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

The villagers watching sighed again at how filial Zhou Changlin was. Even now, with his parents practically begging for his life, he still granted their unreasonable demands. Only someone so devoted to his parents would utter such severing ties and becoming a complete stranger if he were utterly heartbroken.

And then there's Zhou Changsen. His elder brother was injured because of him, and he actually wrote such a vicious letter severing ties with his family. He's clearly no good either. And he calls himself a scholar? This whole family is so wicked!

Zhou Changlin and his brother-in-law are right to ask. Since they've severed ties and are now like strangers, completely cut off from all ties, why would they give him any retirement money? What's the difference between that and not severing ties? Zhou Chunqiang's family gets all the benefits!

The villagers who were watching—in the trees, on the rooftops, on the walls, and in the courtyards—were all shouting.

"It shouldn't have been given!"

"Changlin cannot be given!"

"You can't treat your own son like this! We absolutely can't give it to him!"

"Old Zhou, you shouldn't have accepted it!"

"You heartless, rotten ass!"

"So unethical it's outrageous!"

Anyway, there were many people talking about it, one after another, and even the Zhou family couldn't tell who was who, so many people just joined in the cursing.

Zhou Chunqiang was panting heavily. He hadn't expected the usually honest and filial Zhou Changlin to pull such a stunt. Yesterday, he had verbally agreed to give Zhou Changlin three taels of silver every year as a token of gratitude, just to appease him. Now, he said he agreed to all of Zhou Chunqiang's demands, but then questioned the clan chief—wasn't that a clear sign of reneging on his promise?

Sure enough, Zhou Hanjiang tapped his cane and said, "My Zhou family doesn't have such a rule. Severing ties means cutting off all relations!"

Zhou Chunsheng continued, "Severing ties means cutting all ties completely, so there's no reason to continue with the money."

Village head Li Changgui also said, "Chunqiang, since you're going to sever ties with your family, you can't let Changlin give you money every year anymore. If you do that, people will gossip about you behind your back." Even if you don't want the three taels of silver every year, you'll still be gossiped about.

Zhou Chunqiang was thus held up!

Zhou Chunqiang glared at Zhou Changlin resentfully, feeling extremely frustrated! How dare Zhou Changlin trick him like this? "Since that's the case, village head, clan chief, then I'll continue kissing him."

Zhou Hanjiang shouted, "Severing ties is no child's play! Did you invite us here today just to play us for a fool?!"

Village head Li Changgui also looked displeased, "Zhou Chunqiang, this is not how you do things!"

Zhou Chunsheng, recalling Changlin's words, said unhappily, "Chunqiang, everyone heard what Changlin just said. We are all witnesses. If anything happens to Yuzhu, I, the Zhou clan patriarch, will personally arrest you and take you to the authorities!"

Yuan Sheng shouted from the crowd, "Old Zhou, my brother-in-law was injured in the public hall, and he should be treated there. It's fine even if we don't become relatives. Just take out the money for his treatment today."

The villagers who had come to watch the commotion all felt like they'd been played by Zhou Chunqiang. He said he'd sever ties, but at the crucial moment he changed his mind?! Hearing Yuan Sheng's words, they shouted in unison, "If you don't sever ties, give us the money!"

"Take the silver!"

"Take the silver!"

"Hurry up and hand over the silver!"

Zhou Chunqiang has been elevated to an even higher position!

Damn it, Zhou Chunqiang felt like he was caught in a dilemma, unable to move forward or backward. If he didn't continue the charade today, it seemed he would have no choice but to spend money on Zhou Changlin's medical treatment. Now that he had completely broken ties with the eldest brother's family, spending even a penny on him would be a huge loss!

Zhou Chunqiang gritted his teeth, "Fine, I won't give you the three taels of silver as a token of gratitude every year, but Zhou Changlin's whole family will leave with nothing! I won't give him the six mu of land on the hillside or the two thatched huts either! It was Zhou Changlin who wanted to sever ties, so if he wants to, he'll leave with nothing!"

