Under Old Liu’s expectant gaze, Liu Ji uncharacteristically became serious.

With a firm tone, he said, "After being separated for so many years, I’ve gotten used to it. I’ve never thought about moving back, nor do I plan to."

As soon as he finished speaking, Old Liu’s confident expression immediately darkened, and the smiles of Liu Bai, Liu Zhong, He, Mrs. Qiu, and the others all fell simultaneously.

The people in the village are straightforward, their thoughts written plainly on their faces.

Qin Yao glanced around, Old Liu and Mrs. Zhang were dumbfounded, seemingly never expecting Liu Ji to refuse the proposal to return.

After all, the current family philosophy is that children and grandchildren stay together, sharing resources, helping each other, cooperating when possible, and never splitting the family unless absolutely necessary.

Liu Bai and Liu Zhong both sighed in unison, as if they had anticipated this result, yet couldn’t hide their disappointment.

He looked like her eyes could shoot fire, almost close to pointing at Liu Ji’s nose and yelling, "How can you do this, third brother!"

In comparison, Mrs. Qiu neither fought for nor rejected it, which sounded like she was going with the flow, but in reality, she didn’t want to take risks, hoping Liu Ji would agree to move back but also afraid of ruining the current relationship between the two families.

Qin Yao was indifferently observing, when He’s angry gaze suddenly swept over to her.

Somewhat agitated, He questioned: "Yao Niang, you said before that you wouldn’t forget our family when there are benefits, right?!"

Qin Yao nodded, openly acknowledging, "I keep my word."

"But regarding the move back, as an outsider, I can’t make that decision. Everything listens to what my husband arranges."

She would not stick her neck out in a matter that offends people!

Liu Ji didn’t care about these things; hearing her say "everything listens to what my husband arranges" made him feel no regrets even if he’d become the scapegoat.

For the first time, this shrew showed such meekness in front of others, even though he knew she was pretending, Liu Ji felt ecstatic inside.

"Ahem~" He covered his mouth and coughed into his fist, suppressing his wildly curling smile, and just before He could erupt, he said with a slight smile:

"I know that if I really moved back, elder brother, second brother, and you fourth, you wouldn’t be too happy either. Wanting me to move back was just to benefit from the tax exemption for the scholar."

"Since my wife had told sister-in-laws before that she wouldn’t forget our family when there are benefits, naturally, I have to fulfill this promise for her..."

Qin Yao rolled her eyes inwardly, but since he was willing to be the bad guy, she wouldn’t undermine him. Letting him bask for a little longer.

Old Liu was delighted, "Third, did you agree to move back?"

"No." Liu Ji raised his hand, signaling his father not to rush, "I have a plan that neither requires moving back nor sacrifices the tax reductions for our brothers."

"What about the labor obligations?" Liu Fei, who certainly had been to the academy, unlike his joyous family, immediately caught the loophole in his third brother’s words.

His third brother only said tax reductions, not tax and labor obligations reductions.

Liu Ji glared at Liu Fei; this kid really was sharp!

Liu Fei stared back at his third brother, absolutely unafraid.

Liu Ji had to clarify things, shrugging: "I can’t do anything about the labor obligations."

Unless he truly moved back and became one family again, his family couldn’t enjoy the exemption of labor obligations.

"But!" With a change of tone, Liu Ji soothed, "Given our family’s current situation, finding someone to perform labor obligations isn’t too difficult; anyway, my method can only exempt you from taxes."

Seeing the people from the old house seeming unsatisfied, Liu Ji slammed the table hard; if being polite didn’t work, he resorted to being rough, showing his hooligan side again, and scoffed:

"If you are still not satisfied and insist I move back, then I will; just don’t regret it later when you want to split the family and drive me out again, because I’m not leaving again!"

With that, Liu Ji began calculating on his fingers, "Since we’re one family, there should be no reason to farm separately or split expenses. My scholarly title wasn’t gained for nothing, it was built with the silver my wife painstakingly saved up, cent by cent. I’m afraid you’re unaware of the expenses involved, so I’ll calculate it for you all, splitting it equally among us four brothers!"

"You can’t just reap the benefits without contributing a penny, right?"

As soon as Liu Ji finished speaking, Qin Yao, without any expression, immediately pulled out a small abacus she carried and slid it over under the table.

Liu Ji looked at the abacus forced into his hand, slightly wide-eyed; this shrew lived up to her name with her sophisticated methods!

He took the abacus, adjusted the beads, and was about to start calculating.

Liu Zhong suddenly extended a hand, grabbed the abacus, and set it aside, "Old third, you tell us your method for reducing our taxes first?"

He hadn’t reacted yet, unhappy at Liu Zhong stopping Liu Ji from calculating, but Liu Bai gave her a stare and whispered:

"That’s enough; getting tax reductions is good. We can’t afford to split that bill."

"We are family; don’t make it ugly." Liu Bai emphasized, which jolted He awake.

Indeed, the whole family depended on the third brother’s family; she’d almost lost herself!

He hurriedly squeezed a smile toward Qin Yao and Liu Ji, no longer speaking.

Seeing their attitude, Liu Ji felt somewhat better, knowing his offer to exempt them from taxes wasn’t given in vain.

The shrew had said, if you want the horse to run, you have to let it graze.

He didn’t have much affection for the old house’s people, but when the shrew was alone at home, she indeed needed their support here and there; giving some benefits from the scholarly title wasn’t a bad deal.

After traveling a few rounds and witnessing the prosperity of those noble families and dynasties, Liu Ji understood that the higher one climbs, the more people they need, but also the fewer whom they can trust.

And the relatives from the old house, who shared the same blood, were the most reliable helpers he could use.

Moreover, the people from the old house had higher boundaries; they couldn’t be too bad, and having some desires and greed made them easier to manage.

With calculations in his mind, on the surface, Liu Ji calmly unfolded his idea.

His method was straightforward and crude: let the old house’s people ’sell’ all their lands to him, thereby exempting all taxes.

Of course, if they weren’t assured, they could privately draft another document guaranteeing that the lands still belonged to the old house in reality. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Anyway, you’ll still farm the land, and the grain you harvest is still yours. I’m just holding the title." Liu Ji said, spreading his hands.

There were many families operating like this in the county; the government wouldn’t pursue it as long as no one reported it, and people generally turned a blind eye.

Plus, with Qin Yao’s reputation in Kaiyang County, Liu Ji didn’t think anyone would dare expose him.

"Dad, if you think this is feasible, let’s transfer the land titles to me today, and tomorrow I’ll handle it with the government. This autumn, you won’t need to pay any taxes."

Old Liu was a simple man all his life, and while tempted by Liu Ji’s proposal, hesitated because of the risk of being reported.

Liu Bai and his brothers became anxious, causing Old Liu to finally, hesitantly get up, and go to his room to fetch all the land titles.