After changing the names and dividing the household, they should have kept the Clan Head and the clan elders for a meal. However, Old Madam Liu had made such an ugly scene earlier that none of the clan elders wanted to look at her old face. When Lin Shuanzhu invited them to stay for dinner, they waved their hands and left directly.
Lin Changsong followed behind to see the clan elders off, but he stopped the Clan Head.
He first bowed to the Clan Head. In the matter of dividing the household, the Clan Head had still favored him. Although he had not managed to secure any money for him, he had helped him obtain some tools and household implements. They were not worth much, but for them, who were now penniless, they were still a kind of help.
Moreover, if the Clan Head had not been forceful, Old Madam Liu probably would not even have divided out the three mu of land. “Eldest Uncle, I’ll have to trouble you to go to the county office tomorrow to change the household registration and land deeds. I’m afraid that if we delay, complications may arise.”
The Clan Head sighed. Thinking of Old Madam Liu’s partiality, he asked, “Have you thought about where you’ll live after moving out?”
“Eldest Uncle, could you temporarily rent me the house that used to belong to the hunter Xu at the foot of the mountain? Once I have some money, I’ll make up the rent.”
The Clan Head thought about it. Although the house was near the foot of the mountain and somewhat remote, its walls were sturdy, and there was another household nearby. It would be a good place to settle temporarily. “All right. The clan will only charge you fifty copper coins a month. You can live there for now. Before spring plowing begins, go to the town or county and find some temporary work. At least then, whatever money you earn will be in your own hands.”
Fifty copper coins a month was an extremely cheap rent. Lin Changsong bowed deeply to the Clan Head. “Thank you, Eldest Uncle, for looking after your nephew. Also, when you divide the household registrations, I’ll have to trouble you to change the names of the two children.”
Lin Baozhu became interested. “What do you want to change them to?”
“Erya will be renamed Lin Xiaowei. She was born at dawn, and the crape myrtles were blooming in July. I think the name suits her. As for Goudan, I want to send him to school. It wouldn’t be appropriate for him to keep being called by that childish nickname. Eldest Uncle, what do you think of ‘Minghao’?”
This time, Lin Baozhu was genuinely surprised. He had thought Changsong would give Erya a name involving some flower or grass. It still involved a flower, but the name sounded rather nice.
As for Goudan, the boys of their generation belonged to the Ming generation, and the name also carried the water element. “Hao” was indeed suitable.
Lin Baozhu’s father had been an old tongsheng. As the old Clan Head of the Lin clan, he had taught both Lin Baozhu’s generation and the younger generation to recognize characters. He hoped that more scholars would emerge from the clan.
Unfortunately, neither of those two generations had been suited for studying. They could not even recognize all the characters in the Three Character Classic. After the old Clan Head grew advanced in age, he no longer had the energy to teach the children of his great-grandchildren’s generation.
Of course, Lin Changdong was an exception. He studied at a private school in the town, though he had not amounted to much there either.
Among the children of the Ming generation, however, there were a few who were capable of studying. They were very comforted to hear that Lin Changsong intended to send Goudan to school.
Stroking his beard, Lin Baozhu nodded. “Minghao. That’s a good name!”
Lin Changgen, who was following behind them, was also thinking about the name “Xiaowei.” None of the three girls in his own family had proper names. Thinking that if he truly never had a son, he would have to keep one of his daughters at home to marry in a husband, he too began considering changing all three daughters’ names.
Lin Changdong returned after seeing the clan elders to the gate and did not see his two younger brothers go to find the Clan Head.
Just now, in front of the Clan Head and half the villagers, the farm tools, cooking utensils, and grain in the household had already been divided. Now each family was sorting through the things they had received. When Xiao Liushi saw the Third Branch carrying its grain back into the house, she felt indignant and went to the old lady’s room again.
Old Madam Liu was secretly counting her silver. She wanted to put the household-division document into the box where she kept her money and, while she was at it, count the bits of silver she had saved. Xiao Liushi suddenly rushed in and startled her. She casually grabbed a piece of clothing and covered the silver with it.
Xiao Liushi caught a fleeting glimpse of silver and was just about to look more closely when the coarse-cloth garment had already covered it completely. She could not help feeling disappointed.
