Xi Erniu was very dissatisfied. He rolled his eyes and pointed at Xi Qingyue. "Severing ties is fine, but the house belongs to us. You two move out, and as for the fields, you're both too young to be given land—it would only be wasted."
The village head frowned at him. "Erniu, isn't this going too far? No house to live in and no land to farm—how are they supposed to get by in the future?"
At this point, Aunt Wang couldn't help but speak up. "Erniu, this house was originally built with the help of Daya's father. If you force them out, where will they live?"
"That's right, Erniu. This is really unfair."
"Exactly. You should at least give them some silver to rebuild a house, and a bit of land too."
Faced with the villagers' criticism, Xi Erniu looked utterly unapologetic. "They're the ones who wanted to sever ties. Since we're no longer family, they can't live with us anymore. Where they live is their problem. They're too young to farm the land anyway—it'd just be a waste. And we have no silver to give."
Xi Qingyue had expected this all along. After severing ties, she had no intention of living with these people anyway. Just looking at them annoyed her, and it ruined her appetite.
The village head's authoritative voice rang out again. "Daya's father hasn't been confirmed dead yet, so his share of land must be divided. You should give them at least two mu of land. As for the house..."
He paused and turned to Xi Qingyue. "Daya, what do you think?"
If she insisted on taking the house, severing ties wouldn't be possible. The village head understood this well—Xi Erniu wouldn't agree, and he couldn't force him. So he had to ask for Xi Qingyue's opinion first.
Xi Qingyue pretended to think it over reluctantly before nodding. "Fine. We can give up the house, but he must give us five taels of silver as compensation, plus two mu of land."
"Don't even dream of it! Where am I supposed to get that much silver?" Xi Erniu nearly jumped at the mention of silver.
"That's right. We have no silver. At most, we'll give you two mu of land," Cheng Dingxiang quickly added.
Xi Qingyue nodded. "Very well. Then it's settled. Give us the two mu of land, and we'll draw up the papers now."
Hearing this, Xi Erniu glared darkly at Cheng Dingxiang and slapped her hard.
"Who told you to agree to two mu of land?"
He didn't want to give Xi Qingyue anything—everything in the Xi family belonged to him.
The village head's brows shot up, and his eyes bore into Xi Erniu with a stern warning. "Erniu, do you still want to sever ties or not? Are you giving the land or not? If not, then you'll have to take care of those two girls yourselves. But if you try to sell them off again, you'll be reported to the authorities and face punishment."
In other words, either they separated and lived independently, or he took care of them—and he couldn't sell them off at will. That was the village head's point.
Xi Erniu thought it over and finally gritted his teeth. "Fine. I'll give the land."
The village head swept his gaze across the crowd and spoke solemnly. "Let all the villagers here bear witness today. Once the papers are signed and fingerprinted, Daya and her younger sister will have nothing more to do with Erniu's family. If anyone else tries to sell them off secretly, everyone here should step in and help."
That was all he could do. Though life would be hard after severing ties, at least they would have some freedom.
Xi Qingyue took Xi Weilan's hand and bowed deeply to the village head once more. "Thank you, Grandpa Village Head!"
The village head looked at them and sighed inwardly. "No need to thank me. This is my duty. If you two ever run into trouble, don't hesitate to come to me. I'll help however I can."
"Thank you, Grandpa Village Head!" they both said again.
After that, the village head had the papers drawn up on the spot. Everyone present signed and pressed their fingerprints. Once the documents were filed with the local authorities, the two families would be officially separated.
Holding one of the documents, the village head looked at Xi Qingyue kindly. "I'll take this to the authorities and have it filed. Once your new household registration is ready, I'll bring it to you. Also, there are a few empty houses near the big willow tree at the west end of the village. They're a bit run-down, but they can still be lived in after some cleaning. You and Erya can stay there for now."
"All right, Grandpa Village Head. We'll move in tonight," Xi Qingyue said with a smile.
The village head frowned slightly. "What's the rush? Nothing's been cleaned over there. Wait until tomorrow when I have someone clean it up, then move in."
Xi Qingyue shook her head. "It's fine. We'll make do for one night and clean up properly tomorrow."
Seeing how determined she was, the village head didn't stop her. The weather was warm, so they could manage one night even if it was a bit dirty.
Then the village head told Xi Erniu that he had to give Xi Qingyue some grain the next day—he couldn't send them away empty-handed. He even considered things like pots and pans, offering to lend her one of his own unused pots for now.
Xi Erniu reluctantly agreed in front of the village head, but how much grain he would give was still up to him.
With things settled, the village head led the others away.
Before leaving, Aunt Wang warmly said, "Daya, I'm free tomorrow. I'll come help you clean up the place."
"Thank you, Aunt!" Xi Qingyue quickly dragged Xi Weilan over to express her gratitude.
After everyone had gone, Xi Erniu's dark face turned even blacker. The way he looked at Xi Qingyue made it seem like he wanted to devour her.
Cheng Dingxiang sneered sarcastically, "Daya, don't come crying later. That west end is close to the mountains. Be careful—you might get eaten by wolves in the middle of the night."
"Don't worry. Even if I get eaten by wolves, I'd rather that than stay here working like an ox and getting sold off by you two. Instead, you two be careful you don't get your comeuppance."
"You ungrateful wretch! What did you just say?" Cheng Dingxiang flew into a rage, hands on her hips, ready to yell.
Xi Qingyue ignored her completely. She took Xi Weilan's hand and went back to their room—they still had to pack a few things to take with them.
As soon as they entered the room, Xi Weilan clapped her hands in excitement. "Great, Sis! I don't have to worry about them selling me anymore!"
Xi Qingyue smiled and ruffled her hair. "Mmhmm. No one will ever bully you again."
She walked over to the bed, lifted the bedding, and found six taels of silver and a few hundred copper coins hidden underneath—money their mother had stashed away as a safety net.
For her to have saved up so much, their mother really knew what she was doing. What a shame she had passed away too soon.
Because everything had happened so suddenly, the original Xi Qingyue hadn't thought of this silver in time, so it had remained hidden.
Luckily, Xi Erniu hadn't discovered it. Otherwise, she would have had to waste time getting it back.
She tucked the silver and coins into her space, folded the bedding, then picked it up and led Xi Weilan out of the room. She didn't need these things for real, but she had to put on a show.
Watching the two sisters walk away, Xi Erniu spat on the ground. "I'd like to see how long you two will last."
As Xi Qingyue walked down the path, her steps felt light and carefree. Getting rid of this troublesome family—only she and Xi Weilan remained—this was a way better life.
Once her new household registration was processed and legally separated from Xi Erniu's family, the two sisters would be completely free.
