After time travel, share a space with your modern family.

After Jin Hua ran out of the Ruan family ancestral hall, her heart, which had been pounding wildly like a deer, gradually calmed down.

Having been away for a while, she worried that her family would say she was slacking off, so she ran home with a happy and carefree heart.

She ran all the way to her front door and was about to knock when she suddenly heard an argument coming from inside. She stopped in her tracks, stood quietly at the door, and listened carefully to the sounds coming from inside.

“Mother, I’m your son too! How can you be so biased towards my elder brother and his family? You took Jin Hua’s twenty taels of betrothal money to help my elder brother’s son get married, and I’m too lazy to argue with you. I’ll just consider it a reward for raising Jin Hua for so many years. But you actually want Jin Hua to ask the Ruan family for money again. How can you say that?” Jin Hua’s father, Jin Erniu, said angrily from inside the house. He seemed very dissatisfied with his mother’s actions.

"You brat, how dare you talk to your old woman like that? I'll beat you to death!" The old lady of the Jin family, Granny Wang, spoke with a voice full of anger and authority, followed by the sound of a stick striking someone. Clearly, Jin Erniu had been severely beaten by his mother.

"Mother, please stop hitting him! You'll kill Erniu if you keep doing this!" A heart-wrenching cry rang out from Jin Hua's mother, Yang Fang. She watched her husband being beaten with a heavy heart, yet dared not intervene, only able to weep helplessly and plead for mercy.

"Hmph... Second son, you've really shown some backbone today! You actually dare to talk back to your old mother! Just for that good-for-nothing, you really treat her like a treasure! Let me tell you, if you don't let her go to the Ruan family and get back twenty taels of silver to help my eldest grandson get married, then your whole family can expect to be kicked out!" Old Mrs. Wang roared angrily, her voice echoing throughout the room.

Hearing these words, Jin Hua, who was standing outside the door, trembled with fear. She knew she was not well-liked at home, but she never expected her grandmother to be so heartless.

"Mother, do you really want to drive us to the brink of despair?" Yang Fang suddenly shouted, her voice filled with despair and resolve. At the same time, she stopped crying.

"Hey...you actually dare to yell at me?" Old Mrs. Wang's eyes widened in anger as she turned and charged at Yang Fang, shouting at her. Then, without any mercy, she raised her hand and slapped Yang Fang hard across the face.

"Slap—" A crisp slap rang out, and Yang Fang's cheek instantly swelled up. Her eyes widened, and tears streamed down her face, dripping onto the ground.

"Mother..." Upon hearing the sound of a slap, Jinhua rushed forward and shielded her mother. "Grandma, how could you hit my mother?"

"So what if I hit her? It's not your place to lecture me." Old Mrs. Wang got even angrier and was about to slap Jin Hua when Jin Erniu and Yang Fang stepped forward and pulled Jin Hua behind them, blocking her way.

"Mother, you can't play Golden Flower!" Yang Fang cried out in distress, tears welling up in her eyes again.

"So, you're all going to rebel, aren't you?" Old Mrs. Wang was even more furious when she saw that her second son and daughter-in-law dared to stop her from beating her granddaughter. She picked up the stick she had used to beat Jin Erniu again, ready to beat her second son and his wife.

"Grandma, please stop hitting them. It's all my fault. Please don't hit my parents," Jinhua cried.

Just then, a slightly aged voice came from the doorway: "Old woman, what are you doing?" It turned out that Old Man Jin had returned.

"Old man, you're finally back! Look at these unfilial descendants, how dare they disobey me!" Old Mrs. Wang said, feigning malice.

“Father, we did not disobey Mother. Mother took Jin Hua’s twenty taels of betrothal money and gave it to Jin Lin, and she even made Jin Hua go to the Ruan family to ask for another twenty taels of silver back…” Jin Erniu said while wiping away tears. He knew he was in a very sorry state, but he still told Old Man Jin everything.

"You old hag, you're getting more and more confused! The Ruan family is offering twenty taels of silver as a bride price, which is already an astronomical sum in the village. And you still want Jinhua to go to their house to ask for more money. What will the villagers say about our Jin family?" Old Man Jin trembled with anger as he shouted at his wife.

"Old man, why are you blaming me along with the children? I did all this for the good of the Jin family, why don't you understand me?" Old Mrs. Wang cried, feeling wronged.

"But you can't force Jinhua to go to the Ruan family for money again, can you?" Old Man Jin sighed helplessly. He knew his wife was a stubborn person, but this time she had really gone too far.

"I had no choice," Old Mrs. Wang explained, crying. "Jinlin is getting married soon, and we don't have any extra money to celebrate his wedding."

"You can't force Jin Hua to go to the Ruan family to get a second dowry. What will the Ruan family think of our Jin family?" Old Man Jin was filled with dissatisfaction with Old Woman Wang.

"I..." Old Mrs. Wang was about to say something when a miserable wail suddenly came from outside the door, interrupting their conversation.

"Grandma, Father, Mother, please come and save me!" The voice sounded exceptionally pitiful and painful, evoking pity in the listener.

Old Man Jin and Old Woman Wang recognized their eldest grandson's voice outside the door and quickly went out. Jin Erniu's family followed them to the gate.

"Grandpa, Grandma, please save me!" Jin Lin cried out for help as soon as he saw the people who had come.

