country bumpkin

In the city, Kong Xiufen's business is booming, even more so than during the Spring Festival. It's been open for over ten days, and every day it's packed with people.

Kong Xiufen is a sweet talker, and she also came up with a marketing strategy of low profit and high volume.

She always sold her goods a penny cheaper than everyone else. Since the profit margin was small, she had to make up for it with volume.

Many business owners, purchasing agents, and buyers are shrewd individuals. They will visit several markets to compare prices before buying anything.

She always found the best quality, cheapest, and most suitable supplier. Everyone who bought chickens from Kong Xiufen became a repeat customer.

Therefore, Kong Xiufen's business is now even more booming than her older brother Kong Xiangguang's business.

What's most unexpected is that after Kong Xiangguang learned that his second sister was doing the same business as him, he listened to his wife and cut off contact with his siblings.

He also felt that his parents favored their daughter, so he stopped visiting them and became estranged from them, no longer visiting or contacting them.

When Mu Shuyun learned of her eldest son's decision, she cried for a whole day and didn't sleep a wink all night.

She was heartbroken. The child she had raised with such difficulty had grown up and then, through her daughter-in-law's instigation, severed ties with his parents.

Of course, these things quickly spread to the ears of the sisters, especially the eldest sister, Kong Xiujuan, who simply couldn't believe it was true.

With red eyes, Kong Xiujuan said to Kong Xiuzhen, "Tell me, how could your eldest brother be so muddle-headed? He listened to Wang Cuihua's instigation. We all have the same mother! Among all the sisters, he's the smartest and most capable, but now he's made a fool of himself."

The second sister, Kong Xiuzhen, disagreed with her eldest sister's statement and retorted, "That's not true at all. Haven't you noticed, eldest sister? Ever since Wang Cuihua married into the family, eldest brother has changed."

His wife, Wang Cuihua, causes trouble at the old house every few days, upsetting our mother. When has he ever cared about her?

They just offer half-hearted advice to go home and that's it. They don't genuinely care about his wife at all.

"If it weren't for his indulgence over the years, Wang Cuihua wouldn't have had the audacity to constantly provoke our mother."

Kong Xiujuan fell silent. She thought of all the sacrifices she had made and felt a chill run through her heart.

At that time, Kong Xiangguang had been married for more than a year and had a child. Wang Cuihua wanted to separate the family property, so Kong Tongming had to build a house for him.

Kong Xiujuan advised her husband to go and help out at her younger brother's house more often, otherwise the house would never be finished.

Sun Zitao was obedient. Perhaps out of consideration for his wife, or perhaps because he wanted to curry favor with his brother-in-law, he actually agreed to help.

To build a red brick house, you need to buy red bricks in town. They don't deliver to your door; you have to find a vehicle to haul them yourself.

Without saying a word, Sun Zitao pulled a wooden cart to help buy bricks. After buying them, he brought them back.

They didn't pay a penny for the delivery and even helped unload the bricks. When buying the tiles, Kong Xiangguang didn't have enough money on him, so Sun Zitao paid for it. After they got back, Kong Xiangguang didn't mention it, and Sun Zitao didn't ask for the money he had paid.

That year, when Wei Yunya was there, Wang Cuihua went to the old house and cursed for three days. Mu Shuyun was so bullied by Wang Cuihua that she dared not go out.

Her own mother was being bullied by her brother's wife, and as the older sister, she couldn't stand up for her mother and fight back. She had to consider her sibling relationship.

Yes, that's exactly what Kong Xiujuan thinks. She can't offend her own family; she can only appease and coax them. Even if it means being a "brother-supporting demon," she's willing to do it.

Perhaps it's because she was the eldest child in her family, and she helped take care of her younger siblings as they grew up, that she had a special affection for them.

Later, when the children were a bit older, when his eldest nephew was 8 years old, Kong Xiangguang brought his son to the city to buy timber.

Seeing that her nephew's shoes were worn out, Kong Xiujuan gritted her teeth and spent 25 yuan to buy Kong Jianjun a pair of sneakers.

At that time, Yunya and Sun Limei always wore red-edged cloth shoes that cost 5 yuan a pair.

Furthermore, you have to wear a pair of shoes until your big toe is sticking out and the soles are worn down to the point where the anti-slip treads are no longer visible before you can buy a new pair.

It was a fact that Kong Xiujuan favored her nephew, a fact known to all her sisters. Yunya had even envied those shoes for a long time.

Whenever Kong Xiangguang needed money, Kong Xiujuan would always help him out.

If she doesn't have money on hand, Kong Xiujuan will borrow money from her neighbors to help her younger brother.

She is truly devoted to her younger brother, and she thinks that if she treats them this way, how can her brother's wife be dutiful to her mother?

Since their sister-in-law treats their family so well, they should be filial to their mother-in-law and father-in-law (and their own parents).

Thinking of this, Kong Xiujuan felt dizzy, realizing that all her previous efforts had been in vain.

Kong Xiuzhen, the younger sister, wanted to comfort her older sister, but didn't know how to start. She was tongue-tied, always saying what she thought, and didn't know how to offer advice.

Seeing her older sister so heartbroken, she felt terrible too.

After thinking for a while, he remembered a sentence and said, "Big sister, don't be sad. Although Wang Cuihua is not a good person, we still need Zhou Caiyun, right? We can't have all the daughters-in-law of the Kong family being bad, can we?"

Although these words didn't have much effect, they at least gave Kong Xiujuan a glimmer of hope.

She also felt that with three younger brothers in the family, there must be one brother's wife who was filial.

What she fears most is that when her parents get old and need someone to take care of them, her brothers will be there for them, and their wives will treat her parents well.

Although the daughters could also take care of their parents, they lived in different places and were all far apart.

It's better that the son lives in the same village, which is closer to home, making it easier for them to take care of their parents.

After comforting her eldest sister, Kong Xiuzhen saw that it was getting late and said goodbye to go home.

When Kong Xiuzhen got home, she told her husband about it. She was also confused and couldn't figure out whether her older brother and his wife were being petty or her younger sister was being too shrewd.

She looked at her husband washing his feet in the living room and asked, "Sigh, Jiefang, who do you think is to blame for this? Is it my brother's fault for being petty, or my sister's fault for being unreasonable?"

Zhang Jiefang wiped the water off his feet, put on his slippers, and looked up at his wife.

"How am I supposed to answer this? This is a family dispute. They say even an upright official can't settle family disputes. Everyone has their own version of the truth. I'm not Bao Zheng, I can't make a clear judgment on everything."

Kong Xiuzhen glared at him, annoyed. "What are you talking about? You might as well not say anything at all. The more you talk, the more confused I get."

Zhang Jiefang: "What's so confusing? Whoever you side with is right, and whoever you dislike is wrong!"

Kong Xiuzhen said, "Actually, I've always felt that my sister is right. In their market, there are at least eight out of ten businesses doing this kind of business."

There are even two sisters who run this business next to each other, and they never argue. They're all relatives, and one older sister even saw how profitable the business was and pulled her younger sister along to join her.

To be honest, the older brother and sister-in-law are stingy. Besides, my sister's stall is far from their house. How is she stealing their business?

If anyone's going to steal business, it should be the entire street's worth. Outsiders haven't even bothered my sister yet, and he, her own brother, is already getting restless.

Zhang Jiefang said, "See? I told you so. Whoever is close to you, whoever you side with in your heart, is right."