CHAPTER 56: CHAPTER 56: HE IS NOT MY FLESH AND BLOOD

"Only three acres?!" Mrs. Chen’s voice changed tone, "Father, this is too much!"

Mr. Jiang frowned, "I told you, I have my reasons, and I will explain them in a moment. Why are you shouting?"

Mrs. Chen held back her anger and remained silent.

Even Erlang, who was ten years old, could understand these words.

However, he knew it was useless to say anything; he was just a child, and no one would listen to him.

Zhao Lizheng and the two uncles from the Jiang Family exchanged glances, realizing the division of the family estate was indeed unfair to the main house. Nonetheless, they were only there to witness, not to ensure fairness.

Mr. Jiang took a puff of his pipe and then said, "I have my reasons for dividing it this way."

"This matter, I originally planned to take it to my grave with me, without telling anyone. But today, I have no choice, otherwise, you will say I am bullying the widow and orphans of the main house."

He exhaled a cloud of smoke and slowly said, "Sanlang is not the blood of the Jiang Family."

"What!" Zhao Lizheng and the two uncles from the Jiang Family were greatly shocked.

Even Jiang Rong and Jiang Hua didn’t know about this, and their level of shock was even greater.

They all simultaneously looked at Mrs. Chen.

Mrs. Chen clenched her fists and said nothing.

The ten-year-old Erlang was nearly fainting from fright; he couldn’t believe what he had heard, that his third brother was not his parents’ biological son?

Mr. Jiang continued, "At that time, eldest was still working at the county’s general store, and Mrs. Chen was also living in the county with him. On one occasion, while the eldest was out getting supplies, he found Sanlang under a tree on the way back."

"He just brought him back and raised him with the main house."

"Coincidentally, the eldest hadn’t returned home from the county for over half a year, so everyone at home thought he was the eldest’s biological child."

"It was only before the eldest died that he told me about this, saying that if Sanlang’s parents came looking, the child should be returned to them. Only then did I learn about it."

"You all say, Sanlang is not the blood of the Jiang Family, but my family raised him this big and even spent silver for his education. Isn’t that doing our utmost?"

Zhao Lizheng and the others all nodded, "Indeed, the old master is righteous!"

Mr. Jiang’s wrinkles relaxed a bit upon hearing this praise, "Sanlang is now grown and can make a living on his own. My family cannot continue to support him."

"Sanya will eventually get married and leave. The main house will only have Erlang as the male heir. These three acres of land and three rooms are all being given to Erlang."

"The second and third houses have so many people that even if the land is passed down to Erlang, there might not even be three acres for each person. For him, a little child, to have three acres of land and three rooms isn’t too little."

Upon thinking about it, it seemed the old master did have a point.

Mr. Jiang continued, "Now that Sanlang’s leg is broken, the main house has no labor, no one to farm. I’ll manage these three acres for him, farm them, and give him the grain. I’ll take a thirty percent commission as a labor fee."

"Once Erlang grows up, these three acres will be transferred to him."

Mrs. Chen was nearly laughing out of anger.

Is this called splitting the family estate?

After all this fuss, the main house not only gets nothing but also has to give up two rooms; this is truly outrageous.

Mrs. Chen stood up, "This won’t do. Old master, your division is too unfair. Am I not part of this family? Do I not need to eat and drink? Do I not need a place to live? Have I not worked like a horse for this family for twenty years, and I get nothing?"

Jiang Rong scoffed, "You still want a share of the property? Who knows if you’ll remarry someday!"