When everyone saw Jin Lin being held by the arms by two burly men and unable to move, a middle-aged man with a cowardly look on his face said, "Old man, old woman, you must be the grandpa and grandma this kid is talking about, right? This kid owes us money and is trying to run away. You'd better pay us back right now."

"Xiao Lin, what's wrong with you? How did you end up owing them money?" Old Mrs. Wang asked hurriedly as she saw her eldest grandson being held captive.

"Grandma, they hit me..." Jinlin burst into tears when he saw his grandmother.

Seeing her cousin crying like that, Jin Hua looked down on him from the bottom of her heart.

"Why are you hitting people?" Old Man Jin looked angrily at the people opposite him, his face full of rage.

"He owed us money and tried to run away. After our men caught him, he was still rude. He's incompetent but dares to be arrogant. Humph..." the big man said contemptuously.

"I didn't run away, I just wanted to go home to get the money," Jin Lin argued cunningly.

One of the men grabbed Jinlin and punched him in the back, saying fiercely, "What an ungrateful wretch."

"Lin'er, my Lin'er! How could you hit my son?" A woman rushed out from the inner room, holding a child who was just over a year old in her arms. Her face was pale, her expression anxious, and her eyes were full of worry and fear.

"Mother, they beat me so badly! Please tell Grandma to give me some money to save me!" Jinlin burst into tears again when he saw his mother finally appear. He cried and begged his mother for help, hoping she could help him out of his predicament.

Jin Lin's mother, Wang Meijuan, was Old Lady Wang's cousin, so after she married into the Jin family, Old Lady Wang treated her exceptionally well. Wang Meijuan gave birth to six children after marrying into the Jin family, the youngest of whom is only one year and three months old.

Since Yang Fang married into the Jin family, most of the household chores have fallen on her shoulders. Wang Meijuan, on the other hand, is either too pregnant to work or too busy taking care of her children to attend to other matters.

For years, Yang Fang had not only endured her mother-in-law's刁难 (diāonán, making things difficult for her), but also had to bear the resentment of her sister-in-law. At this moment, seeing Jin Lin commit such a terrible crime yet only knowing how to cry, she couldn't help but feel a surge of contempt.

Normally, Old Mrs. Wang and Wang Meijuan spoiled their child excessively. Now, facing someone coming to collect a debt, let's see how they handle it. Yang Fang stood silently to the side, while pulling Jin Erniu back to signal him not to move. The family of three stood there quietly, observing everything.

The villagers noticed the commotion at the Jin family's house and rushed over to see what had happened.

"Your son owes us 150 taels of silver. You either pay him back, or we'll break one of his arms and one of his legs," the middle-aged man threatened the Jin couple with a menacing look.

"What?! One hundred and fifty taels?" Jin Lin's eyes widened, unable to believe his ears. "Didn't I only owe you one hundred and twenty taels of silver? How did it become one hundred and fifty taels?" He questioned the middle-aged man with a look of astonishment.

The villagers who had gathered were stunned when they heard that the debt was so large. Such a huge sum was astronomical for ordinary villagers; they might not earn that much money in their entire lives!

"Hmph, you did borrow 120 taels this morning, but you swore you'd pay it back by noon. And look what happened? It's already past noon, and you still haven't paid it back! So, as agreed, we'll charge an extra 10 taels for every hour that passes. Now it's afternoon, so that's 150 taels." The middle-aged man explained smugly, deliberately raising his voice so everyone around could hear him.

The villagers nearby shook their heads and sighed, lamenting that the Jin family had produced such a good-for-nothing son. In just one noon, the debt had ballooned from 120 taels to 150 taels—such interest was truly terrifying. Everyone expressed sympathy and regret for the Jin family, while also being thankful that they hadn't encountered such trouble.

Upon hearing that her eldest son owed 150 taels of silver, Wang Meijuan collapsed to the ground, and the child in her arms burst into tears.

"You bastard, what have you been doing to incur so much debt?" Old Man Jin trembled with rage.

"Grandpa, Grandma, I was wrong. I'll never gamble again. Waaah... Grandma, you have to save me..." Jin Lin cried, tears streaming down his face.

Old Mrs. Wang trembled and asked incredulously, "Xiao Lin, are you saying that you gambled away all that twenty taels of silver and still owe them one hundred and fifty taels?"

"Grandma, I was wrong. I'll never do it again." Jinlin cried as he looked at Old Lady Wang.

"You bastard..." Old Mrs. Wang was about to raise her arm to hit Jin Lin when she suddenly fainted on the ground.

“Mother…” Jin Erniu rushed forward and picked up Old Lady Wang. Old Man Jin was so angry that he pointed his finger at Jin Lin, but he couldn’t utter a word of curse.

"Give me back my money or give up his arm and leg, you choose one." The middle-aged man had no patience to waste any more time with them.

When Jin Daniu returned from working in the fields, he saw his eldest son being held captive. Upon asking, he learned that his eldest son had incurred a huge debt and was crying and begging his parents and younger brother to sell their land to save him.

In the end, the Jin family had to sell all their land and houses to barely pay off this huge debt.

Seeing that the Jin family had become homeless, Jin Erniu and his wife were furious. They went to the village chief and asked to divide the family property. Like Chen Donghua, they asked for a letter of severance of kinship. Then, they took Jin Hua and her ten-year-old brother Jin Sheng and prepared to leave Jinwan Village.

Upon hearing this news, Ruan Mumu secretly had someone stop Jin Hua's family and helped them rent a room in the village from a family surnamed Yang for the four of them to stay temporarily.