A glimmer of amusement flashed in Lu Ye’s eyes. It seemed his future father-in-law wasn’t blindly obedient to his elders. He nodded.
“Fine!”
The two of them made as if to leave.
“Stop!” Uncle Dashu cried, urgently rapping his cane against the ground.
Looking at his second son, who seemed set on splitting from the family, then at the coldhearted Lu Ye, Uncle Dashu shut his eyes for a moment.
“Fine! We’ll split up right now! Second Son, go fetch Second Grandpa to witness it! I’m disowning you, you unfilial son!”
Before Father Lin could say a word, Eldest Brother Lin and Second Brother Lin shot out of the house. Their voices, brimming with barely contained delight, were all that remained:
“Right away, Grandpa! We’ll be back in no time. Don’t you dare change your mind!”
By the time Second Grandpa returned, practically being half-carried by the two brothers, everyone in the Lin family except the second branch and Lu Ye looked as if they’d lost money, their faces dark with anger.
With a grim face, Uncle Dashu briefly explained the situation to Second Grandpa, then went straight to dividing the family’s property.
“Second Son’s family will move out and live on their own. The bride price for Pandi belongs to her and has nothing to do with your branch. There’s only 150 yuan in the family coffers. Your eldest brother, your third brother, and your mother and I get three shares between us, so you get 37 yuan and 50 cents.”
“The bowls and chopsticks will be divided among you by head count. The kitchen stove and iron wok belong to your mother and me, so you get none of them. Once the family is split, your branch is not allowed to use the kitchen!”
“The family’s grain will also be divided into four shares. You get one quarter.”
“As for a house, you can have the one next door where your grandfather lived before he died. The house we live in now was built by me, so it’s only right that I don’t give it to an unfilial son like you.”
“Lin Xiaoxiao’s schooling all these years was paid for with money from the family coffers. Half of the 200-yuan bride price Lu Ye promised goes to the family coffers!”
“From now on, Second Son’s family must give your mother and me 100 jin of coarse grain, 80 jin of fine grain, and five yuan a year for our old-age support.”
“Lu Ye, you agreed to wipe the slate clean on the old accounts. The account book must be destroyed. With Second Grandpa as witness, from now on, my Lin family and you are even!”
The division seemed reasonable enough, but for all these years, more than half the money in the family coffers had been earned by the second branch.
The house left behind by Great-Grandpa Lin looked fairly spacious, with three bedrooms, a living room, and a small kitchen that was half open to the elements.
But it was a thatched-roof house built of red earth bricks. After Great-Grandpa Lin died, it had stood empty, with no one living in it or looking after it.
Now it was in terrible disrepair. It might be all right when the weather was dry, but rain or snow would be a disaster.
The old Lin family’s houses, by contrast, were all tiled houses built partly of blue bricks and partly of stone.
And the big iron wok in the kitchen had been bought with money Father Lin earned doing odd jobs in the city when he was young.
Lin Xiaoxiao pursed her lips, ready to make a fuss, but Mother Lin patted her hand to stop her and murmured,
“Xiaoxiao, we’re lucky to get all this and not be kicked out with nothing. Your father, your brothers, and I managed to earn it all once—we can do it again.”
“Splitting off from the family is what matters most. We can’t risk anything going wrong.”
Lin Xiaoxiao felt aggrieved. She wanted to say she wouldn’t let anything go wrong with the split, but when she looked at Father Lin, who was silent and still somewhat heartbroken, she ultimately kept quiet.
If Father Lin had been willing to work like an ox for the old Lin family all those years, how could he be an unfilial son?
Never mind. As Mom said, being able to split from the family was already good. Material things could always be earned again.
And so this farcical drama of two Older Cousins falling into the water and being rescued by the wrong fiancé ended with Lin Pandi getting her wish and marrying Qiao Jianguo, while the second branch of the Lin family split from the old Lin family.
Oh, and of course, while Second Grandpa was there, Lin Xiaoxiao also got the eggs back.
The split made the second branch of the Lin family much more favorably disposed toward Lu Ye.
And since Lin Xiaoxiao was willing to marry him, the second branch and Lu Ye consulted with Second Grandpa—who actually knew a little about choosing auspicious dates—and set the wedding for the sixteenth day of the third month.
That was nearly two months away, leaving the Lin family enough time to prepare Lin Xiaoxiao’s dowry while also allowing the wedding to take place before spring planting.
