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

After finishing his meal, Zhou Yuchuan said goodbye to everyone and prepared to go home.

As darkness fell, he said, "Yu Chuan, I'll take you home; it's getting dark."

"Uncle, I'm not afraid of the dark."

Zhou Yuchuan was only ten years old. How could he not be afraid of the dark? There were graves along the way, and children are most afraid of ghosts. "I'll take you to the entrance of your village."

"Uncle, you're so kind." Zhou Yuchuan blinked and looked up at Yuan Sheng.

Yuan Sheng patted the top of his head and couldn't help but think of how his brother-in-law had taken care of him when he was a child.

The two walked along a country path, the moonlight shining down, shimmering like silver, and crickets chirping incessantly, making the night seem exceptionally quiet and warm.

Soon, Zhou Yuchuan returned home and immediately asked his younger brother, Zhou Yufeng, about the division of the family property.

Yu Feng wiped his nose. "Father doesn't agree to this division. He said he was injured for the sake of the family, and his injury should be healed before the family is divided. If he wants to divide the family now, he can, but he has to give him the sixty taels of silver he needs for treatment."

Old Zhou and his men were already shouting and cursing in the room.

"That ungrateful wretch! He should have been put in a chamber pot and drowned in a latrine at birth! His parents raised him, but all they've done is raise a scourge who has learned to threaten them."

Zhou Changshui handed a glass of water to Old Man Zhou. "Dad, calm down. I've told you before that I'm much more filial than my older brother, but you wouldn't believe me! Now you see his true colors, don't you? He's so ruthless to his own parents! He won't rest until he's dragged his parents and younger brother to their deaths."

“He’s not my son, he’s my enemy. He thinks he has me in his grasp and is trying to torment me, his father. He’s a heartless bastard, doesn’t he fear being struck by lightning?”

"Sixty taels! He really has the nerve to say that. He's going to rip our family out of everything. We have no money, but you can take our lives. I'll ask Zhou Changlin today if his father's old life is worth sixty taels!"

"I gave birth to him and raised him, and in the end he wants my life! Aren't you afraid of divine retribution?!"

Zhou Changshui patted Old Man Zhou's back from behind, trying to calm his father down. "Dad, it's not worth getting angry with this disobedient and unfilial son!"

Ma Xiangqin was only a month pregnant, but she was already licking her big belly, as if she was about to give birth. In reality, she was just a belly full of fat. "My sister-in-law is a cunning and wicked woman. She usually pretends to be very filial, but she is actually full of bad intentions. Maybe she is the one who instigated this sixty taels."

"That heartless, rotten-necked woman! She won't let her husband walk the right path! I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to marry such a wife!" Wang Chunxiang was furious just thinking about the fragrant chicken that had already gone into the eldest son's stomach! Yuan Pan'er seemed obedient and filial, but it was all an act!

……

Zhou Changlin and Yuan Pan'er listened to Old Man Zhou and the others cursing.

Zhou Changlin clenched his fists. For so many years, through countless days and nights, he had always loved and cared for his parents, always giving them the best food and eagerly taking on any chores. And today, he hadn't followed their wishes and ended his own life, and this was how he was being scolded?!

And then there's Pan'er, who has suffered a lot of grievances over the years since she married into the family, but has never been disobedient or unfilial. Yet today, they've slapped such a big label on her.

Yuan Pan'er had made up her mind. If Old Man Zhou and the others continued to curse, she would go out and cry. Since they weren't afraid to make a big scene, neither were she and Changlin.

At that moment, Zhou Yuchuan pushed the door open and came in.

"Father, Mother, I just came back from my uncle's house. My uncle gave me some instructions about dividing the family property."

Zhou Yuchuan then recounted Yuan Sheng's suggestions regarding the division of the family.

Zhou Yuchuan asked worriedly, "Dad, my uncle said that signing the severance agreement now would be the best thing to do. Are you... willing?"

Yuan Pan'er also stared longingly at Zhou Changlin.

Severing ties? Zhou Changlin never thought about severing ties; he only wanted to separate the family.

Severing ties means truly signing a letter of severance, which means cutting off all ties and becoming complete strangers from then on.

For Zhou Changlin, today his kind father suddenly changed his attitude and let him die, and his usually carefree younger brother suddenly saw him as a thorn in his side... This was a huge change.

