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With Lin Jiaxin intervening, the severance of the relationship was firmly decided.

The village elder tried to dissuade them but to no avail.

He sighed, had his son fetch paper and brush, and wrote the letter to document the severance of ties.

Members of the Lin family and Lin Jiaxin signed their names and pressed their fingerprints on it.

Since the families had already separated, no further discussion on property or land was necessary.

From this day forward, the two families would live and die without any dealings with each other.

Even if Lin Jianling and his wife were to pass away, Lin Jiaxin would not have to pay a single cent, leaving the funeral arrangements solely to the brothers Lin Jiazhong and Lin Jiaxiao.

The matter of severance also involved the issue of household registration, so merely signing was not enough; the letter had to be taken to the Yamen for official registration.

Only then could Lin Jiaxin’s family be separated from Lin Jianling’s family registry.

Therefore, the village elder asked each party to send someone along with his eldest son to make a trip to the town.

Li Feng’e, understanding the connection through her maternal family, hastily urged Lin Jiaxiao to go. After all, there was the matter of debt payment, and if they could borrow some silver through her aunt, that would be ideal.

On Lin Yuan’s side, the only man was indisposed and unable to accompany them.

Lao Fan gave Liuzi a meaningful glance, and Liuzi astutely volunteered for the task: "I’ve heard that Third Master Lin is acquainted with the Madam County Magistrate.

Let me go to gain some experience. I’ll take this trip on behalf of Miss, while you need to stay to discuss compensation matters with our Young Master. "

As soon as the issue of compensation was mentioned, Lin Jiaxiao hastily left.

Seeing his younger brother gone, Lin Jiazhong had no choice but to step forward, "Young Master, Sir, we... we are just ordinary folk and don’t have much silver. Could you, perhaps, grant us a few more days?"

Since the division of the household, the Lin family branch only needed to produce one hundred taels of silver.

However, Lady Yang had long declared she would not contribute the money, leaving the brothers Lin Jiazhong and Lin Jiaxiao to pay.

With Lin Jiaxiao headed to town and Li Feng’e being a woman, Lin Jiazhong couldn’t press her for the silver.

The agreement was for fifty taels each, but even so, fifty taels was no small sum.

"Aren’t you Mr. Accountant for Old Master Zhou?

And you say you have no silver? You may convince your father with that, but I certainly don’t believe it.

Even the maids in Old Master Zhou’s household receive a monthly allowance of two taels of silver.

How can an accountant have no silver? With all the Reward Silver from the heads of each household included, you should be able to come up with fifty taels," Xia Zheng wouldn’t put up with Lin Jiazhong’s excuses.

Monetary matters might be something others struggle with, but for him, it was second nature.

Having lived in a large estate for a long time, he was quite clear on the petty tricks of the servants.

Lin Jiazhong had never handed over any silver to Lady Yang in all these years; the money he earned was tightly held in his own grip. The same went for Laosan’s house; only the reticent second brother dutifully turned in his share.

"But, Sir, I, truly don’t have that much at the moment.

What if... what if we do it this way: I’ll give you a portion first, and I assure you that I’ll deliver the rest within ten days!

" Lin Jiazhong really couldn’t produce so much silver at once.

Moreover, with Laosan absent, if he took all the silver out, what would he do if Laosan refused to repay it later?

Xia Zheng flicked his wrist and extended three fingers: "Three days!"

"Sir, three days are too..." Lin Jiazhong was about to plead poverty and ask for a few more days, but he saw Xia Zheng’s third finger slowly bending down. He hurriedly grabbed Xia Zheng’s hand and repeatedly promised, "Three days, three days, I guarantee I’ll have it delivered in three days!"

Xia Zheng, his hand held by an old man like Lin Jiazhong, frowned in disgust, pushed him away, and then rubbed his hand on his clothes. Afterward, he casually began unbuttoning his fine-quality robe, indicating that he no longer wanted it.