Ji Huan knew that if she insisted on taking a large bite out of the Ji Family, the separation would likely fall through.
But she had to needle them a bit.
Having made up her mind, she lowered her gaze and began to speak.
"Grandpa, I know you dote on me, but since the family has no surplus grain, it would be unfilial of me to take food from your mouths... However, I do have an idea. Before Father passed away, he said that you and Grandma not only agreed to the separation but also promised to give our second branch a few extra mu of land. After all, over half of the family's thirty-plus mu of fertile land was earned by my father, so I was thinking..."
Before Ji Qingshan could react, Aunt Kang shot forward.
"Who said anything about giving him extra land! Hah! In your dreams!"
Ji Huan blinked and said calmly, "Weren't you the one who said it, Grandma? You agreed to let Father separate from the family. When he came back that night, he told Mother and me that you and Grandpa still cared for him, and that you'd given us a few extra mu on top of our rightful share."
'If you can call black white, why can't I?'
'You... you...' 'This jinx is using my own words to shut me up!'
'The worst part is, I started this lie, so I can't even call her out on it!'
Ji Qingshan stood to the side, sizing up his granddaughter anew. He became even more certain that she was truly different now.
'Before, she was so timid she wouldn't dare say half a word out of line. Where did she get the nerve to talk back to her elders?'
'It seemed the recent events had not only changed her personality but also made her hate the Ji Family!'
'Fine. He had originally planned to show some mercy, but there was no need for that with an ungrateful whelp who might turn around and bite him at any moment.'
His face darkened, all traces of his earlier warmth gone.
"If your father were still alive, I would never have shorted him his share in today's separation. But he is gone, after all. And you're a girl; you can't carry on the second branch's family line, and we can't expect you to care for us in our old age on your father's behalf. Given all that, you still want to inherit the same amount of property as your father would have? Wuan, what am I supposed to say to you... Ai, it's my fault for being old and useless. I failed to raise you properly on your parents' behalf, letting you develop such a selfish nature. I... I have failed my second son!"
His grief-stricken speech had the intended effect, drawing a great deal of sympathy. The murmurs of doubt turned toward Ji Huan.
Although no one said anything too harsh, the message between the lines was clear: she shouldn't be greedy.
In the end, even if the villagers supported her separation from the family, they didn't believe she deserved the same treatment as a man. Getting a few scraps was already considered fortunate; demanding over ten mu of land all at once was unheard of.
Ji Huan had anticipated this, so she remained unruffled.
"Aunts and Uncles, your words are wise. Grandpa, Grandma, please don't be anxious, just let me finish. I know the family's fields are being saved for Fourth Uncle, so how could I be so tactless? Times are hard for the family. I don't want anything else. I only ask that Grandpa and Grandma give me the three mu of wasteland on Nanshan. My father cleared that land with his own hands. It would be something to remember him by. Besides, as a lonely girl with no one to depend on..."
As she spoke the last words, she lowered her head. Her bony shoulders trembled slightly, a truly heart-wrenching sight.
The tide of public opinion turned once again, and a clamor rose from the crowd.
A man named Shi Yong stepped forward.
"Uncle Ji, Lian Bai and I cleared that three-mu plot of wasteland together back in the day. It took a ton of effort, but we just couldn't make the soil fertile. Crops refused to grow there. Hasn't your family left it fallow for several years anyway? Since it's just sitting there unused, why not just give it to Wuan? At least she'll have something to her name."
His words naturally drew a chorus of agreement.
When Aunt Kang heard that Ji Huan wanted nothing but those three mu of wasteland, she almost laughed out loud. She rushed to nod her agreement before Ji Qingshan could, as if terrified Ji Huan would go back on her word.
"Give it to her! Give her all three mu! But let's be clear—she only gets the three mu of wasteland and nothing else. She said so herself!"
Ji Qingshan didn't stop her this time. He had thought Wuan had gotten cunning, but it seemed he had been overthinking things.
With no objections from either side, someone quickly brought over a table with paper and a brush. The village chief picked up the brush and began to write:
"...Aside from the common property, all accounts have been settled and cleared. From this day forward, each party shall manage their own affairs and bear their own responsibilities, with no further claims on the other. As proof of this agreement, this document is created in duplicate, with each party holding one copy..."
Since Ji Huan was receiving so little, the document was written with exceptional speed.
Aunt Kang suddenly remembered something and shouted, "Add another sentence! After the separation, whether she gets sick or dies has nothing to do with the Ji Family!"
The village chief paused his brush, saying with some difficulty, "This is a family separation, not a disownment..."
Aunt Kang couldn't be bothered with such distinctions. "What's the difference?"
The village chief, unable to reason with her, looked to Ji Qingshan.
But he just saw the man squat back down at the main gate, puffing away on his long-stemmed pipe, acting as if the matter was no longer his concern.
Ji Huan's eyes reddened. "Grandpa, Grandma, how could it have nothing to do with you? I still have to see you off in your final days on behalf of my parents..."
"Pah! Who wants you to see them off? Stop cursing me!" With the deal all but settled, Granny Kang couldn't be bothered to keep up appearances. "The two of us don't need her to care for us in our old age or see us off. Village chief, add that in too."
'Care for us and see us off? Hmph! Looking like she's at death's door, she won't live long even if she survived last night. She'll probably drop dead in a day or two! If it's not written down in black and white, they'll try to pin her coffin expenses on us. I'm not falling for that!'
Ji Huan lowered her head and said nothing more, appearing utterly heartbroken.
The village chief sighed and added the line as requested: "Henceforth, the life, aging, sickness, and death of either party shall be of no concern to the other."
With several village elders and so many fellow villagers as witnesses, both parties pressed their thumbprints onto the document. Ji Huan was now completely separated from the Ji Family.
The village chief and elders were invited into the Ji Family home for tea, and the crowd of onlookers dispersed.
Aunt Wang saw Ji Huan standing frozen in place, staring at the paper in her hand as if in a daze. She couldn't help but walk over. "Wuan, where are you going to live now...?"
'Forgetting the land and grain was one thing, but they didn't even give her a room! The separation was so biased. The village chief and the elders should have stepped in to ensure fairness, but with the Ji Family's fourth son likely to become a Scholar, they were all willing to give the family some face and simply turned a blind eye.'
'Ai, the poor girl...'
Ji Huan folded the document and put it away. "I'll keep living in the dilapidated shed," she said calmly. "The village chief has already agreed."
Ji Huan hadn't fought for the house where her parents, Ji Lianbai and Mrs. Wei, had lived. She didn't want to live face-to-face with the Ji Family, and she knew they wouldn't have given it to her anyway. After all, when Mrs. Wei was still alive, the mother and daughter had been kicked out to live in the cowshed.
"How can anyone live in a place like that!"
A few others who hadn't left yet also gathered around, all talking at once. "That place has been abandoned ever since the old hunter died there," one warned. "It's not just dilapidated, it's haunted! No one dares to go near it!"
'Haunted?'
Never mind that Ji Huan was an atheist. Back in medical school, she could eat a boxed lunch in the morgue without batting an eye. She really wasn't afraid of something like this.
Besides, even if there were ghosts in this world, they were nothing compared to the wickedness of the human heart.
Ji Huan thanked them for their concern and turned to leave.
The women looked like they wanted to say more, but in the end, no one called out to stop her.
If they told her not to live in the dilapidated shed, where else could she go? With her reputation, what family in the village would be willing to take her in?