From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 227 The Clan Elders' Hall, the First Clan Head

Xu Fugui has re-established five clear clan rules, and another rule on how to select the head of the family is still pending.

He dismissed everyone, leaving only Xiao Niu, Xiao An, and Xiao Hou.

"Father, elder brother, it's my fault for not disciplining our son properly. I never knew that my fourth son and his wife would do such a thing."

Xu Xiaoan looked guilty, still troubled and unable to let go of what Xu Fugui had just said about "Li Kun having his Qi and Blood Pills and training clothes withheld".

Xu Xiaoniu looked at his fifth brother, whose hair was gray and who looked old.

"Xiao'an, it's not your fault."

Xu Xiaoniu reached out and patted his shoulder: "You're just an ordinary person, but you've worked so hard managing so many things for our family."

He had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage, while Xiao An was an ordinary person who had neither Qi Refining nor Innate Qi.

"Fifth brother, you don't need to blame yourself. It's human nature for everyone to have their own selfish desires. I've kept the three of you here to discuss how to choose a suitable head of the family."

Establishing clear rules is essential to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

Xu Fugui didn't blame Xiao'an either. Over the years, Xiao'an's family had sacrificed so much for the entire Xu family.

Afterwards, everyone discussed how to determine the head of the household.

The four men spoke one after another, each expressing their own opinions. This scene was very similar to the past, when Xu Fugui and his sons discussed matters.

After a while, they came up with a feasible solution.

First, the Xu family established a "Clan Elders' Hall".

The clan elders' hall is composed of the five most senior members of the Xu family.

Currently, Xu Fugui is undoubtedly the most senior, followed by Xiao Niu, Xiao An, and Xiao Hou.

One person is still missing, namely Zhong Che, the oldest among the "Zhong" generation.

The members of the clan elders' hall are fixed; only when one member dies will another person be added in order of seniority.

In addition, they agreed that when the Xu family has more members in the future, five elders would be too few, and two or three more seats would be added to the ancestral hall as appropriate.

The selection of the head of the clan is open to all members of the clan, except for members of the clan elders' ancestral hall. Members of the clan elders' ancestral hall cannot become the head of the clan.

Among the applicants, the top three candidates for head of the family were selected based on a comprehensive evaluation of their academic level, mathematical ability, literary knowledge, interpersonal skills, and organizational abilities.

The five elders of the clan will determine who will become the head of the family.

Inside the clan elders' hall, the principle of majority rule applies.

Xu Fugui also added an important rule: after the head of the family is selected, the head of the family will select two more people, one of whom will be in charge of the Xu family's resources, including all resources such as spirit stones, pills, spirit talismans, and spirit plants.

One person is specifically responsible for recording accounts. Every single resource's income and expenditure must be recorded in detail, without missing a single detail.

The head of the household arranges and manages clan affairs and the expenditure of various resources, but does not keep the resources. The head of the household makes decisions, and then the person in charge of keeping the resources takes them, while the person keeping the books is responsible for recording them.

The clan elders are responsible for regular reconciliation or random checks, ensuring that the number of resources corresponds exactly to the records in the ledger, with no errors allowed.

In this way, the head of the family would not have too much power and would still be subject to the supervision of the clan elders.

Furthermore, the head of the household was not permanent, but reigned for twenty years.

After twenty years, the clan elders will decide whether the head of the family will continue to serve or whether a new head of the family will be selected.

If the head of the family dies during the journey, the clan elders will elect a new head of the family according to the rules.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

the other side.

Xu Zhongsi returned home with a livid face. He kept his head down and walked quickly, not wanting to be noticed by anyone.

The Xu family hasn't experienced anything this serious in a long time.

His wife Sun Fang's mistake wasn't a huge one, but it wasn't insignificant either. However, Xu Fugui brought it up in front of everyone, causing him to lose face completely.

His father, Xiao'an, had taught them countless times: In the Xu family, family harmony is the most important thing!

All those of the same generation are brothers.

All younger generations should be treated as one's own children and grandchildren.

Unfortunately, his wife did something that harmed others for her own benefit, and the other party was none other than Li Kun, whose parents had passed away. Who wouldn't feel heartbroken?
When he returned home, Sun Fang was unaware that what she had done had been discovered.

"Honey, what's wrong? You look so pale. Are you sick?"

Sun Fang wondered if Xu Zhongsi was ill, so she asked her maid to fetch a doctor.

"Sun Fang!"

Xu Zhongsi gave a stern rebuke, which startled Sun Fang.

Her husband rarely gets angry, so calling her by her full name like that is a sign that he is extremely angry.

"I'm asking you, did Brother Zhongche give you Qi and Blood Pills to distribute to the children who practice martial arts?"

"Yes."

Sun Fang responded.

"Did you skimp on some of them, keeping quite a few Qi and Blood Pills for yourself?"

