Chapter 1 Reborn Before the Family Division

"Mother, aren't you being too biased towards my eldest brother? He'll benefit the most from dividing the family property at this time."

"Mother, I want that piece of land in Shuichuan. You promised me that before."

"Big brother has such good taste! Shuichuan is the best place in the family. I'm going to join the army soon, shouldn't I get a bigger share of the money so I can find a wife sooner?"

"Mother, I will be taking the preliminary examination next year, and then I will have to take the provincial and metropolitan examinations. The examinations require money. I don't want land or houses, I just want silver."

...

Song Chunxue sat on an octagonal chair, the sound of children arguing reaching her ears.

When I opened my eyes, the children who were originally married and weathered looked very young.

She will remember this scene for the rest of her life.

She has four sons in total, but her third son is away herding sheep.

The eldest, second, and fourth sons had already discussed it and decided to leave her with the third son, then divide the family property and go their separate ways.

Her tragedy began after the family split up.

Looking at the compacted loess ground, it was full of potholes and you could smell the dust.

Song Chunxue thought to herself, "I've already burned all the paper money for the seventh day after death, how can my dream feel so real?"

Since her death, she has become a wandering ghost and has never dreamed again.

“Mother, say something! I like the second daughter of the Zhao family. Can you afford the eight taels of silver for her betrothal gift?”

The second brother's words were clear to her ears, and Song Chunxue looked up at the speaker.

Her second son was once her pride and joy; she would boast to everyone that he had brought honor to the Jiang family.

But who would have thought that ever since the second son got a position in the army, he became someone's son-in-law and treated his mother-in-law like his own mother?

However, her own mother saw him only a handful of times in the following thirty or forty years.

“Mother, I’m already married and my wife is pregnant. We can’t keep living in the north room forever. We definitely need to separate and build a courtyard. I’ve looked at the plot of land in front of the gate, and I’ll build the courtyard there.”

The eldest brother's slightly somber voice came from behind him, and Song Chunxue suddenly turned her head, clenching her fists and staring at him.

This was her eldest son, whom she always favored; she would always save the best food for him.

But ever since they separated, he listened to his wife and stopped contacting her. Even after she died, he refused to burn a single piece of paper money for her.

She lived to be seventy-eight years old and owed a lot to many people, but she didn't owe her eldest son anything. However, the one who disappointed her the most was her eldest son.

"Mother, you promised me last night, why aren't you saying anything? Did Sanwa say something that made you go back on your word?"

The eldest sister was spoiled. After saying so much, Song Chunxue didn't say a word, so he got up and pushed her.

Song Chunxue stood up angrily and slapped him across the face.

During the years she was bedridden, it was her third son, whom she had once disliked and cared for the least, who took care of her in her old age.

How dare he talk about Sanwa?

"mother?"

"mother!"

"Mother, you hit me?"

The sons were shocked and jumped up from the low stools.

They never expected that their mother, who always favored the eldest son, would actually hit him.

The numbness and pain in her palms felt incredibly real, which eased some of the resentment in Song Chunxue's heart.

But that's not enough.

"Smack!"

Song Chunxue slapped him hard again, her hand going numb from the impact.

The eldest brother covered his cheek in disbelief, staring at her blankly.

"Mother, you..."

Song Chunxue avoided looking at him. This was the child she once loved the most because he looked the most like his father.

She was the eldest daughter, which made her feel like she had wasted her life.

Besides the third child, the eldest child was closest to her, yet they were like strangers to each other. They had been estranged for over forty years because of the issue of distributing grain.

Suddenly, she felt a pain in her stomach and a warm sensation below her body; this was the feeling of menstruation.

This is not a dream!

Could it be that the wish she made in front of the dilapidated temple for forty-nine days came true?

She had four sons and one daughter in her lifetime, but after her death, no one kept vigil over her body.

She regretted having so many children countless times and prayed she could do it all over again.

But now, it seems like she's back to the time when the family divided their property.

She is only thirty-six years old this year.

"Is Mother possessed? How could she bear to hit my eldest brother?" the second son muttered. "She would never say a word to him normally."

Song Chunxue snapped out of her daze and looked coldly at the second brother.

"It's not like I ever hit you. When you were in school, I walked thirty miles before dawn to bring you food. Did I feed it to the dogs?"

The second son was speechless and opened his mouth to retort.

He was usually very concerned about his reputation, and he was extremely unhappy to be scolded. He couldn't help but look at his younger brother, the fourth brother.

"That's strange. Did you forget to make medicine for Mother today?"

The fourth child is relatively quiet at home, but because he has several older brothers, he sees things most clearly and is the most quick-witted.

He was only thinking about whether he could get a share of the silver, and casually said, "Mother is unwilling to distribute things or silver. She wants to keep us all at home, making us work at home like Third Brother."

The second son said irritably, "Sanwa is just not capable. He's not cut out for studying and can only stay at home to farm and herd sheep. We can't be like him and be farmers for the rest of our lives."

"Bang!"

Upon hearing this, Song Chunxue slammed her hand on the table.

"So you think you're the only ones who're successful? Sanwa is just bad at studying. He's the one who's the best at studying."

Song Chunxue gritted her teeth and said, "After your father passed away, he saw how hard it was for me to manage the household chores by myself, so he took the initiative to come back and help me. If he were still studying, our family could have produced at least one scholar!"

Her biggest regret in life was letting her third child drop out of school halfway through.

He was the kindest and most filial of them all, yet he also suffered the most.

When she died, Sanwa was still earning money by carrying stones for people in the county.

The eldest son covered his face and said angrily, "Mother, why are you always protecting Sanwa today? Does he disagree with dividing the family property?"

"Even if we don't separate, it would be fine to separate me first. It's inconvenient for us to live in the same courtyard after we get married."

He's never been beaten since he was a child; it must have been Sanwa who did it.

"He doesn't even know about the family division, so how can he tell me?" Song Chunxue sneered and said in a strong voice, "You think you can just leave whenever you want now? I'm not dividing this family."

"How can that be! How can I live without separating the family?" the eldest son said sharply. "My wife is about to give birth, and she can't be crammed together with everyone else."

Song Chunxue closed her eyes. The child had grown so big; she couldn't just put him back in.

Even though the family hasn't been divided yet, her words still carry weight, and she still holds the reins of power within the family.

This time, she cannot easily separate from the family.

She would never let her boss have what he wanted.

"Then you go out and build your own house, and let me live in the north room," Song Chunxue said calmly, rubbing her temples.

The north room has the best natural light, which shows how much she dotes on her eldest son.

When Song Chunxue spoke to the eldest brother like that, the second and fourth brothers were not only confused, but also a little scared.

"Is Mother getting senile? Feng'er is pregnant, how am I supposed to build a house by myself? If we don't separate the family, where will I get the money to build it?"

"I'm the eldest in the family. You'll still have to rely on me when you grow up. It's better not to separate from the family, or you won't be able to count on me when you're old. I might just throw you into a ditch."

The eldest brother said this half-jokingly and half-threateningly.