Yan Shu understood why Old Madame Qi said this—after all, an ordinary farming family might not even earn ten taels of silver in a whole year.
And now their household had no man in charge, just women and children, so naturally they'd be eyed by others.
But since she was so eager to be coveted, Yan Shu would oblige her!
She said with a smile, "Thank you for the warning, Grandmother! Last night when I went to the latrine, I happened to overhear you saying there were still over a hundred taels of silver in the house. If you're not afraid, what does my measly ten taels matter?"
With that, she opened the box to look—just some loose bits of silver. Based on the original owner's memories, it came to about eight taels or so, and with the string of copper coins in her hand, it would be close enough to ten taels.
This Old Madame Qi truly never let herself suffer a loss!
When Old Madame Qi saw everyone's eyes light up as they stared at her house, her face immediately turned cold. Everyone knew wealth should not be revealed—Yan Shu had actually leaked her family's savings for all to see.
Blustering, she stepped forward and cursed, "You're full of shit! When did I ever say that?!"
Yan Shu placed the copper coins into the wooden box and closed the lid, then said calmly, "You know well enough whether you said it or not. I just want to ask you one thing, Grandmother—will you let us stay here for two days?"
Then, before Old Madame Qi could answer, she added, "If you don't agree, we'll take our things and go beg at the door of the academy in town. I'm sure if my eldest brother's classmates learn who we are, they'll take pity on us."
Those words made Old Madame Qi's head spin, and she was so furious smoke seemed to rise from her crown. She cursed, "You wretched woman! If you dare ruin Wen'er's reputation, I'll fight you to the death!"
Yan Shu wasn't afraid of her in the least. She just looked at her with a smile and said nothing.
Mrs. Chen felt that Yan Shu's gaze was somewhat chilling—she was smiling, yet it was colder than the winter wind. She said, "Mother, it's only two days. Just let them be!"
Old Madame Qi wished she could devour Yan Shu whole, but thinking of her eldest grandson, she finally said, "Fine, you can stay for two days. But don't think about using our things, and don't think about taking over my house."
Yan Shu nodded and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Grandmother. Even if you begged us to stay, we wouldn't." Then she said to the Village Chief, "Village Chief, please write the Severance of Kinship Deed!"
When the Village Chief heard "Severance of Kinship Deed," he was taken aback and asked, "Isn't it a Family Division Deed?"
Mrs. Han was also stunned, then said in a panic, "Shu'er, you must have misheard. It's a family division, not a severance of kinship. This kinship cannot be severed!"
"A Family Division Deed? Judging by Grandmother's demeanor and attitude, I thought she didn't want anything more to do with our family! So I misunderstood after all.
Well then, that's fine. These five sacks of wheat won't last us many days with so many mouths to feed. If we divide the family, we'll still be one family, and if we're ever short of something in the future, we can still come borrow from Grandmother."
Old Madame Qi was instantly displeased at this. This wretched woman had a thick skin and always used her eldest grandson to threaten her—who knows, she might use this excuse in the future to shamelessly swindle them.
That wouldn't do!
She shoved Mrs. Han and cursed, "Mrs. Han, are your ears stuffed with pig hair? Didn't you just hear me say severance of kinship? Today it must be a severance. Village Chief, hurry up and write it!"
"Fourth Sister-in-law, you—"
"What 'you' what? Hurry up and write it!" Old Madame Qi said irritably.
Yan Shu nudged her second brother-in-law, hoping he was smart enough to catch on.
Qi Zhishan glanced at Yan Shu, saw her jerk her chin toward Village Chief Li, and lowered his eyes in thought.
Seeing this, Yan Shu felt a headache coming on. This second brother-in-law wasn't stupid, was he? He had no sense of the situation at all—he should step forward right now and have the Village Chief write the Severance of Kinship Deed!
With the Severance of Kinship Deed, their family could get rich and prosper, and they'd have no more ties to Old Madame Qi's household, nor fear her covetous eyes and troublemaking.
Mrs. Han knelt down, clutching Old Madame Qi's skirt and weeping, "Mother, I beg you, this kinship cannot be severed!"
