Chapter 6: Daughters-in-law all want a share of the money
"Since the land was distributed to households, several families in our village have split up their family property. Yours is not the first case, so today I will tell you how other families in the village split up their family property. Qingsong and Jiahao, you two brothers can also refer to it."
Mr. Zhang was thin, but his voice was firm and majestic.
This old man is the only state cadre in the village. He worked at the county grain station before his retirement and is also a member of the Party Committee. His credibility is like that of the street neighborhood committee in later generations.
She receives a pension every month, eats meat, drinks fish soup, and has a lot of experience, so when he opens his mouth, the two sisters-in-law who were arguing before suddenly become silent.
Mrs. Liu handed Village Chief Li a cigarette with a smile, and then said, "Brother Zhang, just tell me what you want to say! With the two of you in charge, things won't go wrong."
Grandpa Zhang nodded and said, "To divide the family, all the property in the family is laid out and divided. Before the division, everyone lived together. For example, the cents earned and the food distributed were taken home to eat together."
"So what I mean is that you, the three sons of the Zhai family, plus you, my sister, should get four shares. But, my sister, you are not young anymore. If you just grow some vegetables for yourself, then you don't need to divide the land! When you are sixty years old, your three sons will have to weigh out the old-age food for you at the end of the year."
The first half of Master Zhang's words made Liu Xiangqin and Xu Ping stunned. He really wanted to divide the land into four parts?
But the second half of Mr. Zhang's sentence made the two women feel the pain even before they started to provide them with pension money.
Liu Xiangqin said, "Master Zhang, my mother is not old enough for us to take care of her. She can still farm on her own. We should give her a piece of land so that she can grow some food. She will have more than enough to eat."
"That's right! That's right! Give mom a piece of land closer to home, the one behind our house, and let her plant it after the autumn harvest." Xu Ping said generously.
When Mrs. Liu heard what her two daughters-in-law meant, she burst into tears and said, "Oh! Brother Zhang, why is my life so miserable?"
"My husband died early, and I raised three children with great difficulty. I helped them get married and have children. Now that the family is divided, there is nothing for me as a mother to do! If I become paralyzed in bed one day, who can I count on?"
As soon as I started to wipe away my tears and complain, the eldest son of the Zhai family felt even more upset.
Zhai Qingsong looked at his second brother and said in a deep voice, "If mom wants to plant some crops, she can plant some crops close to home. If she doesn't want to plant, she can pick vegetables from our fields in the future."
"That's fine." The second son of the Zhai family nodded.
"Besides, Mom is almost sixty years old. We three sons should give her a weight of food every year," said Zhai Qingsong.
Liu Xiangqin didn't expect that her husband would be the first to point out such a thing. She looked at Zhai Qingsong in astonishment, "They didn't say anything, so why are you trying so hard to show off?"
"Sister-in-law! If eldest brother agrees to give mother food every year, we will agree. However, should the money that the third brother brought back in the past few years be divided equally among us?" Xu Ping said as if it was a matter of course.
When Mrs. Liu heard the second daughter-in-law mention the money that the third son sent home, her heart skipped a beat and she glanced at the third son's wife cautiously.
Suddenly, he cursed at the second son's wife: "I only sent some money home two years ago, and I used it to buy fertilizer and clothes for the children. What money is left to share? How shameless! Even if I share it, it's not your turn. Don't I, as a mother, need money?"
Xu Ping was so angry at being scolded by her mother-in-law that she turned around and looked at the third daughter-in-law who was sitting next to her without saying a word. "Third daughter! Your husband has been away from home for these years, and you and your mother have been relying on the money we earn to support you! So, what do you think? Should the money your husband sends home be taken out and each family be given a share?"
Wang Ziru was holding an earthenware jar that she had found in a corner of the kitchen, which was filled with boiling water and used to cover her hands.
Seeing this, the audience also smiled and said, "Village Chief Li, the work point records of every laborer in our village over the years are still there, right?"
Village Chief Li looked at Wang Ziru in confusion, "They are all here. Do you want to check your work points?"
As soon as Village Chief Li asked this question, Mrs. Liu strongly opposed it, "How can you just watch that kind of thing whenever you want?!"
"Village Chief Li, let's divide it according to what Brother Zhang said. I can't live like this until this matter is sorted out."
But Mrs. Liu no longer had any authority, and her words had no effect at all.
The two daughters-in-law of the Zhai family were both hoping to get a share of the money that Wang Ziru's husband sent home.
Wang Ziru said, "Village Chief Li! Tomorrow, I will go to your house to check your work points! Sister-in-law Ersou kept saying that they were the ones who raised us mother and son these years. Since they have said that, I will check it out before answering them."
"I just don't believe it. The money my husband sends home every year is not even enough to cover the few work points they earn."
Before she finished speaking, Mrs. Liu was so frightened that cold sweat broke out on her neck. "You spendthrift woman! What are you investigating? I've already said that the money that the third child sent home has been used up for the family expenses."
Liu Xiangqin smiled and said, "Mom, the food, clothing and daily necessities of our family can be seen by the whole village. Every year, the third child brings home 100 yuan. Did you buy clothes for us or meat?"
These words choked Mrs. Liu.
Granny Liu slammed her palm on the table and wailed, "I'm such an ungrateful bastard!"
Grandpa Zhang and Village Chief Li naturally knew how much money the third son of the Zhai family brought home every year, because all the remittances had to be sent to the village by the town postman, and then delivered to each household by the village chief.
Village Chief Li said, "Wang Ziru, it's fine if you want to check your work points, but if your family wants to split up, everyone has to give in."
"Third daughter-in-law, how about you listen to what I, Grandpa Zhang, have to say?" Grandpa Zhang asked with a smile.
Wang Ziru knew that Mr. Zhang was a person with the strongest credibility. In recent years, the village has been actively pushing him to become the village chief, but the old man likes to live a free and easy life.
Besides, he is already in his sixties and would definitely not cheat her.
"Master, you say."
"Your third child has been in the army for five years. During these five years, you had a child. Your two sisters-in-law at home helped take care of you during the confinement period. Normally, your mother also helped take care of your child. So I think you should not pursue the past, no matter how much your third child brought home."
"I'm sure you'll be unhappy when I say this, because that money was indeed brought home by your man. But what can you do? You two hadn't separated at that time!"
"So what I mean is that we should divide the family property and leave this money to your mother as pocket money. When she gets old, she won't be able to make money and she will be worried without money."
After hearing what Master Zhang said, Wang Ziru felt much better.
Of course, she didn't expect to get her mother-in-law to cough up such a large sum of money, but this matter had to be made public so that everyone knew about it.
When the family is divided, the eldest and second sons will not get all the benefits and act arrogantly in front of her.
Mrs. Liu gave Mr. Zhang a grateful look, seeing that she could no longer control her three daughters-in-law at home.
Now that Master Zhang has spoken, the eldest and second daughters-in-law dare not challenge Master Zhang's credibility.
Wang Ziru glanced around at the faces in the main room and estimated that they had ten thousand evil thoughts in total.
"Master, what you said makes sense! But if you don't give me a penny of the money my husband brings home, then all the land of the Zhai family will be put out for me to choose from! Otherwise, just treat this as a passing wind."