Xu Zifan exuded an imposing aura, so much so that while the Xu family members were anxious, none of them dared to speak. They didn't know what to say. Especially since Xu Zifan had said that if they said anything more, they wouldn't separate from the family, they were quite afraid that Xu Zifan really wouldn't separate from the family. For a moment, they all listened quietly to Xu Zifan speak.
Xu Zifan opened the account book and briefly summarized the income and expenditure over the years. "The eldest son and his wife have no other income. They earn work points by working in the fields. They receive the most grain at the end of the year, and also some money and coupons. But it's too little. They've spent it all on medical expenses and making clothes over the years. It's all recorded in the account book. You can compare it with your own."
My second son and his wife are teachers. They give me 70% of their salaries, and I remember every penny. They keep some money for themselves, as they don't usually spend what I give them, so they basically keep all of my salary.
He glanced at Xu Shengnan and said, "Didn't you say you saw your second uncle's younger brother and sister eating eggs yesterday? And you said I was favoring them? Let me tell you, those eggs were bought by your second uncle and aunt with 30% of their own wages. If you don't believe me, go to their house and see for yourself. The eggs, snacks, and canned food they bought are all for nourishing their bodies and improving their diet."
"You can wrongly accuse me of feeding eggs, but I've never even tried snacks or canned goods. How could I be so selfish as you say, giving them food I haven't even tasted myself? Blame it on your second uncle and aunt being educated and becoming teachers, so they have money to buy things."
Xu Dawei and Zhang Wen blushed instantly, feeling awkward and unsure of what to do with their hands and feet. They lowered their heads, not daring to look at the crowd, and were even more alarmed that Xu Zifan knew everything about what they had hidden. They felt uneasy.
Wang Baoguo glared at Xu Dawei and Zhang Wen, but said nothing. He just frowned, vaguely feeling that his niece and nephew-in-law were not even filial to their own father and hid good things from each other. Their character was questionable.
Xu Shengnan looked at the second wife in surprise. She had only been back in the world for a few days and had long forgotten about such a distant event. She had only seen them eating eggs and naturally assumed that they were given by the original owner, since the original owner was in charge of the food in the house.
She never knew that her grandfather only took 70% of the second wife's salary. No wonder the two children from the second wife looked so happy; they were keeping it all for themselves!
But this isn't fair. Why should all the grain her parents received go to their own family, while the second wife gets to keep 30% of her wages? The old man is clearly jealous that the first wife doesn't have a son; he's biased!
Xu Zifan flipped through the ledger again and looked at Xu Aiguo. Both Xu Aiguo and Dong Fan felt a tightness in their chests and their nerves tightened.
Xu Zifan shook his head and sighed, "The third son and his wife are nothing special. They earn few work points and spend little. Although the third son is the best dressed in the family and the two boys are chubby, they really don't take any money from me. The third son hunts and fishes and exchanges with others for it."
Xu Shengnan, you say I favor boys over girls, but you need to provide evidence. Ask your third uncle if I've ever favored his son.
Anyway, the ledgers are right here. You can look at them one by one, and if you find anything wrong, point it out. Let's see if I've falsified the accounts.
Xu Shengnan was furious. She hadn't said a word, but the old man kept calling her name, making everyone stare at her like she was an unfilial grandchild. Did they even know what was going on? Were they all crazy? This old man was truly despicable; all he did was try to harm her!
Xu Shengnan was determined to develop her career in a big city and didn't care what the people in this small village thought of her. She strode forward, picked up the account book, and started looking at it. When she saw something she didn't understand, she asked her parents and uncles and aunts if it was correct.
Wang Baoguo's face darkened, and the other elderly people also looked displeased. What was wrong with Xu Shengnan, this granddaughter? Did she have no manners at all?!
Xu Dajun grabbed Xu Shengnan's sleeve in frustration, "Go back inside! This is none of your business!"
Xu Shengnan argued, "Dad, Grandpa asked us to check if there were any false accounts. If we don't check carefully, how disrespectful would we be to Grandpa? Now that we've checked clearly, we can separate the family and avoid future conflicts. Grandpa is doing this for the good of the whole family, and we can't let him down."
She was still cautious, deliberately saying a few good things about Xu Zifan, but actually urging the whole family to check if the accounts were falsified. These villagers were too dull to understand her meaning. They probably thought her previous inappropriate behavior was just due to youthful ignorance.
Xu Zifan impatiently tapped the table and said sternly, "All of you, get over here and look! I told you to split up the family, what are you all dawdling for?"
The Xu family members were all stunned. Upon hearing this, they looked at each other in bewilderment. Xu Aiguo was the boldest and went over first. Then, one by one, they all surrounded Xu Shengnan and looked through the account book.
The more they looked, the more alarmed they became. There were many expenses they had forgotten about, but they were clearly recorded in the ledger, and seeing the ledger reminded them of them.
Behind the ledger was the total amount of each person's income and expenses. If it weren't for this ledger, they wouldn't have known that they had spent so much money!
