to decide!”
The Clan Head heavily set his teacup on the table and barked, “He can’t decide, but I, the Clan Head, can!”
Old Madam Liu was startled by the Clan Head’s harsh tone and did not dare say another word for quite some time.
The Clan Head lightly tapped the tabletop. “No descendant of the Lin clan is going to be trampled on by you, a Liu.”
One of the clan elders could not bear to watch any longer and urged, “Elder Sister-in-law, this division is… a little too biased. Changsong and Changgen are your own sons too. You can’t disregard whether they live or die like this.”
Old Madam Liu came to her senses, and her shrewish temper rose up. She sat down on the ground and wailed, “Oh, my heavens! I married into the Lin family and worked myself to the bone, bearing and raising children for nearly forty years. And now, at the end of it all, my sons are going to defy me, and even the clan despises me! Where am I supposed to go to seek justice…?”
One of the clan elders could not listen any longer. “Old Madam Liu, if you want to divide the household, then divide it properly. Don’t drag in all this irrelevant nonsense.” Ordinarily, the women of the household were not permitted to take part in such matters. It was only because Lin Shuanzhu was incapable of standing up for himself.
Seeing the situation, Xiao Liushi feared that the household division would fall through, so she hurried over to support her. “Mother, Second Brother and Third Brother are both filial. They simply don’t understand your painstaking intentions. Talk it over with them properly, and they’ll understand.”
Lin Changdong also stepped forward to smooth things over. “Clan Head, honored uncles, please calm down. My mother… she was simply too worried about Minghai’s future. She acted rashly in the moment and lost her sense of propriety. Our First Branch absolutely has no intention of monopolizing the family property or disregarding whether our brothers live or die!”
Seeing that the clan elders’ expressions had softened somewhat, he continued, “It’s just… it’s just that you all know how difficult it is to support a scholar.
“Brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones; tuition and gifts for festivals; socializing and entertaining his fellow students—which of these things doesn’t cost money?
“Over the years, most of the household’s income has indeed gone into all that.
“Since I’m already making a fool of myself before you all, I may as well say it: for Minghai’s county examination this time, his mother and I haven’t even added a new garment to our wardrobes in ages. We’re only hoping he’ll make us proud and bring honor to our family.”
At that moment, someone among the villagers mentioned “the good-news underpants,” and the people outside began laughing quietly.
Lin Changdong felt humiliated, so he could only signal to Xiao Liushi with his eyes. Xiao Liushi immediately understood. She dabbed at the nonexistent tears in the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and picked up where he left off. “That’s right, Clan Head. My mother was also afraid that Minghai’s expenses would become even greater in the future and drag down the households of Second Brother and Third Brother. That was why she had no choice but to divide the family.
“Our family’s savings have long since been drained dry, and we truly have more will than strength left… The arrangement Mother proposed just now was also meant to leave her younger brothers a few mu of land, so they would at least have something to rely on.
“We can’t… We can’t let Minghai’s future be ruined just so their two households can have an easier time for the moment, can we? That would be cutting off the roots of our Lin family!”
Lin Changdong nodded beside her, then put on an especially magnanimous air. “How about this, Clan Head? Since what my mother proposed just now was inappropriate, we’ll yield another step.
“Of the twelve mu of paddy fields belonging to our First Branch, we’ll give the two mu nearest the river to our two younger brothers.
“We’ll tighten our belts a little more. We can’t let our younger brothers say that their elder brother and sister-in-law have no consideration for them.”
Who didn’t know that the two mu of paddy fields nearest the river had poorer soil? Yet he was acting as though he were bestowing charity on them.
Old Madam Liu was unwilling. “No! According to the rules, the First Branch is entitled to seventy percent!”
Lin Changdong pressed down on his mother’s hand. “Mother, let’s give each of my two younger brothers two mu of paddy fields and one mu of dry land. At least that will let them grow enough grain to eat.”
Old Madam Liu’s eyes brimmed with tears as she clutched her eldest son’s hand. “My son! You’ve truly suffered!”
The four members of the Second Branch nearly rolled their eyes. It was true that there had once been a rule that the First Branch received seventy percent—but how many years ago had that rule been? For at least the past hundred years, the Lin clan had never divided households that way. At most, the First Branch received sixty percent.
