Transmigrated into a minor official in a county government, with children at home waiting for rice t

The older sister-in-law's eyes widened.

She reached out to tug at Zhang Shouren's sleeve, but he subtly brushed her off.

Zhang's father looked at Zhang Shouren, then turned to Zhang Sanlang, "Eldest son, this is a good idea. Once you sign this severance agreement, the old house will belong to the third branch. From now on, whether you live or die is none of my business."

A fleeting look of joy crossed Zhang Sanlang's face, but he quickly suppressed it.

He pursed his lips, feigning resignation, took the pen from his great-uncle, signed the severance document, dipped his finger in ink, and pressed his fingerprint on it.

The great-uncle took the pen, added the transfer clause to the deed, and handed it to Zhang's father to sign and affix his seal.

He then had Zhang Shouren bring the household registration certificate and write a deed, stating that the old house and land were to be transferred to Zhang Shouli's name from that day forward, and that there would be no further property ownership between Zhang Shiqing's family and Zhang Shouli.

Zhang Shouren personally copied the contract into three copies.

Tomorrow, after it's sent to the county government for tax payment and stamping, it will become a red contract. Then, the household registration certificate will be amended, and the transfer will be considered complete.

Zhang Sanlang worked in the county government office and was very familiar with these procedures, so it was naturally entrusted to him. He carefully folded the document severing ties with his great-uncle and the deed to the old house, put them in his pocket, and bowed to his great-uncle and ninth great-uncle.

He led Ximei and Qingge towards the door. Ximei switched the fire poker from her left hand to her right and tapped it against the door frame with a crisp sound.

The door to the main room was open, and a cold wind blew in, causing the candlelight to flicker violently for a moment, almost going out, before struggling to stand up again.

That night, the father and his two daughters ate a hearty meal of the leftovers from the previous day and went to bed very late.

happy Mei'er was filled with anticipation for returning to the old house, because she could finally have her own room. Qing Ge'er was also overjoyed that he would no longer be bullied by Bao Ge'er and the others, and was so excited that he couldn't sleep.

The next morning, Zhang Sanlang went to the county government office.

After the clerks finished their shift, he asked Feng, the clerk, for half an hour's leave, and headed to the household registration office with the severance document and the white contract in his pocket. The household registration office was located on the west side of the main hall, its door wide open, and the sound of abacuses clattering inside was incessant.

The man on duty was surnamed Zhou, in his early forties, with a thin, long face and a wisp of mustache.

He took the document from Zhang Sanlang, flipped through a few pages, and frowned. "Severing ties?"

"Yes." Zhang Sanlang lowered his eyes and spoke softly.

"My fourth brother is studying at the prefectural school and will take the provincial examination next year. My father was worried that I, as his third brother, would ruin his future by working in the government office. So he decided to let me leave home."

Zhou Qianxing did not respond immediately.

He placed the document on the table and tapped the paper lightly twice with his fingers.

"Leave Sanlang, protect Shiro." He uttered these words in a flat tone, revealing no emotion. "They really know how to calculate."

Zhang Sanlang twitched the corner of his mouth but didn't say anything.

Zhou Qianxing didn't say anything more.

He picked up his pen, dipped it in ink, and began to verify the boundaries of the old house.

Halfway through the verification, he suddenly asked without looking up, "How does your fourth brother rank in the state school?"

Zhang Sanlang answered honestly, "According to him, the teacher has praised him several times. He said he will definitely pass next year's imperial examination."

Zhou Qianxing gave a soft hum.

The sound was very soft, as if it came from the nose, and you could hardly hear it if you weren't paying attention.

"The exam will be held." He repeated these three words as if he had chewed on something not very tasty.

"We people toil away in the government office until we die, and even if we become adept at navigating interpersonal relationships, we'll only ever be clerks at best. Your fourth brother, on the other hand, is lucky. He passed the imperial examination and became a man of high status."