According to Xu Zhongsi, it wasn't just Li Kun who was being embezzled, but Li Kun's share was being embezzled the most.

"……Yes."

Sun Fang paused for a moment, realizing that she had been exposed, and lowered her head and whispered.

How could you be so selfish! Greedy and foolish!

Xu Zhongsi was so angry that he pointed his finger at her and cursed.

Sun Fang knew she was wrong, but she had her own excuse. She muttered resentfully, "I left more for our own family. All three of my sons practice martial arts. The more Qi and Blood Pills we have, the faster our strength will improve."

Isn't it all for our family?

"You—! Unrepentant and ignorant! What do you mean by 'our family' and 'other families'? In this Hundred Valleys Mountain, there is only one Xu family!"

Xu Zhongsi felt like he was talking to a brick wall, unable to explain to Sun Fang what was going on.

"..."

Seeing Xu Zhongsi so angry, Sun Fang remained silent, but she was resentful.

How could such a large family treat it as their own home?

She came from a wealthy farming family in the village, and in that village, people like her were considered normal; everyone favored their own families. It was just that Xu Zhongche trusted her too much, entrusting her with so many Qi and Blood Pills without a second thought.

"What about his training clothes? It's one thing to skimp on his Qi and Blood Pills, but Li Kun is only nine years old. His clothes are too big for Li Gong to fit into. Where did you put his training clothes?"

Xu Zhong thought about this matter and couldn't understand it.

Does his family need a set of practice clothes?

"I……"

When this topic came up, Sun Fang became flustered and stammered, unable to explain herself clearly.

"Say!"

Under Xu Zhongsi's stern questioning, Sun Fang finally revealed the truth: "I saw that the fabric of the clothes was so good, so I... I took two sets for my little nephew in the village."

The nephew she was referring to was her younger brother's child.

Upon hearing her reply, Xu Zhongsi was so angry that he couldn't speak for a moment and was panting heavily.

It's said that once a daughter is married, she's like water spilled from a cup, but his wife's heart is still with her parents' family.

Sun Fang argued, "Our Xu family is a large and wealthy family, we don't lack a few more sets of clothes. It's a great blessing for me to marry into our Xu family. I've enjoyed this blessing, so I can't forget my family in the village."

When she married Xu Zhongsi, the Xu family was not yet well-known and was not a Foundation Establishment Immortal Cultivation family.

None of Xiao'an's four sons had any talent for martial arts.

In addition, Xiao'an was a simple and honest man who was not picky. He just wanted his daughter-in-law to live a stable life.

So Xiao'an found wives for his sons, not requiring them to come from prominent families, but only from honest and law-abiding households.

Sun Fang's family wasn't that poor; she only embezzled resources and sent them to her family out of a desire to take advantage.

"The Xu family may not lack a couple of sets of clothes, but you shouldn't have shortchanged my nephew Li Kun. His parents died early, and you're taking advantage of his youth!"

"You've never been shortchanged on holiday bonuses, don't you have enough of your own savings?" Xu Zhong thought of something and suddenly asked, "I remember your younger brother's eldest son also practices martial arts, you wouldn't have sent some of the Qi and Blood Pills you'd been skimping on, would you?"

"..."

Sun Fang remained silent and did not answer.

Silence is the answer.

A tense silence fell over the room, and the two remained silent.

After a long silence, Xu Zhongsi spoke, his voice as cold as ice: "How much secret money have you saved?"

"About three or four hundred taels."

In ordinary villages, even a whole family couldn't scrape together three hundred taels of silver.

Sun Fang had saved up three or four hundred taels of silver in private savings during the more than ten years she was married into the Xu family.

"Convert all your savings into Qi and Blood Pills, buy some gifts, and send them to Li Kun as an apology. Otherwise..."

Xu Zhongsi paused for a moment, then continued, "Otherwise, take your savings and go back to your parents' home, severing all ties with the Xu family. I want a divorce!"

"..."

Sun Fang would not hesitate to take out her savings of more than ten years, after all, she could not afford the price of being divorced.

When an ordinary woman is divorced, she has no place to belong; her husband's family doesn't want her, and her own family won't accept her either.

As a daughter-in-law in the Xu family, she enjoyed a level of treatment that many women could only dream of.

But she felt wronged, her eyes reddening: "Our relationship of over ten years as husband and wife is not even as good as your distant nephew?"

"Shut up! Do you know what you've done? You're undermining the foundation of the Xu family and sowing discord among our family members!"

Xu Zhongsi glared at her angrily. If Sun Fang weren't the mother of his three children, he would have divorced her without hesitation and married another woman.

This time, Sun Fang really didn't dare to argue anymore and silently took out her private savings.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

a few days later.

After being selected by the "Clan Elders' Hall", Xu Zhonghuai became the first head of the Xu family.

Xu Zhonghuai is at the late stage of Qi Refining, and he is also the oldest among the "Zhong" generation besides Zhong Che. Everyone approves of his character.

