Allure of a Country Maiden

After parting ways with Hu Daicai, Jingrui headed towards the alley where Xiao'er was. Once the two were gone, two individuals jumped down from the rooftop in the original alley.

The tall youth wearing a blue robe after a rain turned to his companion, who was also tall but slightly more striking and noble in his purple robe, and said, "That child is quite smart. He has potential."

"Oh." The man in the purple robe responded indifferently, offering no indication of whether he agreed or not.

Meanwhile, after Shen Jingrui and Shen Xiao'er reunited, they did not linger in town and quickly returned home, bringing back some pigweed they had collected along the creek.

After lunch, Master Shen called all members of the Shen family to the main room, including Mrs. Liu, who was still in confinement, stating that he had something to discuss.

Inside the main room, Master Shen and Mrs. Shen sat on the kang bed. To their left and right sat Shen Yuzhu and the main family; the rest of the branches sat on stools on both sides below the bed.

Xiao'er was held by Shen Chengyao, with Mrs. Liu holding her younger sister next to him. Jingrui and Jinghao stood behind the two of them, Shen Jingjie from the fourth branch was playing with Jinghao, Mrs. Lu sat beside Mrs. Liu and the two women engaged in soft conversation. Uncle Four sat beside Mrs. Lu.

Opposite them sat the members of the second branch.

The seating order alone was a clear indication of one's closeness to the heart of the family.

Only when everyone had arrived did Master Shen begin. He launched into a long, rambling speech about his hardships as a young man, how he traversed the streets and alleys to make his living, and how he managed to build up his family fortune and even set up a grocery store. He then segued into the sacrifices the whole family had made, how everyone scrimped and suffered hunger and cold to support his eldest son and grandson's education, and how the main family must repay their brothers in future, and so on. He spoke at length but never came to the point.

"Father, we are all family, there's no need to talk about repayment. We are all very happy to support big brother and my nephew's education," Shen Chengyao said, thinking that Master Shen was worried he would object to Shen Jingwen's schooling.

He genuinely held no grudges about supporting his nephew's education, but he hoped that his own family could live comfortably. It broke his heart to see his wife and children suffering along with him, and he had once fantasized about sending his own son to school.

"Yes, father, brothers should support each other, it's what we should do." Shen Chengzu quickly echoed the sentiment.

'Such big buns,' she thought to herself. Master Shen's long disregard for the unfair treatment was thanks to these two. It's true that contributing to the prosperity of the family was right, but not at the expense of other descendants. 'I can support your education, but I can't afford to clothe and feed you lavishly. At least, the living standards should be equal. A family should be united and moving upwards together, sharing happiness and bearing hardships together.'

Master Shen must have another purpose for speaking such words today. Shen Jingwen's studies were going well – at only 15, he had already passed the level of student official, which was quite rare in the county. Master Shen probably expected him to become a scholar soon. Shen Chengguang and Shen Jingwen had a long conversation with Master Shen in the main house yesterday. It must have been related to today's speech. Today's mention of the main family's future obligation to repay everyone else was probably a precursor to dividing the family. After the family division, Shen Jingwen, in a bureaucratic position, couldn't share the wealth with everyone. The Shens must be intending to split up before becoming a scholar to avoid gossip. If this was really the case, Xiao'er felt a bit excited. For her, splitting the family was good news.

"Father, if you have something to say, just say it." Shen Chengzong knew all too well over the years how biased his father's heart was. He certainly didn't believe that his father would genuinely care for his family.

Seeing that Shen Jingrui had been talking for a long time, yet none of his sons understood his intentions, and in fact, misunderstood him, Mrs. Shen could not stay quiet: "You old man, talk for ages without making any sense. Isn't it the moral duty of younger siblings to assist their elder brothers? Why speak of repaying favors! Your father means to separate the family property, don't let him befuddle you!"

"You ignorant woman, what nonsense are you spouting!" Mr. Shen glared at Mrs. Shen. He had spoken at length for a particular reason—he was worried that the other descendants would misinterpret his good intentions, thinking that the main family wanted to abandon them to enjoy prosperity on their own! And this woman was purposefully ruining his plans. Talking about moral duty! How dare she voice such thoughts! This was utterly ridiculous!

