The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Not only Zhang couldn't bear it anymore, Chen Shangen also felt that this couldn't go on any longer.

He has a wife and several children to support. In addition to working on his own fields, he also has to do odd jobs from time to time to earn money in order to support his family.

No matter how much he is our brother, we are still two families after the separation of the family. If he doesn't do anything himself, he won't be able to bear it if people rely on him for help all day long!

So, Chen Shangen finally began to refuse. He hardened his heart and no longer agreed to any of his brother's requests.

He came to borrow neither money nor things, and his attitude was so tough that he gave up.

Although Chen Shugen cursed at his brother for this, he was helpless because his parents, who could control his brother, were no longer around. He didn't dare go to the elders in the clan because others knew his character and wouldn't speak for him.

When he was really running out of ideas, Chen Shugen actually started to make progress and knew how to work.

There is no way out. His parents are gone, and his brother doesn't let him rely on him. If he doesn't work harder, the family will fall apart.

Because his wife said that if the family couldn't make ends meet she would remarry and leave their two sons to him.

If his wife is gone, he will have to spend money to marry again. A married woman who gets married later in life is not as good as the original wife. And the one he marries is a stepmother, who will definitely not treat his son well? Who will he rely on for his retirement in the future?

From then on, although Chen Shugen's life was not very good, it was acceptable.

Fortunately, his two sons were both hardworking and honest people. When they grew older, they each got married and started to take on the responsibilities of the family. Chen Shugen also became a grandfather.

When Chen Shangen saw the changes in his brother, he only hated himself for being too conservative and not getting rid of him earlier. Otherwise, wouldn't he have changed for the better sooner?

Now that he saw his own brother coming to his house and starting to scold him right away, Chen Shangen was a little angry and confused.

"What are you crazy about? What nonsense are you talking about?" Chen Shangen said angrily.

Chen Shugen put his hands on his waist, also with an angry look on his face: "Why are you pretending to be stupid? Now it's all over the village. Your widowed daughter has become rich. All three sons have been sent to school, and they have bought a mule cart. All this is thanks to you. You have a way to make money, but you hid it from me and didn't even tell me, your own brother. Are you still a human being?"

Chen Shangen understood that the affairs of his daughter's family had spread to the whole village.

In fact, this was also within his expectations. The two villages were not thousands of miles apart, and they were in close contact with each other, so it was normal for the news from Liujiaping to be passed on.

However, he didn't expect his younger brother to have this reaction after hearing the news.

Yes, he is a lazy person who likes to gain something for nothing.

In order to support his wife and children, he was forced to work hard for a few years, but now that his two sons have grown up and become the pillars of the family, he can live a leisurely life again.

On weekdays, he would lie at home or wander around the village, bragging to others that he could work for an entire afternoon without feeling tired. He would only go to the fields for a few days during the busy farming season in a year, and after working for two days, he would complain of pain here and there and go back to bed.

This is my good brother. He is lazy and likes to do easy things. This is his nature.

"You believe the nonsense the villagers say. Stop bragging with them. It hasn't snowed this winter, and there hasn't been much rain since the beginning of the year. You should think carefully about how to resist drought and irrigate the crops when the time comes!"

Chen Shangen denied it seriously and instead began to persuade his brother to worry more about the things in the fields.

Seeing his brother deny it, Chen Shugen also began to doubt: "But what they said is very convincing. They said that Cuicui had money to buy a mule cart and send her children to school. All the money was given by you."

In fact, some people in the village were jealous of the peaceful and harmonious life of Chen Shangen's family, who recently bought a bullock cart. During their casual chat, they deliberately provoked Chen Shugen with words, hoping to stir up conflict between the two brothers so that they could watch the fun from the side.

Chen Shangen smiled bitterly, "You only listen to what others say, but you don't look at what kind of family Cuicui's husband's family is. The Liu family has two scholars, so it's not strange to send children to school. The Liu family is well-off, so it's normal to buy a mule cart. Besides, people say that I gave the money, do I look like someone with so much money? Our whole family saved money for several years to buy an ox cart, and the homestead has been allocated for several years but it has not been built. If I had money, I would have built a house long ago, and my family would not have to live in such a tight situation. Because there is no house at home, Yinzhu has not even got a wife. Even if I have to borrow money this year, I have to build a few houses, so that my grandchildren can have a place to marry. Shugen, you are living a good life now. Can you pay me back the money you owe me before, so that I can borrow less."

Hearing his brother asking him to pay back the money, Chen Shugen, who was originally skeptical, immediately stopped asking: "Brother, I'm also short of money, otherwise I wouldn't come to you as soon as I heard about the money. How about this, wait a few years, and I'll give it to you after I've recovered a few years."

Having said that, Chen Shugen ran out of the yard.

Chen Shangen looked towards the gate and sighed.

It seems that his daughter is being targeted. Alas, she is too high-profile. He regrets that he failed to persuade his daughter not to take such big steps and to take it one step at a time.

But what the daughter said makes sense. When her son-in-law was alive, what he was most concerned about was that he could not go to school. Now that the family has money, it is reasonable to send several children to school.

In fact, if his grandchildren were not too old, he would also like to send them to study for two years, so that at least they would be able to understand the signs and recruitment documents when they go out to work, and calculate their own wages.

However, the two grandsons from Dahai's family are of the right age. Suozhu and Shuanzhu are younger than Changping. If Changping can go to school, then these two grandsons can too.

However, he had seven grandchildren, and the older ones had not spent the money to go to school. If he sent the two from Dahai's family to school, he was worried that it would cause dissatisfaction among his other two sons and their wives.

Although Chen Shangen could not read and did not know the saying "What is worrying is not the scarcity of wealth but the inequality of wealth", he still knew that everything should be kept fair.

The unfair treatment of parents is the root cause of family chaos. The reason why their family has been able to live in peace for many years is because of the word "fairness".

The three sons, from three different families, would discuss things together, and would speak openly about whether they suffered a loss or gained an advantage, and would never favor any one of them behind the scenes. In this way, none of the families could say anything, and there would be fewer conflicts and disputes.

Chen Shangen stood in the yard, thinking about what to do about this matter, and for a moment he forgot to go into the house.

When Zhang came back from outside and saw her husband standing in the yard, her cheeks were red from the wind, and she couldn't help but push him: "Old man, what are you doing standing there like an idiot? Why don't you come into the house?"

As she spoke, she touched his hand, and found it was indeed cold, so she quickly pulled him into the house.

Chen Shangen finally woke up from his dream, smiled and shook his head, took his wife's hand, and the two walked into the house hand in hand.