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

As Chen Jinfeng had predicted, the woman named Zhu Meiru flattered him relentlessly in order to marry into a wealthy family, praising his handsome appearance and dashing demeanor.

Chen Jinfeng's strength lies in his self-awareness. With his pockmarked face and buck teeth, he calls himself handsome? Handsome my foot!

He won her hand with some sweet words and a silver hairpin. Then, with a gold hairpin, he kissed her lips—and, surprisingly, they tasted quite good.

Originally, he was planning to use the ruby-studded hairpin to sleep with this little rascal, but then this braised meat thing happened.

He's slept with dozens of these vain types without a shred of guilt.

Moreover, these women who can't control their spending will keep their mouths shut and won't make a fuss. They'll also handle the aftermath themselves, so they won't bother him at all. It's a waste not to sleep with these kinds of women.

Chen Jinfeng put the hairpin aside and began to seriously consider how to win over Chef Feng.

Chef Feng has the backing of Donglaishun, so he can't be too forceful. The background of Donglaishun's owner is unpredictable, and only a fool would think of messing with him.

Or how about we sow discord between Chef Feng and Manager Cao?

Oh dear! This is troublesome. Why doesn't he have a capable person like Chef Feng under his command? Instead, he has a bunch of useless good-for-nothings working for him.

……

Zhou Changlin's home in Dongshan Village, Qingshan Town.

Early in the morning, Old Man Zhou knocked on Zhou Changlin's door, "You little beast, didn't you want to sever ties? Get up now and sign the papers and put your fingerprints on them."

The letter severing ties was written by Zhou Changsen. It detailed how Zhou Changlin's family had been disobedient and unfilial, which was why Old Man Zhou requested to sever ties with them. It also stated that Zhou Changlin's family should give Old Man Zhou three taels of silver every year to repay their kindness in raising him.

The witness was Ma Shanpo, Ma Xiangqin's father, who had already pressed his fingerprint on the document.

Yuan Pan'er opened the door.

"Weren't you making a fuss about severing ties yesterday? Immediately! Right now! Put your fingerprints on it!" Old Man Shou shook the severance document in his hand. He wanted to resolve the matter privately. If it became a big deal, people wouldn't know what to say about the Zhou family. After all, Zhou Changlin's benevolence and filial piety were recognized by everyone in the village.

Neither Zhou Changlin nor Yuan Pan'er could read, so they didn't know what Zhou Changsen had written in the letter severing ties, but they knew that severing ties wasn't done in this way.

Yuan Pan'er said, "Father, whether it's dividing the family or severing ties, there must be the village head, the clan chief, and a respected elder in the clan present. How can you just write a document and find a witness to say that you want to sever ties?"

"Don't call me 'Dad'! I can't accept that!" Old Zhou said angrily. "Are you a bunch of beasts going to sign or not?!"

Zhou Changlin said, "I won't sign! Zhou Chunqiang, I thought we had reached an agreement. If you're sure you want to sever ties, then go find the clan chief and the village head. Otherwise, we'll continue to drag this out!"

"You unfilial and disobedient brat!" Old Man Zhou was just putting on airs, but he didn't expect this little beast to actually not call him "father" and actually dare to call him by his full name.

Zhou Changlin sneered, "Go ahead and curse me if you want. Anyway, my brother-in-law will be here with Doctor Zhong soon. I have plenty of time to waste on you!"

"Good, good, good! Zhou Changlin, you're really tough!" Old Man Zhou stopped arguing and told his second son, Zhou Changshui, to go find the village head and clan chief, Zhou Chunsheng.

Zhou Changsen entered Zhou Changlin's room, put his hands behind his back, looked down at his elder brother with disdain, and said righteously, "Brother, I only now realize your true colors. You are truly... repulsive!"

"Your parents raised you with great difficulty, yet you call them by their first names. You are indeed an uneducated peasant who has never been taught proper etiquette!"

"Zhou Changsen, it was this peasant who supported your studies! This peasant earned twenty taels of silver for your tuition every year! This peasant provided you with good food and drink! This peasant was injured and kicked away by his family like trash in order to earn thirty taels for your Confucian studies!" Yuan Pan'er sneered.

"Parents are never wrong! No matter what, you should never call your parents by their first names, Yuan Pan'er! I used to think you were a kind and virtuous sister-in-law, but now I realize you're a sharp-tongued and shrewish woman! My expenses are paid by Father, so when did this money start being paid to my elder brother?"

"Ha, Zhou Changsen, I think you've wasted your education. You don't even understand basic human decency. I'm too lazy to waste a single word on you. I hope that when you're no longer of any use to Zhou Chunqiang and he kicks you aside, you'll still be able to say that parents are never wrong."

Zhou Changsen rolled his eyes. "Then you don't need to trouble yourself, sister-in-law." He's Dad's darling, and Dad will never give up on him.

Yuan Pan'er didn't care. Anyway, the ties would be severed after today, and they would never live with these clueless and inhuman people again. She felt that life had great hope.

After waiting for about half an hour, Zhou Changshui returned with Li Changgui, the village head, and Zhou Chunsheng, the clan chief.

Following Zhou Chunsheng was the person Zhou Chunqiang least wanted to see: his third uncle, Zhou Hanjiang. Zhou Hanjiang had liked Zhou Changlin since he was a child, often praising the boy for his upright character and kindness. Before, Old Man Zhou was very pleased to hear Zhou Hanjiang praise his son; now, he dreaded even a single good word from Zhou Hanjiang for Zhou Changlin.

Qian Chunxiang and her son Li Chunjiang had been loitering near Old Zhou's house, waiting for an opportunity to go up and give Zhou Changlin a helping hand. This was a task that her husband had repeatedly told her to do, and they were determined to make sure it went perfectly!

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the two followed the crowd into the Zhou family's courtyard. Li Chunjiang asked, "Uncle, what is the Zhou family up to?"

"Old Zhou wants to sever ties with Zhou Changlin," said Li Changgui, the village head, seemingly casually.

He was asleep last night when his younger brother woke him up and gave him a lecture, saying that he absolutely had to help Zhou Changlin today. He was still half asleep and didn't understand what was going on.

Zhou Changshui came to see him just now, and he finally understood that Zhou Chunqiang wanted to sever ties with his son Zhou Changlin.

After receiving a response from his uncle, Li Chunjiang pretended to have just learned the news and dashed out, telling everyone he met, "Hurry up and go see the Zhou family! Old Man Zhou is going to sever ties with his most filial son, Zhou Changlin!"

what?

Severing ties? In all these years, I've never heard of anyone severing ties with their family in this whole area. "Chunjiang, are you sure you're not mistaken? Is it separating the family or severing ties?"

"That's right, it's a complete severance of ties! The father and son will be like strangers from now on, and will never have any contact with each other again."

Oh my goodness, this is a huge event! You probably only get to see this kind of excitement once in your life. Thanks to Li Chunjiang's promotion, many people came to Old Man Zhou's house.

Old Man Zhou was angry at Li Chunjiang for being too talkative. He didn't want these people to come in; they would all be talking at once, and who knew what they would say later? So he simply locked the gate. But everyone's enthusiasm for watching the drama was too high, and they had already climbed over the Zhou family's wall, some even up trees, and some stood on the roof of their neighbors' houses.

When Old Zhou looked up, he saw a group of people crouching on the wall, which made him even angrier.

Village head Li Changgui coughed. "Old Zhou, open the door. It's just severing ties; it's nothing shameful. These people climbing walls and trees is dangerous, isn't it?"