Chapter 3

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

“The land and the house that Qingshan’s family has were left behind for them by their ancestors. Why would that have to be shared with Baolai’s family?” someone mumbled.

“Well, Baolai’s property was also left behind by their ancestors, so there should then be no need for it to be shared with Qingshan’s family. Baolai’s mother had been sickly ever since she got married. During their marriage, Baolai’s father felt sorry for her and did not even let her do any work. She only had to keep on drinking medicine. She had not been able to save anything up over the decades, only ever spending on medicine.”

“Baolai and his wife are capable, and they even have five sons, all of whom are capable. If Baolai’s mother had not dragged them down, their lives would likely be very prosperous.”

The more they talked, the more excited they became, and they all pointed their spearheads at Mrs. Qian.

Mrs. Qian grew increasingly panicked. She had clearly come here to divide her mother-in-law’s property, but she did not get anything. Moreover, not only did she get beaten up, it seemed like she would now have to soon give money for the medicine that had been used by her mother-in-law.

That old woman had been sick for decades. Who knew how much they would have to pay up?

“Your family has been living way better than Baolai’s family. Qingshan should help his younger brother’s family. They were both born from mother, so it really does not make sense for him to not have contributed at all to his mother’s medical expenses.”

Mrs. Qian screamed, “That old woman was already married off to Chen Baolai’s father. She’s part of his family. Why should we pay for any of her medicine?”

Mrs. Li replied coldly, “Even if she married my father-in-law, she was still Chen Qingshan’s mother. We had to spend quite a bit on mother-in-law’s medicine over the years, about ten taels of silver. You only have to give two thousand wen to express your sincerity.” (Note: In Imperial China, 1 tael of silver was equivalent to about 1000 to 2000 wen depending on the year.)

She did not say much in the past because she was afraid that her mother-in-law would be sad and Baolai would lose face. However, that did not mean that she did not know how to settle scores. If she did not say it out loud, Mrs. Qian would probably just treat her as a fool.

The villagers gasped. They had guessed that the medicine was expensive, but they did not expect that it had cost around ten taels of silver over the years. Ordinary families only saved one or two taels of silver a year. And that was when they had a good year and many males in the family working hard.

If not for Baolai’s mother-in-law, how rich would their family have been?

“Who knows if you’re talking nonsense? Two thousand wen? To think you could say that. You’re really trying to scam me.” Mrs. Qian cursed and squeezed behind the onlookers.

“She wants to escape.” Chen Xiaosang pointed at Madam Qian and shouted at the crowd.

The surrounding villagers came back to their senses. A few women who had conflicts with Mrs. Qian in the past immediately pushed Mrs. Qian back. Mrs. Qian placed her hands on her hips and scolded the crowd. No one in the village was a coward. Additionally, they were a lot of them. They scolded Mrs. Qian. Later on, Mrs. Qian actually ended up fighting with an old woman.

Everyone hurriedly pulled the two apart. Someone was unhappy with her and pulled Mrs. Qian away from the old woman. Mrs. Qian was kicked several times in the dark.

“Why are you all surrounding my house?” A thick male voice came from outside the courtyard.

Chen Xiaosang looked through the crowd and saw her father holding a pipe in one hand while his other hand was behind his hunched back. He was walking slowly.

She glanced at Mrs. Qian, who was quarreling non-stop, and shouted at Chen Baolai, “Father, auntie wants to show filial piety to her grandmother. She wants to pay two thousand wen for the medicine.”

The villagers laughed when they heard that. “Silly girl, you heard wrong. Qingshan’s wife wants to give you their house and land, not give you money.”

“Baolai is too loyal. His five sons have suffered greatly. If it were me, I would have asked Qingshan to fork out half of the money for the medicine and half of the money for the funeral. Baolai’s mother had given birth to two sons, so there was no reason for her to let only one son take care of her in her old age.”

Chen Baolai, who had squeezed to the front, looked at Mrs. Qian’s face, which was covered in bruises, and the crowd, which was so big, with a blank expression.

