Since both sides had reached an agreement, it was time to proceed with the family division.
Were this any other family, there would have been plenty to haggle over.
Wrangling for over a month would be the norm, all for an extra pig, another half-plot of land, half a sack of corn, or a jar of pickled vegetables. Some families even came to blows, resulting in bloody brawls.
The Ji Family's division certainly wouldn't have that problem. Everyone present knew perfectly well that young Wuan would likely end up with nothing.
And sure enough, Granny Kang, who had been like a fighting cock just moments before, instantly changed her tune and began to plead poverty.
"Fellow villagers, you all know our Ji Family has a few meager fields, but we also have many mouths to feed. Our entire income isn't even enough to cover our fourth son's schooling expenses! The autumn grain was harvested just a few days ago, and we had to sell it immediately. The few silver coins we earned went straight to paying off an old debt. Now, we truly don't have a single copper coin left!"
Mrs. Zhu eagerly chimed in from the side, "That's right! My Mingmao has been clever since he was a boy, every bit as smart as his fourth uncle. The village schoolteacher said he's destined for great things! If Mother and Father hadn't always claimed money was tight, we would've sent him to study in town ages ago. We wouldn't have had to wait until now!"
Granny Kang shot her a glare. 'This third daughter-in-law of mine is always focused on her own petty schemes. As if anyone is fooled!'
Still, her words did lend some support to her own case, so Granny Kang went along with it and started wiping away tears.
"Village Chief, this land is needed to support our fourth son as he prepares for the Scholar examinations. Under no circumstances can it be divided…"
'I knew nothing good would come out of Granny Kang's mouth, but you really had to admire her shamelessness.'
"I say, Granny Kang, your family has over thirty mu of land. If you split it four ways, each branch should get seven or eight mu. How can you be so stingy?"
"You're casting out a young girl to fend for herself without even a sliver of land. Do you expect her to live on air and eat dirt?"
Mrs. Zhu knew she had to stand firmly with her mother-in-law at a time like this. 'Every extra bite that wretched girl gets is one less for my Mingmao.' She quickly added, "We're only thinking of her own good. Tending the fields is back-breaking work. How could Wuan possibly manage it…?"
"Now that's a shameless lie! Who doesn't know that you've been forcing Wuan to toil in the fields since she was a child? She pulls weeds and hoes the land as well as any adult! But you, Mrs. Zhu, when have we ever seen you in the fields? You act more like some delicate young city mistress who never sets foot outside!"
The crowd roared with laughter, and Mrs. Zhu's face flushed then paled with shame.
Annoyed at the disgrace, Granny Kang yanked her aside, planted her hands on her hips, and shot back.
"What do any of you know? My old man and I have to keep a share for our own retirement, and don't the rest of the family need to eat? And what about our fourth son? Dafeng Village finally has a chance to produce a government official. Are you saying we shouldn't let him study anymore?!"
What a way to guilt-trip everyone!
Someone muttered with a sneer, "He's not even a Scholar yet, and all you ever hear is 'government official, government official'…"
The person beside him nudged him with an elbow. "But what if he does pass? The Ji Family's fourth son became a child student at such a young age. He's still very promising…"
His words struck a chord with most of the crowd, and the voices crying injustice gradually faded away.
One of the village elders cleared his throat. When all eyes were on him, he said slowly, "The Ji Family's situation is unique. It's been decades since our Dafeng Village has produced such a promising talent, and we must not shortchange him. Wuan is young and weak; it would be difficult for her to manage farmland anyway. It's better to just give her a larger share of the grain rations."
Granny Kang nodded vigorously. "Fourth Uncle Guo is right! Besides, Wuan learned excellent embroidery skills from Mrs. Wei. She won't starve!"
She was telling a bald-faced lie; the original Ji Huan had never learned any embroidery from Mrs. Wei. Not that the current Ji Huan intended to expose her.
The village chief sighed. "Then… let's settle the matter of the land. As for the other assets…"
"Oh, for heaven's sake, what other assets are there, Village Chief!" Ms. Kang wailed, wringing her hands and stamping her feet. "I already told you, the autumn grain has been sold! Our family is living hand-to-mouth, not knowing where our next meal will come from. You can go and see for yourself! Our rice and flour jars are wiped cleaner than our faces! Can't you see how sallow and skinny our whole family is from hunger?!"
"Well…" No one could see that, actually.
Aunt Wang could not watch this any longer. "Forget the rice and flour, and we won't even mention Niu Jinguai. But what about the fat pigs and plump sheep in your yard, and the dozens of egg-laying chickens and ducks? Surely those can be divided."
Sixth Sister-in-law Feng snorted with laughter behind her. "Well, you certainly haven't mistreated your livestock. It seems the animals in your house eat better than the people…"
Her comment, of course, drew another round of raucous laughter.
Granny Kang wished she could get into a brawl with these two shit-stirrers. She snapped, "Those chickens and ducks are for laying eggs to buy our fourth son paper and ink, and to nourish him! Those pigs and sheep are to be sold to pay for his tuition next year! Those…"
Great. So the entire Ji Family belonged to the fourth son!
"What about the pickled vegetables, then…?"
Granny Kang's reply was curt. "The pickle jars are nearly empty!"
"The coarse rice and other grains…?"
Granny Kang rolled her eyes. "Do you think the dozen of us in this family don't need to eat?!"
"…" Aunt Wang was left speechless.
Fortunately, Sixth Sister-in-law Feng had a good memory. "But didn't you just swear you wouldn't short Wuan on her food rations?"
"Once next year's spring harvest comes in, of course we won't short her on food!"
"Gasp!" The crowd drew a collective breath. After all was said and done, they were still planning to starve the girl to death.
Ji Qingshan's face had turned as black as the bottom of a wok.
It wasn't proper for a man of his stature to intervene in such matters; only women could abandon all decorum to haggle over such trifles.
But before the village chief and elders had arrived, he had given her clear instructions: the house and land were not to be divided, and if she couldn't bear to part with the livestock, that was fine too. But aside from that, she should at least give the girl a measure or two of the old, coarse grain. It was all moldy and bug-infested anyway, worthless stuff, but in front of the whole village, they couldn't afford to look too unseemly.
But Granny Kang was the type to get carried away. Seeing that playing the "fourth son" card worked every time, she threw all caution to the wind, growing determined not to give up a single thing.
No longer caring about the public spectacle, he pulled Granny Kang aside and took her place.
"My wife… she's just used to being stingy, and it's true that the family is desperately short on Silver Coins right now. But rest assured, no matter how poor we are, we still have some coarse grain. I'll have your third uncle send it over to you immediately. As for everything else…"
He stooped over and sighed deeply, the deep lines on his face seeming to gather the frost of many hard years, perfectly portraying the helplessness of a family elder.
"Wuan, my girl, you must understand the family's difficult position…"
Ji Huan watched the family's performance with cold eyes.
'To be honest, her only goal had originally been to separate from the family.'
'She wasn't the real Ji Huan, so she had no intention of fighting for things that weren't hers.'
'But this Ji Family, this pack of wolves and tigers, was simply going too far. She felt indignant on behalf of the deceased Ji Lianbai and Mrs. Wei, but her heart truly ached for the terrified, helpless little Ji Huan of the past.'
'If that girl had been the one standing here today, and not her, this family would have devoured her alive!'
'No… the original Ji Huan could never stand here again. She had been tormented to death, suffering endless grievances both in life and after death.'
'If before, Ji Huan had merely been occupying this body, able to look upon its past sufferings with a cold detachment, then at this very moment, a fire was blazing in her chest—a rage born of shared experience.'
'To hell with not fighting for what's mine!'