“Just forty strings of cash might be possible. Our family can at least come up with twenty or thirty, and then borrow some more. In a few months, it’ll be autumn harvest…” Charles Carter was calculating, then suddenly shook his head. “Andrew, you don’t understand. The lenders definitely know our family’s financial situation. After we take out forty strings, there’ll be nothing left at home. They’ll definitely press us for repayment in advance, forcing us to sell our land and house at a low price so they can take advantage and make a killing.”

Father isn’t stupid after all—he knows the lenders are ruthless, and taking advantage of others’ misfortune is their usual trick. The more desperate you are, the harder they press for repayment. To put it bluntly, they’re drinking people’s blood, sucking the marrow from their bones!

“Maybe we don’t have to use our own money.” Andrew Carter said, “With a scam like this, if they want to cheat more money, they have to cast a wide net, so there must be quite a few victims. Maybe the authorities have already opened a case. If we can recover the scammed money, the pressure will be much less.”

“That’s right, we should report it to the authorities! Why didn’t I think of that!”

Charles Carter slapped his thigh. Ordinary families fear the government most—just seeing an official makes their legs tremble. If not for Andrew Carter’s reminder, he really wouldn’t have thought of it.

“I’ll go tell Second Brother right now and have him go to the yamen to file a complaint!” Charles Carter took off running.

……

By the afternoon, mother came back home in Uncle Miller’s carriage. Seeing her three children, she was overjoyed. Stephen Carter and Samuel Carter were much cleaner than before and even more lovable, but as for Andrew Carter, no matter what, he just wouldn’t let mother hold him.

“A child this big, still so shy!” White pretended to be angry, but father understood his son well. “The child has grievances in his heart!” He told his wife what had happened, and when White heard her son had been wronged, her eyes immediately filled with tears.

“Andrew has really suffered!” White hugged Andrew Carter’s head and cried for a long time. The family of five was reunited, warm and happy.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Everyone in the The Carter Family was worried, and except for the faces of Samuel Carter and Stephen Carter, there wasn’t a trace of a smile to be found.

In the evening, Second Uncle Edward Carter suddenly returned. As soon as he got home, he called the family together—Henry Carter and Charles Carter.

“Big Brother, Fourth Brother, a real man takes responsibility for his own actions. I owe the money, so I should bear it myself. Let’s do as Big Brother said and split the family right away!” Edward Carter pounded his chest and swore, full of bravado, which startled both Henry Carter and Charles Carter. They thought, did Second Brother take the wrong medicine? Just a few days ago, he was dead set against splitting the family and wanted everyone to take the blame for him. How did he suddenly become so manly today? How strange!

Chapter 10: Dividing the Property, Not the Family

After returning from Second Brother’s room, Charles Carter looked worried and gloomy.

“A good family is about to break up. I’m truly unfilial!” Charles Carter pounded his chest hard, making a thumping sound, full of guilt.

His wife White didn’t look happy either. It wasn’t that she was unwilling to split the family, but she felt sorry for the children. That night, she pulled Stephen Carter aside and, bit by bit, questioned her for over an hour, finally figuring out what had happened after they left home.

White was so angry she didn’t sleep all night, her eyelids swollen and red.

“Splitting the family is good—it should have been done long ago!”

“Sigh!” Charles Carter sighed heavily. “Don’t be angry anymore. Second Brother is really unlucky this time, owing so much money, and we don’t even know how to pay it back.”

Charles Carter hesitated, stealing glances at his wife, as if he had something on the tip of his tongue but just couldn’t say it, looking terribly awkward…

After living with her husband for over ten years, White knew exactly what he was thinking. Her face instantly darkened, and she snapped angrily, “Let me tell you, don’t even think about it!”

Charles Carter looked even more troubled. “No matter what, he’s still my second brother. If I can help, I should help him…”

“No!” White raised her voice by eight degrees, so anxious that tears started to fall. “The family, the family! All you see are your brothers—don’t you care about us women and children? Andrew suffered so much this time. Just thinking about it makes my heart ache like it’s being cut by a knife. These two shops were left by my father for his grandchildren. In a few days, we’ll send Andrew to school. If he can study, let him study; if not, we’ll hurry to find him a wife so he can start a family and career. Samuel is already four or five years old. In a wealthy family, he’d be starting school by now. Can you really bear to see your own sons suffer and be poor their whole lives?”

White fired off a few sharp words, making Charles Carter blush with embarrassment. He tilted his head back and, after a long struggle, shook his head in pain.

“Fine, fine, we’ll split then!”

After a moment of silence, Charles Carter added, “Second Brother is in trouble. No matter what, when we split the family, we should go easy on him a bit. What do you think?”

At this point, could White argue? She could only huff, “Anyway, I’m an outsider. I don’t get any of your family’s money. With those two shops, it’s enough for the children. I won’t meddle in your family’s affairs!”

……

It turned out the biggest obstacle to splitting the family was Edward Carter, but now that the couple had agreed, Eldest Uncle Henry Carter was naturally all for it. With everyone pushing for it, father Charles Carter was unwilling, but there was nothing he could do.

The whole The Carter Family gathered again in the ancestral hall. In just two or three days, Mrs. Carter had become much more haggard, with more age spots on her face and her hair sparse and messy. Seeing this, Charles Carter’s eyes turned red.

“Grandmother, it’s all your grandsons’ fault for being unfilial and making you worry.”