Chapter 136: Splitting the Money

With the electric fan on, summer was finally comfortable.

The whole family gathered around the table as Yun Linhe took out the money from selling the pearls.

"The boss didn’t take the ones that were too small or poorly shaped."

They had brought a total of thirty-two pearls, and six of them were rejected.

There were a total of three pearls over 8mm, which the boss bought for 160 yuan each.

He had originally said he would buy pearls over 8mm for 200 yuan each, but the luster on these oyster pearls wasn’t as beautiful as that of other Sea Pearls.

Five of the remaining pearls—those under 8mm that were still round, plump, and relatively large—were bought for 30 yuan each.

Eight pearls that were smaller and less round, but still had some character, were bought for 10 yuan each.

The rest were bought for 3 yuan each.

All told, the pearls sold for a total of 740 yuan!

After paying for Yun Chen Nan’s glasses and some other small things, 575 yuan remained.

Seeing the five hundred-plus yuan on the table, every member of the family broke into a wide smile.

Yun Linhe pushed the money toward Granny Yun. "Ma, you hold onto the money."

Granny Yun didn’t take the money. Instead, she announced, "Your father and I discussed it. The house is almost finished, so starting today, we’re splitting the finances. From now on, each of your families will manage its own money."

Everyone exchanged glances. ’This means... we’re splitting the family now?’

"This is all the money the family has."

Granny Yun took out the rest of the money and placed it on the table.

"I’ve done the calculations. We only really started saving this money in the last two years. With such a big family, our expenses are high, but everyone has worked hard for our home. It was only after buying the boat this year that we started saving up a bit more. In total, we’ve saved 5,400 yuan."

Over five thousand yuan. For a single family, this was an enormous sum of money.

After all, in this era, having ten thousand yuan in savings was enough to get a family’s name in the newspaper.

"Adding the money from the pearls, the total comes to 5,975 yuan."

"As for splitting it, your father and I will keep the odd 975 yuan. The remaining five thousand, you two families can split evenly. Any objections?"

Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe both shook their heads.

"Pa, Ma, you should keep more. What can you even do with just over nine hundred yuan?"

The two daughters-in-law nodded emphatically in agreement.

The two elders smiled and said, "We’re not done yet. We’re old, but we can still do a bit of work. On most days, we can grow vegetables and such to save on grocery money. After the split, each of your families just needs to give us ten yuan a month. That will be enough for our food."

Yun Linhe and Yun Linhai did a quick calculation and figured it was acceptable. If it wasn’t enough, they would just give more. Plus, they could always buy things for their parents from time to time.

"Any objections now?"

Yun Linhai and the others shook their heads.

Granny Yun divided the money, giving each family 2,500 yuan.

"I’m very pleased with both of my daughters-in-law. You’re both thrifty and know how to manage a household, so I can rest easy entrusting this money to you."

Granny Yun handed the money to her two daughters-in-law.

The two women were deeply moved. They felt it was the blessing of a lifetime to have such a wonderful mother-in-law.

"Since we haven’t moved yet and are all still living together, my daughters-in-law and I will continue to take turns cooking. Each of your families will give me 10 yuan, and this money will cover the entire family’s living expenses. Groceries, grain, and other daily necessities will all be paid for from this."

Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei had no objections.

Grandpa Yun continued, "Besides the money and the house, our family has those few acres of land and the wooden boat. You two can decide about the boat amongst yourselves. Whether you buy another one or have both families cooperate with this one and split the earnings—that’s up to you."

"As for the fields, we’ll wait to divide them when you move. Any objections to that?"

Everyone shook their heads. The two elders were being perfectly fair.

Elders this fair were rare these days. It wasn’t as if Yun Linhai and the others hadn’t seen other families split up; those occasions always involved a great deal of fighting that dragged on for a long time.

Thankfully, their family was harmonious. The two households wouldn’t start a fight over trivial gains.

"There’s one more thing."

Granny Yun suddenly added, "Jiaojiao’s future earnings must be kept separate. You all know her abilities. Her money can’t be mixed in with yours. That would be unfair to her."

Yun Jiao blinked. ’Huh? This involves me?’

In truth, Granny Yun and Grandpa Yun’s actions today were mainly for Yun Jiao’s sake.

To fishermen like them, Yun Jiao’s ability was simply incredible.

The money she earned by herself was enough to cover the entire family’s expenses.

But the two elders didn’t want their children and grandchildren to develop a habit of depending too much on Yun Jiao.

That would undoubtedly be bad for everyone.

Although Yun Jiao was officially registered to the elder son’s family, both households treated her as their own daughter. Now that they were splitting up, her ability to earn money was bound to only get better and better.

Putting all that money into the elder son’s household might not cause any issues now, but over time, it was possible that resentment could grow between the two families.

The two elders had discussed and reconsidered, and they were firm: Yun Jiao’s money had to be kept separate.

"Jiaojiao is so good at earning money. It wouldn’t be right to put it in either of your family’s accounts, so I’ll keep it for her separately."

She glanced at her two sons and daughters-in-law. Seeing that they had no objections, she felt deeply gratified.

"Jiaojiao, from now on when you go out to sea with your father and your uncle, the money you earn will be split into three parts. You’ll get one part for yourself, and you’ll keep it here with Grandma. If there’s anything you want to buy, just come ask me for the money. When you’re older and can manage your own money, Grandma will give it all back to you."

Yun Jiao: "Okay."

Even though she didn’t understand why right now, she knew Grandma would never hurt her.

Hearing that their little sister would get to save her own money, Yun Xiaowu and the other kids were incredibly envious.

He even secretly went to his parents to plead his case. "Mom, can I save my own money too?"

For once, Yun Xiaowu was trying to act like a good kid.

But the "good kid" still got a beating for his troubles.

"In your dreams. You can save your own money when you’re old enough to get married."

Yun Xiaowu was speechless.

’I’m only ten years old,’ he thought. ’It’s going to be a long time before I get a wife!’

Even though the family had technically been divided, everyone was still living under the same roof, so daily life didn’t change much.

The new house, on the other hand, was almost finished.

Yun Linhai kept thinking about what Ah Wang had said the other day. After talking it over with his younger brother, Yun Linhe, he decided they still needed to go out to sea.

Of course, Yun Jiao would be going too.

Yun Xiaowu and the others wanted to go as well.

Yun Linhai said, "The boat can’t hold that many people. We’ll take you when we buy a bigger boat in the future."

"Then when are we going to buy a big boat?"

Yun Linhai replied, "Just wait. It’ll be soon."

In reality, that was still a long way off.

They all wanted to buy an iron-hulled boat with a diesel engine, but even a secondhand one would cost two or three thousand yuan.

What’s more, there weren’t any secondhand iron-hulled boats for sale in their area.

On Saturday, the weather was beautiful—a perfect day to go out to sea.

Yun Jiao was picked up early in the morning, and her mother and older brother helped her wash her face and comb her hair.

She was still groggy when, all cleaned up, she was placed in her older brother’s arms.

Her older brother was going out to sea with them today as well.