But looking at Xu Zifan's personal income and expenses, he had no income, and his expenses were less than any of them. This was because Xu Zifan didn't buy new clothes, and he only ate "good" food. The so-called "good" food was just an egg every day, rice and noodles twice a month, and two cups of wine. He didn't eat much more than them, because his family didn't have much good food at all.
They usually worked hard every day and came home to find Xu Zifan leisurely at home, eating eggs, occasionally drinking alcohol, and enjoying rice and flour. It was as if Xu Zifan were a landlord. This feeling was especially strong when they were exhausted from work.
Over time, their impression of Xu Zifan became that he was lazy, selfish, unkind, and took advantage of his age.
As far as I can remember, they handed over all the money they earned, but they didn't spend any money on themselves; all the money was in Xu Zifan's pocket.
But now, when they compared the accounts and recalled the past, they were all shocked!
It wasn't that they all spent money extravagantly, but compared to Xu Zifan, Xu Zifan was the one who spent the least in the family, which was completely different from what they had in mind.
But upon closer reflection, it seems perfectly reasonable. They are in their prime, with many expenses. The younger children need plenty of food and clothing, the older ones need to go to school, and their clothes need mending when they tear them. The adults also need to buy new things from time to time, buy medicine when injured, and see a doctor when sick. Xu Zifan, on the other hand, doesn't do much every day, has little wear and tear, and doesn't need to buy anything new. What could he possibly spend on just eating a few bites?
The whole family was speechless after seeing the account book. It felt like a slap in the face, leaving them utterly ashamed. It turned out that their growing dislike for their father over the past few years was all due to their own flawed thinking.
Xu Zifan didn't give them much time to overthink. After they finished reading, he asked directly, "Any problems? If not, let's start dividing the family."
Xu Aiguo opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but then thought that if he impulsively decided not to separate the family, there would still be many problems in the future. If he was filial to his father, he could be filial even if the family separated, so he didn't say anything, but just shook his head to indicate that there was no problem.
Zhang Wen quietly pinched Xu Dawei from behind, and he didn't say much, only saying "No problem".
Xu Dajun said with shame, "Dad, why did you say you'd live alone after the family split? I'm the eldest son, you should live with me..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xu Zifan interrupted him, "Would your daughter drive me crazy if I lived with you? Don't say anything more, I'll live on my own, I won't live with anyone, and you should all stay away from me from now on. I'm already fifty-eight, I've taken care of you all my life, and I'm not going to bother with your affairs anymore."
Since the accounts are fine, you should know that everyone's contribution to this family is different, so dividing it equally would be unfair. Let's divide it according to the proportion of income and expenditure surplus for each room in the accounts. Those who contribute more receive more, and those who contribute less receive less. What do you think? Any objections?
"This is such a fair distribution," the second wife said, "they were the first to agree, as they contributed the most." Xu Shengnan's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. In her memory, her parents had always been the hardest working and most devoted in this family. But after looking at the accounts and confirming their authenticity with them, she suddenly realized that the grain her parents contributed to the family was nothing compared to the second wife's salary.
She had always felt indignant on behalf of the first wife's family, but now, in a fair division of the family property, the second wife's family received the largest share. The third wife's family, because their income and expenses were both low, essentially offset each other, so they received almost nothing, ending up at the bottom of the family fortune. But if the third wife's family hadn't been cunning and secretly withheld things, the first wife's family would have received the smallest share!
Xu Shengnan felt somewhat embarrassed. Although no one knew what she was thinking, she still felt like she had been slapped in the face!
Xu Zifan ignored her. Seeing that they had no objections, he wrote down the remaining money in the ledger on five separate sheets of paper according to the proportions. He had already made the list before, so he was just copying it down.
Then the grain was divided up, and the farm tools, pots and pans, chickens, tables and benches were all marked with their value, so that they could choose according to their needs, and it was still divided proportionally.
The house belongs to whoever lives in it. It was built for them when they got married, so it's none of his business if they can't fit in after they have children.
The elderly people looked around and realized something was wrong, so they asked, "Fan, what did you get? Everything's been distributed, why isn't there anything for you?"
Xu Zifan chuckled, "Me? I don't want anything. I don't want them to blame me for taking things away later if they don't have a good life."
Xu Aiguo was almost in tears. Wasn't this going to cement their reputation as unfilial? What would others think of him in the future? He hurriedly said, "Dad, even if you're angry, don't be so hard on yourself. I'll give you everything I've divided up. I'll also give you good things in the future. Don't be angry."
"You've never let me see anything before, how can I expect you to in the future?" Xu Zifan retorted without even looking up. "You're the one who hides things and never hands them over. This time, you only got a tiny bit of stuff. Am I supposed to use it to fill a gap between my teeth? I don't want anything."
After writing down the detailed list of the family division, he looked up at them and said coldly, "I built every brick and tile in this house, and I bought all the farm tools. But you are still my sons, so it's my fault if I didn't raise you well."
I don't want anything from this house, just enough to cover my food and drink for the past ten years. I'll find somewhere to move out in a month. From now on, I'll never come back, even if I starve to death. And don't come to me for help. Don't blame me for being harsh, but I don't want to faint like I did today and have to wait for myself to wake up again.
If we don't get along, let's not force ourselves to stay together. Let's separate and each live our own lives happily!