Chapter 1570 - 1559: Honest Fool

Chapter 1570: Chapter 1559: Honest Fool

The village chief and the clan elders looked at Niu Xue Mei with a look of pity in their eyes. Who didn’t know that Ye Laosan did the most for the Ye Family? But now he’s on the brink, and his own mother is unwilling to give more money to save his life. Such a biased heart!

"Eldest Ye, Fourth, do you agree with your mother’s decision?" the village chief asked with a hint of hope.

Ye Chun found it difficult to answer this. After all, they were blood brothers. Even though he was reluctant to give, if he said so himself, wouldn’t it show that he, as the eldest brother, disregarded sibling bonds?

However, Wang Hong had no such concerns. She straightforwardly said, "This family has always been under Mother’s rule, so it’s naturally up to her."

"Right, I listen to Mother too," Ye Dong echoed.

Ye Xia’s heart sank as she listened. These were truly her two good brothers. Fortunately, she was already married off, and luckily her husband was competent. Otherwise, she would be even worse off than her third brother, relying on her maternal family for support, which she was afraid she wasn’t destined to have.

"Since it’s like this, do you, the Third Son’s family, agree with this division?" The village chief was merely asking. With Ye Qiu bedridden and Niu Xue Mei as just a daughter-in-law, and with Old Lady Wang and Old Man Ye having made the division, what use was her disagreement?

Niu Xue Mei wiped her tears, seemingly greatly aggrieved. Everyone present, except for Old Lady Wang, Old Man Ye, Eldest Ye, and Ye Si, felt heartache. What kind of fate was this! These two were honest couples; what they earned in the past was all handed to Old Lady Wang, otherwise, they wouldn’t be bullied like this now.

"Let’s just do it this way. Since it’s Father and Mother’s idea, I have nothing more to say. I only want to quickly get my share of the family property to treat my husband’s illness," Niu Xue Mei said tearfully.

"In that case, Eldest Ye, Ye Si, and the Third Son’s wife, please sign this family division contract. From now on, each family will live separately without further disputes. During the festivals, it’s enough for the third and fourth to show some kindness to the elders, and the elders’ care will be the full responsibility of the Eldest," the village chief said, holding the divided contract.

Niu Xue Mei was illiterate, but Ye Xia could read. She learned to read to do business after getting married, learned quite well, and was sufficient for everyday use.

Since Ye Si was not yet married, thirty taels for his future marriage had to be set aside. Without enough silver, it would be compensated with good farmland. At the current market price, one acre of good farmland was about twenty-five taels, deducting his acre of land and five taels of silver first, and then dividing according to the village chief’s method.

The village chief divided very fairly. According to the earlier agreed method, Ye Qiu’s family could get two and a half acres of good farmland, one and a half acres of land, one head of cattle to be no longer shared with the other two families, then two pigs, ten chickens, five ducks, and other farming tools that were not enough to divide were temporarily shared, along with some pots, bowls, and pans divided.

Besides setting aside five taels for Ye Si, from the remaining twenty-three taels, Old Lady Wang wanted to keep some silver for herself. Hence, Eldest got ten taels, and Ye Qiu and Ye Dong each got five taels.

Ye Xia, seeing nothing was overlooked, nodded at Niu Xue Mei, signaling her to press the red thumbprint.

"Alright, this family division is complete," the village chief divided the contract into four parts, one for each of the three brothers, with one kept in his archives. He advised sincerely, "Although the family has been divided, you’re still blood brothers. You must maintain harmony and mutual love in the future."

At this point, Ye Chun stepped up and spoke with a smiling face, "They are my brothers. How can I not look after them in the future? Please rest assured, village chief."

Hearing his words for appearance’s sake, the village chief said nothing because it was uncomfortable for him. In this village, who doesn’t know who? If he really wouldn’t leave his brother uncared for, would he even argue over Ye Laosan’s small medical bill?

"Since it’s still early, follow me to the government office to update the household registrations. From now on, taxes can’t be paid as before. Keep this in mind."

"Yes, we all understand this," Ye Chun and Ye Dong replied in agreement.

"As for the Third Son’s wife, since the third son can’t move, according to the rules, he should go, but I’ll inform the government people to make an exception. Later, when Ye Qiu gets better, he can make up for it,"

"Thank you, village chief uncle," Niu Xue Mei said gratefully, "Village chief uncle, is your family looking to buy good farmland? I’m afraid the five taels won’t be enough for Ye Qiu’s treatment. If you want to buy, I’ll sell it at market price," Niu Xue Mei suddenly said something surprising.

Old Lady Wang and Old Man Ye raised their heads sharply. Old Lady Wang gritted her teeth and said, "Farmland is a rural person’s life. How can you sell it?"

Niu Xue Mei looked humble and said, "But I can’t delay my husband’s illness any longer."

"But you can’t just sell it to outsiders, right?" Old Lady Wang was angrier. Now, although one acre of good farmland was priced at twenty-five taels, it was often in higher demand than supply. Sometimes it sold for twenty-eight to thirty taels, and the Third Son’s family actually wanted to sell it?

Furthermore, she had already planned that if the third son was gone, wouldn’t this land still be theirs? If it’s sold, it can’t be bought back!

Niu Xue Mei said earnestly, "I also don’t want to sell to others, but don’t Eldest brother and Fourth brother not have that much money on hand? Ye Qiu is sick and urgently needs silver, and I don’t want to sell on credit."

At this time, Old Lady Wang very much wanted to say that she had the money, that she really had the money to buy the land. But these words couldn’t be spoken. Obviously, she had only just spoken about the division money of twenty-eight taels in silver, and saying she had the money now would be slapping her own face, as she’d have to take it out again for dividing.

Therefore, Old Lady Wang was about to explode from holding it in, only able to watch as Niu Xue Mei sold the land, her heart bleeding.

The village chief, a wise old man, saw through Old Lady Wang’s calculations. Yet, even knowing, he couldn’t not buy the land. These two and a half acres, though not much, were well-tended by Ye Qiu’s couple, and missing this opportunity meant missing it forever.

"Since you have the intention to sell it to treat Ye Qiu, I can’t refuse. So, one acre at the market price of twenty-five taels, but since your land is good, I’ll give you seventy taels for the two and a half acres. How about that?" the village chief calculated briefly and said.

This made Niu Xue Mei genuinely overjoyed. She had thought she could sell it for just over sixty at most, never expecting the village chief to offer such a high price. She agreed immediately.

"No problem, village chief uncle, I’ll transfer the land to you when we go to the county government."

"Good," the village chief happily stroked his beard, while the other villagers looked at him with envious faces. The land was good, and although they had money, they couldn’t compete with the village chief. Moreover, the price the village chief offered was very fair indeed.

After hearing their agreement, Old Lady Wang and Ye Chun’s family were even angrier. Such good farmland was just gone, which should have been theirs. But Ye Dong felt nothing because he knew that even if his third brother was gone, the third brother’s possessions would likely not end up with him.

The mother loved him indeed, but since he was now with the eldest brother, it was clear that more consideration would be given to the eldest in the future, and he understood this very well.