The Lin family had actually wanted to wait until after the autumn harvest that year. They wanted to keep their daughter with them a little longer and have more time to work hard and earn enough to give her a respectable dowry.
It was Lu Ye who fought hard to secure the date of the sixteenth day of the third month.
Eldest Brother Lin and Second Brother Lin were fraternal twins, both twenty years old, and neither had found a partner yet.
Father and Mother Lin weren’t worried about their sons. In fact, they felt relieved.
Their sons were capable and handsome. Now that they were free of the bloodsucking pit that was the old Lin family, there was no reason they wouldn’t find girls willing to marry them.
The couple planned to use all the money from the family split to prepare their daughter’s dowry first. They could slowly save up for their sons’ weddings.
Lu Ye hurried home to change into clean clothes, then ran back to help the second branch move their things.
Lin Xiaoxiao went to the room she shared with Lin Pandi and the two daughters of the third branch to pack her belongings.
Lin Pandi stared at Lin Xiaoxiao like a venomous snake.
Jealousy and hatred drove her nearly mad.
Why?
Lu Ye had treated her like a block of wood. Why was he so gentle and attentive to Lin Xiaoxiao?
With Lu Ye and the people of the second branch gone, Lin Pandi finally couldn’t hold back and demanded,
“Lin Xiaoxiao, you little seductress! Tell me, when did you start fooling around with your own Older Cousin’s Brother-in-law?”
Lin Xiaoxiao paused while folding her quilt and turned to look coldly at Lin Pandi.
Seeing the jealousy all over her face, she gave a cold laugh.
“Lin Pandi, do you think everyone’s like you, eating what’s in their bowl while eyeing what’s in the pot?”
“Your Older Cousin’s husband? Wasn’t Lu Ye the one you turned down?”
“Qiao Jianguo is my Older Cousin’s husband now. And if we’re talking about Qiao Jianguo, then yes, I got to him before you did. After all, everyone knows you stole your younger cousin’s fiancé, don’t they?”
Lin Pandi’s face turned a dark, liverish red. She pointed at Lin Xiaoxiao.
“Lin Xiaoxiao, what are you acting so high and mighty for? So what if you ruined my reputation?”
“I’ll be an officer’s wife, while you’ll be nothing but a country bumpkin’s wife! You’ll never leave this village for the rest of your life! I’ll live a thousand times better than you!”
Lin Xiaoxiao slapped away her rude, stinking hand. She couldn’t even be bothered to argue with the idiot anymore, and said coolly,
“Oh. Then I hope you and Qiao Jianguo stay together forever.”
Lin Pandi was so thrown by Lin Xiaoxiao’s attitude that she felt none of the triumph she’d expected. Instead, frustration welled up inside her.
Seeing Lin Xiaoxiao go right back to folding that shabby quilt, Lin Pandi got up in a fury and stormed out.
She could only comfort herself with the thought that Lin Xiaoxiao must be deeply upset and was merely pretending not to care.
Lin Xiaoxiao didn’t even spare her a glance.
Some people wouldn’t learn a thing even if they got a second life.
If Lin Pandi had any sense, she’d only have to think back to how haggard she’d become just a few years into her previous marriage to realize the Qiao family wasn’t any good.
But she’d only seen their glittering exterior, and schemed to steal a man from her own cousin.
Whatever happened to her was her own doing. Lin Xiaoxiao couldn’t be bothered to waste her breath trying to wake someone who was pretending to be asleep.
Respect other people’s fate, and enjoy your own happy life!
After packing her things, Lin Xiaoxiao looked at the three large bundles and thought that even a poor household could have a little treasure tucked away.
Thinking her parents and brothers must have even more to carry, she decided to move her own things herself.
But she’d barely lifted the lightest bundle—the one with her quilt—off the kang before she was sweating all over.
Lin Xiaoxiao looked at her own small hands, still fair and tender because her parents and brothers had insisted she never work in the fields.
Only then did she realize that she wasn’t the Lin Xiaoxiao who had grown strong and capable from the Qiao family’s mistreatment.
Looking at the three large bundles, Lin Xiaoxiao sighed helplessly.
She couldn’t help thinking: If only she had one of those novel-style spaces that could store things whenever she wanted.
To her surprise, the large bundle beside her suddenly vanished as soon as the thought crossed her mind.