Qin Family’s courtyard is still quite spacious, not only there is a forecourt, but also a vegetable garden at the back.
In the forecourt, pigs and chickens are raised, and vegetables are grown in the vegetable garden. The pigs and chickens were divided, but the vegetable garden was not. Mr. Qin took it upon himself to help with the gardening, so all family members could eat together.
The family only has one semi-old bicycle, which wasn’t divided either. Officially it belongs to Mr. Qin, and whoever needs it, uses it.
After dividing the home, they divided the land. Qin Family Village divided the land only in 1981, at that time the Qin Family had a total of six members: Mr. Qin, Mrs. Qin, Qin Yang, and the three members of Brother Qin’s family, so the land was divided for six persons.
When dividing the property, Mr. Qin and Mrs. Qin’s land was divided equally between them, giving Brother Qin a portion for four members, and Lin Chuxia’s family received land for two members. Mr. Qin and Mrs. Qin only kept a little more than one acre of personal land.
Worried that Lin Chuxia might have objections, Mother Lin explained, “The village will redistribute the land every few years, and by then your household registration will be here, and you’ll be able to get land. In these two years, you and Yangyang can have another child, that will add up to land for two people.”
The peasants’ mentality hadn’t shifted yet, everyone relied on land for their livelihood, and the village redivided the lands every few years.
Thus, whenever a family has a wedding or a child is born, they promptly report and update the household registration so that they can get more land during redistribution.
Of course, if there are elderly family members, they also have to deregister them in time because many people are watching. The village cadres directly remove the individuals from the registry.
At this time, no one individually possessed a household registry book, the village had a big one, and the town had a big one, recording all the village’s residents, and at year’s end, the village accountant would use the registry to report the village population.
It can be said that the village cadres have quite significant authority.
Lin Chuxia also understood this situation, “Mom, I know, this division is quite good, too much land I couldn’t manage by myself.”
With no objections, the village chief began drafting the document. It must be said, this was the most smoothly handled family division they had presided over.
Whatever the elderly said was accepted, no fighting or scrambling among the children. And Qin Yang’s wife, even if she got less, her words still made you feel comforted.
It really is true that one does not enter a family that isn’t theirs. The Qin Family in the village was well-regarded for its harmony, marrying such a sensible daughter-in-law.
While the village chief was documenting, he also pondered whether the Lin Family still had any daughters, as his son was also of marriageable age.
While the documents were being written, they discussed the final item, which didn’t need to be recorded: the family’s remaining assets.
The grain was divided per head, there were no savings, but instead, there was a famine debt of one hundred yuan.
“This one hundred six yuan famine debt will not be divided. Your mother and I borrowed it, we will repay it slowly.”
As soon as Mr. Qin finished speaking, Qin Yang was about to say something, but Zhang Guilan intervened, “Dad, with that bit of personal land you have, when would this money be repaid?” She also glanced at Lin Chuxia.
Mr. Qin: “No problem, Yangyang is married now, and your mother and I have no other concerns.”
Qin Yang spoke, “Dad, let me repay it, it should be my responsibility.”
The money was spent on his marriage.
Yet, Mr. Qin didn’t see it that way, “What should and shouldn’t be, doesn’t every family marry off daughters and take in daughters-in-law? This is the responsibility of your mother and me.”
“Second brother isn’t completely wrong; if the Lin Family hadn’t asked for such a large dowry, Mom and Dad wouldn’t have needed to borrow money.”
Before Zhang Guilan finished speaking, Qin Han showed dissatisfaction, “Sister-in-law is already part of our family, why bring this up?”
“Why can’t I say it? Did I say something wrong?” Zhang Guilan knew it wasn’t good to say this in front of Lin Chuxia, but if she didn’t say it, she’d been upset for days.
Originally, they had arranged for Lin Family’s eldest daughter, but the Lin Family suddenly broke off the arrangement and raised the originally agreed one hundred yuan dowry to three hundred yuan.
She had nothing against Lin Chuxia as a sister-in-law but had issues with how the Lin Family handled things.
Isn’t this like duping our Qin Family?
