It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

"It's me!" Hearing the voice coming from inside the house, Song Youshan knew that his mother had woken up.

He didn't go out to the yard to enjoy the cool breeze, but went straight to her mother's room and asked, "Mom, are you still awake?"

Seeing it was her son, Mrs. Wu quickly sat up and replied, "I'm getting older, so I naturally sleep less. Why are you still upset about Ah Zhi paying back the money today?"

Song Youshan shook his head, but then he remembered that it was night time, and he thought his mother might not be able to see clearly.

So I just said out what was bothering me.

"Mom, I feel really bad for letting Azhi pay off the money our family owes. If I ask her to pay the money to the government again in the future, I won't be able to face these three children again."

Mrs. Wu was stunned for a moment. She had indeed never realized such a problem before.

Yes, the money paid into the public treasury is spent by the whole family.

The eldest family still has three sons who have not married and have children yet, and this money will have to be used to take care of them in the future.

If this had happened in the past, it would have been a perfectly normal thing, but my second son and daughter-in-law are both gone.

If she deducted money from Azhi again and handed it over to her family, she would feel even more guilty towards the second brother and his wife.

The mother and son fell into silence for a moment. Song Youshan finally gritted his teeth and suggested, "Mom, let's split up. I can't take advantage of Azhi anymore."

Mrs. Wu looked at her son in astonishment. You know, the eldest son was the one who was most reluctant to divide the family.

In the past, when Mei Niang and Azhi were having a big fight, the eldest son would rather divorce Mei Niang than split up the family. He spoke up at this time because he really didn't want to take advantage of her.

Mrs. Wu looked at her son like this, and her eyes gradually turned red.

She knew how difficult this decision was for her son and understood the guilt he felt.

The separation of the family means that this once closely connected family will have to go their separate ways. Mrs. Wu is a little reluctant to let go.

"Dashan, I know your feelings and that you're doing this for the good of our family. I can't bear to see you split up."

Song Youshan's nose felt sore. How could he have wanted to split up the family? It was just a temporary solution.

He took a deep breath and said, "Mom, I know what you're worried about. But I've already sacrificed a lot for this family. I can't take care of the whole family and spend the money that Ah Zhi earns with a clear conscience!"

I thought, "We can say internally that we've split up. From now on, we each keep our own earnings and don't need to turn them over to the government. Externally, we'll still be one family. I'll still do the military service, pay taxes, and farm, and we'll each get half of the harvest. Is this okay, Mom?"

Mrs. Wu patted her honest son with relief and said, "Since that's your intention, I'll do as you wish."

"Don't say anything about this for now. I'll talk to your wife and Azhi after I get back home and sort things out!"

When Song Youshan saw that her mother also agreed to this arrangement, he breathed a sigh of relief and also resolved a worry.

After her son left, Mrs. Wu was still thinking about what had just happened.

In fact, she could have used the excuse of not paying the money to the public bank, saying that she was old and had limited energy, and that they could keep the money they earned separately in the future, and there would be no need to pay the money to the public bank again.

But she still agreed to her son's proposal.

With Ah Zhi's current intelligence, there will only be more and more people who want to marry her in the future.

Mrs. Wu didn't believe that her son and daughter-in-law had any bad intentions. She was just worried that the two not-so-smart people would be tricked into doing something wrong.

Let’s just follow the eldest son’s wishes for now!

Now that her youngest son is gone, she, as a mother, has to take good care of his three children.

The next day, early in the morning, Song Zhi got up early and went into the city with the team selling jelly.

Before entering the city, she asked her coachman, Uncle Song, to wait for her outside the city for a while while she went into the city with a basket on her back to do her shopping.

The family had just made some money, so Song Zhi didn't dare to show it too much.

Firstly, I was afraid of arousing the jealousy of others, and secondly, I was worried that it would bring unnecessary trouble to the family.

So she didn't prepare any fancy dishes for today's banquet.

She originally planned to buy some pork belly to make dumplings and buns, and pair them with some grilled lamb skewers, which would make today's meal acceptable.

When she saw the pig lungs, pig hearts, and pig intestines on the butcher block, she immediately changed her mind.

She first bought a piece of lard and ten pounds of pork belly, and then asked about the price of these offal.

Seeing that Song Zhi was also generous, the other party also wanted to retain such a customer, so he said generously: "If you want all these, just give me twelve cents!"

Song Zhi was overjoyed when she heard this. This was a good deal for her. She didn't hesitate and immediately said she wanted all of them.

The meat stall owner was also very happy when he heard this. If the pig offal is not handled properly, the fishy smell will be very strong. Generally, people who come to the stall to buy meat will not choose to buy pig offal.

The stall owner was very happy that he could sell out the goods so quickly today.

When Song Zhi paid and was about to leave, the butcher generously gave her a few large bones and happily told her to enjoy the food and come back next time.

After buying the pork, Song Zhi bought more than six pounds of mutton and went straight out of the county town and back home.