Chapter 201: Returning the Land Deed
He had originally planned everything out beautifully, and for all these years, it had gone smoothly—
First, he would seize the Second Branch’s fields, then force Lin Sanniang into a second marriage, and along the way, the children could be sold off. Of course, under the guise of finding a good family to adopt them.
It was only because Lin Sanniang had threatened to take her own life, determined to stay and protect her children, that he hadn’t been able to push it any further.
Even so, he had gained twelve mu of farmland for nothing over the past few years. Every year, he managed to squeeze some money out of Lin Sanniang’s hands using the excuse of grain seeds and land taxes.
On top of that, he would frequently invoke filial piety to summon Tao-ya and Xing-ya to his house to do manual labor.
This time, the old lady had fallen ill. They had given her a few bowls of watery porridge, but she hadn’t improved. Calling a doctor would cost money… so Sun Dade and his wife, Sun Zhang-shi, had discussed it and decided it was the perfect time to call Tao-ya over to take care of her.
If the old lady ended up dying while under her care, the blame could be shifted entirely onto Tao-ya.
When that happened, they could sell off the two girls, Tao-ya and Xing-ya, and send Shu-ger out to be someone else’s adopted son. If possible, Lin Sanniang was only around thirty, so perhaps she could even be sold to an old widower…
Sun Dade and Sun Zhang-shi fell completely silent, not daring to utter a word. The ward chief was entirely correct; they really had wanted to torment the old woman to death to lighten their burden and threaten Lin Sanniang… killing several birds with one stone.
Seeing the expressions on Sun Dade and Sun Zhang-shi’s faces, the ward chief jumped in shock.
If such an ugly scandal broke out in the area under his jurisdiction, he would be dragged down with them!
This time, the ward chief did not take sides: “The land must be returned!”
How could Sun Dade bear to part with it? His eyes darted around, and he immediately turned to the old lady. “Mother, I am your biological son. Falling ill this time was a mishap beyond our control, but haven’t I taken excellent care of you in the past? Mother, tell them, aren’t you only willing to have me and Zhang-shi take care of you?”
In the past, the old lady had always been biased, and her favoritism had been entirely directed toward the Eldest Branch.
Sun Dade was extremely confident in the old lady’s answer.
However, the old lady, who was lying on the bed with a breath as faint as silk, shakily raised her hand and pointed. “Tao-ya… I want Tao-ya to take care of me.”
What?
At that moment, everyone was stunned.
Sun Zhang-shi cursed, “You old thing, think carefully before you speak! Is it just because we didn’t hire a doctor for you this one time? Is that why you’re favoring that wretched girl now?”
Sun Zhang-shi’s sons and daughters were also furious. “Grandmother, don’t you love us the most? Why are you siding with Tao-ya now?”
The old lady’s face was deathly pale. “You all… didn’t give me food, you wanted to starve me to death… Tao-ya, Tao-ya gave me food!”
Lin Sanniang looked over at Tao-ya.
Tao-ya lowered her head anxiously. “I was afraid Uncle and Aunt wouldn’t give me any food… they never used to before, so I brought two wild herb dumplings with me.”
“After I arrived and saw… saw Grandmother like this, I gave one to her.”
So that was how it was.
No wonder the old lady had suddenly turned against them. Lin Sanniang felt both gratified and a sense of bitterness.
She was gratified that Tao-ya was always so kind-hearted, but bitter on behalf of her own children.
In the past, no matter how much they did, they rarely received a good word. Today, at least, the old woman finally knew who had a conscience and whom to lean on.
Yet, Lin Sanniang hesitated. If she agreed to the old lady’s words, the land could indeed be recovered, but they would have to take the old lady in. Right now, their house held too many secrets, and having an outsider around would be inconvenient.
Just as Lin Sanniang was about to refuse, she felt Tao-ya gently tug at her hand. The girl gave a quiet nod, signaling her to agree.
Lin Sanniang hesitated for a brief moment before deciding to listen to Tao-ya.
Her Tao-ya was both clever and kind, born with her own blessings. Tao-ya had also been the first to go to the mountain villa; Lin Sanniang trusted her.
Sure enough, the Sun family’s old lady was over there crying out, demanding that Tao-ya serve her. She refused Sun Dade and Sun Zhang-shi, as well as those worthless grandchildren from the Eldest Branch who would mistreat her under the guise of taking care of her.
The expressions on Sun Dade and Sun Zhang-shi’s faces soured instantly. “Mother, think carefully! With that broken shack the Second Branch has, can you even get used to living there?”
