After Transmigration, I Picked Up A Husband and Daughter
Chapter 204: Dividing the Family

Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Dividing the Family

The village chief couldn’t help but frown deeply, a hint of barely concealed disgust showing between his brows.

Lady Zhao continued to sob, her fingers trembling as she pointed to the blunt axe awkwardly wedged at the edge of the wooden chest, tears streaming down her face, "Look at this, the axe is just wedged so forcefully into my chest, isn’t this clearly meant to drive me to a dead end?"

"Aunt Zhou, let’s get back to the point, before the household was divided, whether men or women, old or young, everyone in the family should share the burden of living expenses. You sold your own biological daughter first, yesterday you didn’t let the family eat, and today you are even hiding the food, what on earth are you playing at? With their family members being old, young, sick, and weak, who wouldn’t be driven to desperation by your actions?"

As the village chief spoke, he recalled the situation he had inquired about from the villagers on his way, and his understanding of the ins and outs of this family dispute was as clear as a mirror.

Feeling the village chief wasn’t taking her side, Lady Zhao’s sense of injustice and anger surged like a breached flood, tears flowing even more fiercely, "Oh dear, what a sin! My poor son, you left too early, leaving me all alone to endure the scorn and bullying of the human world."

Hearing Lady Zhao’s lament, anger gradually rose within the village chief, but he knew well that she was someone who could argue brazenly and aggressively, so he decided not to waste any more words with her.

"Enough, enough, since you insisted on splitting the household, I, as the village chief, have come to clear this matter up, to prevent endless bickering and entanglement in the future."

With that, the village chief called out toward the inner room, "Xinghua, come out for a moment."

Xie Xinghua had just filled her stomach and arranged for the maids in the house to take good care of Jiang Wangshan on the sickbed, instructing them never to let the children run around outside.

Then, she walked out from the inner room slowly, her expression carrying a mix of firmness and helplessness.

The village chief looked at her sternly and asked directly, "Xinghua, your mother-in-law has proposed to split the household, what do you think?"

Xie Xinghua feigned an appearance of being caught in a dilemma, "Split the household? What kind of household split is that? As a woman, with several young children to care for, and with my husband lying ill in bed, if we truly split the household, wouldn’t we be left to merely survive on the wind from the northwest?"

"Although living with my mother-in-law can be harsh, at least we can barely maintain three meals a day. If the situation arises again where I’m not given food, I would still break open the grain storage. I can’t let the children go hungry, can I?"

Xie Xinghua’s words, though crude and straightforward, made perfect sense, striking a chord with anyone who heard them.

The village chief nodded in firm agreement, "Indeed, once the household is divided, your life would likely become unsustainable."

Lady Zhao was not willing to give up, seeing Xie Xinghua’s obvious intention to freeload off her, a humiliation she could hardly bear.

"Your husband lies in bed, and you are in good health; don’t use that as a shield. Your commotion today, acting like a shrew, has been seen by everyone in the village, I do not want to eat under the same roof as you anymore, we must split the household, there is no way around it!"

"Split?"

Xie Xinghua’s lips curled into a sneer of mockery, "How to split? Could it be that you’re just thinking of sending me off with a few small silver coins? I might as well stay with the elderly, even if I have to suffer some grievances, at least I’ll be assured of having food to eat."

At this moment, a villager stepped forward to mediate, "Xinghua, arguing day in and day out is not a solution, why not live separately and give each other some peace?"

"Raising children on your own is indeed difficult, but it’s better than living in constant frustration. Besides, I see that your mother-in-law’s chest is quite heavy; if you really do split the household, perhaps she won’t let you suffer too much loss."

Aunt Zhou, her voice as sharp as if pricked by a needle, exclaimed, "In your dreams! That chest is filled with my retirement money, and no one is going to get their hands on it!"

Xie Xinghua had no idea the chest hid money, let alone the amount.

But discerning from Aunt Zhou’s expression, as if facing a formidable enemy, she guessed that this sum of money must be significant and not to be trifled with casually.

Therefore, she deliberately adopted a greedy demeanor, "That being said, I’m even more determined not to split the family. In the future, whatever you eat, I’ll eat, and whatever you wear, I will wear too."

"You will have to be careful with that money, Mother-in-law. After all, there are many mouths to feed in our household, and everyone depends on food for survival."

"I insist on splitting!"

Aunt Zhou’s tone was resolute, she wouldn’t let Xie Xinghua have her way no matter what.

Despite a thousand reluctances in her heart, she clearly recognized that if she didn’t show some actual sincerity, she would never be able to escape this vampiric family relationship.

Clutching my little stash of secretly saved private money in my hand, my heart filled with mixed emotions.

Everything in the house had been smashed to smithereens in anger and impulse; all necessities of life had to be repurchased.

Looking at Dazhuang’s tender face, without his father’s protection, his small silhouette appeared especially frail under the dim light.

This family relied solely on the hands of Dazhuang’s mother and me, and those hard-earned silver coins.

The future, long and uncertain, these coins were our only reliance, the haven in a storm.

Taking a deep breath, I said slowly, "Alright, I’ll give you two taels of silver, along with one piece of fertile paddy field and two pieces of dry land guaranteed for a good harvest. As for that crude but warm house you’re living in now, it will be transferred directly into your names. I truly cannot do more than that."

Xie Xinghua’s face flashed with surprise and satisfaction, but this calm was quickly disrupted by a discordant voice from the crowd, "Two taels? You have the nerve to say that! We all saw very clearly, the silver in your chest piled up like a little hill, must be at least several dozen taels. Who knows, maybe it’s all the hard-earned money the Jiang brothers struggled to make from hunting. And now you want to send people away with just two taels, how shameless must you be to do such a thing!"

This accusation struck Aunt Zhou’s heart like an arrow, causing her pain.

Indeed, the chest contained roughly ten to twenty taels of silver earned from the Jiang brothers’ hunting, and the rest was the pension left by her former husband and the money saved and given to them by Changle, a considerate young girl.

Over the years, busy with preparations for Changxi’s marriage and occasionally helping that no-good brother-in-law, there was no one in the family who could earn a significant sum, and they barely made ends meet with this money.

Every single silver coin was heavy, bearing the hopes and dignity of the family. How could she easily let go and allow others to divide it?

The village chief frowned slightly, keenly sensing Aunt Zhou’s eagerness to settle the matter, but clearly, such a distribution was hardly convincing to the others, neither reasonable nor customary.

"Aunt Zhou, there must be proper procedures for splitting the family, it cannot be decided just by your word alone."