"Fine! I agree! We'll leave with nothing! There's the ancient story of Nezha cutting off his flesh to repay his mother and his bones to repay his father! Although I, Zhou Changlin, haven't cut off my flesh or bones, I broke my back trying to earn money for my parents, and I only have a few days left to live. Doing this for them is my way of repaying their kindness in raising me. Since my parents want me to leave with nothing, as their son, I naturally have no choice but to obey." Zhou Changlin immediately said. He felt disgusted by Zhou Chunqiang's belongings; he wanted to sever all ties completely, leaving no further connection whatsoever!

Although Zhou Changlin agreed, Zhou Chunqiang was still frustrated. He was promised three taels of silver a year, but he was tricked and lost everything!

How much are those six acres of barren land on the hillside worth? They're called medium-grade land, but they're practically low-grade land!

Zhou Hanjiang tapped his cane. "I disagree! Those six acres of land on the hillside are my Zhou family's ancestral land, and they must be given to the eldest son and grandson!"

This was the first time Zhou Changlin had learned about the origin of the hillside. As the eldest son and grandson, he was indeed responsible for inheriting the Zhou family's ancestral land.

Zhou Chunqiang sneered, "He's already severed ties with me, so what kind of eldest son and grandson of the Zhou family is he! If he wants those six acres of land on the hillside, fine, four taels of silver per acre, that's twenty-four taels of silver!"

"Twenty taels of silver!" Zhou Hanjiang said in a deep voice. If Changlin wanted to sever ties cleanly and avoid being criticized in the future, leaving with nothing was the best option.

That's how people are. Today, everyone supports Changlin because they know the whole story, and their emotions have run high. As time goes by, people won't remember anymore. If Zhou Chunqiang and Wang Chunxiang cry and complain, people will probably sympathize with them again. After all, parents are never wrong, and Zhou Chunqiang and Wang Chunxiang have the advantage of seniority.

Zhou Hanjiang saw that Yu Chuan was a promising student. If Yu Chuan became successful in the future and Zhou Chunqiang started to harass him, and the matter of severing ties was not handled properly, Yu Chuan would probably suffer a lot.

At this point, Zhou Hanjiang had already made up his mind that he would pay the twenty taels of silver later.

"Alright, twenty taels it is!" Zhou Chunqiang said. Anyway, Zhou Changlin couldn't come up with a single tael of silver, and Yuan Pan'er's impoverished family couldn't afford it either.

Zhou Hanjiang said, "Chunsheng, you write the documents: one document severing ties with your family, and one document for sale."

This time, Zhou Chunsheng wrote a detailed account of the ins and outs of the severing of kinship, from why Zhou Changlin went to the logging team, to who he was injured for, to how his father abandoned him after learning that the injury would cost money. The account also detailed Zhou Chunqiang's land area, property, and savings, but demanded that he leave with nothing.

In addition, the book also describes how Zhou Chunqiang and others used Yuzhu as leverage to force Zhou Changlin to give them three taels of silver every year as a token of gratitude. However, they gave up due to pressure from their clan and the villagers' opinions. The book focuses on describing Zhou Changlin's filial piety and Zhou Chunqiang's wickedness.

After writing it, Zhou Chunsheng read it aloud to everyone, and all who heard it were filled with righteous indignation!

Some elderly women burst into tears upon hearing the letter severing ties with their parents. How could there be such heartless parents in this world?

Severing ties directly is tantamount to expelling Zhou Changlin's family from the Zhou family genealogy. In addition to the hardship of living, Zhou Changlin's family will not be able to be buried in the ancestral grave after death, and can only become lonely ghosts.

This is going to make the Changlin family suffer while they're alive, and even in death they won't find peace!

Too bad!

At this moment, Old Man Zhou no longer cared whether others were cursing him. Public opinion was quite unfavorable to him. What if Zhou Changlin took this opportunity to back out?

He had promised his youngest son that he would definitely give him a Confucian scholar's course. If the severance of ties failed, he would have to spend tens of taels of silver to treat Zhou Changlin's injuries. Where would the money for his youngest son's Confucian scholar's course come from?

Old Zhou urged, "Since there are no problems, let's both parties sign and put their fingerprints on the document."