Chapter 80 Adoption
Huang and Su came back when the four sisters finished cooking. Fortunately, although it was cloudy these days, it didn't rain, so it was convenient to work.
Sun Shan obediently fetched hot water from the kitchen and asked Huang and Su to wash their faces.
Huang said gently, "You must be hungry. Let's eat first."
Guyu and Lixia brought dishes and rice from the stove, while Xiaoman and Hanlu helped set the table.
The meal tonight is simple, stir-fried water spinach with garlic, egg soup, and a bowl of dried radish.
I specially steamed a piece of Cantonese sausage for Sun Shan.
The sausages were brought back by the eldest aunt when she came home to visit. Sun Shan didn't like this kind of sweet sausage very much, but Huang and Su liked to save them for him. After all, it was meat.
After taking a bite, my mouth was full of fat. For the country people who had no oil or water, it was indeed a rare delicacy.
Hanlu is small and more lively than her sisters. She asked, "Grandma, will Grandpa Sun be buried tomorrow?"
If it was an ordinary family, the coffin would be kept for at least three days, and some wealthy families would keep it for more than seven days. As for Sun Banxian, he had no children, no wife, no parents, and only a nephew within three mourning periods, so the funeral was kept simple.
Huang scooped up a spoonful of dried radish, nodded and said, "Yes, he will be buried on the mountain tomorrow. I will go with you in the morning to light some incense for Grandpa Sun."
Hanlu and others nodded obediently.
Hanlu asked again: "Grandma, who will hold the basin and break the basin?" She was asking who would be the filial son. Even if they were five-guarantee households, they still had other relatives, and the family relatives would arrange for someone to be the filial son.
Su gossiped, "Mother, I heard from the village chief's aunt that Uncle Sun's nephew's grandson should be the filial son. Is that true?"
Huang nodded and said, "The village chief said this. If he is willing, the child will be adopted by Sun Banxian, and Sun Banxian's 50 taels, house, and land will belong to him. If he is not willing, the village will treat him as a filial son and take over the family. Sun Banxian's land and silver will belong to the village."
Lixia asked curiously: "Grandma, what happened next?"
Sun Shan was also curious. After all, Sun Banxian was not poor, but a hidden rich man. In fact, with his wealth, he could have started a family and had children. As for why he was still single, Sun Shan didn't understand.
Huang sighed and said, "With so much money, who wouldn't be tempted? His distant nephew agreed and adopted the second grandson of his eldest son as his own son and made him a filial and virtuous grandson."
Su said worriedly, "Mother, people say Uncle Sun has a bad fate and is destined to be lonely. Is it okay to adopt his child?"
Sun Banxian had a father and a mother, but they both passed away early. After that, he went to the Taoist temple on Huangyang Mountain to be an apprentice. After completing his studies, he returned to Sunjia Village and gradually became known as Sun Banxian. He had business in a radius of ten miles. Gradually, more and more people came to him for fortune-telling and feng shui.
But the villagers always felt that he had a bad fate, was unlucky with relatives, and was doomed to be alone.
The villagers were very afraid.
Huang said calmly: "Wine makes people popular, money makes people happy."
Sun Banxian's nephew's family was originally poor and they could barely make ends meet. When he suddenly became extremely rich, he didn't care about anything else and must have agreed eagerly.
With this money and this land, the family's difficulties were greatly alleviated, so who cares what happens next?
Su glanced at Sun Shan and thought to herself, if it were me, I would definitely not agree. I love my own son so much, why would I give him to someone else, especially someone so prudent?
Sun Shan asked curiously, "Grandma, after the adoption, did you give the money and land directly to his nephew's family?"
Huang shook her head and said, "That's definitely not the case. The village chief plans to give Sun Banxian's 10 acres of land to his nephew to cultivate, and the income will also belong to his family. He will be responsible for raising Sun Banxian's adopted grandson.
As for the house and 50 taels, leave them in the village. When there is a chance, buy some land and leave it to that grandson.
The village chief also said that if anything happened to the adopted grandson on the way, Sun Banxian’s house and land would be taken back and belong to the village.
If Ping An grows up and marries a wife and has children, everything that belongs to Sun Banxian will belong to him."
In fact, the village chief did this to prevent his nephew from taking Sun Banxian’s land and house as his own, rather than as his adopted grandson.
The villagers will not allow such a thing to happen.
Since he was adopted, he had to have nothing to do with his original family, and he had to recognize Sun Banxian as his relative, be his descendant, and pass on the family line for Sun Banxian. He couldn't mess up the long-standing rules.
Su thought the village chief was doing a very reasonable thing: "Mother, this child is only 5-6 years old. It will take more than ten years for him to grow up. During this period, the income from the 10 acres of land has long repaid his parents for their upbringing."
What's more, the village chief also planned to use the 50 taels to buy more land as property for his adopted child.
The purchased land naturally belongs to Sun Banxian’s nephew to cultivate, and the harvest still belongs to their family. It’s such a good deal.
Huang also thought so: "Everyone thinks that the village chief's arrangement is very reasonable. After all, the village's accounts are kept clear, and the villagers will not covet a penny from Sun Banxian. Everything he has should be left to his grandson."
Except for Sun Banxian's nephew, no one else in the village would have any objection.
But the nephew's opinion could not resist the authority of the village. If you want to live in Sunjia Village, you must abide by the village rules and clan rules.
As the atmosphere in the village was unusually gloomy and solemn tonight, Huang told everyone to go to bed early and called Uncle Sun to keep vigil.
No matter who dies in Sunjia Village, every household must send a representative to keep vigil, after all, they are of the same origin and are related.
Sun Shan lay on his bedding obediently, reciting the new knowledge he had learned today, then reciting what he had learned before, before falling asleep peacefully.
After waking up and having breakfast, Su took him and De Ge'er to the school. Before leaving, she said, "I'll come pick you two up at noon, and then we'll go burn incense to Grandpa Sun."
Fortunately, Zhengjia Village and Sunjia Village are very close, so I took advantage of the lunch break to go home and burn incense to Sun Banxian.
As for the cousin at home and the two grandsons of the village chief, they will return to Sunjia Village at noon and follow the adults to see Sun Banxian for the last time.
Su had already made arrangements with Zheng Bo and Zheng Tongsheng.
As a countryman, Mr. Zheng naturally knew these rules and agreed with this behavior. He quickly approved it: Approved!
In the morning class, Master Zheng was still teaching new knowledge. It had been more than two months, and we had only learned one-third of the "Three Character Classic", which was a very slow pace.
It seemed that Master Zheng deliberately spoke so slowly in order to help students adapt first and lay a solid foundation, especially learning to read and practicing calligraphy, which were the most important parts.
Sun Shan and his two companions spent almost the entire afternoon practicing calligraphy by the small pond. Even if it rained, they would not change.
When it rained, we would just move from the small pond to the classroom, and wash the ink with a bucket of water. We were also not allowed to dirty the classroom, and if we did, we would be punished with a beating.
Master Zheng read a sentence at the top, and Sun Shan and his two companions read a sentence at the bottom.
Then he went forward to see how Master Zheng wrote the new characters, and Sun Shan and the other two followed behind him.
After they had written correctly, Master Zheng told them to practice calligraphy by the small pond.
The daily study order is very regular and step-by-step.