He put down his pen, picked up the household registration certificate, and checked the boundaries against the contract again. After confirming that everything was correct, he pulled out a thick household register from the corner of his desk, turned to the Zhang family's page, and began to annotate the certificate.

Halfway through his review, his pen suddenly stopped. "Officer of Posting," he said, "you just said that your father severed ties with you for your younger brother's future."

"Yes."

"The old house is a form of compensation."

"Yes."

Zhou Qianxing gently placed the brush on the brush rest.

He glanced at the household registration certificate, then at Zhang Sanlang, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "Since it's compensation, one old house isn't enough, is it?"

He opened another booklet, which was the Zhang family's land ownership register.

Zhou Qianxing's finger traced across the paper, stopping at a certain column. "The Zhang family also owns ten mu of ancestral land outside the city, which was purchased along with the old house. It's currently rented out to clansmen for cultivation, yielding six or seven shi of wheat annually. Ten mu of fertile land—do you dare take it?"

Zhang Sanlang was both surprised and delighted when he saw the words.

He knew what it would mean once those words were written.

When Zhang's father and brother and sister-in-law find out, they will surely be furious.

Although doing this was illegal, how could the Zhang family dare to cause trouble?

It was precisely for Zhang Shouzhi's future that his father insisted on severing ties with his son. If this matter were to go through with the authorities and become a big fuss, it would severely damage Zhang Shouzhi's reputation.

As fellow minor officials in the county government, Zhou Qianxing's actions were not entirely for Zhang Sanlang's sake, but also to disgust the Zhang family.

Having thought it through, Zhang Sanlang smiled and said, "If Brother Zhou dares to write it, I dare to accept it."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qianxing smiled and added a line to the household registration document: "Ten mu of ancestral land shall be transferred to Zhang Shouli's name from this day forward."

Zhou Qianxing put down his pen, picked up the household registration certificate, and gently blew on it. When the ink was half dry, he gestured towards the office of Tao Yashi in the inner room.

Zhang Sanlang understood and went inside.

Tao, the clerk, glanced at Zhang Sanlang a few times, then tapped the household registration certificate four times with his finger. "The old house is worth twenty strings of cash, and the ancestral land is worth eighty strings. That's a total of one hundred strings. Four strings of deed tax should be paid. If it's tax-exempt according to the division of property within the clan, then it can be done in the accounts."

Tao Cheng put down his pen. "I overheard part of your conversation with Zhou Quan. Ah, while Old Man Zhang's actions may seem unreasonable, they have their reasons; it's all for the sake of his children!"

"The old house is compensation, and the ancestral land is also compensation. Since Old Zhang is willing to sever ties with his relatives, he should be willing to make sacrifices. It's not easy for you to raise two children alone; ten acres of land are enough to feed them. You won't be charged deed tax on the house, but you know the rules."

"This fee isn't waived by me; it's being covered by the Household Revenue Department. During the autumn tax season, there's a shortage of manpower, and the Household Revenue Department gets busy, so they inevitably have to borrow people from the Personnel Department. You're a good person; if you're being borrowed, I'll take your place."

Zhang Sanlang looked at his fingers and smiled. "Thank you, Clerk Tao. I remember the favor from the Revenue Department. Just let me know if you need my help."

Tao Cheng nodded. The household registration certificate in his hand had an additional household seal, with bright red ink stamped squarely in the column for the transfer of real estate and land.

He carefully arranged the letter of severance of kinship, the Zhang family household registration certificate, and the old house deed into a stack, and pushed it in front of Zhang Sanlang. "The ancestral land deed is still in the hands of the Zhang family. According to the rules, the letter of severance of kinship and the household registration certificate alone are enough to pay taxes."

"I'll amend the household registration book so that if anything goes wrong later, it won't be difficult to explain. But you should still get the Zhang family's deed as soon as possible."

After giving his instructions, he raised his chin, indicating that Zhang Sanlang could leave.

Zhang Sanlang nodded in acknowledgment, turned and left, the door closing gently behind him.