Early the next morning, the village head and the clan elders arrived at the Jiang household.
“Old Man Jiang, why this sudden urge to split the family?” the village head asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. In his forty years as village head, he had rarely seen a family divide while the parents were still living and healthy.
Old Man Jiang hedged, his voice low. “The eldest branch has been eating separately for a while now. We’ve invited you and the elders here today simply to witness and formalize the deed of separation.”
“And where is Youshan? I heard he was taking his wife to the county seat yesterday. Was he delayed? Is he not back yet?”
Old Man Jiang’s face flushed a deep, shameful red. He found it impossible to voice the truth: that he was casting his son out the moment he became a cripple.
Old Lady Liu cleared her throat, stepping in. “The eldest son is lying down in his room; he won’t be coming out. Let’s go inside and talk.”
Once the group was seated in the main hall, one of the clan elders spoke up. “What is the meaning of this? How can we split the family without the eldest son present?”
Liu knew she couldn’t hide the truth forever, and the longer she dragged it out, the more leverage the “ungrateful” eldest branch would have to demand money. Steeling herself, she blurted out, “Uncle, Youshan is paralyzed. He took a fall yesterday and can’t get up!”
The elderly man’s body gave a violent shudder. He pushed himself up on trembling legs. “Youshan is paralyzed… and you choose now to split the family?”
Liu gave a sharp huff. “Uncle, they’ve been living as a separate unit for ages. This is just signing the papers.”
The elder let out a long, heavy sigh as he looked at the silent Old Man Jiang. There was an old saying: ‘A stepmother makes for a stepfather.’ His nephew was a spineless man who followed his wife’s lead in everything. He knew he was powerless to change it.
The others felt a similar wave of disgust. To cast a son out the moment he lost his ability to walk? It was cold-blooded. Yet, as invited witnesses, they couldn’t simply walk out on the proceedings.
The village head spread his paper and readied his brush. “Old Man Jiang, how do you intend to divide the assets?”
Liu had already rehearsed this with her husband. Seeing him remain mute, she spoke for him. “We’ll follow the village custom. The eldest branch will only be required to pay a monthly filial piety allowance of one hundred copper coins.”
“And the land?”
“No land will be divided. Youshan can’t farm it anyway.”
The village head gave Liu a look of pure disdain before turning back to the patriarch. “Are you truly not giving the eldest branch any of the family fields?”
Old Man Jiang coughed nervously. “Near the Wild River… there are two acres of good land. It would be convenient for…”
Liu pinched his arm hard, glaring at him. “What was that?” She then turned back to the village head, her voice sharp. “No land.”
Old Man Jiang winced, letting out a heavy, defeated breath.
The village head sighed again. “What about the housing?”
Old Man Jiang rubbed his knees, shaking his head. “Times are hard for me, too.”
“The house?” the village head pressed.
Again, it was Liu who answered. “The eldest branch will move out.”
“What?”
One of the elders slammed his walking stick against the floor. “Nephew! How can you divide it this way? You aren’t splitting the family; you’re throwing them out on the street!”
Liu mumbled a weak defense. “The house is crowded. There isn’t enough room. Our other grandsons will be of age to marry soon…”
The village head could only marvel at such cruelty. Resisting the urge to throw his brush, he asked one final question: “What about the household goods and money? With a split like this, how much relocation money are you providing the eldest branch?”
Old Man Jiang was too ashamed to speak; he simply shook his head.
“The main house has no money!” Liu snapped. “The eldest branch has their own savings. They’ve kept their private earnings to themselves. As for goods, they can take everything currently in their rooms.”
She knew well enough that their rooms were filled with nothing but junk. Letting them take it just saved her the trouble of cleaning it out.
“Nephew, this is a sin!” the elder cried out. “Those are your own sons and grandchildren!”
The elders didn’t expect any mercy from Liu—she was a stepmother and notoriously unkind—but they hadn’t expected Old Man Jiang to treat his own flesh and blood with such indifference.
Old Man Jiang wiped his face, remaining silent. The deal was done. To speak now would only bring more shame upon his head. “Let it be done this way.”
The witnesses’ faces were dark with fury. To themselves, they noted that they should keep their distance from the Jiangs in the future; Old Man Jiang was a man with a heart of stone.
Once the deed was drafted, the village head set down his brush. “Now, let us go and get Youshan’s consent.”
The elders and the village head nodded solemnly. They wanted to see for themselves if Jiang Youshan was truly paralyzed, so they followed Old Man Jiang to the back courtyard.
“Youshan, you were perfectly fine yesterday. How on earth did you injure your back?” The village head asked as he entered the room to check on him.
