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

“Good, you’re in good health. Yuanbao asked Dr. Zhong from Miaoshoutang to examine me and your mother and get some medicine. We’re taking care of ourselves now.”

When Zhao Mingde saw them, his father-in-law and mother-in-law were indeed full of energy, with rosy complexions, and looked several years younger than when they last came!

It seems Yuanbao has really struck it rich!

That's wonderful! He was truly happy for his father-in-law's family!

Yuan Sheng continued, "Second sister, second brother-in-law, the doctor will be here later to see my eldest brother-in-law. Let him take a look at you as well."

Zhao Mingde exclaimed, "No need! I'm in great shape! I can easily chop wood and carry a hundred or two hundred pounds of firewood."

Yuan Nian'er quickly stopped her. "My health is fine, why spend that money! Many doctors like to make a bunch of fuss over nothing in order to make money."

Sheng Guihua said, "You two are so young and so stingy. You should see a doctor when you need to. That's called preventing illness before it occurs. For example, after taking Zhong Langzhong's medicine for two days, my feet aren't so cold anymore, and I feel much better. Don't worry about spending money. Your brother has made something of himself and is very wealthy now!"

Sheng Guihua is truly an old lady with a strong ability to learn and adapt!

"Sister, brother-in-law, don't refuse. It's free to take a look, but you'll have to pay for the medicine. Let Doctor Zhong take your pulse first."

"Alright," Zhao Mingde and Yuan Nian'er finally agreed.

Once inside the courtyard, Zhao Mingde took out the gifts from his basket one by one.

"These are dried mushrooms I brought for my parents." Zhao Mingde pulled out a bag of dried mushrooms, which contained all sorts of different kinds of mushrooms.

During the famine, people even stripped tree bark and ate it, let alone poisonous mushrooms. Therefore, it was already determined through numerous real-life experiments which mushrooms were poisonous and which were not.

"These are walnuts, harvested from the mountain myself." Zhao Mingde took out another large bag of walnuts.

"These are fifty eggs. My mother heard that Yuanbao was so sick that she needed to have a 'lucky' wedding, so she brought them over to help Yuanbao recover."

"These are oat noodles, made by my mother. She knows Yuanbao likes them, so she got up early this morning to steam them. She steamed two pots and asked me to bring them over." Zhao Mingde took out a rough ceramic jar containing a jar of oat noodles.

Yuan Sheng's eyes welled up with tears as he looked at the fifty eggs and the earthenware pot of oat noodles.

In his past life, Grandma Ma also had her brother-in-law bring him these things, but he showed no gratitude whatsoever, only enjoying the oat noodles with relish. He didn't even offer incense before Grandma Ma died.

When he was a child, whenever his second sister went back to her parents' home, he would always go home with her and they stayed in Zhaogezhuang for a long time.

Because of his good looks, like a little fairy, and his sweet tongue, he was deeply loved by his second sister's grandmother, Granny Ma.

During the time he stayed at his second sister's house, Grandma Ma killed two chickens and gave him the chicken legs every time.

He liked to eat the oat noodles with fish-shaped filling made by Grandma Ma, and Grandma Ma would cook it for him every few days.

He still remembers the steps Grandma Ma took to make the oat noodles.

First, mix oat flour with water to form a dough. Then, take a small piece of dough and roll it into a long strip about the thickness of a chopstick.

Take a small piece of dough, about the size of a fingernail, from the long strip and place it on the work surface. First, roll the dough into a ball with your hands, then roll it into a long strip with pointed ends. Finally, flatten the middle slightly, and the oat noodle fish is ready.

The final step is to steam them in a steamer over high heat for 15 minutes, then let them cool naturally before separating them one by one, otherwise they will stick together.

Add some salt, fry some eggs, and the taste is simply amazing!

Memories of Grandma Ma and the oat noodles overwhelmed Yuan Sheng, and he couldn't help but lament that he had let down too many sincere people. Tomorrow, he would go back to Zhaogezhuang Village with his second sister and brother-in-law, and he would definitely buy more gifts for Grandma Ma.

Yuan Pan'er had just gone to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables, and when she came back, she saw her second sister and brother-in-law, and naturally they exchanged pleasantries.

Yuan Nian'er held her eldest sister's hand and asked, "I heard from Yuan Bao'er that the Zhou family has severed ties with you? And that your brother-in-law injured his back?"

“Yes, the kinship has been severed, but don’t worry, Changlin is currently under the clan leader’s lineage, so we are still on the Zhou family genealogy. Your brother-in-law’s injury is also being treated; he should be better in a month or so.” Yuan Pan’er said as she led her second sister and brother-in-law into the house.

The house wasn't big. The younger children went in, greeted their uncle, and then left, leaving only Zhou Changlin, Yuan Pan'er, Yuan Nian'er, and Zhao Mingde inside.

Yuan Sheng, Zhu Chenxi, Sheng Guihua, and the others went to prepare the meal.

"Big sister, what exactly happened to your husband?" Yuan Nian'er asked.

Zhou Changlin said calmly, "Changsen wanted to take some kind of Confucian scholar's course, which required a tuition fee of thirty taels of silver. My father thought the expense was too high, so he sent me to work for the logging team. As luck would have it, the big tree turned, and I was hit in the waist by a branch. I couldn't stand up at that moment."

“The logging team carried me home. Pan’er called a doctor to take a look. When my father heard this, he said that it would cost sixty taels of silver to save my life and let me stand up. But I would not be able to do heavy work in the future. So he immediately decided to give up on me and prepared to let me die without spending a penny.”

“Pan’er asked Yu Chuan to come back and ask Yuan Bao’er and his parents-in-law for help. Yuan Bao’er immediately invited Doctor Zhong and went there in a carriage. He seized on my father’s weakness and forced him to pay for my medical treatment. He also killed my mother’s chicken and stewed it to nourish my body.”

"The Zhou family saw that Yuanbao was not easy to mess with, and they also thought that I was completely useless. They thought that Yufeng and the others were just freeloaders who couldn't do any work, so they wanted to use a few acres of land to get rid of us, separate from us, and get rid of our family burden."

“Yuanbao suggested that I cut off ties with them. Through this series of events, I have seen through them long ago and want to cut ties with them completely to avoid feeling disgusted. So my whole family will leave with nothing.”

Zhou Changlin spoke calmly, as if he were talking about someone else's story. He had once been heartbroken and cried twice, but now he had let go of it. He knew that cherishing the family members he should cherish was the right thing to do.

"Thanks to Yuanbao, if it weren't for Yuanbao, I don't think you would have seen me," Zhou Changlin said with a smile.

Yuan Nian'er's heart was in turmoil. She never expected that her eldest sister and brother-in-law's family would experience such a big change in such a short period of time, and her brother-in-law even walked back from the brink of death.

Luckily, I had gold ingots!

Her younger brother has grown up! He has not only become a pillar of support for the Yuan family, but also for his older sister's family!

Yuan Nian'er felt guilty for not being able to help with such a big matter. "Sigh, I married too far away. I can't help with such a big matter at all. When Yuan Bao'er was unconscious and we needed to have a wedding to bring good luck, Mother didn't even have time to send me a message. It's all thanks to my eldest sister and brother-in-law."

Yuan Pan'er held her sister's hand. "How can this be your fault? Zhao Gezhuang is so far away. It takes two days to go there and back. We're both fine, aren't we?"

"My eldest sister is the best. She married into the next village, so she can help out whenever there's a problem at home."