Chapter 118: Is it wrong to divide the family for 118 minutes?
After dinner was finished and the table was cleaned, Ye Gaosheng moved the two molds onto the table. The soap had dried and was demolded, but Ye Gaosheng still carefully took each soap out.
“Little sister, what should we do next?” Ye Gaosheng asked.
“Just put the soap in wooden boxes. Then, we’ll get up early tomorrow morning to sell them in town,” Ye Jiu replied as she fetched a carrying basket and picked up a wooden box to open it and store the soap inside.
However, right after placing them inside, she took the soap out again.
The box was made of wood and although its exterior was well-finished, placing the soap directly inside could easily scratch it.
Ye Jiu thought for a moment and said, “Fourth Brother, your wife and Qinghua have some fabric used for making handkerchiefs; the texture is finer. We could wrap the soap in this fabric before placing it inside the wooden box to avoid scratches and damage to the appearance.”
“All right, I’ll go get it from my wife,” Ye Gaosheng said as he stood up.
Ye Jiu stopped him and then took out about ten copper coins from her bosom and handed them to Ye Gaosheng, “Everything at home has already been divided, and it wouldn’t be right for us to take others’ belongings without offering something. Give the money to your wife.”
“She bought that embroidery fabric before the division. Even if you go and take some without paying, I want to see if Mrs. Zhang dares to complain!” Mrs. He said discontentedly.
Before noon today, everything in the house was hers to command, but now, in just a few short hours, her daughter needed to pay money just to take something from the main house.
This drastic change was something Mrs. He still couldn’t adjust to.
“Mom, as they say, it’s prudent for even close brothers to clear their accounts, and besides, we’re getting this fabric for business, not for personal use. It’s only right and proper to pay. We aren’t short of money now; there’s no need to harm the good relations with my older brother over such matters,” Ye Jiu sighed.
Old Man Ye nodded along, “That’s right, Jiujiu has a point. If it were just the two of us, taking a few things from my eldest’s house wouldn’t cause any stir. But nominally, we are with the fourth, and although he isn’t married yet, the division is done. Being said to take advantage of his elder brother and sister-in-law would tarnish our reputation.”
“Humph!” Mrs. He felt displeased but didn’t say anything further.
Seeing that Mrs. He was not objecting, Ye Gaosheng took the money and went out.
As Ye Gaosheng emerged from the main house with the fabric, Ye Gaoshi sat on the kang, sighing continuously.
Looking at the copper coins before him, Ye Gaoshi suddenly regretted the division, “Do you think… our family made a mistake by dividing?”
Actually, on reflection, they had survived all these years; what difference would another few months make for his younger brother’s marriage?
The concern had been that if his second brother moved out, this opportunity would be missed, and it would be harder to convince their parents to agree to a division later.
But seeing how his close brothers now had to pay money even to take things from his own home, Ye Gaoshi felt increasingly uncomfortable about it.
Although Ye Qinghua was a girl, she did not agree with Ye Gaoshi’s thoughts, “Dad, you shouldn’t think like that. We didn’t divide the family earlier to support Uncle, but now Grandpa and Grandma already have money and there’s no shortage for Uncle’s marriage dowry. Whether our family divides or not really doesn’t bring any significant impact.
Moreover, we also want to eat our fill, not worrying about being hungry every day, only to find that we have just enough food in our stomachs.”