Separate the family property? The few sons and daughters-in-law present were all shocked. Mrs. Shen most enjoyed having the entire family living together, and they had never thought that Mr. Shen would suggest dividing the family property. The daughters-in-law, equally astonished, felt more joy than shock. Honestly speaking, living under the watchful eye of Mrs. Shen was difficult.

"Father, mother, did your son do something wrong?" Shen Chengyao was reflecting on whether his family had made any mistakes recently. Apart from his wife not being able to do housework because of her postpartum confinement, he couldn't think of anything else. It couldn't be because of this, could it? If his wife, who bore and raised his children, wasn't even able to have a proper confinement and had to work during it—and in case she fell ill later as a result of it—he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

"Did our children do something to upset you?" Shen Chengzu, having given the matter some thought and still coming up blank, could only consider whether the issue lay with his children.

"None of that. Stop overthinking. I know all of you are my good sons, and all my grandchildren are good grandchildren. It's just that I've given the matter some thought lately and come to realise that once a tree grows large it needs to branch out. In our Shen family, there are more than twenty members, so living all together inevitably leads to inconvenience, and friction can easily occur. With too much friction, our bond weakens. So, I'm thinking, whilst we are still close-knit, let's separate the house and property. Moreover, I worry that if there's a chance for Wen'er to become an official in the future, he will face the darkness of the officialdom, which is hard to guard against—it might inadvertently bring a disaster to our family. If we divide the family property, unless it's a heinous crime, at least it won't implicate the rest of you, ensuring the continuation of our family. Furthermore, you can make ways to survive outside, instead of having everything damaged in one go, which then makes it impossible to seek help. Besides, as long as one has the will, whether the family property is divided or not, Wen'er being an official can provide assistance, which would be the same with or without division of property. Think about it, does it not make sense?"

Hearing this, everyone fell silent, considering whether separating the house and property was feasible or not.

"After separation, you are still my brothers. I know very well how hard my brothers have worked for me over the years. In the future, if you have any problems, feel free to come to me. If I can help, I certainly will," Shen Chengguang said hurriedly, seeing that everyone was silent. But there was still a lot of room for interpretation in what he said; firstly, to come to him, not to Shen Jingwen, who might become an official. Secondly, if he could help, he would definitely do so, which was not something to be decided by him alone.

Xiao'er snorted at these words in disdain. This promise, "if I can help, I certainly will", just seemed too insincere—he could easily dismiss anything later by saying he was powerless to help.

Mr. Shen was very pleased with these words: "I just want to be prepared for the future and think ahead. Wen'er is just a student now. It will take many years for him to become a scholar, a second-tier scholar, and an official. Ten years would be early, and it might not happen in twenty years either. But it's always better to be safe than sorry. If we separate now, in the event that something happens in the future, people will know that we have long since divided the family property, decreasing the chance of anyone being implicated." Having said so much, his mouth was dry. After finishing his words, Mr. Shen started drinking water on his own, letting his sons ponder over it.

"Father is doing this for our good; I will listen to him." Shen Chengzong instantly agreed without giving it much thought. This morning, Mrs. Li brought a piece of news that his uncle had joined a merchant team doing business trips between the north and the south, which was profitable. He had invested 30 units of silver in it once and tripled his investment in two months, making a clean profit of 60 units. He planned to do it regularly. If the family hadn't agreed to divide the property, he would have had to turn in all his earnings in the future or hide his income. But once the house and property were divided, he could do business boldly and keep his profits. So, dividing the house and property was a timely convenience for him.

Shen Chengyao turned his head and asked Mrs. Liu: "My child's mother, what do you think?"

Of course, Mrs. Liu wanted to divide the property. She never hoped to enjoy the blessings by relying on the main family's success in officialdom; she just wanted her children to have enough to eat and wear for now. Thus, she said: "Father has thought very thoroughly," which meant that she agreed to the division.

Mrs. Liu glanced at Mrs. Lu and saw that her eyes were full of laughter, so she knew that Mrs. Lu also wanted to divide the family property.

Shen Chengzu also asked Mrs. Lu's opinion. Once he knew that she also wanted to divide the family property, and also asked Shen Chengyao, who himself also agreed, he said: "We will listen to Father's arrangements."

Since all the brothers agreed to divide the house and property, the decision to divide the Shen family property was officially established. Mr. Shen listed the shared assets, such as silver, farmland, shops and so on, in the family. He then presented the plan for dividing the house and property that he had thought of the night before, asking everyone's opinion.