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

Ma Xiangqin went to the Zhou family to get money, and Ma Shanpo sent his second son, Ma Laiqing, to his sister Ma Guifen's house to get money.

Ma Xiangqin returned to the Zhou family and knelt down before Old Man Zhou. "Father, my brother's leg was broken by the men sent by the manager of Donglaishun, and they want to pay two hundred taels of silver in compensation. My brother borrowed twenty taels of silver from Changshui when he was injured. Please return it to me to help him in this emergency."

Zhou Chunqiang was feeling down because he couldn't attend the Yuan family's housewarming party today, when his second son's wife came to ask for money.

Old Zhou's brows were furrowed so deeply they were almost knotted together. "Second daughter-in-law! Are you deliberately trying to upset me today? Your mother and I don't have any money. If we did, we would have used it to treat Changshui's leg."

Zhou Changshui, leaning on his cane, was sunbathing in the yard. He listened to his father's words and gave a mocking smile.

Ah!

Ma Xiangqin cried and said, "Father! My brother took out the money back then purely to help me. That money was a loan to the Zhou family. Now my family urgently needs money. I know you still have money, so please take it out quickly."

"What exactly happened?" Old Zhou asked.

Ma Xiangqin was overjoyed. Could it be that the old man was going to take out the money?

Ma Xiangqin quickly explained the whole story to Old Man Zhou.

Zhou Chunqiang cursed, "Ma Xiangqin! How can you and your father be so boastful! She's just a kitchen helper at Donglaishun, and you've made her sound like she's on top of the world! How could your brother do such a thing, betraying his employer and treacherous?"

Wang Chunxiang looked surprised. "What? It was all hype? He was actually just a kitchen helper at Donglaishun? What a lousy guy!"

Zhou Chunqiang and Wang Chunxiang thought to themselves, if Ma Xiangqin hadn't kept bragging about how amazing her brother was, they wouldn't have sided with her and mistreated Yuan Pan'er! Yuan Pan'er wouldn't have encouraged her son to sever ties with her family either. Ultimately, it was all Ma Xiangqin's fault!

Ma Xiangqin was furious. Damn it, is this the time to talk nonsense? Ma Xiangqin said patiently, "Father, Mother, it's extremely urgent, please return the money my brother borrowed!"

She didn't come to borrow money, she came to ask for money back! How can those two old geezers be so shameless!

Old Zhou took a puff of his pipe. "What? Pay back the money? Isn't Changshui your husband? Isn't it your duty to treat your husband's injuries?"

Wang Chunxiang chimed in, "That's right, Changshui is your husband, it's only right that you save him."

Ma Xiangqin was so angry she almost vomited blood on the spot. How could these two old geezers be so good at spouting nonsense!

Ma Xiangqin asked Zhou Changshui to plead for her, but Zhou Changshui only said a few perfunctory words, which were of no use.

Ma Xiangqin then threatened him with the child in her womb. Although Wang Chunxiang was somewhat moved, Zhou Chunqiang remained unmoved and ultimately did not get a single penny.

Tears streamed down Ma Xiangqin's face. She had never seen anyone so shameless!

Ma Xiangqin ran to Yuan Pan'er's door and knelt down to ask for money, but Yuan Pan'er simply ordered her servants not to open the door.

Yuan Pan'er listened to Ma Xiangqin outside cursing how inhuman Zhou Laohan and Wang Chunxiang were, and shook her head with a smile.

Ma Xiangqin, are you feeling the pain of cutting yourself with a knife now?

When the eldest son's family was forced to leave with nothing, what did Ma Xiangqin and Zhou Changshui say?

Do Ma Xiangqin and Zhou Changshui even have any humanity?!

In response, Yuan Pan'er only gave Ma Xiangqin two words: retribution!

At the same time, Ma Laiqing visited his uncle Zhang Wen's home in Dongshan Village.

Zhang Wen was excitedly telling Ma Guifen, "Oh my, you didn't see it today! Our county magistrate, county assistant, and county lieutenant have all come to the Yuan family's housewarming banquet with congratulatory gifts!"

