Ji Xinhe was forced to turn to Ji Dashan for help, "Dad, you can’t be so heartless. Are you just going to let my brother die?"
Ji Dashan did not know what to say, "I, I, I..."
Firstly, the family simply didn’t have any money and secondly, he was not the decision maker in the family. The key point was that he couldn’t make decisions himself and had gotten into the habit of being controlled by Lady Ding over the years.
Lady Ding screeched, "Begging your father is pointless! This family should have been divided long ago! How long do these lazy brats who only eat for free plan to stay? Do they feel satisfied only after bringing the whole family to ruin?"
Ji Xinhe retorted resentfully, "If that’s the case, let my brother and I separate together, we always needed someone to take care of my brother, I cannot just stand by and watch him die alone!"
Xiao Bei also immediately chimed in, "Me too, me too!"
Impatiently, Lady Ding waved them off, "All of you, just go!"
Xiao Bei, who was just nine years old and incapable of heavy labor, mainly relied on the family for his survival. Ji Xinhe was becoming more crafty and caused increasing trouble at home. Thus, it was easiest to just drive them all away.
The most important issue was Ji Dong. Since he was paralyzed, should they continue to spend hard-earned family money to pay for his treatment? Absolutely not! He must also be driven away!
"Ji Dashan, what are you standing there for? Now hurry up and invite the clan elders from the village to bear witness to our family’s division." Lady Ding swiftly said this, fearing that there might be other issues if there was any delay.
Ji Dashan hesitated, "This...this... isn’t it too rushed?"
Lady Ding angrily twisted Ji Dashan’s ear, "Or do you plan on raising that brat first? Would you rather sell your house and land to cover his medical expenses? Now we have another child to raise, and you wish to make him suffer too by keeping a paralyzed son?"
"Of course not," Ji Dashan quickly waved his hand.
Lady Ding squealed, "I’ll lay it on the line once and for all! If you keep him, then I leave. If I stay, then he has to go! If you insist on staying with your worthless paralyzed son, then just divorce me! I, Lady Ding, refuse to live a beggar’s life!"
Ji Dashan looked at Ji Xinhe and Xiao Bei, and saw their faces were ice-cold without a hint of wanting him to ask them to stay. Ji Dashan’s heart chilled. It seemed that his children didn’t care to stay either.
After all, Ji Dashan nodded, "Okay."
The clan elders were invited to discuss the division of the family.
Although Lady Ding was keen to drive out Ji Dong and his siblings, that wouldn’t pass the clan elders’ scrutiny.
As Ji Dong was paralyzed, it was improper to divide the family property; if they drove him out and left him to fend for himself, outsiders would think the people in Yangluo Bay were very cruel.
Lady Ding feared that the clan elders would propose a more favorable arrangement for Ji Dong, so she preemptively said, "Since we are to divide the family, we must do so fairly. However, we really don’t have much money left. While we do have a few acres of land, we can’t expect Dongzi, who is now paralyzed, to do the farming, and neither can the younger ones. So why not simply divide half of the crops’ yield at the end of the year? As for the house, we can assign them the one they are currently living in. We don’t have much stuff in the house, so splitting it this way should be enough."
Ji Xinhe sneered internally. Lady Ding’s calculations were quite clear. She wouldn’t assign them any land, and probably wouldn’t give them a single grain at the end of the year. She was only saying this to appease the clan elders. As for the house, could the thatched hut they were living in compare with the main room that Lady Ding was living in? Lady Ding even had the audacity to mention fairness!
Just as Xiao Bei was about to speak, Ji Xinhe said, "I have no objections. I ask the clan elders to bear witness and to divide the family assets."
Given Lady Ding’s character, she wouldn’t compromise on anything. Instead of arguing with her, it would be better to finalize the division of the family as soon as possible. If it dragged on, it could become problematic if Lady Ding came to her senses suddenly. Furthermore, the current situation in the Ji family was quite bad and the debt to Zhang family was still unpaid. Ji Xinhe would not feel at ease until the family had formally separated.
Lady Ding glanced at Ji Xinhe in surprise, not expecting her to acquiesce so easily. She had seen Ji Xinhe become more astute in recent days. Had she somehow regressed and become foolish again lately?
Nevertheless, Lady Ding was more than thrilled. She swiftly asked the clan elders to serve as witnesses and write the family division document.
Even though the clan elders felt that the division was unfair, since Ji Xinhe and Ji Xiaobei had no objections, they had no choice but to proceed with the family division process accordingly.
Once the document was in hand, and both parties had left their fingerprints on it, Ji Xinhe finally let out a sigh of relief. A smile inadvertently surfaced on her face.
Lady Ding also let out a sigh of relief and appeared much more relaxed. She was finally rid of this burden.
Ji Xinhe took the family division document to Ji Dong, her face beaming with joy. "Brother, look, we’ve divided the family! From now on, we will live independently, and have no relations with them!"
Even though Ji Dong was illiterate, he also felt cheerful and repeatedly nodded his agreement, "From now on, I will make sure you all live good lives!"
But then he hesitated, "But, we’ve been saying that I’m paralyzed and won’t be able to go out to work and earn money. What should we do?"
Ji Xinhe replied slyly, blinking, "Brother, you are too honest. Now that we’ve divided the family, you can get better whenever you want. If you are willing, you can even get better tomorrow."
----
The next day came early.
Ji Xinhe was woken up by an uproar. The commotion could be heard by almost half of the village.
Lady Ding’s shrieks awoke Xiao Bei who went into Ji Xinhe’s room, with wide, worried eyes, "Sister, people from the Zhang family have come looking for Lady Ding again."
Yawning, Ji Xinhe ran her hand through Xiao Bei’s hair, "Don’t be scared, they are looking for her, not us right?"
Since the moment the division of the family was finalized the day before, Ji Xinhe had felt a certain peace of mind. Additionally, it wasn’t the first time people had come looking for Lady Ding to cause trouble, so Ji Xinhe was used to it, especially since they were not looking for her.
But having barely finished her sentence, a devastating scream echoed from outside, causing both Ji Xinhe and Xiao Bei to shiver and instantly awaken. They looked at each other, and then got out of bed, "Let’s go out and see what’s happening."
Once they reached the courtyard, they saw it was filled with a crowd. There were people of all ages, and a few beefy men went into the farther room, led by the butcher. After a while, they came out, holding a small locked box.
Holding the box was the butcher. Ji Xinhe recognized it as Lady Ding’s treasure box, which held the entirety of her property.
Lady Ding pursued them, screeching and cursing whilst trying to snatch the box back, but the butcher flipped her off easily, leading to the situation spiralling out of control.
Xiao Bei, frightened by the scene, hid behind Ji Xinhe and whispered, "No wonder sister was in such a hurry to divide the family yesterday. It appears that it was wiser to remove ourselves from the situation as soon as possible."
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