Chapter 2: Establishing a Female Household
"We are well-behaved on weekdays, but our lives are still not easy, right? Our aunt is cruel. No matter we are obedient or not, she will not let us have a good life. So you just listen to me and eat the steamed bread first. Eat as much as you can. We have things to do later." Zhuang Qingning said.
The firm tone made the originally panicked Zhuang Qingsui feel a little relieved. Plus, she was very hungry, so she just took the steamed bread from Zhuang Qingning's hand and started to eat it voraciously.
After eating three steamed breads, Zhuang Qingsui burped loudly.
"Sister, I'm full."
"I'm almost done." Zhuang Qingning tore a clean cage cloth, wrapped up the remaining steamed buns, tied them tightly, and stuffed them into his arms.
Zhuang Qingning was a thin man, and his clothes were loose, so he stuffed the steamed bread into his clothes and tightened them with a belt, so that nothing could be seen.
After packing up, Zhuang Qingning grabbed Zhuang Qingsui's hand and said, "Let's go."
Although she didn't know where to go, since her sister said so, she just followed her.
Zhuang Qingsui didn't think about anything and just followed Zhuang Qingning's steps.
The two men trotted all the way to the east end of the village, to the home of the village chief, Zhuang Jingye.
Zhuang Jingye was washing up in the courtyard. When he saw Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui coming in, he spat out the water mixed with green salt in his mouth and wiped the corners of his mouth with a towel: "Aren't these Ning and Sui girls from the Ruhai family? What do you want from me so early in the morning?"
"Uncle, the village head." Zhuang Qingning bowed respectfully and said, "My two sisters came to you today to ask you to set up a household for us."
Establishing a female household? Zhuang Qingsui was shocked. She originally thought that Zhuang Qingning came to find Zhuang Jingye just to file a complaint against her aunt Song and ask the head of the village to stop mistreating her two sisters in the future.
I never thought that I would do something even more shocking.
Zhuang Jingye was also startled, forgetting to put back the willow branch he was using to brush his teeth. He cast a scrutinizing gaze on Zhuang Qingning, who stood straight, and asked, "Tell me, why do you want to establish a female household?"
"My parents died early, and there are no male descendants in the family. I am the eldest daughter in the family. Logically, I can bring my younger sister to set up a female household and live alone."
"But in our village, no one has ever established a female household. And if we do, your parents will divide the family property first after they die, and you will establish a female household later. The family property still won't be passed on to you, and you will have no way to live in the future."
"What's more, since there are no male members in the family, the female households do not have to perform labor service, but the taxes are 30% higher than those of ordinary households. If you set up a female household, you will have no house, no land, and no livelihood. If you can't pay the taxes, you will be taken away to do hard labor to reduce the taxes." Zhuang Jingye frowned and said, "This is no joke."
"Thank you, uncle head of the village, for reminding me. Since I want to set up a female household, I have naturally thought about this matter clearly. Don't worry, uncle head of the village." Zhuang Qingning still responded in a loud voice.
Women cannot get any share of the family property. This is the rule of that era and it cannot be changed. So they will get what they deserve and the debts they owe in the future. There is no need to rush at this moment.
Seeing this, Zhuang Jingye lowered his head and thought, then put down the willow branch in his hand, coughed lightly, and said, "Even if you have an idea, I will not persuade you anymore, but the matter of establishing a female household is not a trivial matter, so we should think about it carefully."
"Well, you go back first, and let me discuss this matter with your uncle Zhuang Ruman, and then make a decision, how do you think?"
Men are supposed to be the masters of this world, and women are not supposed to be in the limelight. Establishing a female household is not reasonable in the first place. If everyone is like Zhuang Qingning, making a fuss about establishing a female household, wouldn't the world be in chaos?
"Uncle, the village chief."
Zhuang Qingning's tone was a little colder, and his voice was a little higher: "According to the laws of the current dynasty, if there is no man in the family, the widow, the eldest daughter, can establish a female household without the consent of others. Now I fully meet the requirements, why not establish a female household?"
