Chapter 486: Chapter 252 Old Master Lian Talks About Dividing the Family_2
In the end, neither Old Master Lian nor Lady Zhou spoke again of kicking Lian Shouyi out of the house.
When all the outsiders had dispersed, and only the family remained, Lady Zhou’s gaze finally fell on Lady He.
Stared at by Lady Zhou, even someone as thick-skinned as Lady He shuddered. The disaster that had befallen the Lian Family was largely related to her and her brother, He Laoliu, who had acted shamelessly, forcing the Lian Family to repay a large sum of money on his behalf. She felt guilty, knowing that Lady Zhou would definitely not let her off easily.
"You harbinger of disaster!" Lady Zhou scolded, pointing at Lady He. The Lian Family was known for being honest and upright. Fathers could discipline their sons, but they could only set rules for their daughters-in-law, not physically punish them. Thus, even in her most infuriated and loathing moments, Lady Zhou had never personally laid a hand on a daughter-in-law. Of course, if she happened to be beating her son and the daughters-in-law tried to intervene, accidentally catching a slap or two, that couldn’t be blamed on her.
"How dare you show your face here? Weren’t you hiding?... The root of the disaster lies with you, without you and your brother, none of this would’ve happened!" Lady Zhou glared at Lady He, her eyes as if wishing to bite to death this piece of troublesome flesh, scaring Lady He into leaning back. Lady Zhou hated Lady He, blaming her for encouraging Lian Shouyi to secretly learn from Lian Shouxin’s wine-making, believing that if not for her and her brother He Laoliu’s greed, today’s troubles would not have occurred.
Don’t ask why, Lady Zhou was convinced that the chief culprits were Lady He and He Laoliu, and that the He Family had dragged down her Lian Family.
Calling her a harbinger of disaster and family-wrecker, Lady Zhou cursed Lady He out thoroughly.
"When wealth departs, happiness arrives, that house in town is gone, sparing you all from the heartache of fighting over it," Old Master Lian said with a bitter smile to Lian Shouyi, "Your eldest brother told you, didn’t he? The house was mortgaged for one hundred taels as compensation. The sixty-some taels owed by He Laoliu were also paid from our side."
As Old Master Lian spoke, he pulled out a promissory note from underneath the baggage roll behind him.
"This is the note he wrote. Get this money back, and consider it your family’s nest egg," Old Master Lian handed the note to Lian Shouyi.
Lian Shouyi reached out to take it but suddenly became aware that there was an implication in Old Master Lian’s words and quickly withdrew his hand.
"Father, what, what do you mean by this?"
"What do I mean? We’ve lived together for all these years, I can’t manage you all anymore. Today, let’s just divide the family property," Old Master Lian said.
"Father, I don’t want to split the family," Lian Shouyi blurted, kneelingly, both frightened and puzzled. The Lizheng and others had just spent half a day persuading Old Master Lian, hadn’t they, so why now, with everyone gone, was Old Master Lian talking about splitting the family again?
Lian Shouren by his side couldn’t help but tremble, yet he said nothing.
"Now we have nothing left in the house, and the house and land together are barely worth one hundred taels. These sixty-two taels, along with the money you made secretly from selling wine, also total one hundred taels. It’s all yours. You’re getting the largest share among us. The house and land belong to me, your mother, your eldest brother, and your third younger brother; it’s our four shares, and it’s not for you. You and your family can go wherever you please!"
With one hundred taels of silver, Lian Shouyi was indeed gaining a great advantage in the split. But that was on the condition that he could extract the sixty-two taels from He Laoliu and that he had not spent all the previously acquired silver. Lian Shouyi knew all too well that both conditions were unclear. In this way, he wasn’t much different from leaving with nothing.
Of course, there was also Zhao Xiue. Zhao Xiue hadn’t come back with them; she had gone to the county town with Zhao Fugui. Officer Zhou, who had good relations with the Zhao Family, had settled down there after getting married. They were going to seek Officer Zhou’s help in retrieving the stolen valuables.
But even if Zhao Xiue managed to reclaim the valuables, would it be enough to sustain their entire family? Today, he had completely realized the extent of Zhao Xiue’s shrewdness. Sanlang was reaching marriageable age, followed by Si Lang, and then Liulang.
Even if there truly were one hundred taels of silver at hand, it wouldn’t be enough for their expenses. Moreover, Old Master Lian wasn’t even going to split the house and land with them.
"Father, we can’t split the family. I want to stay by your side and serve you and mother until old age. It’s so good for our big family to be together. How can you not want to hold your great-grandchildren? We should never split up." Lian Shouyi said with a despondent face, "Father, I can’t take this one hundred taels of silver. Let’s save it for the whole family to spend... As for the debt Liulang owes, leave it to me; I’ll make sure he pays it back."
Lian Shouyi stubbornly clung to Old Master Lian, refusing at all costs to split the family.
"Eldest brother, why won’t you speak up? You’re the first one who doesn’t want to split up, right?" Seeing that Old Master Lian didn’t respond, Lian Shouyi turned and asked Lian Shouren.
Lian Shouren was tongue-tied.
"I’ll listen to whatever our father decides."
"Eldest brother, state your intentions clearly, do you want to split up or not?" Lian Shouyi became somewhat anxious, "I know, you’ve been wanting to split up, haven’t you? That way, you can ditch us all, and you, along with your small family, can move to the city to live easily with Huahua, right? If you split up, do you still want your Scholar’s hat? Do you still aspire to be an official?... Tell me, do you want to split up or not?"
"When did I ever say I wanted to split up? I don’t want to split up," Lian Shouren quickly replied.
Lian Shouyi swore that he would lead a good life from now on, and after a long sigh from Old Master Lian, no more was said about splitting up the family.
Nobody thought to ask Lian Shouli for his opinion.
**...***
Here’s the second update, seeking votes. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