Mrs. Qian did not care. She pointed at his nose and scolded, “Chen Baolai, you said that you were going to share your mother’s property with us this morning, and yet you don’t want to admit it now that afternoon has come?! You even let your wife hit me. Let’s go and find the elders in the clan to have this be judged.”

She tugged at Chen Baolai’s sleeve and was about to walk out, but then Chen Baolai struggled free as if she were scalding his hand. He quickly moved away from her and glanced at his wife with his relaxed eyes. Seeing that she was not angry, he heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he looked at Mrs. Qian and became even angrier.

Had his sister-in-law not caused enough trouble these days before his mother was buried? Now, she was even pulling him in front of his wife. She was deliberately trying to sow discord between him and his wife.

“If you want to split it, let Chen Qingshan talk to me. I’m not going to argue with a woman like you.”

It would be a waste of saliva if he could not get to the bottom of things.

Mrs. Li stuffed Xiaosang into Old Chen’s arms and pulled Mrs. Qian’s arm out. “I’ll accompany you in looking for the elders. Mother-in-law’s medicine and funeral expenses were quite a lot. You should also pay a share.”

Mrs. Qian was so frightened that she sat on the ground. She grabbed the leg of the person beside her and shouted, “Mrs. Li, don’t pull me! I’m not going to argue with you. I only want to talk Chen Baolai!”

“If you want to find Chen Baolai, then let Chen Qingshan come. Didn’t you cause a ruckus in mother-in-law’s mourning hall? Didn’t you say that mother-in-law couldn’t be buried? Let’s look for the elders and have them judge what happened.” Mrs. Li dragged Mrs. Qian and rushed forward. The people who were originally watching the show also made way for her.

Mrs. Li dragged Mrs. Qian more than a hundred feet away when Mrs. Qian somehow broke free and ran home with dust on her pants, afraid that she would be dragged away to have her money taken away from her.

A young man looked at Mrs. Li and could not help but sigh. “Auntie is too capable. Her strength isn’t inferior to mine.”

An old man who was the same age as Mrs. Li sighed, “No woman in our Chen Family Bay can compare to her when it comes to working.”

Chen Xiaosang glared at her legs. Old Chen could not hold her anymore and put her down. She rushed to her mother with her short legs and grabbed her clothes. “Mother, you’re amazing!”

Mrs. Li was in a good mood after being praised by her daughter. “Your mother is very good at fighting in the village. If it were not so that your grandmother could leave in peace, I would have whipped Qingshan’s wife a long time ago.”

Chen Xiaosang felt comfortable all over, and her hoarse voice did not seem to be uncomfortable anymore. She shook her two braids and followed her mother.

With a powerful mother, she did not have to fight herself.

There was no more excitement to watch. The villagers dispersed one after another, and the bustling surroundings soon quieted down.

Chen Xiaosang was still immersed in the pleasure of beating and scolding Mrs. Qian when she heard her father say, “Leave three days’ worth of rations and turn the rest into dry rations.”

Mrs. Li was shocked. “We only have half a month’s worth of rations left at home. What’s the point of making them into dry rations?”

Chen Xiaosang also looked at Old Chen. For some reason, she had a bad feeling.

Old Chen took a puff of his cigarette, and his wrinkled face twisted into a ball. “I met the village chief on my way back. The summer tax has to be paid before the 20th. After some thought, it seems that I can only let our four oldest sons go to the county dock to carry bags to earn money.”

Mrs. Li was extremely anxious. “It’s already the 10th today. Even if we let all five of our sons carry the bags, we still can’t gather ten dan of grain to pay the summer tax.” (Note: 1 dan is about 60 kg)

Chen Xiaosang’s heart trembled when she heard that. She knew that the family had spent a lot of money on her grandmother, but she did not expect that they had even spent the summer tax that had been set aside.

Every male over the age of fifteen had to pay taxes. If they could not pay, they would have to serve in the military, which had a mortality rate of 90%.

“We still have one tael of silver. The four of them can earn about a thousand wen if they carry bags for ten days. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the town market. I’ll bring the eggs and cloth from my mother’s funeral to the town to exchange for food.”

The family was in trouble, but the more difficult it was, the more they could not panic.

Old Chen comforted his wife in a deep voice.