Lin Chuxia could also understand Zhang Guilan’s thoughts; nowadays three hundred yuan indeed was a lot, “Sister-in-law, let’s do as Qin Yang suggested, we will repay this money.”
Zhang Guilan maintained a grim expression, “You make it sound nice. Dividing the family and taking on the famine debt, it would appear to others like we as the elder brother and sister-in-law are bullying you, the new bride.”
The village chief silently looked up, perhaps it’s better to retract what he had said before.
It seems all harmonious families are the same when it comes to dividing the household.
“No way is acceptable; that’s not okay either,” Mr. Qin directly asked Zhang Guilan, “Eldest daughter-in-law, then tell us what to do?”
Zhang Guilan muttered, “I married into this family and have led a decent life, respecting my in-laws. I can’t let my reputation be ruined just because my younger brother-in-law gets married.”
Qin Han was also a bit impatient, “Enough, stop beating around the bush and just say what you want to do. Our parents and siblings aren’t unreasonable.”
“What can I do?” Zhang Guilan glared at Qin Han, then looked towards Lin Chuxia, “It’s because I married the eldest. If we divide now, your family, being the second son, gets sixty, the parents are old, they get twenty, we’ll take eighty.”
Lin Chuxia could really see now; indeed, his big sister-in-law was tough on the outside but soft on the inside.
“Big sister, we’ll take the larger share of money,” since it was spent on her after all.
Zhang Guilan stood up, “Alright, let it be so. It’s late already, and I still need to check the vegetable seedlings in the field.”
Mr. Qin also wanted to say something, but Qin Han just laughed, “That’s fine, Dad. Let’s do as she said.”
Village chief: “…”
Alright, alright, your family members are all noble, and here I am being petty.
In less than half a day, the division was settled, the documents were written, and Qin Han and Qin Yang both signed and stamped them.
They didn’t let the village cadres and village chief leave, keeping them for lunch.
With the sister-in-law not home, Lin Chuxia and Mrs. Qin went into the kitchen.
Leftovers from yesterday couldn’t be served to guests, but the ingredients from yesterday’s feast were still there, Lin Chuxia sorted through them and discussed the lunch menu with Mrs. Qin.
“Mom, there’s still a lot of meat, how about making some braised pork? The celery looks good too, pork stir-fried with celery, pork stir-fried with bell peppers, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a couple of side dishes to accompany the liquor…”
Mrs. Qin nodded continuously, pleased, “Sounds good, there’s also half a pot of chicken stewed with mushrooms, not served yesterday, we can warm that up for an extra dish.”
It’s said that a true expert is revealed through their actions, and the younger daughter-in-law truly knows how to manage things. Mixed dishes with both meat and vegetables, it’s economical yet sufficient, indeed a great manager of household needs.
Not to speak of other things, the Lin Family didn’t lie about her.
Lin Chuxia had no objections, “Alright, then let’s make it eight dishes, also make some spicy tofu.”
Once the dishes were decided, they started the preparations. Among these dishes, only the braised pork required attention to fire control, so Lin Chuxia began with the meat.
She cut the pork belly into big chunks, blanched them in boiling water to remove blood and any gamy taste, then set aside.
The scallions, ginger, and star anise were prepared.
Rural folks are not picky; having Sichuan peppercorns and star anise is already pretty good. There were other spices in the villa in the city, but Lin Chuxia did not plan to bring them out; these were enough, and she also took a couple of dry chilies.
Mrs. Qin was tending to the fire beside her, watching her orderly manner and growing more satisfied.
“Mom, do we have sugar?” She needed to fry some caramel.
“Yes, I’ll get it for you.”
Mrs. Qin was about to stand up when Qin Yang came in from outside and heard her, “I’ll get it.”
With a little oil in the pan, Qin Yang handed the sugar to Lin Chuxia and didn’t leave, watching her make the caramel.
The sugar melted gradually in the pan, bubbling slightly and turning darker in color, then she added the blanched meat.
After stirring and coating the meat in the caramel, she added spices and stir-fried until fragrant, then added soy sauce to enhance the flavor. Lin Chuxia went to get the thermos, and turning around, she bumped into a “wall”, only then realizing someone was still standing behind her.