Jiang Xue wasn’t shy. She recounted the previous day’s events from start to finish, leaving the onlookers whispering, “What a sin.”
“Nephew, are you really going through with this?” The elder with the walking stick made one last attempt to sway Old Man Jiang. “Youshan is your own flesh and blood.”
Old Man Jiang remained silent. His eldest son was his own, yes, but the family was on the verge of producing a scholar. He couldn’t allow the dream of a lifetime to be dragged down by the burden of the eldest branch.
Jiang Youshan had known since yesterday that his father intended to split the family, but as he took the paper and read it over and over, he began to doubt his own eyes.
Could his father truly be this cold-hearted? To literally sweep their family out the door? He couldn’t believe it. Did he carry no weight at all in his father’s heart?
“Father, this is how you’re dividing it?” Youshan asked, his voice hollow with despair.
Old Man Jiang looked pained. He covered his face with his hands, refusing to look his son in the eye. “Youshan, I… I’m in a difficult position, too…”
At that moment, Jiang Youshan’s heart turned to ash. “Fine. We’ll split it as my father says. But there is one condition: I am a broken man now. I cannot provide a monthly allowance of one hundred coins.”
He was paralyzed. How was he supposed to feed his family, let alone be drained further by his parents?
Old Lady Liu didn’t want to agree. “Your parents didn’t find it easy to raise you! Are you planning to be an unfilial son?”
“My mother is buried on the back hill!” Youshan roared. “From now on, she is the only one I will honor!”
Jiang Yue thought to herself: At least my “cheap” father finally grew a backbone.
Old Man Jiang froze. Memories of his first wife, Madam Xu, suddenly flooded back. What did she look like? He could barely remember her face, only that she was gentle and frail, and had never once raised her voice at him.
Thinking of his late wife, Old Man Jiang’s heart softened—if only slightly. He agreed to Youshan’s condition: the monthly allowance would be waived.
Old Lady Liu opened her mouth to protest but, for once, she deferred to her husband and stayed quiet. She had wanted Youshan gone for a long time anyway. Beyond his status as the eldest son, he was nothing but an ungrateful burden in her eyes. It was better to be rid of them. From now on, she only had three sons: Youtian, Youcai, and Youguang!
With both father and son in agreement, the village head quickly drafted three copies of the contract. The parties and witnesses signed and pressed their thumbprints in red ink. Youshan and Old Man Jiang each took a copy, while the village head kept the third for the official records.
The ancestral sacrifice was set for five days later. After the ceremony, Youshan’s family would move out.
By noon, the news of Jiang Youshan’s paralysis and the family’s separation had spread through the village like wildfire. Friends and neighbors who were close to Youshan came to visit one after another, bringing a few eggs or handfuls of grain, their hearts full of sympathy for his plight.
Old Man Jiang hid in his room with a dark face, refusing to come out. He felt he had lost every bit of face he had left.
When the room was finally empty of outsiders, Jiang Ming couldn’t help but ask, “Father, where are we going to live?”
Youshan gave a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. “We’ll go to your grandmother’s grave and build a grass shack.”
“Nephew Youshan?” A voice called out from the yard.
Jiang Ming went out to greet them. It was Old Man Luo and his grandson, Luo Douzi. The pair were lugging a massive slab of meat to visit his father.
Isn’t this a bit too valuable? Jiang Ming wondered. He shot a quick glare at Luo Douzi, but being the more steady sibling, he kept his mouth shut and ushered them inside.
Youshan was overwhelmed by the gesture. “Uncle Luo, why did you go to such trouble? Your legs aren’t great; please, sit.”
Madam Cai brought out two bowls of tea she had brewed earlier. “Xue’er dug up these dandelions. Please have some tea, Uncle Luo.”
Youshan’s eyes fell on the large piece of meat Luo Douzi had placed on the table, and he frantically waved his hands. “Uncle Luo, this… how can we possibly accept this?”
Old Man Luo insisted, “Why not? That deer was so large, my family could never finish it alone.” He looked at Youshan kindly. “Youshan, you have such capable children. Ease your mind and focus on recovering.”
Youshan knew Jiang Yue had borrowed a bow from the Luos, but he hadn’t realized the venison was the “rental fee” she had paid.
Watching her bewildered father, Jiang Yue sighed inwardly. He really is too honest for his own good! He doesn’t even know how to handle it when people are kind to him.
“Father, don’t refuse,” Jiang Yue interjected. “In the future, when I hunt another deer, I’ll just send more over to Grandpa Luo!”
“Haha! Good girl!” Old Man Luo laughed heartily.