Li Changsheng frowned, his mind filled with troubles.

“In our Qushui Village, there has never been such a rule or method. People always follow the older ones, not the younger ones. Daliang, you'd better think this through.”

He Sanfeng, standing to the side, made the decision without hesitation, not giving An Daliang any chance to back out.

"I've thought it through. I'll go with the second son's family."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xiufen, who was standing to the side, glanced at the two elders of the An family with great displeasure, but hesitated to speak.

In front of the village head, he didn't dare to say a word, but nudged Anmantun next to him, urging him to speak up quickly.

After being spurred on by his wife, An Mantun grinned and spoke to Li Changsheng.

"Uncle Li, you are the village head, so you have to make the decision on this matter!"

This has never been the first time anything like this has been done in our village. If our parents were to live with us, wouldn't it make my brother a laughingstock? It wouldn't sound good at all! I think they should stay with my brother.”

Li Changsheng nodded in agreement. "Mantun is right. Daliang, this matter cannot be handled this way. We still have to follow the eldest brother's lead."

An Dafeng glanced at An Daliang and slowly spoke.

"Da Liang, are you trying to make Mancang a laughingstock? Look around our village, is there any family where the eldest son doesn't support his parents?"

An Daliang held up a pipe and took a puff.

"Brother, that's not quite right. There's no precedent for this in our village, but there are plenty of people from other villages who followed the second and third brothers. Why is it different here?"

He Sanfeng glanced at An Dafeng and chimed in.

"Yes, and besides, brother, with the eldest son's limited abilities, how could he possibly support us two old folks? His whole family has several mouths to feed!"

An Daliang coughed and glanced at He Sanfeng, who shut her mouth in annoyance.

An Dafeng's face immediately darkened. He slammed his hand on the table and said firmly.

“Brother Changsheng, just follow the rules of our ancestors. Whatever was passed down from above, we should do it accordingly!”

Even if you argue until the end, this matter is still in the right.

The main house belongs to the eldest son's family, while the side rooms belong to the second son's family.

The cow and six chickens also belong to the eldest son, and the eighteen acres of medium-sized farmland can be divided equally between the two of them!

The three houses at the foot of that hill also belong to the eldest son's family.

As soon as An Dafeng finished speaking, Liu Xiufen became agitated.

"Uncle, how could you arrange it like this? This is not fair! For the past few years, our family has been paying one tael of silver to our parents every month, but how much does my brother and sister-in-law pay every month? Five hundred coins!"

Why is it that now that the family has divided the property, my family got such a small share?

An Dalin, who had been silent until now, slammed his hand on the table and shouted.

“You’re just a woman, what right do you have to speak? This is done according to the rules passed down from our ancestors. The eldest daughter-in-law is responsible for supporting the elderly, so she has to take the lion’s share!”

Half of that land was allocated to Mantun, which was already more than enough for him; according to the rules, he should have received six mu!

Liu Xiufen was startled by An Dalin's loud and forceful rebuke, and quickly nudged An Mantun in a secret manner.

Anmantun frowned, somewhat displeased. He gave his parents a lot of money every year, so why should he get that side room and nine acres of land?

Even if the family is splitting up, each person should get half!

However, he had no room to interrupt when the elders were speaking. He had already spoken up and pushed his parents to his brother's house. If he were to ask them to come back, he couldn't bring himself to do so.

Just as he was getting anxious, he heard An Dalin continue, "As for the grain reserves in this household, let's split them in half between the two families!"

As for the money you two have, give 30% to the second son's family, keep 30% for yourselves, and give 40% to the eldest son.

As An Dalin was speaking, Liu Xiufen couldn't help but yell and complain again.

"Second Uncle, I won't accept this. The money we've earned over the past few years has mostly been money that my family has handed over to our parents. Why should we only get 30% now that it's been divided up? Does that mean all the money my family has earned is going to the eldest son's family? What kind of logic is this?"

For the past few years, my family has been supporting so many people. Now that the family is splitting up, they've kicked my Mantun out?

This has this advantage: my husband and I will take care of my parents, and they're happy to live with us.

He then slapped An Mantun on the back again, "Mantun, say something! Why are you dividing this up like this?"

An Dalin sneered.

"If that's how you put it, then I, your second uncle, will have to give it a good talking-to on behalf of the eldest son's family."

Although Mantun has paid a lot of money to his third brother in recent years, the eldest brother's family has done all the housework!

The cows and chickens belong to the eldest son's family!

The work in the fields has always been done by the eldest son's family!

The third brother and sister-in-law were also taken care of by the eldest brother's family. The eldest brother's family didn't contribute much money, but they did put in a lot of effort.

In what year did the farm work fill the granary?

"Since Mantun started working at the carpenter's shop, has he ever worked in the fields?"

Not to be outdone, Liu Xiufen launched into a long, rambling monologue.

"Second Uncle, if that's how you put it, then I'll have to put in a good word for Mantun in our family."

In our family, are we as talkative as my brother and sister-in-law's family?

"All the food and drink we get ends up in my brother and sister-in-law's stomachs, doesn't it? Why should my family have to support them?"

"Back then, when we sent your second son to the carpentry shop to learn the trade, we supported him with every penny we dug out of the pit, the money we earned from cutting firewood and hunting wild game in the mountains."

Do you think being someone's apprentice is free?

Why should the eldest son, who earns his own money, go to a carpentry shop to learn the trade instead of sending the second son there? Now tell me, why is that?

If the eldest son had learned the trade himself, who would be earning money now—the second son's family or the eldest son's family?

Liu Xiufen choked, opened her mouth, and after a while managed to squeeze out a sentence, "That was arranged by my parents, it wasn't my family that forced my brother and sister-in-law's family to support his apprenticeship."

An Dalin snorted coldly, his old face darkening.

"Well, this division of the family was decided by our ancestors. Go and argue with them in the afterlife!"

Liu Xiufen choked again. This old man was really a difficult thing to deal with. Everyone said that her second uncle's tongue was so sharp that it could choke a person to death, and that was absolutely true!

Anle, who was peeking through the crack in the door, chuckled to himself. "Wow, these old men are quite discerning and reasonable."

She's not entirely like her old scoundrel grandfather!

However, I didn't expect that dividing the family property would be such a grand affair, with several old men actually invited to witness it.

I glanced at that old scoundrel grandfather and saw him with droopy eyelids, puffing on his cigarette and exhaling clouds of smoke.