The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 125 - 114: Quarrel

Chapter 125: Chapter 114: Quarrel

We can’t interfere with the relationships between parents and their children, so we can only approach the matter from the perspective of the guests.

Mr. Zhuang returned to his study to find a very thick book and told her, "You are still young now, but when you’re a little older you’ll be able to read the law books."

Mr. Zhuang flipped to a page, brought Manbao to his side, and let her look.

Knowing that she wasn’t yet good at punctuation and would find it difficult to understand these obscure clauses, Mr. Zhuang simply pointed at the book and explained in plain language, "Daughters can also inherit their parents’ property; the dowry that parents prepare for their daughter is the most direct manifestation of this."

Mr. Zhuang said, "Legally speaking, as long as the parents leave a will stating that the house is to be inherited by the daughter, then in theory, the daughter can inherit the house."

Having been tricked by Keke many times, Manbao quickly asked, "What about in practice?"

Mr. Zhuang looked at her approvingly and said, "Even with national law, these kinds of matters are not pursued unless people file complaints; besides national law, there are also clan rules and family regulations. Unless the woman stays at home to bring in a husband, the ancestral property is generally not passed on to daughters."

Manbao’s eyes sparkled as she asked, "What does it mean to bring in a husband?"

"It means letting your Eldest sister marry a husband and have him come to her, a man marrying into a woman’s family," Mr. Zhuang said. "This is the simplest condition for inheriting parents’ assets, but your parents might not be willing to arrange for your Eldest sister to bring in a husband."

After all, the Zhou Family did have sons.

Manbao said, "My Eldest sister can earn her own money, build her own house. My brothers will help her reclaim land and farm it."

Mr. Zhuang gave a faint smile and said, "Then she’ll need to establish her own household registration. Otherwise, these assets won’t be registered in her name, and even the money she earns won’t be under her name."

Mr. Zhuang turned to another page and told Manbao, "Only women without husbands or sons can establish their own household registration, and when the household dies, it ends. Although your Eldest sister is neither a widow nor barren, she is a divorcee, yet she is too young for the Chief to be likely willing to report to establish a female household for her."

Manbao simply rolled her eyes and said nothing.

She decided that when her father returned, she would definitely talk to him about this female household matter.

Meanwhile, Old Zhou sat with a dark face in the yard of the Liu family. Old Liu, feeling guilty, pressed Liu Dalang to apologize to him, "In-law, I went to the city to buy New Year’s goods yesterday. As you know, the village is far from the county town, so I stayed at my daughter’s house overnight. I had just returned home today when I heard that my wife took it upon herself to send the divorce letter to the Eldest’s home, and I was furious."

He said, "Eldest has been married into our family for eight years now, and although she hasn’t given birth to a son or a daughter for my Liu family, our two families’ relations have always been good. Since I sent someone with a message to your family, it was to have our two families sit down and talk about the children’s issues. How could I have sent the divorce letter during the New Year?"

Old Liu continued, "In-law, this is my wife’s fault. In a bit, I’ll have Dalang go and bring his wife back. We can talk about these matters after the New Year, what do you think?"

Old Zhou looked at him and scoffed, asking, "Are you done talking? Now it’s my turn. My Zhou family’s daughter isn’t someone your Liu family can just dismiss. Liu Dalang, don’t forget she served your grandparents, mourned for them, and observed mourning!"

After addressing Liu Dalang, he turned to Old Liu, "You say you want to negotiate with my Zhou Family, but surely that divorce letter wasn’t written by your family, was it? Does your family have anyone who can write? Clearly, the divorce letter was prepared in advance; you prepare the divorce letter first and then come to negotiate with me? You’re talking nonsense!"

Old Zhou grew so angry that he slapped his thigh, glared at Old Liu, and said, "Don’t push your wife forward as a scapegoat. Zhou Xi said that you weren’t home, but Dalang was there, wasn’t he? He’s over twenty years old and still lets his mother boss him around, not even understanding the most basic etiquette? Since your Liu family can do such a thing as divorce my daughter out of the blue without saying a word, then you must have been ready to make enemies with my Zhou family. Since that’s the case, let’s lay it out today, speak plainly, and not waste time on idle prattle."

Zhou ErLang stepped forward, kicked Liu Dalang behind the knees, making him fall to the ground, and then stepped on his back, exclaiming to the Liu family, "Whether or not today’s divorce letter counts, Liu Dalang is still our sister’s husband and brother-in-law. Kicking our sister out of the house, don’t her brothers deserve to make some gesture in return?"

Mother Liu, who had been playing dead inside, couldn’t help but run out to push Zhou Er away and protect Liu Dalang, saying, "What are you trying to do, bullying my son and coming to our Liu family village? Do you think we are dead?"

Zhou Er sneered and said to her, "I thought you were ill from my sister’s anger. But looking at you, so lively and energetic, you don’t seem sick at all."

Old Liu’s face turned dark with rage, and seeing that the people from the Zhou Family were looking at them with fierce eyes, he knew that today’s matter wouldn’t end well.

Finally, Third Uncle Qian broke free from the hands of his two brothers, rushed up following Zhou Er, and started to insult Old Liu with hands on his hips, "Do you think we are blind? Brother-in-law, I don’t think there’s any point in wasting words with them. Let’s smash their house and vent our anger for Zhou Xi. They say our Zhou Xi is unfilial - look at her! She is even stronger than our Zhou Xi, so old and yet so energetic. It seems to me our Zhou Xi is too filial."

Those words were very crude, but Old Zhou didn’t reprimand him at this moment.

Indeed, the Liu Family had gone too far. As soon as they arrived, Old Liu immediately started by admitting his mistake and stated that Mother Liu’s act of sending the divorce letter to Zhou Xi was a rash decision triggered by anger because Zhou Xi had spoken back to Mother Liu early in the morning, which had supposedly infuriated her.

And he wasn’t home at the time, as he was doing New Year’s shopping in the county town, so he couldn’t stop it.

Old Zhou, seeing that he was trying to blame his daughter even at the end, was far from pleased.

So at this point, he did not stop Third Uncle Qian’s fierce tirade, and after letting him scold the Liu family people to their rage, he finally said, "What’s said is said, and what’s thrown is thrown. The divorce letter is out. We Zhou Family people are not so cheap as to pester your Liu family. You Liu family aren’t worthy either. But we Zhou Family will not accept this divorce letter!"

Old Zhou took out the divorce letter and threw it onto Liu Dalang’s face, saying, "She took care of your grandparents in their old age and death. Your Liu Family isn’t qualified to divorce her."

"She’s a hen that doesn’t lay eggs!" Mother Liu shrieked.

Junior Ms.Qian stepped forward and retorted, "Nonsense! Having children isn’t something my Eldest aunt can do alone, who knows if your son is the problem?"

"My son doesn’t have a problem..."

"Then my Eldest aunt certainly doesn’t either. She saw a doctor who said she’s capable of having children. Your son, however, refuses to see a doctor – who knows if he’s the one with the issue?"

"Nonsense, my son has seeds..."

"Where are they sown?"

"In..."

"Shut your mouth!" Old Liu bellowed, his veins bulging as he glared at Mother Liu.

Junior Ms.Qian, however, was not willing to let Mother Liu off the hook and with her three sisters-in-law, they took turns pressing her, "Speak up, why don’t you speak? Whose belly are those seeds in?"

"No wonder. My Eldest aunt has been working like an ox and a horse, bearing all complaints for so many years and we never heard you mention divorcing her. Suddenly, without a word, you divorce her, turns out there’s an illegitimate child involved."