Rebirth 1983: Building My Business Empire-Chapter 565 - 548: Raising Money to Build Ancestral Hall

After climbing Heng Mountain, Lu Jiaxin returned to her hometown.

As she neared Lu Family Village, Jiaxin recalled the last time she had visited. Previously, her only option had been to ride in a cart, but this time, she had upgraded to a car.

Jiaxin arrived at around four in the afternoon, when most of the villagers were busy working in the fields, leaving only a few children playing around. Seeing the car, they all gathered to look.

Jiaxin took out a bag of candy and distributed it among them, and with their treats, the children ran back home. Big Uncle Lu’s house wasn’t big enough to accommodate everyone, so the two drivers left, planning to stay at a hostel in the county town overnight and return in the morning.

When Jiaxin reached Big Uncle Lu’s house, she saw the door was open and went straight in, calling out, "Big Uncle, Big Aunt..."

Soon, someone emerged from inside, yawning hugely at the doorway. On seeing Jiaxin, she exclaimed with surprise, "Jia, Jiaxin, why have you come back? How, how come you didn’t give us a call before coming?"

Jiaxin had intentionally not called ahead, knowing that if she had, she would have been greeted by the entire village, and possibly even local leaders. After the incident in Yi County, she had no desire to interact with county officials.

"Third Aunt Lu, where are Big Uncle and Big Aunt?"

Third Aunt Lu hesitated, her expression unnatural as she said, "Dad went to the county for some business, and Mom, she’s gone to, to pick... pigweed."

She had wanted to say that Big Aunt had gone visiting neighbors, but Jiaxin’s piercing gaze was too intimidating for her to lie.

Jiaxin’s expression immediately turned grim. Big Aunt, in her seventies, was out picking pigweed, while her daughter-in-law, only in her early forties, was comfortably sleeping indoors.

Third Aunt Lu tried to justify herself, "I told her not to go, but couldn’t persuade her..."

Facing Jiaxin’s sharp gaze, Third Aunt Lu struggled to speak coherently, "I, I’ll go find Mom, call her back."

Without waiting for Jiaxin to respond, she dashed out.

Miao Na said with a laugh, "I’ve heard many people say that daughters-in-law in the Mainland are bullied by their mothers-in-law. But your Big Aunt, at seventy, is out there picking pigweed while the daughter-in-law sleeps soundly indoors; quite contrary to the rumors, isn’t it?"

Jiaxin replied, "Third Aunt Lu is indeed lazy, but picking pigweed is something Big Aunt insists on doing herself when she has too much energy; Third Aunt Lu isn’t to blame for that."

Miao Na snorted coldly, "How can it not be related? If she had picked the pigweed already, your Big Aunt wouldn’t be out in the blazing sun doing it. Boss, do you think there’s something wrong with the Lu family’s feng shui? Your Third Aunt Lu is incredibly lazy, and I’ve heard that Xiangye, who was part of your second aunt’s family before, was also quite lazy."

"Xiangye is history; let’s not talk about her."

Big Aunt hadn’t returned yet, but Seventh Uncle had come over instead. Jiaxin’s distributed candy had made its way into the hands of his great-grandson, who then shared it with his sister, and Seventh Uncle found out. Once he heard the description from his great-grandson, he guessed that Jiaxin had returned and hurried over to see for himself.

Jiaxin recognized him, as Big Uncle Lu had made sure to introduce them during her last visit, "Seventh Uncle, what brings you here?"

He was so old that he needed the younger family members to help him walk; she didn’t understand why he’d made the effort to come.

Seventh Uncle said with a smile, "I heard you were back and wanted to see you. Jiaxin, you are our Lu Family Clan’s pride."

Jiaxin immediately became wary, suspecting that his flattery preceded a request. As a child, her grandmother always boasted about her father’s company, exaggerating to such an extent that even the most distant relatives showed up asking to borrow money.

"Uncle, I haven’t really done much."

Seventh Uncle felt she was being too modest, "Because of you, our Lu’s Clan now sees all the children going to school, and last year, six kids from our clan got into college."

Six of the university students are children from branches of the Lu family; nevertheless, having four students from one village (two undergraduate and two junior college students) is quite an achievement. Just this matter alone was enough to make the Lu Family Village the talk of the towns for miles around.

Lu Jiaxin said with a smile, "That’s also the result of the children’s own efforts."

Seventh Uncle shook his head and said, "If it weren’t for your financial support for their education, and for buying them so many study materials, Dong Zi and Xiumei wouldn’t have been able to get into university."

Providing funding for tuition and living expenses was one thing, but Jiaxin was unaware of the study materials; those must have been sent by her elder brother from the outside. Still, study materials were scarce, and indeed precious for the village children.

After some small talk, Seventh Uncle said, "Jiaxin, a wall in our ancestral temple collapsed two months ago, and I had someone fix it. However, even with repairs, the temple is so old that it won’t last long."

"The ancestral temple is in such a state that it needs to be demolished and rebuilt; otherwise, it might collapse during ancestor worship and cause fatalities. Jiaxin, you are the most accomplished child of our Lu family. This concerns our ancestors and geomancy; you cannot disregard it!"

Before returning home, Lu Jiaxin knew that this trip to her hometown would cost her something, but what she hadn’t expected was for Seventh Uncle to be the first to speak up.

"Seventh Uncle, how much money is needed to rebuild the temple?"

Seeing signs of her relenting, Seventh Uncle said eagerly, "Jiaxin, I hope you can donate money for the reconstruction of the temple. I’ve calculated, and thirty thousand yuan should be enough."

Lu Jiaxin was reluctant to donate money for the reconstruction of the temple, but with Seventh Uncle of such an advanced age coming to ask her, and considering the sum was only thirty thousand yuan, she replied, "I have two conditions. If you agree to them, I will donate the money for the temple. If you don’t agree, I will pretend this conversation never happened."

"Go ahead," he said.

Lu Jiaxin’s two demands were simple: first, the girls in the clan should be allowed to enter the ancestral temple for worship; second, the benefits, such as the rights to the forests and land, should be equally distributed in the future, regardless of gender.

"How can this be..."

Lu Jiaxin chuckled and said, "If it can’t be done, then forget it, Seventh Uncle. You should ask the accomplished men in the clan to donate the money for the temple!"

Seventh Uncle was taken aback, and after a long pause, he said, "I need to discuss this with the villagers."

"Then take your time discussing it," she said.

Just then, Big Aunt returned and, upon entering, asked, "Jiaxin, what do you have to discuss with Seventh Uncle?"

Lu Jiaxin clarified in one sentence, then, in front of Seventh Uncle, said, "When you need money to build the temple, you don’t mind that it comes from a daughter of the family; but when it comes to sharing benefits like forest rights and applying for land to build houses, daughters are excluded. Where is the logic in that?"

Seventh Uncle sighed, "It’s not up to me to decide. Everyone has to agree to it."

Allowing girls into the ancestral temple to worship was not a problem for Seventh Uncle, but benefits like the rights to forests and land had always been reserved for males since ancient times, and there was no precedent for giving them to the daughters of the clan.

Big Aunt said with a smile, "Then, Seventh Uncle, convene a meeting and see what everyone thinks. If they don’t agree, then let it be."

Lu Jiaxin added, "If they don’t agree, from now on, I will only sponsor the girls in our clan for their education. Since the men get to enjoy so many benefits, let the girls of the clan enjoy this exclusive favor."

Seventh Uncle’s face stiffened.

Big Aunt hadn’t expected Lu Jiaxin to make such a statement, but she was definitely on Jiaxin’s side, "Seventh Uncle, you talk to everyone and see if they are willing to agree?"

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