Chapter 564: Wolf is Coming – Daily Life of the Delicate Aunt in the Courtyard

Chapter 564: Crying Wolf – The Sickly Little Aunt's Everyday Shenanigans in the Compound

In the afternoon, after Jiang Hai invited Father Li and Mother Li back to the Jiang family home, they began discussing the division of the household.

The other allocations weren’t much of an issue, but problems arose mainly over the distribution of property and the house.

Mother Jiang only took out five hundred yuan. "This is all our family’s savings. I didn’t tally the smaller amounts." (For context, five hundred yuan was roughly equivalent to $70 USD at the time.)

Originally, she wasn’t even willing to give this much, but under Father Jiang’s pressure, she reluctantly coughed up some.

However, Jiang Da Sao (the eldest daughter-in-law) and Lin Shu simply didn’t believe the family’s savings were this paltry.

Jiang Da Sao was slightly more tactful. "Mom, Jiang Hai and the others have worked for so many years. Surely… there’s more than this?"

Father Li and Mother Li exchanged a glance; they knew perfectly well that the Jiang family’s savings couldn’t possibly be this little. Mother Jiang must have hidden a portion.

Father Jiang’s face darkened. He had already told Mother Jiang to hand over the savings honestly, yet she still kept some hidden.

Lin Shu wasn’t entirely familiar with the past situation, but if even Jiang Da Sao reacted this way, there was no mistake. "You must’ve hidden the rest of the money!"

Mother Jiang looked at the others, especially her two sons, who were staring at her disapprovingly. She finally burst out, "So what if I didn’t hand it all over? We’re old now. Can’t I keep a few hundred for our old age?"

Father Jiang was about to tell her to hand it over, but after hearing her words, he reconsidered. It did make sense. "Fine, this is it. Each family will receive two hundred and fifty yuan. The rest will be our savings for old age."

"If that’s the case, does that mean we don’t have to support you financially in the future?" Lin Shu’s eyes darted around as she blurted out.

"Jiang Yang, is this your idea?"

Jiang Yang quickly denied it. "Dad, don’t mind her. Of course, I’ll take care of you and Mom in the future."

As he spoke, he pulled at Lin Shu to stop her from saying anything reckless. How could she say such a thing? Did she want them to be gossiped about like her parents were?

Father Jiang nodded with some relief, then turned to Jiang Hai.

Jiang Hai also hurriedly nodded. "Dad, I’m the same as Jiang Yang."

"Good, good!"

Though Jiang Da Sao and Lin Shu weren’t entirely satisfied, they had no choice but to grudgingly accept the arrangement.

Next came the issue of dividing the house.

Both Jiang Da Sao and Lin Shu argued over the half of the house adjacent to the main house—the one where Su Shengnan (the sickly aunt) lived.

Currently, the two boys from the second branch, Da Hu and Er Hu (Big Tiger and Little Tiger), were staying there.

Lin Shu naturally wanted to claim it for herself. She refused to let those two brats come back and live with them.

"Since Da Hu and Er Hu are living there, that room should be allocated to our second branch."

"What gives you the right? Everything in this house belongs to the first branch too. Why should that room go to you?"

Lin Shu grabbed her stomach and started moaning again. "Ow! The pain! I’m carrying the Jiang family’s grandson. Our second branch has given birth to so many grandsons. That room should be ours."

"Like we’re sonless? My Xiao Bao is also a grandson of the Jiang family."

...

There were three full rooms and a smaller one in their west wing, making the distribution inherently unfair.

Jiang Da Sao and Lin Shu argued for a long time but couldn't reach a conclusion.

Later, Old Man Jiang made the final decision, "Enough, stop arguing. The small house will remain your mom's and mine, but when Big Tiger, Little Tiger, and Little Treasure grow up, that room will be theirs to live in."

Then there were three big rooms—one for each household. The room where Old Man Jiang and Mother Jiang lived wouldn't be divided. Like the Li family, they wouldn’t live with either son’s family and would live independently.

"And the kitchen stove is also in our room. After the division, you can decide whether to build a new one."

Lin Shu, too preoccupied to complain of pain now, started calculating which option was more advantageous.

Next came the distribution of miscellaneous items, which went more smoothly than before and was quickly settled.

Then the two Jiang brothers drafted the property division agreement in four copies—one for each family and one for the witness.

With that, the family division was complete.

As soon as the division was done, Jiang Da Sao and Lin Shu jumped at packing up kitchenware and food supplies.

Mother Jiang watched in distress as they took away the household belongings, her heart aching like it was being wrung out.

Mother Li, seeing her like this, was reminded of her own past and comforted her, "Mother Jiang, us old folks gotta accept this—when a tree grows big, it branches out. It's inevitable."

"Wah—" Mother Jiang suddenly burst into tears.

Mother Li was momentarily at a loss, but before she could offer further comfort, Mother Jiang ducked into the back room.

Watching this scene and seeing the two Jiang daughters-in-law excitedly packing their things, Mother Li couldn't help but sigh.

That evening, Lin Qing caught Cen Xi when he was free and brought out the difficult problem she had been studying that afternoon. "Brother Nan, could you take a look at this for me?"

"Sure!" Cen Xi took her book and scratch paper, jotting down some ideas with his pen. In a flash, it clicked.

Instead of solving it directly, he gave Lin Qing some guidance and hints.

"You could try this… and this… Try it this way first."

Lin Qing's eyes sparkled as she looked at him. Why hadn't she thought of this before?

"I got it!" she exclaimed excitedly, taking back her book and notebook. Following his hints, she reorganized her thoughts, her eyes lighting up—she seemed to understand now!

The atmosphere between them was warm and harmonious.

But suddenly, a sharp scream cut through the quiet.

"Help! Someone, please help!"

Lin Qing and Cen Xi looked up toward the sound. Jiang Yang was standing at the door of the west wing, yelling frantically.

The whole courtyard came running upon hearing the commotion.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Lin Shu is in terrible pain, she—"

Mother Jiang, still sour, cut him off. "Her belly’s ‘hurting’ eight times a day—when has it ever been real?" She wasn’t buying it.

Today, Lin Shu had been jumping around all day without any real pain, so Mother Jiang was skeptical.

Jiang Yang yelled, desperate, "Mom, Mom, it's real this time, for real!" In truth, he had initially thought his wife was joking, but Lin Shu was now sweating buckets, and this looked legit.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have come running out in a panic to call for help.

But Mother Jiang still didn’t buy it—and neither did Father Jiang or Jiang Da Sao.

"Erzi, tell your wife to stop acting up. The family division is already done. What more does she want?"

"Dad! I told you it's real, really!" Jiang Yang was at his wit’s end.

Mother Li came rushing over, "What's going on here?"

Jiang Yang saw Mother Li like she was his last hope, "Mother Li, please help, please! My wife, she’s in real pain."

"For real?"

Jiang Yang: "..."

How many times did he have to say it?

"It's real, it's true."

Mother Li took one look at his face and knew he wasn’t faking. She immediately began organizing people to assist.

Lin Qing stood by the window watching for a long time and finally understood.

Lin Shu must’ve been pulling stunts all day, with her stomach "hurting" repeatedly. But now that it genuinely hurt at night, few believed her because of her earlier antics—just like the boy who cried wolf, wasn't it?