The Transmigrated Farm Girl's Journey to Wealth

He can't afford to offend his son too much, or he'll suffer the consequences when his son falls from grace.

The second and third brothers were fairly satisfied; at least it was fair.

"Dad, where are we staying?" Old Fang asked, bewildered.

The old man paused, realizing he truly had no money. How was his fourth son going to build a house? His cloudy old eyes stared intently at Fang Youcai.

Fang the eldest met his gaze without fear. “Fourth brother, you should be content. When your eldest brother divided the family property, I didn’t even get 20% of the property. Village chief, I used to live in my great-grandfather’s old house. I remember that my second great-grandfather had no sons. After he died, the house was always empty. Why don’t we lend it to the fourth brother for now? When he has money, he can buy it or build his own house, it’s up to him.”

Wanting a house too? What are you thinking about in broad daylight?

The old man was even more ridiculous. Why were you looking at him? They'd already severed ties with him. Did you expect him to give you money?

"No, there are only a few mud-brick houses there, and they're already dilapidated. How can we live there?"

"Can't live here? When I separated from my family, the house I was given wasn't even that good. I can fix it myself and live here. I've lived here for over ten years, and it's still fine." Although every winter I'm afraid the house will collapse.

"father!"

Fang Youcai picked at his ear. He was always looking for his father, acting like a baby, all effeminate. If it were his son, he'd break his legs and throw him out to fend for himself.

"If you want to rent it, it's possible to let the fourth brother live there for now." Anyway, the rent comes from the village, but it won't cost more than a few copper coins a year.

Old Fang really couldn't bear to see his youngest son living in the dilapidated house. "The weather is getting colder and colder, and my fourth son's wife is heavily pregnant. He has also just experienced a major misfortune and is still weak. How about this, they can stay in their own room for now. Isn't there an empty room next to his? Second son, you two help build a stove. They can eat and live separately from now on. We can talk about moving in the spring."

It's not that he doesn't want to eat together, but eventually they'll have to separate. He wants to take advantage of this winter to toughen up the fourth brother's family so they can move out and make a living.

The fourth child needs to copy books; naturally, he can't do housework or heavy lifting. Hopefully, he can work harder during the winter and copy more books so we can build a house next spring.

Fang Lao Er and Lao San nodded, agreeing that it was a good idea; they were brothers, and they couldn't bear to see them go out and freeze. They would also help repair the house after spring.

After dividing the family property, writing the document, and pressing their fingerprints, the old man invited everyone to eat and drink, but they didn't, fearing that something might happen halfway through the meal. The family closed the courtyard gate and divided the property, and Fang Lao Er volunteered to go to the small house to help them clean and build the stove.

"Dad, everything has been divided up, but there are only two big iron pots in the house, and the fourth son's family doesn't have any pots. What are we going to do?"

They didn't get any money because they had no money left at home, so how were they supposed to cook?

Fang Laosi's wife was quite happy. Without a pot, she had a reason not to cook, continue to freeload, and sell the extra grain for money.

Just as the old man was about to suggest that they eat together for a few months, the third son's wife immediately chimed in, "Actually, one pot is enough for everyday use. Many families in our village only have one pot, right? How about this, the fourth brother can move one over, you two can use it, and the dozen or so of us can make do with one pot."

She'd rather lose a pot than associate with these people.

"Okay, I'll carry it." Old Fang San picked up a pot and left.

Fang Lao Si's wife wanted to curse. She was pregnant, and what if she hurt the baby by doing chores? Wasn't that old man afraid something might happen to his precious grandson?

She reluctantly followed behind, unpacking their new belongings. Although they had been allocated four acres of land, worth several dozen taels of silver, she wasn't happy at all. She much preferred the old life of eating, drinking, and visiting each other's homes.

"Come on, come on, let's go to my house for dinner!"

Fang Youcai then took everyone out to eat. His father's family had really made the right decision, saving them the cost of a meal.

When Zhao saw that the person had returned, she didn't say a word, but immediately took out the hot dishes in the pot, as well as two jars of wine.

His wife is so capable! Look, he went out for a while and came back with everything all sorted out. She really makes him proud. Zhao's cooking skills are excellent; she learned them from Fang Xiaoning. Fang Youcai was overjoyed to see them eating so happily.

Such a capable wife deserves to be pampered tonight.

........................

Time flies like an arrow.

After a long period of clear skies, a light drizzle began to fall. Following the autumn harvest, everyone was busy chopping and storing firewood. On rainy days, there was no work and no one could go up the mountain, so everyone consciously got up a little later.

Wang family.

A loud knocking sound came from the doorway.

Song got up. Now, who in the village would come to their house?

"mother!"

"Fa Zi! You're back!"

Overwhelmed with excitement, Song shouted at the top of her lungs, "His father, his father, father-in-law, Fa Zi is back, he's back!"

"Come in quickly, come in quickly, you're completely soaked, why didn't you rent a mule cart to come back?"

Wang Defa's face turned pale with cold, his teeth chattered, and his hair and clothes were dripping wet. "Let me change my clothes and warm up first."

God knows how he managed to get through the night. He was released yesterday afternoon and walked all the way home, almost crying several times along the way. His feet were in excruciating pain, worse than before.

"Alright, alright!" Mrs. Song supported him, noticing that her son was almost unable to stand.

Wang Defa limped back into the house. Cui Hehua went to boil water and carried a bucket for him to take a bath. She said that he was so cold that if he didn't soak in hot water, his mother-in-law was afraid he would catch a cold.

Mrs. Song was in the kitchen kneading dough and making noodles. Her son had lost a lot of weight; he must have been starving.

Old Wang tended the fire, while the old man paced back and forth in the main room, overwhelmed with emotion. "He's back! He's back!" he thought, believing he'd never see his eldest grandson again.

If he can come back, it means this matter is over.

Very good!

Wang Defa shakily took off his wet clothes and walked to the large wooden tub, only to find that he couldn't lift his legs. Cui Hehua's eyes flashed with disgust. Not wanting to get her clothes wet, she thoughtfully moved a stool over, "Honey, step on this to get into the tub."

Wang Defa looked at his red-rimmed eyes and felt a slight pang in his heart. He'd only realized how tough it was outside once he was inside; nobody in prison treated him like a human being. Home was much better. From now on, he would be law-abiding and live a good life with Cui Shi. He would never again covet what didn't belong to him.

He sighed contentedly as the slightly warm water enveloped his entire body.

He hasn't taken a shower since he went in, and he probably has lice on him.

Cui Hehua helped him wash his hair, but it was so oily she couldn't bring herself to do it. Looking at him with disgust, she threw in a handful of wood ash and rubbed it vigorously. "Honey, your job's done."

"Ah."

Wang Defa snorted and didn't say another word. He was tired, really exhausted.

The water in the bucket quickly turned black. Old Wang came in to change the water, and then...