Therefore, the five elders of the clan had no disagreement and unanimously decided to choose him.

After Xu Zhonghuai became the head of the family, he chose Xu Zhongchuan to be in charge of bookkeeping.

Like his father, Xiaoyun, Zhongchuan was proficient in mathematics and had a talent for arithmetic.

Xu Xiaoniu's eldest son, Zhong Lei, was in charge of managing the family's resources.

As soon as the candidate was decided, Xu Fugui handed over six thousand spirit stones to Zhong Lei!
Five years ago, Nie Haiping and Nie Tingjun spoke up for the Xu family, and Tuoba Yaowu spent 10,000 spirit stones as payment for purchasing the "Five Elements Stance Technique".

Some of those ten thousand spirit stones have been used up over the years.

Xu Fugui kept two thousand spirit stones for himself and used six thousand spirit stones as family resources.

In addition to the six thousand spirit stones, Xu Zhongche also handed over the Qi-boosting pills he had refined to the family's resource reserves.

These resources are all recorded in the ledgers, and the use of each spirit stone needs to be recorded.

Zhongchuan and Zhonglei were in charge of the most important tasks.

However, besides them, Xu Zhonghuai also arranged a lot of affairs for the Xu family members, especially Xiao'an's four sons.

They continued to be responsible for miscellaneous household chores, such as managing the farmland surrounding Baihe Mountain.

Xu Zhonghuai clearly defined the responsibilities of each person and also established a "salary" based on the content of their responsibilities. Serving in the family, helping with family work, and making contributions to the family were all rewarded.

The principle is that more work equals more pay.

In addition to the deserved rewards and salaries, Xu Zhonghuai also established some rules to reward clan members for their resources.

For example, martial arts practitioners receive rewards such as a certain number of Qi and Blood Pills for breaking through to the second level of stance training, a certain number of Qi and Blood Pills for breaking through to the third level of stance training, and various other rewards for outstanding performance.

The same applies to those who cultivate Qi; for each breakthrough in a realm, they are rewarded with spirit stones or spirit pills.

He implemented a series of measures as soon as he took office, making everything in the Xu family more orderly and rational.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

A few more days passed.

The outer perimeter of Baihe Mountain is covered with terraced fields that stretch endlessly, layer upon layer.

Looking around, the hillsides are covered with lush herbs, fruit trees and grains.

Besides farmland, there are scattered rows of houses.

These houses were where the farmers who were dependent on the Xu family lived. Many farmers settled down here, got married, and had children.

On a hillside, there is a flat open space.

A group of teenagers were playing football on an open field, passing the ball among themselves.

Some of them were wearing vests and mandarin jackets, while others were shirtless, their sweat dripping onto the ground.

A crowd gathered around, and girls cheered them on, creating a vibrant atmosphere of youth.

In the distance, a pair of envious eyes watched.

"Li Kun".

The sudden sound behind him startled Li Kun. He turned around and saw Xu Xiaohou, and quickly bowed, saying, "Sixth Grandfather."

He was a little afraid of Xu Xiaohou.

"What, want to go out and have some fun?"

Xu Xiaohou stood next to Li Kun and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"No, no."

Li Kun shook his head.

"What are you afraid of? Go if you want to. Let's go."

Without saying a word, Xu Xiaohou grabbed Li Kun and walked towards the crowd.

"Hey, add one more person."

He shouted and pushed Li Kun forward.

Li Kun appeared somewhat timid, his shoulders hunched, making his already thin frame look even shorter.

"No, he's too young."

What if I get injured?

The group refused.

Upon hearing the other party's refusal, Li Kun instinctively tried to back away, but Xu Xiaohou supported his back with his hand and stepped forward: "My Li Kun has practiced martial arts. So what if he is young? I'm afraid none of you are his match."

Have you practiced martial arts?
The group of young men realized that Li Kun's identity was not simple; they guessed he was one of the young masters of the Xu family.

So he agreed, "Okay, which side will he join?"

Xu Xiaohou whispered in Li Kun's ear, "You play with them, I'll watch from the side. If you win, I'll give you extra martial arts training, and I guarantee you'll be able to beat Li Gong in a fight very soon."

Then he shouted, "It doesn't matter which team he joins, I'll keep track of the numbers. If the team wins, I'll reward each member with one tael of silver."

The boys erupted in cheers: "Thank you, sir!"

"The master is so generous!"

In order to win the Cuju match, they were all motivated and played seriously.

Li Kun was among them, but initially, due to his unfamiliarity with the techniques, he didn't play a significant role. However, as he became more familiar with them, his second-level stance training manifested itself, and despite being the youngest, he became unstoppable, charging left and right with unstoppable force.

The match ended, and Li Kun's team won.

As he had said, Xu Xiaohou rewarded the boys with silver, which drew another round of cheers.

(End of this chapter)