Although the past few years had been difficult, they had not harmed the foundation of the old Lin household. Her mother-in-law had money in her hands. By rights, now that the household had been divided, it should be her turn to take charge. Authority over the household should be handed to her. Xiao Liushi’s eyes darted about as she thought of how she could obtain control of the household.
Seeing that she had remained silent for a while, Old Madam Liu asked, “What is it?”
Xiao Liushi came back to herself and moved closer. “Mother, how could you let the Third Branch take its grain away?”
Old Madam Liu had not wanted to either. With the Clan Head watching and so many villagers looking on while the grain was divided, how could she refuse to give it to them?
However, she had already made her plans, so she replied carelessly, “We’re all living in the same courtyard. Sooner or later, it’ll come back.”
Thinking of how the Third Son had been completely stunned when he heard that the household was being divided today, how he had clung to her leg and cried that he would not agree to the division, and how grateful he had been when she had not driven them out, she believed that as long as she said a few kind words, he would obediently send the grain back.
Old Madam Liu was now full of confidence in her third son. She did not know, however, that she would soon be humiliated by reality.
As Xiao Liushi spoke with her mother-in-law, her eyes kept drifting toward the silver that had been covered.
Old Madam Liu waved her hand. “Go outside and keep watch. Tell me when Second Son Lin comes back.”
Xiao Liushi had no choice but to leave unwillingly.
By the time Lin Changsong and Lin Changgen returned home, Old Madam Liu was standing at the entrance to the main room. Her face dark, she said, “Since the household and cooking hearth have been divided, hurry up and move out.”
Lin Changsong wiped a hand across his face. “Mother, I don’t have a single copper coin on me. Where do you expect me to move? Even if I have to move, couldn’t you give me a few more days?”
Old Madam Liu sneered. “The household-division document has already been written. The household and cooking hearth have been divided. Since the household has been divided, move out now. If you don’t leave today, I’ll throw everything inside out!”
There were still villagers outside who had not dispersed. Hearing Old Madam Liu’s words, they could not help shaking their heads.
“He’s her own flesh-and-blood son. How can she be so heartless?”
“Oh, isn’t she always like this?”
“How did Changsong end up with a mother like that?”
Old Man Lin squatted beneath the veranda, staring blankly at his second son. His lips opened and closed soundlessly.
Lin Changsong sighed. “Fine. Since Mother is so unwilling to see me, I’ll move out now. But I’m still your son. When your son becomes successful in the future…”
Old Madam Liu burst into loud laughter. “You? Become successful? What a joke! I’m making this clear today: even if you, Lin Changsong, have a day when you become successful, I won’t come to benefit from you in the slightest! Otherwise, may Heaven strike me dead with thunder! And you’re the same. Don’t even think of benefiting from Minghai’s success. Otherwise, you’ll be unfilial, and Heaven will send down a bolt of lightning to strike you dead!”
Seeing another crowd gathering outside the courtyard, Lin Changsong said sorrowfully, “Mother, how can you say that…? Your son only has a heart full of filial devotion…”
Just then, Auntie Zhang’s voice cut in. “Liu the Bloodsucker, you’re truly heartless! You’ve driven out such a filial son just like that. When you’re bedridden in the future, let’s see which of the First Branch will come to care for you!”
“Zhang the Foulmouth, unlike you, I have Changdong, as well as Minghai and Mingjiang. I have plenty of filial sons and grandsons. Do you think I’m afraid no one will support me in my old age? If you say one more word of nonsense, I’ll tear that dog mouth of yours apart!” Old Madam Liu wished she could rush forward and claw at her.
Auntie Zhang had gone to the town to buy salt that day. After returning, she had heard that the old Lin household was dividing up, so she had put down the salt and hurried over. She had not expected to arrive in time for the latter half of the spectacle, but she was not afraid of Old Madam Liu’s threats.
“Liu the Bloodsucker, do you think I don’t know what you’re like? You’ve sucked the blood dry from Second Son Lin and Third Son Lin, and when you were finished, you kicked them aside. Tsk, tsk, tsk. You’re a vicious mother with pus flowing from the soles of her feet and sores on the top of her head. And you still have the nerve to say that the eldest son should receive seventy percent according to the old rules? You’re a disgrace to the Lin clan. In a hundred years, no one will find another person as partial as you!”
“You…” Old Madam Liu pointed at her.