"Why do I want to live alone with my sister in a household with only a daughter? I think the village head uncle also knows this. Life is really unbearable, so I have to take this path. The village head uncle does not allow us to have a household with a daughter, and he also discusses this matter with my uncle, which is to push my sister and me back into the fire pit after we have just climbed out of the predicament."
"Since we have no way to survive here, we will die. We will just find a hemp rope, go to the county town, and hang ourselves in front of the county government office. Let people who come and go see how we were forced to death by our cruel uncle and aunt, and the ineffective village head."
"Or maybe, Uncle Village Chief, you are not afraid of these and still insist on sending us back. That's fine too. I'll just put my words here. This is like a knife going in and a knife coming out, or like a bag of rat poison being thrown into the well. We are all doomed. It's up to you, Uncle Village Chief, to decide."
"For me, it makes no difference anyway."
Zhuang Qingning's words were so powerful and resounding that they frightened Zhuang Jingye so much that he broke into a cold sweat.
He had often seen Zhuang Qingning in the past, and he had always been submissive and docile, not even daring to speak loudly. But today he actually said such cruel words.
But then again, even a rabbit will bite when it is cornered, let alone a person who is cornered?
Everyone knew Song's usual behavior. She was extremely mean to her nieces. It seemed that she couldn't live with them anymore, so she decided to go all out.
Zhuang Qingning was so ruthless at this moment. If she was really pushed into a corner, she might stab me with a knife or poison me with rat poison...
Even if he, the village head, managed to save his life by chance, his future would be over and he might even have his spine broken by others.
However, anyone can say such cruel words. After all, Zhuang Qingning is just a kid of twelve or thirteen years old. Can he really rebel?
Zhuang Jingye's eyes flickered, and he suppressed his shock. He said with a stern face, "What are you talking about at such a young age?"
"Uncle Li Zheng, are you saying that you don't believe I can do this?" Zhuang Qingning snorted coldly, his eyes full of ferocity: "That's fine, Uncle Li Zheng, just stay here and wait for my trust."
After saying that, he pulled Zhuang Qingsui and walked out. It seemed that the direction they were heading was not towards Zhuang Ruman’s home, but towards the well at the entrance of the village.
When Zhuang Jingye saw this, he suddenly panicked.
This man was cornered, and it wasn't uncommon for him to risk his life. How could he dare to gamble the lives of his family or even the entire village? "Wait."
Zhuang Jingye hurriedly stopped the two of them, and after considering for a moment, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and coughed lightly: "Well, since you insist so much, then I will give you this female household."
"Thank you, uncle village head." Seeing Zhuang Jingye agreed, Zhuang Qingning also breathed a sigh of relief.
The arrogant are afraid of the stupid, and the stupid are afraid of the desperate. This is how the world has always been. The more ruthless you are, the more afraid of you others will be. If you really accept it, others will not sympathize with you, and may even say that you are not ambitious enough.
If the sisters want to survive under these conditions, they should wrap themselves in a thick layer of hedgehog armor.
Zhuang Jingye went into the house to get paper and pen, wrote the document for Zhuang Qingning to establish a female household, and finally stamped it with the seal of the village head that was used to manage documents, and gave it to Zhuang Qingning.
"Take this document first. I'll go back to the county government office and stamp the rest with their seal. Then it'll be done."
Logically speaking, the matter should be officially sealed after the county government's seal, and Zhuang Qingning can officially be established as a female household. However, this matter is in compliance with the law, and it is only a matter of time before the seal is stamped. Moreover, Zhuang Jingye really doesn't want to delay even a moment with the man in front of him who always wants to take a knife and use rat poison. He just agrees to do the job first and then talks about other things after assigning the people.
"From now on, you and your sister will live in an independent household." Zhuang Jingye said, "From now on, your life, old age, sickness and death will have nothing to do with others. You can take care of it on your own."
Although the Song family was a bit cruel, they would not let you starve to death. But you kept begging for a female household. After this, you don’t even have a place to live, let alone your next meal. I really don’t know what you were thinking. Do you really think that life is so easy and that days are so easy?
The work has been signed, if you need to invest and earn Qidian coins, hurry up~ (End of this chapter)
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