But he was still not mentally prepared to sever ties with them and become strangers from then on.

Zhou Yuchuan said, "Dad, my uncle said that even if we clearly state the reasons for the division and the amount of money to support Grandpa and Grandma when we separate the family, they will still come after us if our family becomes successful. You've already seen the disgusting faces of Grandpa and Grandma and my uncle. Do you want them to bleed you dry and rip you off in the future? Dad! I don't want to!"

Zhou Changlin frowned. Being filial on one's own initiative and being forced to be filial are two completely different feelings.

He imagined that in the future he would really be as wealthy as Yuanbao'er said, and be forced by them to hand over a large sum of money under the pressure of filial piety. He felt disgusted.

If his two sons were to actually pass the imperial examinations, he and Pan'er would be bound by their parents' demands for filial piety and moral obligation, a life that was unbearable to even think about.

Yuanbao'er's reminder to him was clearly meant to be meaningful!

"Let's do it!" Zhou Changlin made up his mind. "Sever ties with them! These relatives are worse than outsiders; we're better off without them."

"Dad, just listen to your uncle, you can't go wrong. You have no idea how amazing your uncle is! The braised meat he makes is so delicious, I feel like it's almost like dragon meat from heaven."

Zhou Changlin was initially in a heavy mood, but his son's question amused him: "Have you ever eaten dragon meat?"

"I've never tried it before, but it's ten times more delicious than you can imagine! Shh, my uncle said to keep this a secret for now, we need to keep a low profile."

"Is it really that delicious?" Yuan Pan'er asked curiously.

"Really! I ate two big bowls of white rice and a plate of braised meat at my grandma's house today. It was so delicious it almost made my tongue fall off." Zhou Yuchuan was very excited, and he still couldn't help but swallow his saliva when he thought about the taste.

Seeing Zhou Yuchuan's comical, greedy monkey-like appearance, Yuan Pan'er and Zhou Changlin felt much better.

They've completely severed ties with the Zhou family, and now they'll have a good life ahead of them!

Having made up her mind, Yuan Pan'er went to the courtyard, where the men in the main house were still cursing.

"Mother, I have something to tell you."

"Huh?" Wang Chunxiang came out at Old Man Zhou's prompting.

"Mother, your insults towards Changlin and me have completely broken our hearts. We can separate the family as Father suggested, but we'll sever all ties!"

Wang Chunxiang held up her finger, stammering for a while, "You you you you you..." before finally saying, "Tell me! Was it you, you troublemaker, who instigated this!"

Zhou Changlin had been listening to the commotion in the courtyard. "Mother, this has nothing to do with Pan'er. You have trampled on my sincerity. I'm severing ties with you!"

Zhou Changlin shouted the words, "I want to sever ties with you."

Wang Chunxiang froze, then rushed to Zhou Changlin's room, crying out, "My son, my son! You were raised by your mother with so much love and care, how can you bear to sever ties with your mother? Are you even human?"

Zhou Changlin's tears flowed again. "Mother, I started working in the fields with Father when I was fourteen, clearing land, chopping firewood, and doing odd jobs in town. All the money I earned went to you and Father. If I picked wild fruit in the mountains, I would bring it back to you first. Fifteen years! Fifteen years! Isn't that enough to repay your kindness in raising me?"

"Mother, have you ever thought about how heartbroken and desperate I was this morning when you abandoned me and let me die just to save money? Those were my most trusted parents! Those were the parents I had done my best to be filial to! And you just abandoned me like that?"

"You were just cursing me in the main room, calling me unfilial. How am I unfilial?! Just because I want to live and need money, am I unfilial? Just because I didn't listen to Father's method of dividing the family property and let him get rid of my family, am I unfilial?"

"Don't you even think about why I got injured? It was because Dad said he was going to join the logging team, and I was afraid it would be dangerous for him, so I went! It was precisely because I was filial that I went to the logging team! That's why I got injured! Now you all complain about the cost of my treatment and want me to just wait to die! It was only after my brother-in-law Yuanbao came to Dad and made a scene that Dad finally gave me some money for treatment, and even then, he wanted to separate from us and gave us a pittance to get rid of us! Dad is truly ruthless! Mother, do you think I'm unfilial? Am I not human?"

"Mother, my heart really aches!" Zhou Changlin patted his chest.