"Besides them, there are quite a few other important figures!"

Ma Guifen secretly glared at Zhang Wen, "What does this have to do with you? Why are you so excited?"

Seeing their father's change, the brothers Zhang Qingshan and Zhang Qingshui found it amusing; it seemed that this time, their father was truly convinced.

Zhang Wen leaned close to Ma Guifen and said mysteriously, "Do you know what the magistrate said after dinner?"

Ma Guifen rolled her eyes; she didn't want to know at all.

Zhang Wen said to himself, "The county magistrate read out His Majesty's imperial edict! An edict bestowing rewards upon Yuansheng! You ran home early today, so you missed the grand occasion!"

Ma Guifen was completely dumbfounded when she heard her husband's words. What was going on?!

The emperor bestowed a reward upon Yuan Sheng? That scoundrel Yuan Sheng?

Ma Guifen exclaimed in disbelief, "Honey, do you even know what you're saying?!"

Zhang Qingshan said, "Mother, Father is right. It was His Majesty the Emperor who personally issued the decree to reward Yuansheng. Do you see this Daqingshan Mountain? From now on, the entire Daqingshan Mountain will belong to the Yuan family!"

"That's not all. They're also going to build a memorial archway for the Yuan family to ensure their lasting fame, and they're also going to reward them with one hundred taels of gold!" Zhang Qingshui added.

Ma Guifen was sewing when she heard the news and immediately pricked her finger until it bled. Daqingshan? The memorial archway? One hundred taels of gold? The top scorer in the county examination? All of it belonged to Sheng Guihua's son?

Zhang Wen said admiringly, "Yuan Laifu is quite low-key. Yuan Sheng is so promising, yet he hasn't revealed any information. That bastard is quite composed."

Zhang Qingshui advised, "Mother, the Yuan family is no longer what it used to be, and we can't compare to them. In the future, you should be more polite to Aunt Guihua and not try to compete with her."

Zhang Wen nodded. "That's right, the Yuan family is not something we can compare to."

Looking at her husband and son's attitude, Ma Guifen felt like the sky was falling. Their attitudes changed so quickly!

Ma Guifen felt a little better after thinking about what Erniu's wife had just said. "Even if you brag about the Yuan family like this, they won't give you a single penny. But I know some good news, and we can benefit from it."

"What good news?" Zhang Wen perked up instantly when he heard he could benefit from it.

Ma Guifen paused for a moment before saying, "Manager Cao of Donglaishun went to visit my nephew Ma Laixi! This means my nephew is highly valued, and he might be able to arrange a waiter's job at Donglaishun for Qingshui in the future!"

Ha! Zhang Wen thought to himself, forget about benefiting from this, just getting back the fifteen taels of silver that I lost before would be enough.

After the last loan incident, Zhang Wen no longer trusts the Ma family; they are all unreliable.

Ma Guifen was talking animatedly, looking quite pleased with herself, when Ma Laiqing came running in, "Auntie, Uncle, help is needed!"

Seeing that Ma Laiqing's expression was off, Zhang Wen said, "Laiqing, what's wrong? Don't worry, tell me slowly."

Ma Laiqing said, "Today, my brother's leg was broken by the people from Donglaishun, and they even demanded that my family return two hundred taels of silver to Donglaishun. Two hundred taels of silver! How could my family possibly afford that?"

Ma Laiqing knelt down with a thud, pleading, "Please, Aunt and Uncle, help our family."

Zhang Wen glared at Ma Guifen. His premonition was right. Let alone benefiting from the Ma family, he would be lucky if he wasn't dragged down by them.

The Ma family really knows how to brag! The Ma family really loves to brag!

Ma Guifen spat out, "I saw Manager Cao from Donglaishun Restaurant at the Yuan family's banquet today. It must be Sheng Guihua; she doesn't like me, so she had Manager Cao bully my nephew!"

Ma Guifen slapped her thigh and cursed, "Sheng Guihua, you heartless and rotten woman!"