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

Zhao Youliang deliberately avoided watching his younger brother eat donkey meat sandwiches, looking into the distance, but his mouth involuntarily made a gurgling sound, giving him away.

Yuansheng took one and handed it to him, saying, "Youliang, you eat one too."

"Uncle, I ate a lot this morning, so I'm not hungry yet. I'll eat when I'm hungry," Zhao Youliang said sensibly.

"Eat, let's all eat." Yuan Sheng started handing out donkey meat sandwiches, one for each person except Zhao Youchen, who didn't have many teeth.

Crispy sesame flatbread and fragrant donkey meat—one bite is truly satisfying.

Seeing the children enjoying their food, Yuan Nian'er took a small bite of the donkey meat sandwich herself and once again felt grateful that her family had benefited from her younger brother's success.

If it weren't for the younger brother, their family would be like any other farming family: farming, gathering firewood, doing odd jobs, and saving money to get their son married. After the daughter-in-law gave birth, the son would go back to farming, gathering firewood, doing odd jobs, and saving money to get his grandson married, and so on. Forget about the donkey meat sandwiches; just being able to eat this simple food would be a good life.

If it happens to be a year of famine, or if taxes and corvée labor are heavy, one will inevitably have to sell the land to the landlord and become a tenant farmer. At that time, not to mention having surplus money, it will be a luxury not to have any debts owed by the landlord.

Now her younger brother has introduced Mingde to a lucrative business and advised them to raise pigs at home. With the money to send their sons to private school, their family has a chance to escape the cycle of poverty. The gratitude in her heart is beyond words.

Seeing that his two nephews had quickly finished their donkey meat sandwiches, Yuan Sheng gave each of them two more.

He and his second sister's wife each ate one, leaving eleven donkey meat sandwiches remaining.

After a long and difficult journey, the family finally arrived in Zhaogezhuang Town. Yuansheng decided to go to his third sister's house first to find out about her situation before going to his second sister's house, otherwise he wouldn't feel at ease.

Yuan Nian'er also wanted to see how her younger sister was doing, so the whole family went to Xiatan Village.

Yuan Zhao'er's eldest daughter, Da Niu, was playing with pebbles in front of her house when she saw her second aunt from afar.

"Second Aunt!" Da Niu ran up to her. "Big Cousin, Second Cousin, Little Cousin."

Da Niu obviously didn't recognize Yuan Sheng. This is the downside of marrying far away. Yuan Zhao'er rarely returned to her parents' home and sometimes didn't even bring her children. Yuan Sheng didn't care about this older sister either, and he never took the initiative to visit his third sister after growing up. So Da Niu didn't dare to recognize Yuan Sheng when she saw him.

Yuan Nian'er greeted, "Big girl, this is your uncle, your Yuanbao's uncle."

Wang Daniu twisted her clothes and timidly called out, "Uncle." Just as her mother had said, her uncle was exceptionally handsome—no, he was remarkably dashing.

“This is your uncle’s wife, your aunt,” Yuan Nian’er continued.

"aunt."

Zhu Chenxi took Wang Daniu's hand and said, "Daniu, come on, have some candy."

"Thank you, Auntie." Wang Daniu blushed, took the candy in her hand, and prepared to share it with her three younger sisters.

Zhu Chenxi seemed to see through Da Niu's thoughts, "Da Niu, your aunt has a lot of candy here, you can eat it yourself."

Wang Daniu then put the candy in her mouth and savored it carefully. It was so sweet!

At the same time, Yuan Sheng was also observing Wang Daniu. Daniu's clothes had some patches, but not many, and they fit well. Her hair was neatly combed, and she looked good with lively eyes.

Yuan Sheng had a good impression of the Wang family. They didn't mistreat Da Niu just because she was a girl, unlike the Zhang family next door who bullied their girls to death. Yuan Sheng saw a numbness in their eyes that was beyond what a child could imagine.

