In addition to the severance document, Xia Youtian also agreed with the village head on a piece of residential land for building a house.
It wasn't the plots that Sifang and his wife had previously favored, nor was it the sheltered valley that Xia Daohua had favored. Instead, it was a relatively desolate stretch of sandy land south of the village, near Nanhu Lake.
To be precise, this piece of sand is sandwiched between Nanhu Lake and Nanshan Mountain. The terrain is not low, but it is very close to the water. If Beiguan Town is hit by a flood, there is a risk of flooding.
Moreover, because this place is sandy, nothing tends to grow well.
The best thing about this piece of sand is that no one wants it.
Beiguan Village, due to its geographical location and climate, is a sparsely populated area with a lot of land and few people. The fertile black soil is still too much to be cultivated, so naturally no one would look at this barren sandy land.
Xia Daohua was more satisfied with this place than with that valley.
The location of this piece of sandy land is neither too far nor too close to the village, just right.
It’s not as far away as the valley where Xia Daohua discovered the enemy, but it’s not as close as the old house. It’s only a hundred or eighty steps to the neighbor’s house.
It is the perfect distance where you can hear the sounds of chickens and dogs, but still retain a certain degree of privacy.
Because it was close to South Lake and had easy access to water, Xia Daohua thought it would be a good place to build not only a house but also a workshop. Maybe she could even build a waterwheel, a traditional water system, and a bathroom...
The more I think about the summer rice flowers, the more beautiful they become, and the more I look at this piece of sand, the more satisfied I am.
Of course, because it is close to the lake, building a house here will inevitably be a bit damp.
But fortunately, in Beiguan Town, in order to survive the winter, whether it is a mud house or a brick house, they all have one advantage, which is the kang.
With the powerful weapon of kang, the dampness by the lake is nothing.
Of course, the so-called "Nanhu" is just an official name. Among the villagers of Beiguan Village, it has a more down-to-earth name, called "Duck Egg Paozi".
Because the lake is in the shape of a duck egg and the color of the water is a bit blue with green, everyone thinks it looks a bit like a duck egg.
The lake was not very large and its depth was average. The deepest part was barely above an adult's head, while the shallowest part was only up to an adult's knees.
So, based on its size, it can only be considered a "bubble".
It is said that people have drowned here. Although the water looks shallow, the bottom of the lake is full of silt, making it easy to get stuck. Therefore, villagers rarely visit the area around Nanhu Lake.
Because there are not many traces of human activities, there are a lot of weeds and mosquitoes around Nanhu Lake.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this that, apart from Xia Youtian's sudden idea, no one in the village seemed to have ever thought of building a house in this place.
Even Xia Daohua, who had always been thinking about building a new house, had never considered building it here.
Therefore, the entire piece of sandy land was purchased for less than one or two or three qian of silver. Even so, the village head felt that he had gotten a bargain and was very happy. He was also very friendly to Xia Youtian.
The two of them quickly signed the land purchase documents, and the village head quickly replaced the white deed for Xia Youtian. When they went back to the government office to get the red deed, the procedures for the land were completely completed.
Xia Youtian planned to go to the town in person.
On the one hand, he could take the document of severing the relationship and have his eldest brother Xia Youcai sign and fingerprint it, and on the other hand, he could also get the land deed.
The next day, Xia Youtian rushed to the town early in the morning with the severance documents, land deeds, and money.
First, they went to a land agent's office and found someone to help them with the land purchase paperwork. They worked all morning and finally got the job done. After calculating all the expenses, they spent another two taels of silver.
Xia Youtian bought two sesame cakes to fill his stomach, then trotted all the way to the home of Xia Youcai, the eldest son of the family.
Apart from delivering food to Xia Youcai's family, Xia Youtian has never entered his eldest brother's house.
My eldest brother and his family actually live such a neat and tidy life...
Xia Youtian felt bitter in his heart, but he also felt an indescribable sense of relief.
After all, although the eldest brother plotted against Lihua this time, he failed and instead suffered retribution; and he could also take this opportunity to openly cut off contact with the eldest brother.
Later, when Dalang became an official, I could still farm the land and didn't need to worry about taking advantage of him. However, the two families severed their relationship, and the eldest brother and his wife no longer had an excuse to plot against their own children.
Xia Youtian took a deep breath and raised his hand to knock on Xia Youcai's door.
…
When Xia Youtian left Xia Youcai's house, his heart was full of sighs.
He never dreamed that his elder brother would suffer a stroke, with his mouth and eyes crooked, half of his body uncontrollable, and he couldn't even speak a complete sentence.
Seeing his elder brother end up like this, Xia Youtian felt sad and couldn't describe the feeling.
He gritted his teeth and stammered out his purpose, thinking that if his elder brother firmly refused, he would be too embarrassed to force his elder brother to agree.
Xia Youcai made a few hoarse sounds, but couldn't say anything.
However, sister-in-law Liu actually grabbed her eldest brother's hand and, despite his objection, pressed her fingerprint on the document of severing the relationship, which also shocked Xia Youtian.
When Xia Youtian came to his senses, he felt mixed emotions.
It seems that my sister-in-law is eager to cut off contact with my family!
Not only did Liu grab Xia Youcai's hand and press his fingerprint on the document of breaking off the relationship, but she also made Xia Youcai so angry that he snored for a long time and almost choked to death by a mouthful of phlegm.
He even took matters into his own hands, using a feather duster to beat Xia Youtian all over his face, and beat him out of the door like a chicken or a dog.
"It's no wonder that my sister-in-law is angry. She's probably taking out all the grievances she's suffered elsewhere on herself."
Xia Youtian was not aware of the real predicament faced by the eldest wife. He thought it was because his eldest brother had a stroke and his eldest sister-in-law was extremely angry that he was breaking off the relationship with the eldest wife at this critical juncture.
So he felt that it was understandable that his sister-in-law was angry with him.
After receiving the document of severing the relationship, Xia Youtian was kicked out of Xia Youcai's house. Although he was very sad, he also felt a sense of liberation.
Xia Youtian did not see Xia Dalang in the main house.
It was obvious that Xia Youcai's illness would not be cured in a day or two. So, Xia Dalang dealt with the important matters and returned to Songxi Academy to continue his studies.
Now that his father had passed away, he was the mainstay of the Xia family's main branch. If he had passed the imperial examination, not to mention Xia Youcai would still be alive. Even if Xia Youcai had already passed away and was buried, their family would still be well off.
Liu cried until her eyes were swollen and her voice was hoarse, but with Xia Dalang's support, Xia Youcai could only stare blankly, unable to say anything. In the Xia family's eldest wife, there was no one more senior than Liu, and it seemed that Liu had the final say.
Xia Jinhua took Xia Dalang's advice to heart.
After much deliberation, she finally decided to divorce Dai Sanlang.
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