Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty

Chapter 18: Chapter 17: The Fate of Mother and Son Chapter 18: Chapter 17: The Fate of Mother and Son “How could we agree to that?” Chen Ming, Alu, and Mrs. Wang protested in unison. Chen Ming added, “Afu, don’t be so formal. You’re my daughter, too. As your parents, it’s our responsibility to provide you with a home. Neither your mother nor eldest uncle is heartless. They will make sure you can get by.”

The family talked late into the night before they reached a consensus.

They finally decided to do as Chen Ming suggested, dividing an acre of land between Chen Afu and Dabao. For now, they would borrow 1,000 cents from Chen Ye to buy some more land for the new household. When they harvested the winter wheat, they would sell the land and start building a house.

Their land was top-class farmland; an acre could fetch 5,000 cents. Chen Afu just had her son. They only needed a small plot for their new home, which could be covered by 1,000 cents. The remaining 4,000 cents could be used to build the house and buy some simple furniture.

The next day, Chen Ming went to The Chens to discuss this with Mrs. Chen and Chen Ye. He arranged a meeting with five senior family members and Junior Officer Gao. Chen Ming’s second uncle was not invited, as they had ceased relations since the property dispute.

After hearing Chen Ming’s idea, Mrs. Chen and Chen Ye agreed. It was worth it to separate these two outsiders with just an acre of land. Although Afu and Dabao would still be dependent on the second family, they couldn’t deny them a living. Besides, they couldn’t risk offending Mrs. Wang. That would only backfire on Chen Ming. Perhaps, once Chen Afu officially has her household, adopting a son would no longer be seen as disgraceful. That would make it easier for Aju to get married.

Originally, Chen Afu had asked Chen Ming to claim that the expenses during their transition to independence were a loan from Chen Dabao. Since she didn’t know exactly how much that would be, she told Chen Ming to decide. Afu was afraid that there might be setbacks in her plan to establish a separate household. She wanted to compromise wherever possible. But Chen Ming didn’t mention it, he didn’t want Afu to suffer too much.

As expected, Chen Ye and the elders insisted that women establishing their own households had to live independently. It was clear that Afu and Dabao couldn’t support themselves for now, and the second household had to keep providing for them. Temporarily supporting them was fine, but once Dabao could fend for himself, he would have to repay the money Chen Ming spent. They asked for not more than 1,000 cents per year.

In their eyes, daughters were worth less than sons. They could not expect to raise them for free, especially when Dabao was not from The Chens. Allocating an acre for them to establish their own household was already very generous.

Chen Ming argued a little, but Chen Ye and the elders were firm. Mrs. Chen also believed it would be better to offer more advantages to the lame Alu. In case his condition persisted, it would be problematic for him to find a wife or do manual labor.

Helpless, Chen Ming agreed. When he returned home and saw the excited Dabao, he felt great guilt. The child had no idea that at such a young age, he had already accumulated a significant debt.

He apologized repeatedly to Mrs. Wang and Chen Afu.

Mrs. Wang also felt sorry for her daughter and grandson. Her eyes welled up as she thought about taking on more jobs to secretly save some money for them.

Chen Afu didn’t mind, as setting up the new household was the top priority. Besides, she knew how to sustain the family.

Later, Chen Ming asked Mrs. Wang to slaughter two pounds of meat to send to Officer Gao. He wanted to ask him to demarcate the land and help with the applications for household registration and land title at the county level.

In no time, Officer Gao came and marked an area less than a third of an acre on the east side outside The Chens’ fence wall. The plot was narrow and long, aligning with the front and back of The Chens’ plot. It was just large enough to build three straw huts. The fence wall between the two households could be shared, and the area was even smaller than their current courtyard. But having no other choice, they could only afford a plot this big with 1,000 cents.

Two days later, Chen Afu held in her hands the household registration and land title papers marked with large red seals. She giggled as she looked at the papers, finally feeling at peace.

Next to her, Dabao was tugging at Chen Afu’s sleeve impatiently, “Mom, let Dabao see, let Dabao see.”

Chen Dabao carefully read the household registry over and over again, pronouncing each word and sentence aloud and asking Chen Ming about the ones he didn’t know. When he finished reading and realized he was officially Chen Afu’s son and that nothing could change that, he was overjoyed. They even had their own plot of land.

He then solemnly handed the registry back to Chen Afu, saying, “Perfect. Mom, keep it safe and don’t lose it.”

Afterwards, the mother-son duo looked dreamily at the plot of land to the east, which was covered with weeds and interspersed with several bunches of bamboos and an eucalyptus tree.

Chen Afu gestured, “When we’re building the house, let’s keep that eucalyptus tree. It can provide shade in summer. We can also build a chicken coop in the backyard, and we’ll keep some chickens.”

Chen Dabao’s eyes sparkled with excitement. He tugged at Chen Afu’s clothes and mumbled, “Mom, hug, son wants a hug.” He sounded much softer and slurred his words more than before.

This little guy was quite good at acting spoiled.

His antics brought a smile to Alu, who was standing nearby.

Chen Afu also found it amusing. She hoisted him up though it was difficult. Seeing his hopeful eyes and proud expression, she felt a warmth filling her heart. Even though she wasn’t fully recovered from her dementia, and the straw hut, which would shield them from wind and rain, hadn’t started being built yet, he was already this excited. She couldn’t help but plant a few kisses on his face – first to his left and then to his right, and finally on his nose.

Chen Dabao giggled and also kissed his mom’s face three times, first to her left, then to her right, and lastly on her nose. After kissing, he said, “Mom, Dabao is your real son. Don’t say I was picked up anymore.”

“Alright,” Chen Afu nodded.

Their bond as mother and son was finally firmly established. The pair, who became mother and son, were yet to realize the joys and struggles they would experience together in their lives.

After the joyful moment, Chen Afu knew that their family had borrowed money and made promises. Next, they had to figure out how to make money. Her hands and feet weren’t very nimble yet, so she would let Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang do the physical work for now.

She drew the shapes of two baskets on the ground with a stick, one was bigger and shallower, and the other smaller and deeper. After describing their specific characteristics, she said they should be used as sewing kits, and asked Chen Ming to make some according to the design. She planned to sell these baskets on June 19th, the birthday of Guanyin Bodhisattva, at the Lingyin Temple of Honglin Mountain.

She had heard from Mrs. Wang that lots of women came to offer incense at the temple on that day, and many of them were from the provincial and capital cities.

Chen Ming was skeptical about the design Afu had drawn. He said, “The sewing basket dad made didn’t look like this.”

Chen Afu laughed and replied, “The sewing basket is different from the sewing kit we used to use. Once it’s woven, it will be decorated with cloth and ropes. It will look much better.”

Chen Afu had seen a sewing kit from ancient times and asked Mrs. Wang about it. They were all bamboo or straw woven round baskets, all looking the same, being too simple. Even the most luxurious sewing kit used by wealthy women was nothing more than adding a wooden cover which was carved with flowers and painted. The styles of sewing bags were also very simple, just like wallets, but made of several layers of cloth sewn together.

Sewing kits and sewing bags were indispensable items for ancient women, accompanying them throughout their lives. If they were made looking good, she could make quite a profit.

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Thank you all for your support, thanks to Keppra for the recommended ticket red envelope, thank you!