Farm Tough Girl

Chapter 54 - 54 055 The Family Split-Up_1

?Chapter 54: Chapter 055 The Family Split-Up_1 Chapter 54: Chapter 055 The Family Split-Up_1 Qiao Yuanming was somewhat astonished, and even doubted whether the person before him was really Madam Liu.

“If that’s the case, it’s not impossible…” Qiao Yuanming said in a daze.

Looking at Madam Liu’s hopeful gaze, Qiao Yuanming really couldn’t bear to say no; how could he not be distressed for his child, for her? Yet she was always so domineering, making him feel useless. If only she would show a little weakness, things between them would never have reached this point.

Madam Liu’s heart leapt with joy as she wiped away her tears and smiled, “My dear husband, thank you.”

Now that Qiao Yuanzhen’s imperial examination had temporarily come to an end, the next step was to wait for the results. The couple in the main house began to bring up the matter of dividing the family again.

“Father, Mother, our family has been living together for more than half a lifetime now, and it’s time to divide the household. Although living together is dear to us, each family has its own way of living. It isn’t good to be tied together forever, right?” Qiao Yuanshan was the first to broach the subject.

Qiao Dazhi’s face immediately darkened as he slapped a pair of chopsticks down on the table, “Divide the family, divide the family, but it is only when the whole family lives together that it’s a true home! You keep harping on dividing the family, but isn’t it just for the sake of a bit of property, disguising it with grand-sounding justifications!”

This time Mrs. Ji didn’t give an inch, standing her ground, “Even if we are indeed eyeing the property, our eldest son has come of age to marry. Which family in the village still lives all together for so long?”

Qiao Dazhi glared at her, “Has the Qiao family mistreated you or what? You are always fretting over these possessions!”

Qiao Dazhi had not allowed the family to split in these years precisely because he didn’t want the property to be divided. Now, his wife Mrs. Ji dared to covet his possessions without any scruples, naturally enraging him.

Mrs. Ji laughed mockingly, “Indeed, the Qiao family hasn’t wronged us at all. Our eldest son has reached the age of marriage, and despite talking for so long, the family isn’t willing to spend money to get him a wife. As soon as the fourth brother casually mentioned wanting to marry, the family immediately took out ten silvers as betrothal gifts. It must be because our eldest son is not as favored as others, unable to gain the grandparents’ affection, but as his parents, we have to intervene, right? If not, with such an adult still unmarried, who knows how the villagers would laugh at him behind his back.”

“What’s wrong? I am only asking him to get married next year, does that make us lose face?” Madam Zhao raised her voice shrilly, relying on the control of her sons and daughters-in-law over the years to save so much private money. If it were divided among them, who would do the household chores? Who would give her silver?

Qiao Yuanshan was very firm, “No matter what, we want to divide the family!”

Madam Zhao was so angry she almost choked, and Qiao Dazhi exclaimed fiercely, “Everyone else in the family is living peacefully, but only you two keep clamoring to do this and that, can’t you stop making trouble and live peacefully for a few days?!”

Oh, so now they were making trouble. Qiao Yuanshan, enraged, was about to start a big argument when he heard Qiao Yuanming’s quiet voice.

“Father, Mother, why don’t we just divide the family.”

As soon as these words were spoken, even Qiao Yuanzhen, who had been calmly detached from the family disputes, was shocked. He looked at Qiao Yuanming incredulously. The impression of this third brother had always been one of absolute obedience to their parents’ commands; how could he dare say such a thing today?

After a moment of silence in the room, Qiao Yuanshan laughed heartily, “Father, even the third brother wants to divide the family. Let’s just do it. We’ve been bound for so many years; it’s time to scatter.”

Qiao Dazhi, his face ashen with fury, glared at Qiao Yuanming. Qiao Yuanming shrank his neck, but thinking of Madam Liu’s sorrowful appearance, he mustered his courage to meet Qiao Dazhi’s gaze.

He felt that filial piety and dividing the family could be two separate matters, and after dividing the household, the children and daughters-in-law could lead better lives. Why not, then?

In the end, Qiao Dazhi, annoyed, smacked the table, “Let’s wait until Yuanzhen’s wedding is dealt with before discussing this! The household is busy now; there’s no time for dividing up the family!”

He then swept out of the room.

It was clearly a delaying tactic, but there was no other choice. At least there was hope now. The members of the Qiao family’s main branch knew Qiao Dazhi’s temperament well. If they caused further trouble, it might backfire, so they settled down.

Madam Liu’s heart was filled with hope, as if she were seeing rebirth. She had never imagined in her lifetime that she could leave this cage-like home and have a world of her own to thrive in. She had waited for this day for far too long.

That night, two sneaky figures crept in the dark and climbed up the desolate mountain that belonged to Muniang, looking hurried.

“Are you sure they brought those branches up to the mountain?” Wang He, Mrs. Liang’s husband, asked.

Mrs. Liang hushed him, “Shh! Keep it down! Don’t make noise. I’ve been watching their house every day. How could I not know? I saw with my own eyes how Erliang carried that big pile of branches from their yard up to the mountain!”

Wang He asked in confusion, “But what are they doing bringing them up here? The branches don’t have roots. Could they possibly plant them?”

“How would I know? But there must be something fishy going on. With Qiao Muniang’s cunning, would she ever make a losing deal? Didn’t you see yesterday? Their family hired a batch of long-term workers. What kind of work can’t be done with the help of the villagers, that they must buy their own slaves? She must be hiding something. Maybe it’s a great opportunity to make money!”

Mrs. Liang became more and more excited as she spoke, as if she herself was about to make a fortune.

Wang He was also excited, quickening his pace, “Let’s hurry up and check it out on the mountain.”

When the couple stealthily reached the top, they saw many trees tied with ropes, obviously meant to secure something. Tied onto them, weren’t those the branches that had been cut off?

Wang He and his wife were stunned. What was this all about?!

Mrs. Liang said, “Could it be that simply tying a branch to a tree will yield a harvest?”

“It’s possible.”

After circling around and seeing nothing else of note, they descended the mountain.

Early the next morning, Wang He went to get several fruit trees and planted them in his own yard. He tied branches to them, imitating what he saw the night before, completely ignorant of the concept of grafting and treating it like a superstition. He even neglected to cut the branches from the parent trees.

He was delighted, thinking that once some miracle appeared on the trees, he would make a huge fortune, not realizing that he was foolishly imitating an expert and his actions were meaningless.

However, Muniang naturally knew nothing of this. She was busy with the fish pond, the fruit trees, and building the workers’ houses, nearly working herself into the ground.

Half a month later, a row of bungalows for Muniang’s long-term workers rose from the ground, with uniform tiles that attracted many villagers to gather around and watch.

“Tsk, tsk, the Muniang family has really struck it rich. Not only did they buy slaves, but they also have long-term workers, and they don’t need to toil over the entire desolate mountain themselves.”

“Indeed, just look at these houses, tsk tsk. They’re just for indentured long-term workers, and yet they are tiled houses. How many families in our village can afford to live in tiled houses?”

Yet, there were those who were red with envy. “Hmph, let her fuss about all she wants. Those few silvers will eventually be frittered away by her, and she’ll have her day of tears.”