If the kinship were severed, her whole family would have no one to protect them in the village—wouldn't they just be bullied?
Qi Zhishan looked at his mother kneeling on the ground and thought of all the years Grandmother had made things difficult for them, scolded and beaten them, how Second Aunt and Third Aunt had pushed all the work onto his mother, who suffered hardship and toil without a single word of thanks. If they divided the family, they'd still have to send New Year's gifts in the future, and they might still be bullied by the old woman!
So he stepped forward, pulling at Mrs. Han and saying, "Mother, stand up! Fifth Sister, little brother, help Mother back to her room."
The two obediently helped Mrs. Han inside, and Qi Zhishan said to the Village Chief, "Village Chief, please write the Severance of Kinship Deed."
The Village Chief let out a sigh and said, "Alright, I'll write the Severance of Kinship Deed." Then he glanced at Old Madame Qi and said, "I hope you won't regret this in the future."
Though Qi Zhishan was young, he already knew how to hunt, so their days would surely improve. And there was still Qi Zhixiao—if he could wake up, a man who had survived the battlefield could find work as a guard in town or the county seat.
In any case, the eldest branch would only struggle for a few years before things got better. And from what he'd seen today, this Yan Shu was also a capable woman.
Their days were bound to get better and better from here on.
Old Madame Qi couldn't care less about any of that. Qi Zhixiao probably wouldn't wake up again. If she didn't sever the kinship, given Yan Shu's greedy nature, she'd surely come asking her for silver again in the future.
She couldn't afford to drain all that silver on the eldest branch—she was saving it to find a wife for her second grandson!
Besides, the eldest branch had two boys, and both would need to marry someday. Who knew how much silver that would cost her?
So severing the kinship was the best option!
Then the eldest branch could no longer take advantage of her!
"I don't regret it one bit! Hurry up and write it!"
"Fine, I'll write it. Have someone call Fourth Brother back—he still needs to press his fingerprint!" the Village Chief said coldly.
Old Madame Qi said to Mrs. Chen, "Go, call your father and the others back."
Mrs. Chen acknowledged and turned to leave.
Severing the kinship was a good thing—even if they gave Yan Shu ten taels of silver, from what she knew, the old woman still had at least seventy taels in hand. From now on, her in-laws would be their responsibility, so all that silver would belong to their branch.
By the time the Village Chief finished writing the four copies of the Severance of Kinship Deed, and the Village Chief, Qi Zhishan, and Old Madame Qi had all pressed their fingerprints, Old Mr. Qi finally returned.
Hearing that it was a severance of kinship rather than a division of property, he glared at Old Madame Qi and said, "What's the meaning of this? Why sever the kinship all of a sudden? This kinship cannot be severed!"
His third grandson had been a minor official in the military camp before. If he woke up, who knew—he might return to the camp and even become a general!
If they severed the kinship now, they wouldn't get a single bit of benefit from him!
Old Madame Qi, furious at his words, snapped, "Why can't it be severed? Your son is dead—are you still going to protect them? All they do is eat and drink without earning a cent. This kinship must be severed."
Old Mr. Qi was about to say something more when he saw Mrs. Han run out of the room in tears. Spotting Old Mr. Qi, her eyes lit up, and she rushed over, kneeling and crying, "Father, Xiao'er is vomiting blood. Please, give me a bit more silver—let me fetch a better doctor for Xiao'er!"
Old Mr. Qi frowned and said, "How could he be vomiting blood? Isn't there still medicine at home? Go brew some for Xiao'er quickly—don't let anything happen to him!"
Mrs. Han sobbed, "But he already took the medicine this morning. Father, please call another doctor to take a look! Xiao'er has never vomited blood before!"
Everyone knew that those who vomited blood didn't have long to live. Seeing the old man's hesitation, Old Madame Qi stepped forward, grabbed Old Mr. Qi's hand, dipped it in ink, and pressed it onto the Severance of Kinship Deed.
Old Mr. Qi frowned and said, "What are you doing? I said I wouldn't sever the kinship." But his hand offered not a trace of resistance, letting Old Madame Qi pull it along.