The old lady divided the remaining 1,270 taels equally among her five grandsons, giving each of them 254 taels.
The old lady called her grandson over to collect the money and told him to save it for his studies. She said he must study hard in the future, and as long as he didn't squander it, the money would be enough for his tuition and lodging if he passed the imperial examination.
The five children thanked their grandparents and accepted the gifts.
Dongdong was too young to understand much, so when he got the money, he gave it to Nannan and asked his older sister to keep it for him.
Nan Nan accepted it as well.
The two elders glanced at it but said nothing.
After the money was divided, the old lady told them to go home and put their money away, keep a close eye on it, and not to come to her for it if they lost it.
An hour later, the three wives came, and she led them to the storeroom to distribute the goods.
The three families returned to their own homes.
After leaving the old couple's house, Zhou Xing pushed Xu San, who was carrying a pile of silver notes and silver in his arms, but his eyes were red.
He truly felt he had let his parents down.
But only in this way can my parents have a few days of peace and quiet.
Perhaps the happiest thing for the eldest and second sisters-in-law is that the old man and woman don't have to trouble them to take care of them in their old age!
Xu San was also happy, as his parents had moved in with him and Zhou Xing.
Xiaoxing is a kind wife; her parents won't suffer if they stay with them.
"Xiaoxing, tidy up the east room on the south side in a bit. Let's use that room as our kitchen. Move the things from the small kang (heated brick bed) there to the middle room. In the summer, I'll build up the kang, put in a cabinet, and set up a stove. That will make cooking easier for us."
They lived in the northernmost room, which was larger and had a bigger kang (heated brick bed), big enough for their family of four to sleep.
Zhou Xing responded with an "okay".
Back inside, Nan Nan very sensibly handed over all of her and her younger brother's money to her mother.
Zhou Xing nodded, gently patted the two children's heads, and said softly, "Okay, you're still young, so I'll keep it for you. Remember the amount of money your grandmother gave you. When you need it in the future, I'll give it to you and deduct it from your account. Got it?"
"Yes, Mother!" Nan Nan and Dong Dong responded obediently.
"Nannan, how much is yours?" Zhou Xing asked.
“Five hundred taels!” Nan Nan said fluently.
"Where's Dongdong?" Zhou Xing asked again.
“Two hundred and fifty-four taels,” Dongdong said again.
"Does Dongdong need his parents to provide for him like his sister?" Xu San asked.
Dongdong shook his head.
"Why?" Zhou Xing and Xu San exchanged a glance and asked curiously.
She said in a childish voice, "Because my sister is the only sister."
Dongdong remembered what the old lady said earlier: that Nannan was her only granddaughter.
"My brother is also my only brother. When I grow up, I'll earn money for him." Nan Nan was quite happy to hear her brother say that she was his only sister, and she responded to him.
Zhou Xing and Xu San laughed again.
After laughing, the couple fell silent again. They were separated, but they were still feeling uneasy.
"After the seventh day of the lunar new year, we'll go to town first and buy the things we need for the kitchen. When you come over later, I think we'll also share the grain and the cooked food we've made."
"I remember there should be some extra pots and cooking utensils in the storeroom. Why don't you ask for those? We can make something simple for lunch," Xu San instructed Zhou Xing.
"Okay. Do you want to lie down on the kang?" Zhou Xing asked Xu San.
"Okay!" Zhou Xing helped Xu San lie down on the kang (a heated brick bed).
Zhou Xing put all the money into a locked cabinet and locked it. She then washed up the two children, gave them some snacks, and rested for a while.
After all, it was almost 5 PM.
The old lady also had some snacks, so she didn't send them over. Instead, she quickly went to tidy up the kitchen, thinking that she would cook as soon as she finished distributing the snacks.
...
By the time Zhou Quan got home, it was completely dark.
He told his parents what had happened, and after learning that Li Mai and Zhu Zhu had already gone home, he finished his meal, told his parents to rest early, and went home as well.
Li Mai is teaching Zhu Zhu to draw.
Zhou Quan washed up and told Li Mai everything she had asked him to say.
Li Mai nodded, "That's settled then. Let's see how eldest sister performs. If she does well, we should be able to formally start discussing the division of the family today. If the two elders have already made preparations, it's possible that we can divide the family property directly today."
Zhou Quan nodded and hummed in agreement.
After Zhuzhu fell asleep, the two of them went to the space to continue their cultivation.
After practicing for a while, Zhou Quan continued building the house himself.
Li Mai, on the other hand, used the stream to practice his water control techniques.
In water-based magical abilities, water control is considered an intermediate-level spell.
Water Freeze is a high-level spell.
The most basic one is using water to transform into spirit, which are all simple spells. Anyone who has awakened the water spirit root can learn to use water to transform into spirit with a little guidance to enhance their strength and attack power.
For the intermediate level, you need to have a higher level of skill and more experience.
It was only after Li Mai reawakened her spiritual veins that her strength increased to a higher level, enabling her to use intermediate-level spells.
The place where Li Mai cultivated was far away from Zhou Quan's place. She went to a distant place, but it was still downstream of the stream.
Today she wants to practice controlling water to form a physical water dragon, a water dragon that can fly and make herself run while sitting.
However, despite practicing many times, she could fly but not take off.
Finally, exhausted, Li Mai lay down on a large rock and sighed. Intermediate spells were just too difficult.
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