Seeing Yan Qingqing perform such a grand gesture, the village chief quickly helped her up and said, "Xiang Ping's mother, what is it? Please get up and tell me."
Yan Qingqing pinched her inner thigh hard where no one could see, then stood up shakily with Yuan Huiniang's help. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at the village chief and said, "Uncle Village Chief, I know Erniu was filial when he was alive, and I don't want to go against him. But my children and I really have no way to survive."
My mother-in-law just said she wants to sell the baby I'm carrying after it's born and we've raised it for two years. It's my own flesh and blood, and as a mother, how can I bear to part with it? So I had an argument with her.
Although I am timid and cowardly, no one can harm my children. Therefore, for the sake of my children, I beg Uncle Village Chief to allow us to divide our family property.
The village chief was somewhat embarrassed. Although he was the head of the village, the division of the family property was, after all, a private matter for the Li family.
Furthermore, apart from Li Xiangping, who is a capable adult laborer, the rest of Yan Qingqing and her children are not very useful. How will they live if they separate from the family?
Obviously, most people had considered this as well, and so they started discussing it again.
In order not to reveal her true nature, Yan Qingqing had no choice but to lower her head and pretend not to hear.
When Old Mrs. Li saw Yan Qingqing like this, she thought that Yan Qingqing was scared and said with a sneer, "Hmph, Yan, have you thought this through? Once the family is divided, it will be impossible for you to come back to our Li family."
Also, if your older brother ever passes the imperial examination and becomes a high-ranking official, you won't get a chance to enjoy the good life then.
Yan Qingqing's lips curled into a sarcastic sneer. The elder brother that Old Madam Li mentioned was the original owner's brother-in-law, Li Chengye, whose original name was Li Daniu. Later, when he entered the academy, the teacher gave him the name Li Chengye.
In his younger days, Li Chengye was indeed a good student. He passed the imperial examination for the first degree after only three years of study and was often praised by his teacher and the villagers. Everyone who saw him would call him "Master of the First Degree Scholar".
But later, whether it was because Li Chengye was praised too highly or because his talent had run dry, he has now passed the county-level imperial examination even though he is over forty years old. He has truly become an old scholar with white hair.
In Yan Qingqing's opinion, it didn't matter whether she passed the imperial examination or not, because she always felt that there was more to life than just studying and becoming an official.
However, the Li family and Li Chengye did not think so. In the eyes of the Li family, Li Chengye was the hope for the whole family to change their living room.
This was their hope for a future of wealth and luxury. Therefore, they were willing to dedicate the entire family's resources to supporting Li Chengye's education.
Li Chengye, having been praised so much, took it all for granted. He did absolutely nothing but study.
Whenever someone asked him to do something, he would dismiss them with a simple "That would be an insult to civility."
Over the years, the Li family has exhausted all their money to support Li Chengye's education, even selling off several acres of farmland. The Li family is now one of the poorest families in Canghe Village.
The village chief looked at Yan Qingqing with some difficulty, after all, she had to make the decision herself.
Yan Qingqing raised her head and looked at the village chief with a firm gaze, saying, "Uncle Village Chief, don't worry, I, Yan Qingqing, swear that even if the Li family becomes successful in the future, my son and I will never take advantage of them in the slightest."
However, similarly, after the family split up, I had no further connection with them.
Of course, I will never stop the children from being filial to their grandparents.
After hearing Yan Qingqing's words, Li Kaishan knew that the division of the Li family was inevitable. After pondering for a while, he said, "In that case, let's open the ancestral hall and invite a few elders from the village to act as judges."
"Besides, your father doesn't know about this yet, does he? I'll have someone inform him to come to the ancestral hall together."
Upon hearing this, Yan Qingqing quickly thanked the village chief. Since it was a public division of the family property, they certainly wouldn't openly bully them, a widow and her orphan, regarding the family assets.
So the group moved to the Li Family Ancestral Hall.
Yan Qingqing was a woman and a widow, so she was not qualified to enter the ancestral hall. She didn't plan to go anyway, so she let Li Xiangping represent her.
Seeing that Yan Qingqing was determined to separate the family, Li Xiangping felt both heartbroken and pleased, remembering the losses his second branch had suffered over the years.
He is now married with children, and his two younger brothers will soon be adults, so Li Xiangping believes that as long as he works hard, he will be able to support his mother and younger siblings.
Li Xiangping went to the ancestral hall, while Yuan Huiniang stayed at home with her two-year-old daughter, Niu Niu, to keep Yan Qingqing company.
After everyone had left, Dr. Zheng finally found an opportunity to examine Yan Qingqing.
Yan Qingqing looked at Doctor Zheng with some embarrassment and said, "I'm so sorry, Doctor Zheng, you must have found this amusing."
Having listened for so long, Dr. Zheng naturally knew the situation of the Li family, so he said without any concern, "It's alright. It's not easy for you to be tormented by your mother-in-law at your age."
Yan Qingqing: ……
This is the umpteenth time she's heard people say she's old. She admits that being in her thirties isn't considered young in ancient times. It's not that she's being dramatic, but she really can't stand people saying she's old.
Doctor Zheng took Yan Qingqing's pulse and then said with a smile, "The pregnancy is quite stable, but the mother's body is too weak and her qi and blood are insufficient."
Yan Qingqing understood; it meant she was malnourished.
This was to be expected; it would be strange if a family with such limited resources could afford adequate nutrition.
Doctor Zheng did not prescribe any medicine for Yan Qingqing, but only gave her a prescription to replenish her qi and blood, and told her to go to the city to get the medicine if she could.
Yan Qingqing knew that Dr. Zheng was taking care of their family, as they really couldn't afford the medicine given their current circumstances.
After seeing Doctor Zheng off, Yuan Huiniang started preparing something to eat for Yan Qingqing, but Yan Qingqing stopped her.
Because they usually eat with the Li family, and now that they're having a dispute over dividing the family property, it's not too early or too late for Old Mrs. Li to agree to Yuan Huiniang giving her special treatment.
She'd be better off lying down and resting, thinking about how to plan for the future.
Just as Yan Qingqing was lost in thought, Li Xiangping returned, a clear smile on his face.
Yan Qingqing knew that the result was satisfactory.
Sure enough, Li Xiangping said, "Mom, the results of the family division are out. Our family now has a total of 20 mu of land. Grandpa Village Chief said that each family has 6 mu, and the extra 2 mu will be left for Grandpa and Grandma to take care of them in their old age."
The houses we live in now all belong to our family, and we'll also be given a pot and 150 jin of millet.
Yan Qingqing nodded in agreement. Although they hadn't gained much advantage this time, it was already quite remarkable that the Li family had given them, an orphan and a widow, so much.
Seeing that Yan Qingqing was fairly satisfied with the division of the family property, Li Xiangping smiled and said, "After the division, Grandpa said that he owed us a lot over the years, so he gave up his one acre of retirement land as compensation to us."
Yan Qingqing was somewhat surprised to hear this, thinking that this old man Li still had some conscience.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com