“Second Uncle is right, but I haven’t held the wedding ceremony yet. And besides, if I’m going to move out, it should be when Lu Huai’an comes to marry me, right? And you all need to prepare my dowry!”
As soon as Jiang Ning finished speaking, Lu Huai’an’s pale, handsome face and his cold, distant expression suddenly appeared in her mind.
Ugh, she quickly shook her head to rid herself of the thought.
She always felt like lying next to Lu Huai’an gave her a sense of eerie world-weariness.
But when she had first seen him at the academy, though he was aloof, he still seemed somewhat human.
Old Madam Jiang couldn’t believe her ears. She was so angry she started cursing, “Dowry? What dowry? You shameless girl, I’ve raised you all this time, and you haven’t even seen the betrothal gift, and now you have the nerve to ask for a dowry?”
The others were confused. Didn’t they just talk about moving out? How did the conversation suddenly turn to dowries?
Jiang Ning sat back down in her chair, her face serious as she said, “Grandfather, Grandmother, I think we should divide up the family’s property first!”
How did they go from dowries to dividing the family? Her train of thought was jumping too fast, and everyone was struggling to keep up.
When Niu Shi heard “dividing the family,” she immediately sat up straighter. Jiang Ning noticed this and couldn’t help but smile a little.
Before anyone could react, she continued, “My father, as the eldest son, has worked for this family for most of his life. The family’s property should rightfully belong to him, right? Logically, as the eldest son, half of the family’s property should go to him.”
“Considering my father passed away early and wasn’t able to support you both in your old age, at the very least, he should have had half of that half. This is the rule in every household in the village, right, Second Aunt?”
Niu Shi was stunned. Why was she suddenly bringing her up?
And why did this married girl think she had a right to the family’s property?
However, Jiang Ning seemed to read her thoughts and directly answered her question.
“Second Aunt, we’re dividing the property, not the household. Dividing the property early would benefit you too. Anyway, the share I’m getting won’t fall into your hands. The biggest expenses in the family come from Third Uncle, but he earns the least…”
When Jiang Ning mentioned Third Uncle’s schooling expenses, Niu Shi’s face changed.
She had been enduring because her two sons were studying, but if it weren’t for the money spent on Jiang Dahe’s education, their family could be living much more comfortably.
But the fact that they had to support Jiang Dahe’s schooling made their finances tight.
“Your Third Uncle is a scholar. He’s going to be an official in the future. Why talk about money?” Old Madam Jiang immediately defended her son when Jiang Ning brought up money.
Jiang Ning glanced at Jiang Dahe coldly. “A scholar? Third Uncle, look at my husband—he has no father or mother, and yet at a young age, he managed to support himself to become a scholar.”
“And you? You’ve put the entire family’s resources into it, and at your age, you’re still just a student. I think this is as far as you’ll go. You can forget about becoming a scholar. Continuing to study would just be a waste of money…”
Niu Shi agreed with this assessment. Jiang Dahe clearly wasn’t cut out for studying.
Jiang Dahe was enraged by Jiang Ning’s words and trembled with anger. “You ungrateful girl! Are you cursing me for not passing the scholar’s exam? I’m your Third Uncle! Do you have no respect for your elders? Father, Mother, why don’t you teach this unfilial child a lesson?”
“Ridiculous!” Old Man Jiang slammed his bowl and chopsticks down, his face dark with fury.
“Do you have any respect for us elders? Do you understand what it means to follow the proper order of respect?”
“We are still alive, and you, a girl, are talking about dividing the family?”
Could this granddaughter really have been possessed by something? She used to be obedient and always did as the elders said. How had she become so rebellious after just a few days?
But Jiang Ning wasn’t intimidated. She remained calm and said, “Grandfather, whether or not you divide the family, that’s none of my concern. If you give me the property that belongs to my parents as my dowry, I’ll move out immediately.”
“I’m the only bloodline of my father’s family. It’s customary to find a son-in-law to carry on the family line. But since there’s been an unexpected turn of events, if you don’t give me anything, I’ll just stay here until I’ve had enough.”
“Don’t force me—if I can stir up trouble at the academy once, I can do it a second time. What do you think, Third Uncle?”
Jiang Ning suddenly asked in a cold tone, and Jiang Dahe froze in fear.
She had dared to block the Mountain Elder’s daughter’s carriage, so what wouldn’t she dare to do to him?
He immediately fell silent, terrified that the academy might expel him.
He was left feeling defeated, glaring at Jiang Ning with resentment. This troublesome girl would get what was coming to her one day.
Jiang Ning hadn’t planned on dividing the family, but today they were forcing her to move out, and that made her very unhappy.
She could choose to leave on her own, but she wouldn’t accept being driven out—she wouldn’t tolerate this humiliation.
It was just like how her parents had forced her to help her brother pay off the mortgage—they’d never asked her opinion!
Suddenly, Jiang Ning realized she had a rebellious streak in her.
Apart from Jiang Dahe, Old Madam Jiang was also feeling frustrated and angry. “Don’t you know how to respect your elders?”
Jiang Ning smiled, “Respect, of course, is something to ‘respect’.”
Since reasoning wasn’t working, she didn’t want to waste her breath anymore.
She stood up, slammed the table, and with a “crack,” the table split apart—
The dishes followed with a series of crashing sounds.
Everyone immediately started panicking, shouting and scattering in all directions.
The scene turned into chaos.
Old Madam Jiang let out a loud, shrill cry, her trembling finger pointing at Jiang Ning. “You… You’re going too far, you ungrateful wretch…”
Looking at the mess all over the floor, her heart ached. All of that was money!
Jiang Ning clapped her hands, satisfied, and said to Old Madam Jiang, “Tomorrow, I want steamed eggs, don’t forget! Also, if you want me to move out, you better prepare my dowry. Otherwise…”
“Alright, stop this nonsense. Why move? Since the house burned down, just stay here!” Old Man Jiang relented.
“Ah, Grandpa still loves me,” Jiang Ning immediately said with a smile.
She hadn’t expected to get anything from them anyway. In the countryside, a granddaughter having even a small dowry was considered lucky, so how could they actually divide the family for her?
She was content to eat and live without spending her own money—she wasn’t asking for much.
Without another word, she ignored the chaos behind her and headed straight back to her room.
The women were grumbling as they cleaned up the mess, while the men sat silently in the front yard.
After a long while, Jiang Dahe couldn’t help but ask, “Father, do you think she’s possessed by a ghost? How could she have so much strength? And now she’s talking about dividing the family. A girl like her doesn’t deserve it.”
He was still shaken up, wondering how much it would have hurt if that slap had landed on him instead.