Old Lady Sun snorted. “I don’t just have one son in the Second Branch; you in the Eldest Branch must also take care of me!”
“So, I have decided! The care will be split equally between my two sons. I will live with the Eldest Branch and eat from the Second Branch. The Second Branch must deliver food to me every single day!”
Hearing this, the ward chief thought it was appropriate. He didn’t want to drag this matter out too long in the middle of the night either. If the patrolling guards saw them later and alerted the officials at the county magistrate’s office, it would be troublesome.
The ward chief immediately declared, “Since the old lady has made up her mind, we will proceed accordingly. She will live with the Eldest Branch and eat from the Second Branch!”
“Since the duty of filial piety to the elderly is split equally, the farmland should be returned to the Second Branch. Although the Second Branch is left with only a widow and her fatherless children, they still have an heir. We cannot neglect the young while providing for the old!”
Taking charge of the situation, the ward chief decreed that the grain from the fields this year would be split fifty-fifty. Sun Dade would be responsible for returning the grain seeds, and Lin Sanniang would be responsible for paying the land taxes.
Sun Dade’s face turned completely rigid, while Sun Zhang-shi slapped her thighs and wailed, “They didn’t contribute a single ounce of effort! Ahhhh! On what grounds is it a fifty-fifty split?!”
The neighbors countered directly, “Your Sun Dade didn’t contribute a single ounce of effort either, so how did he manage to embezzle so much of our silver, money, and grain?”
The ward chief took the opportunity to say, “Fellow neighbors, I am already aware of this matter. As you can see, as long as Sun Dade’s conduct is deficient, I will absolutely not shield him!”
“It is late tonight, so let us first handle the matter between the Sun family’s Eldest and Second branches. Everyone, please go back and rest first. Tomorrow, those with grievances may voice them, and those who have suffered may speak of their hardships! Everything will be handled justly and impartially, how about it?”
The neighbors had also suffered under Sun Dade for a long time. Although they knew his character was flawed, there were simply too few people who could read and write, so they had no choice but to let him deceive them all this time.
Today, Lin Sanniang had exposed the matter, allowing everyone to reclaim a portion of justice, so they helped Lin Sanniang all the way through.
“Then return the land deed and write up the legal document!”
“That’s right! Return the land deed and write the document now!”
Just like that, fifteen minutes later, Lin Sanniang held the document drawn up in triplicate and successfully reclaimed the land deed.
Xing-ya and Shu-ger had quietly discussed something, and they threw themselves around Lin Sanniang’s thighs, crying in a thoroughly exaggerated manner.
“Mother—our family doesn’t even have any grain left. How can we afford to support Grandmother! We are all about to starve to death, where will we find food to provide for Grandmother?!”
Old Lady Sun hurriedly yelled out from inside the window, “That won’t do! It’s written clearly in black and white on the document: you must come and deliver food to me every day! I don’t care what methods you use, I must eat regardless!”
Xing-ya and Shu-ger wailed loudly.
In their hearts, however, they were secretly rejoicing—this was perfect. The disaster relief grain distributed by the government, along with the wild herb dumplings at home, now had a designated destination.
Hearing them cry like this made Sun Dade and Sun Zhang-shi feel a bit better.
“Heh, grain prices are so expensive nowadays. I’d like to see how they’re going to produce any food!”
“Exactly. In any case, our house is large, so the old lady can live here if she wants. But from now on, we won’t be pouring tea or fetching water. Any task involving what goes into her mouth belongs entirely to the Second Branch!”
Thinking about it this way balanced out the resentment in Sun Zhang-shi’s heart.
Sun Dade usually acted like a man of noble character, claiming with his mouth to be filial to his old mother, but in reality, when would he ever actually do anything? Wasn’t it always Sun Zhang-shi who did the work?
Sun Zhang-shi had long been annoyed by the old lady. Now that the responsibility could be outsourced, although she looked displeased on the surface, she wasn’t that reluctant deep down.
After all, even when the fields and grain were recovered, it was Sun Dade who managed them. She just ate three meals a day; how much could she possibly consume?
On the other hand, the chore of serving the old lady went on day and night without pause; doing it even once was a hassle.
Thus, under the supervision of the neighbors, the document was written, the land deed was handed over, and the old lady’s retirement care was arranged.
“Crying,” Tao-ya took the other wild herb dumpling from her pocket and handed it to Old Lady Sun.
Old Lady Sun grabbed it and stuffed it straight into her mouth.