Yet this mother and son were acting as though they were the ones suffering a tremendous loss. Whom did they think they could fool?
The Clan Head could not be bothered to watch the mother and son continue their performance. He looked at Changsong and Changgen. He could tell that Changsong had changed quite a bit.
Lin Changgen had no ideas of his own. When he saw his Second Brother nod at him, he understood that this was already the greatest concession their mother was willing to make, so he nodded as well.
Just as the villagers outside thought the Second Branch and the Third Branch were about to make a scene, Lin Changsong stepped forward and let out a bitter laugh.
“My Third Brother and I are both filial people. Since Mother and Eldest Brother have already discussed everything, we can understand Mother’s painstaking intentions. Let’s consider it a contribution toward Minghai’s imperial examinations. Once Minghai passes the examination, we uncles will have contributed to his success as well. By then…”
Old Madam Liu shrieked, “No! Absolutely not! Once the household is divided, each household will live on its own!”
Xiao Liushi panicked. “Second Brother, what do you mean by that? Are you insisting on clinging to our Minghai?”
Lin Changsong looked wounded and bewildered. “Mother, Eldest Sister-in-law, what do you mean? All these years, Eldest Brother has neither gone out to work nor done any farm labor, and Eldest Sister-in-law hasn’t done any work around the house either. This household has been supported entirely by Father and the Second and Third Branches. If Minghai passes the examination, can he really cast aside all of us uncles and aunts?”
The Clan Head and the clan elders’ expressions immediately turned ugly. Just as Changsong had said, the two branches had worked like oxen without receiving any benefits, and now the First Branch wanted to sever all connection. Their behavior was simply too disgraceful!
Old Madam Liu suddenly flew into a rage and began pounding on Lin Changsong. “You unfilial wretch! I’m giving you land, and you still want to cling to Minghai! You’re trying to tear out my heart! How did I give birth to an animal like you? If I’d known, I should have drowned you in the urine bucket back then…”
Lin Changsong raised an arm to block her, preventing her from striking his head. The scene descended into complete chaos. Old Madam Liu nearly cried herself unconscious, as though his receiving even the slightest benefit from Lin Minghai would constitute the greatest possible act of filial impiety.
Wang Ya pulled Lin Changsong away and asked, “Are you hurt?”
Lin Changsong shook his head, though his arm might have swollen. Old Madam Liu had not held back at all. The villagers had also witnessed a fine spectacle and were discussing it noisily outside.
In the end, Old Madam Liu carried on as though she would rather die, coming within a hair of smashing her head against the wall. She insisted that one sentence be added to the household division document:
“Once the household is divided, each branch shall cook at its own hearth, and there shall be no claim upon one another ever again.”
In other words, once the family was divided and each branch had its own kitchen, regardless of how any household fared in the future, none of them could make demands of or seek help from the others.
Lin Changsong had deliberately brought up Minghai precisely to achieve this effect. Yet in his heart, he felt indignant on behalf of the deceased Second Branch and its family. He truly could not understand why this biological mother was threatening her own son’s life. What could possibly have driven her to do such a thing?
After that, Old Madam Liu stubbornly insisted that the household had no money. The Clan Head did not indulge her. Instead, compensation was made from the family’s stored grain, farm tools, pots, and bowls, which were divided equally among the three branches.
Because Old Madam Liu had made so many excessive demands earlier, she failed to work any more tricks regarding her support in old age. The matter was handled according to the village rules.
The Second Branch and the Third Branch would each provide the elderly couple with one shi of grain every year—approximately one hundred and twenty pounds—with thirty percent being fine grain and seventy percent coarse grain. In addition, they would each present two hundred copper coins annually.
During the three major festivals, they were required to provide at least one pound of meat and one packet of pastries. Gifts also had to be sent on the elderly couple’s birthdays. As for what those gifts would be, that would depend on their filial devotion.
Everyone in the Lin family, along with the Clan Head and the clan elders, signed the household division document and pressed their fingerprints to it. Six copies were written in all: one for each of the three branches, one for the elderly couple, one kept by the clan, and one to be filed at the government office, since Lin Changsong said they would be changing the household registration.
Old Madam Liu was extremely approving of filing a copy at the government office. She was now afraid that the division would not be cleanly finalized. If she had not been worried about the clan objecting, she would even have wanted to sever ties with her two sons.