A farmer's daughter travels through time, farming and dividing the family to fight for the best

Towards Old Man Li, Old Lady Li kowtowed several times, her voice low and trembling, "Son, I won't be able to be with you all the time in the future, so please take care of yourselves."

"Okay, okay, fourth brother, go and invite the head of the village, the clan leader, and old scholar Li." Old Mrs. Li on the side waved her hands impatiently, not caring about her second son's crying. Apart from the initial shock, she thought it through later and even secretly regretted it. The second son's family didn't have a single strong laborer, so why didn't she think of dividing the family before?

"Okay, Mom, I'll go right away." The fourth son, Li Dahu, agreed readily. He had disliked the second branch for a long time, and now he finally got separated from it.

It was noon and people who had gone to work in the fields came back one after another. After a while, Li Dahu invited people over. Old Scholar Li also brought writing materials, and it was obvious that he knew what he had invited them to do.

After greeting each other, they began to separate.

In the Li family, it has always been Old Lady Li who has the final say. Seeing that Old Man Li didn't say anything, Old Lady Li took the initiative to talk about dividing the family property.

"There are 22 mu of land in our family. Your father and I own 16 mu, and the remaining mu will be divided among you brothers, with mu each. Three mu of mountain land will be given to the second brother, plus one mu of good farmland. The second brother is in poor health and cannot work in the fields, so the one mu of good farmland is worth nine taels of silver. Since we have divided the family, you can no longer live at home. We don't have a house on the other land, so I will give you another four taels of silver. Your eldest brother has been studying all these years, and the family doesn't have much money, so we won't divide it. You can take everything in your room, and I will give you a set of pots and pans."

Old Lady Li had triangular eyes, which were small but full of calculations. She thought for a moment and said, "Your father and I are old. Although we have separated, we are still your parents. We should give you five taels of silver as filial piety every year. This year's amount will be deducted from here, which means we will give you another eight taels of silver. As for food, although you have never worked in the fields, you came out of my belly anyway, so I will give you two hundred kilograms of coarse grains."

Old Mrs. Li had a condescending expression on her face, as if Li Dahai had gotten a huge advantage from the split of the family property.

The three witnesses looked at each other in bewilderment. They all knew that the Li family disliked the second son. They did not expect that the division of the family would only involve such a small amount of food. No house was given, but only three acres of mountain land that could not be used for farming. The second son's family had five people, and two hundred kilograms of food would not last long. This would kill the second son's family.

As the head of the village, the head of the village did not agree with the division of the family, but he could not argue with Old Lady Li, so he could not help but ask Old Man Li: "Brother Li, do you mean the same thing?"

Old man Li's face turned slightly red. He knew clearly that with his family's conditions, it was indeed too little to give those things to the second son, but he would not bear to give more, so he said in a low voice: "Everyone in my family listens to the old woman."

Hearing what Old Man Li said, the head of the village felt a little unhappy, so he looked at Li Dahai and wanted to say something.

But Li Dahai looked gloomy and whispered, "I agree."

The head of the village sighed and said nothing more. The division of the family was settled. Li Xiucai wrote the division document in triplicate. Everyone in the Li family put their fingerprints on it, one copy for the Li family, one copy for Li Dahai, and one copy for the villagers. The family was divided up in this way.

Old Mrs. Li readily took out eight taels of silver and handed it to Old Mr. Li.

Li Dahu stared at the eight taels of silver with his eyes shining. He wished he could snatch it away, because that was eight taels of silver.

Seeing that the work was done, the head of the village, the clan leader, and Li Xiucai got up to leave. When asking people for help in the countryside, if it is time for dinner, they usually invite the person to have dinner at home before leaving. However, no one in the Li family mentioned this. The three of them were highly respected in the village, and it was not easy for them to stay for dinner.

Old Mrs. Li said dryly, "Eat first before leaving. It's already noon." Her butt seemed to be glued to the kang, and she just sat there without moving.

Old man Li was smoking a pipe with a serious expression, as if he didn't hear anything.

Li Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "Today, I would like to trouble the clan leader, the village head, and Grandpa Li to preside over the division of our family. Our family has just separated from the Li family and has not been able to prepare meals. After our family has settled down, we will definitely treat the three of you to a good meal."

The three of them looked at Li Xiaoxiao with satisfaction. They didn't have to have this meal at the Li family. In fact, this was normal human interaction. Look at the Li family, none of them was sensible. Old man Li was so old that he was like a dog's stomach, but he was not as sensible as a teenage girl.

The head of the village smiled and said, "We are all from the same village. How can we eat? What are your plans for separating?"

"Grandpa Village Head, you know my family's situation. We have no place to live after moving out, so I thought of finding a vacant lot to build a thatched hut to live in temporarily." Li Xiaoxiao knew the prices of goods in that era through the original owner's memory. An ordinary adobe house cost several taels of silver, not to mention the miscellaneous expenses of inviting workers to eat. Eight taels of silver was obviously not enough to build a house.

"Well, you are a sensible girl. Take good care of your father. Fortunately, the weather is getting warmer now, so you can build a straw hut to live in." Looking at Li Dahai's family, the head of the village was full of emotion. Fortunately, there is this girl, and it seems that they should be able to stand on their own.

"Grandpa Village Head, I will." Li Xiaoxiao smiled with his eyes narrowed into a line.

Then he said to Li Lao Xiucai, "Grandpa Li, my family doesn't have enough money to build a house now, but we will have to build one in the future. We will build it on the vacant land halfway up the mountain. Otherwise, my father will not be able to bear the cold weather. Please tell Uncle Quanfu first."

"Don't worry, I'll tell him when I get back. If there are any difficulties at home, just go to your Uncle Quanfu." Li Quanfu and Li Dahai are sworn brothers. He wanted to say a few words when they were dividing the family just now, but it was not convenient for him as an outsider to interrupt.

Li Xiaoxiao and Li Dahai came out of the main room. It was already past lunchtime and they had separated. Li Xiaoxiao was not surprised that the Li family did not cook for them.

Mother Sun, elder sister Li Ruolan, and younger brother Li Huawen were all waiting for them at the door. When they saw them come back, they hurried over to ask what they had received as part of the family property division.

When the family was divided, Old Lady Li asked Sun to go back, so Sun was not present. As for Li Xiaoxiao, she was forced to stay. Old Lady Li couldn't get angry in front of the head of the village and others, so she had to go along with her.

Li Xiaoxiao helped Li Dahai sit on the kang to rest and told him a few things. Sun looked worried after hearing this. She and the third wife had always been the ones cooking in the Li family. 200 kilograms of food could only feed their family of five for about two months at most. Mother-in-law had not yet divided the land, so how were they going to support the whole family in the future? Life after the division would be difficult.

Li Xiaoxiao sympathetically advised, "Mom, I've thought about it. Dad can weave bamboo baskets. We can sell them in the county town. I'll go to Uncle Quanfu to learn archery. We can go hunting in the mountains. We can't hunt big prey, but we can always hunt some rabbits and pheasants. We can also exchange them for some money. I believe that as long as we work hard, we will definitely live a better life than now."

Somehow, Su Xiaoxiao felt very harmonious with this body, just like her own body. She also felt no sense of disharmony with the original owner's relatives, as if she was Li Xiaoxiao. If she didn't firmly believe that she was normal, she would have suspected that she was suffering from schizophrenia.