Chapter 192: Chapter 26 Separation (Part 1)
Mrs. Fang couldn’t believe her ears. Is this for real? The family is really being divided? Does this mean she’ll finally be in charge of her own household? She anxiously looked at Gu Chengli. How many years has she waited for this day?
Gu Chengli found it hard to accept. They all lived together so well, and now they’re suddenly dividing the family.
"Dad! Why are we dividing the family? Isn’t it nice for everyone to live together?"
"The second son wants to split the family, so let him have it. A forced union isn’t sweet, living together unwillingly doesn’t work either!" Mr. Gu had calmed down by now.
"Dad! It’s all up to you!" Gu Chengyu had no objections to the division. His second brother had a big bias against him, making it unsuitable to live together. Maybe splitting up could actually ease the relationship. Besides, even after the split, they’d mostly live under the same roof, just not eat together, and wouldn’t have to hand over their earnings.
As for the silver, when he was younger, the household expenses were all covered by the eldest and second brothers, so it’s only right to give them their share now. In reality, he didn’t care much about the silver, but giving it away too easily might lead to grudges!
"Alright then! Honey, bring out the silver. Doesn’t Xiao Bao have an account book? Bring it too, let’s tally the household silver so everyone knows, to avoid suspicions of us hiding anything!"
Gu Chengyi knew those words were aimed at him, but since the family was splitting anyway, he just wanted to know how much silver the family had.
"Oh dear! Are we really dividing the family? How’s it going to be divided? Into several portions?" He perked up immediately at the thought of getting his hands on some silver.
"What are you women chattering about? Is this an old woman’s business to care for? Get out of my way!" Gu Chengyi raised his eyebrows and glared round-eyed. Their father was already displeased, and his wife seemed unaware of the situation. If they got less than deserved, they’d have no chance to complain.
Compared to He and Mrs. Fang’s excitement, Mrs. Zhang felt some worry. Her husband was the biological son of her mother-in-law, and the two younger ones weren’t married yet. If only the eldest and second households separated, wouldn’t the household chores all fall on her? Plus, she’d have to see her mother-in-law’s mood daily.
Thinking this, she pinched Gu Chenglian by her side, indicating for him to also bring up the family division.
Gu Chenglian hung his head low, thinking it didn’t make much difference since his mom was his own, so he wasn’t worried. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his arm, nearly causing him to cry out.
Turning his head, he found his wife, Mrs. Zhang, pinching him. He was puzzled, wondering what she was doing. Mrs. Zhang gestured towards Mr. Gu and Gu Chengyi with her eyes and pouted towards their direction. Unfortunately, Gu Chenglian didn’t get her meaning and looked back confused, making Mrs. Zhang furious at his ignorance.
"Dad! The account book is with Er Ya, I had her keep the accounts! I’ll call Er Ya to bring the account book!" The granddaughter of the Gu Family had learned some characters with Gu Chengyu at home. Er Ya showed interest in accounting, so Gu Chengyu entrusted her with the family ledger. Since the family’s business wasn’t much, the expenses and income were simple. Plus, this way, he could avoid suspicion!
"All three of the eldest family members are married, so they should all be separated! The family’s silver and fields, each brother gets a share. Our family has sixty-two acres of premium fields, and six acres of dry land at the foot of the mountain. Among you five brothers, each gets twelve acres of prime land, with the remaining two acres reserved for our old age. As for the six acres of dry land, it’ll be distributed later; whoever wants it, can pay silver for it."
The dry land itself wasn’t valuable, but it was next to the mountain. That mountain region was planted with flowers used for soap-making. The soap formula wasn’t solved yet, so the flower fields naturally had to wait.
Mrs. Zhang, realizing that even the third house was included in the division, lit up happily at the thought.
Gu Wan watched from the sidelines, feeling a bit uneasy. The eldest and second sisters-in-law weren’t biological, so they naturally wouldn’t share the same sentiments. But the third brother was, yet even his wife was eager to divide the family. It showed that daughters-in-law couldn’t compare to daughters, although daughters can’t inherit property.
After dividing the land, it was naturally time for the silver to be divided.
At this point, Er Ya entered holding the account book, laying it open on the table and turning to the income section. The book’s incomes and expenses were recorded separately, a method of bookkeeping taught by Gu Chengyu, making things clear at a glance.
"Our family has three sources of income: firstly, from the soap earnings; secondly, from the annual field yields; thirdly, from the medicinal herbs in the herb fields. Every income is detailed in this account book, and major expenses are recorded as well. Let the second and third sons, being scholars, compare the books and see if they match!"
Gu Chengyu handed the account book to the second son, who eagerly took it to read! The third son also leaned over to look; he had always been interested in business, and bookkeeping was fundamental to that.
"How much silver does our family have in total?" Mr. Gu asked.
"It should be around three thousand three hundred taels, not accounting for household expenses." Gu Chengyu thought for a moment, concluding that figure should be about right. The preceding years saw less income due to cautious soap production, and only last year did the silver begin to accumulate significantly.
Mr. Gu then looked at Mrs. Lv, who reluctantly reached into the kang qin to grab the large money box, finally retrieving the smaller box inside after much delay.
Everyone in the Gu family craned their necks to look into the money box, including Gu Chengli.
Mr. Gu took all the silver notes out of the box, each one worth one hundred taels, counted them, and found there were thirty-two. The remaining funds in the box consisted of silver, including one worth twenty taels, another ten taels, and the rest were small bits of silver and copper coins.
The Gu family lived frugally; apart from spending silver on Mrs. Zhang’s wedding, the silver had hardly been touched in three years.
"Dad! That’s correct, that’s exactly how much it is, according to the accounts," the third son confirmed quickly.
"The accounts must be accurate. When the third son got married, the household used twenty taels of silver, and with daily expenses added in, all the silver is accounted for here!" Mr. Gu placed the silver notes on the table, catching He’s mesmerized gaze. She had never even touched a silver note before!
"The fourth and fifth brothers aren’t married yet, they’ll stay with us. Gu Wan still has a few years before she marries, so she’ll naturally stay too!" No one objected to this, as it only split off the married ones, while the young ones stayed with the elders.
"Two thousand taels of silver, each of you gets six hundred taels, the rest is for us, the elders. Our age is advanced, and we can’t work anymore. This silver is for our elder care and Gu Wan’s dowry. In the future, when the fourth and fifth sons marry, we also need to contribute a share. Do you all agree?" Mr. Gu looked at everyone for their response.
"That’s only right!" Gu Chengli immediately expressed his agreement, excited by the thought of six hundred taels of silver. He had never possessed so much silver before!