"Big Girl, where are your parents? Didn't your mother say she was going back to her parents' home with me? Why isn't she going?" Yuan Nian'er asked.

“My grandma wouldn’t let me go. She said the master she invited was only available today and wanted to perform a ritual to ensure my mother would have a boy in her next pregnancy. My parents had no choice but to break their promise.”

Yuan Sheng frowned. "Is the Taoist priest here now?"

"The Taoist priest is here."

Yuan Sheng tied the cow to the big tree at the entrance and strode into the Wang family home with Wang Daniu.

The Wang family had six thatched huts. In the main room, a Taoist priest burned talisman paper into a bowl of black water. Old Mrs. Wang wanted Yuan Zhao'er to drink it, but Wang Fuchun stopped her, and the two were pulling at each other.

"Wait a minute."

Upon hearing Yuan Sheng's voice, everyone turned to look.

Yuan Zhao'er was overjoyed to receive the message from her mother that her younger brother had been seriously ill, but had recovered after the traditional Chinese medicine treatment. She had been worried that he hadn't fully recovered. Fortunately, her brother had completely recovered and seemed even more energetic than before.

“My dear in-laws, my sister can’t drink this water. It’s not only useless, it might even make her sick.”

Wang Fuchun also said, "Mother, you're desperate and trying anything, making her eat all sorts of weird things. If you make her sick, she won't be able to have a son."

Upon hearing his third brother-in-law's words, Yuan Sheng asked, "What did your mother-in-law feed your third sister?"

Wang Fuchun sighed, "It's all sorts of quack doctors' folk remedies. While I was away, they fed Zhao'er a bunch of random things, which made her stomach upset. They were completely useless!"

Old Mrs. Wang became anxious upon hearing Wang Fuchun's words, "This time is different! I invited the strongest Taoist priest in Pingdingshan, and I spent an ounce of silver! I personally saw him take copper coins out of the oil pot; he possesses unparalleled supernatural powers! As long as Zhao'er drinks this talisman water, I guarantee she will give birth to a son very soon!"

The most powerful Taoist priest in Pingdingshan looked at the crowd with disdain. "Benefactor Wang, since your family doesn't believe me, then I'll take my leave!"

The Taoist priest lifted his foot to leave, but he had no intention of putting it down.

Old Mrs. Wang quickly grabbed them, "Are you all confused! You're trying to drive away my precious grandson!"

Wang Fuchun acted like a dead pig that wasn't afraid of boiling water, ignoring what his mother said, he just wouldn't let his wife drink that pitch-black talisman water.

Old Mrs. Wang secretly realized that she had miscalculated. She had sent her son away, but she didn't expect him to come back.

Yuan Sheng didn't argue anymore. He took out ten taels of silver and said respectfully, "Daoist, I have never seen a copper coin taken out of an oil cauldron before. If you can really do it, these ten taels of silver are yours."

Yuan Sheng turned to comfort Old Lady Wang, saying, "My dear in-law, if the Taoist priest really has such supernatural powers, I'll tell my sister to drink this talisman water later."

Grandma Wang was finally happy. She had heard that Zhao'er's brother-in-law was lazy and irresponsible, but she didn't expect him to be so sensible at such a crucial moment. "Zhao'er, listen to your brother. If you miss this good opportunity, you might never be able to have a son again."

Yuan Zhao'er was at a loss for what to do. Was this really her only chance to have a son?

She stared at the dark pool of water. She had tried so many folk remedies and medicines like this before, none of which had worked. Could this one actually work?

Wang Fuchun watched coldly, regardless of what these people said or what his brother-in-law did, he simply wouldn't let his wife drink that dark, murky water.

If all else fails, just knock it over. At worst, I'll get another beating from my mom!

snort!

Yuan Sheng called to Wang Dani, "Dani, go and heat the cooking oil in the pot. We'll wait for the Taoist priest to perform his ritual."