Wealthy beyond measure, yet you call me a sister-supporting-brother demon?

Dongshan Village, Qingshan Town.

Zhou Changlin got up at the crack of dawn, washed his face, picked up his hoe, and prepared to go to the fields to weed. His second brother, Zhou Changshui, got up to urinate.

"Brother, hurry up and wake Yuan Pan'er up to cook." Zhou Changshui's tone was unfriendly.

The Zhou family has three brothers: Zhou Changlin, Zhou Changshui, and Zhou Changsen. The eldest and second eldest are already married, while Zhou Changsen, who is ten years old, is still unmarried.

The two daughters-in-law take turns cooking, each cooking for ten days.

It's now the turn of the second daughter-in-law, Ma Xiangqin.

Zhou Changlin frowned. "Second brother, is that what you call Yuan Pan'er? She's your sister-in-law. Besides, it's your wife's turn to cook this month."

Zhou Changshui curled his lip and rolled his eyes. "I've been being polite enough by calling her Yuan Pan'er. She should be called Yuan Pickpocket, Yuan Rake, trying to rake all of our Zhou family's things back to her Yuan family. She was sent home today, so what's wrong with me asking her to cook a meal?"

Zhou Changlin was furious. "Changshui! I already said yesterday that I took the money, and it has nothing to do with your sister-in-law. I watched Yuansheng grow up since he was a child, how could I bear to watch him die? Your sister-in-law has devoted herself to the Zhou family. Apart from these ten taels of silver, when has she ever sent anything back to her parents' home? How can you say such a thing about her?! Speaking of cooking, how many times has your sister-in-law cooked for your wife? Your wife is always complaining of aches and pains!"

“Are you saying you’ll divorce your sister-in-law? Your sister-in-law will always be my wife, and she will always be your sister-in-law. That won’t change. Your parents-in-law are reasonable people; they won’t refuse to pay the ten taels of silver.”

Ma Xiangqin woke up early, but was too lazy to get up and cook. With Yuan Pan'er as free help, she figured she might as well use her.

At that moment, upon hearing Zhou Changlin accuse her of faking illness, she jumped up, walked out of the room, and said, "Brother, how can you talk about your sister-in-law like that? I'm lucky that I don't do much work, because my family is willing to support me, and because I have such a capable brother. Last time my brother Ma Laixi came to visit me, he brought two whole pounds of pork, but none of it went into my stomach. Didn't you and your sister-in-law eat any?"

After saying all this, Ma Xiangqin was still not satisfied. She put her hands on her hips and said, "Unlike my sister-in-law, I don't have a useless younger brother. Not only has he never given a single penny as a gift, but he also spends ten taels of our family's money! You say it's useless not to divorce her? If she doesn't return ten taels of silver today, my parents will definitely divorce her!"

Zhou Changlin didn't want to argue with an old woman; the veins in his head were throbbing, and his fists were clenched tightly.

At that time, he ate two pieces of the two jin of pork. Pan'er ate one piece, while the second son and Ma Xiangqin ate meat like starving ghosts, afraid of missing a piece.

The three small pieces of meat caused him and Pan'er a lot of trouble. They could no longer eat the things that Ma Xiangqin's family had sent.

Yuan Pan'er walked out of the room and came to the opposite side of Ma Xiangqin. She stared at her intently and said, "Ma Xiangqin, I never thought you were this kind of person! I did a lot of things for you because I believed that harmony in the family brings prosperity. Not only did you not thank me, but you also spoke ill of me and my brother. I will never help you again in the future."

Ma Xiangqin curled her lips and rolled her eyes, looking exactly like Zhou Changshui. "The future? It's hard to say whether you'll still be Zhou's wife tomorrow. Help me? Who cares about you!"

Just as Yuan Pan'er was about to retort, she heard a voice coming from the old lady's room, "Stop arguing, stop arguing! Making a scene so early in the morning, deliberately trying to prevent me and your father from sleeping! Eldest daughter-in-law, if you had time to argue, the meal would have been ready long ago! Hurry up and cook! Clean up the house before noon and then hurry back to your parents' house to ask for money! If you don't come back, don't come back to the Zhou family!"

Hearing her mother-in-law's words, Ma Xiangqin gave Yuan Pan'er a provocative smile.

Old Zhou glared at his wife, coughed twice, and said, "Changshui, grab the hoe and go to the fields with your brother. Dragging your backside around so early in the morning, what kind of behavior is that?"

Zhou Changshui reluctantly said "Oh," picked up the hoe, and went out with Zhou Changlin.

……

The countryside was exceptionally quiet in the early morning, with crickets and mantis shrimp chirping merrily in the grass, and the rooster clucking three times.

The villagers gradually came up, and wisps of smoke rose from their chimneys, creating a peaceful and tranquil scene.

Yuan Sheng, preoccupied with the matter of the ten taels of silver, woke up early.

He stepped out of the house and heard Sheng Guihua's shrill voice, "My darling! The 'lucky charm' ritual really woke you up!"

Yuansheng's nickname is Yuanbao.

Sheng Guihua held Yuan Sheng's hand, looking him up and down, tears welling up in her eyes. "My son, if you don't wake up, how can I live? My precious baby, you've suffered so much these past few days."

"Stop crying! It's such a joyous occasion that Bao'er is alive! Why are you wailing?" Yuan Laifu grabbed Yuan Sheng's other hand. His hands had large knuckles and were as rough as tree bark.

It's warm and powerful.

Yuan Sheng looked at his parents from his previous life standing alive in front of him, and was overwhelmed with emotions.

Father's hair was gray, and his face was lined with deep wrinkles. Mother's complexion was sallow, and her gray hair was somewhat dry.

Yuan Sheng's voice choked with emotion, "Father, Mother, I'm back."

"Dad, Mom, I'm sensible now. I'll make sure you have the best life from now on!"

The elderly couple knew that Yuansheng was just telling them a bunch of lies, and that their son had always been sweet-talking, but they were still very touched by what they heard.

"Okay, Mom and Dad believe you." The elderly couple didn't want to spoil the atmosphere at this joyous moment, so they casually agreed.

But in their hearts they were thinking, let alone let us live the best life, they would be grateful if we could just spend less money. The family is really broke and has a huge debt. If Bao'er keeps spending money so extravagantly, they might have to sell their land and house.

Leaving aside other matters, I still don't know how I'll repay the ten taels of silver I owe my elder sister. If all else fails, I'll have to sell the land.

Yuan Laifu sighed heavily.

But no matter what, it's good that Bao'er is awake; it was all worth it.