“Although your family is an outsider who moved here after fleeing famine, not under the jurisdiction of our Harris family ancestral hall, you’ve lived in Wellwater village for decades; you are people of Wellwater village. Your parents are gone, and I’ll take the liberty of acting as an elder. Today, I’ll decide this matter for you. Elizabeth, tell Uncle Daniel, do you want a divorce from your husband?”
William rubbed his hands, his eyes red.
The village hadn’t treated their family as outsiders; they had received their share of land and benefits. Now that Uncle Daniel would stand up for Elizabeth, William was grateful.
Elizabeth felt the same.
Logically, she had been married for 20 years and didn’t share the Harris surname; Uncle Daniel could have completely ignored her.
“Uncle Daniel, I want a divorce. Please be a witness.”
Uncle Daniel nodded, “I’ll only handle this once. If you regret it someday, Uncle Daniel will just consider it a reconciliation and a happy ending. But don’t come asking for my help again. William, get paper, pen, and inkpad. Let’s formalize this today.”
Whitaker Chris, held down by the villagers, roared angrily:
“I don’t agree! She married into our Whitaker family; she lives and dies as a Whitaker family member! She’s my wife!”
Maria and Veronica hadn’t expected things to turn out this way. They didn’t understand the situation in Wellwater village, but they could tell Uncle Daniel wasn’t someone to be trifled with. They had come to persuade Elizabeth and her daughter to reconcile, but how did it come to this?
“Scarlett, quickly persuade your mother. She’s acting out of anger. How will a divorced woman live? Her household registration is still in Larkspur Village; you two don’t even have a piece of land in Wellwater village.”
How could farmers live without land?
Maria wasn’t concerned about Elizabeth and Whitaker Scarlett; she didn’t want them to escape her control.
Uncle Daniel didn’t even lift his eyelids, “Transferring their household registrations isn’t difficult. You, the former sister-in-law, are quite concerned. Don’t worry; once their household registrations are transferred, Wellwater Village will naturally allocate land to them.”
Even if Whitaker Scarlett didn’t care about a piece of land and didn’t plan to stay in the countryside long-term, Uncle Daniel’s words filled her with gratitude.
Uncle Daniel was backing them up.
Looking at the villagers holding Whitaker Chris down, and the villagers watching from outside the courtyard, Uncle Daniel’s promise to allocate land to Elizabeth and her daughter wouldn’t necessarily please everyone, but no one immediately objected. Uncle Daniel’s prestige was high, and the people of Wellwater village knew that they needed to support Elizabeth and her daughter and present a united front!
Whitaker Scarlett didn’t need to say anything. With Uncle Daniel’s intervention, the matter was settled.
“Someone come write the document.”
A young man from the onlookers stepped forward. Whitaker Scarlett recognized him; his name was Carson, and he was a high school student and the village head’s grandson. Carson would blush whenever he saw Whitaker Scarlett, but this time, he stood there without looking away, appearing quite cultured.
This wasn’t a joke. In the rural areas of 1983, a high school graduate was considered cultured. Carson had failed the college entrance examination this year and would return to school to retake it after finishing his farm work. High school graduates weren’t assigned jobs; Carson had only two paths: continue studying for university or return to the countryside to be a farmer.
Uncle Daniel dictated a sentence, and Carson wrote it down.
Three copies of the document, much like a modern divorce agreement, although Elizabeth and Whitaker Chris only had a dilapidated house, with no other assets to divide. Whitaker Scarlett didn’t need to choose who to stay with; she was 18 years old, and no one could control her.
Maria pleaded incessantly, but Elizabeth remained unmoved.
Whitaker Chris refused to sign and fingerprint, but Uncle Daniel didn’t care whether he was willing or not, forcing his hand onto the paper.
Elizabeth took the agreement, looked at Whitaker Scarlett, then at her brother and sister-in-law; no one objected.
Without even glancing at Whitaker Chris, she dipped her thumb in red ink and firmly pressed two thumbprints.
Uncle Daniel handed a copy to Maria, “This is your copy. One for Elizabeth, and I’ll personally submit one to the county civil affairs bureau for filing. If you have nothing else, you can leave.”
The old man played it brilliantly!
Strong-arm tactics weren’t exactly Whitaker Scarlett’s preferred style. She’d been a leader herself and knew that sometimes, a firm hand was necessary.
“Thank you, Uncle Daniel.”
