People in the alley: A woman dressed as a man shouldn't be foolishly filial, Zhuang Chaoying

Since its publication, "The World Is Hard" has generated a strong response among readers and has been exceptionally popular, with annual print runs consistently exceeding 100,000 copies.

His other works are also very popular, and with these, even if he stops creating in the future, he can live a comfortable life on the generous royalties alone.

After discussing it with Ah Ling, he made a decision.

Ten percent of the annual royalties will be used to support education in rural areas.

Every year, a brand-new school building is built in different villages, and these buildings are all uniformly named "Chaoling Building." This provides a better learning environment for the children in the villages.

Two years later.

Xiaoting and Lin Dongzhe, affectionately known by their neighbors as the "Hidden Dragon and Phoenix Chicks" of the alley, have ushered in the happiest moment of their lives—they have welcomed a pair of twins, a boy and a girl.

The boy was named Lin Weijing, and the girl was named Lin Weilan.

This good news instantly made both families extremely happy.

Xiaoting was in good physical condition and recovered very quickly after giving birth. She returned to work not long after.

Because her family was wealthy, Song Ying hired two experienced nannies to help take care of the children, allowing Xiao Ting to focus on her work without any worries.

Coincidentally, Pengfei and Xiaozhou also welcomed the fruit of their love the following year, a lovely girl whom they named Xiangshang.

With the birth of their granddaughter, Xiang Dong and Zhuang Hualin moved from Guizhou Province to Shanghai, living in a small two-bedroom apartment not far from Pengfei's home.

On ordinary days, the elderly couple help take care of the children and enjoy the joy of being with their grandchildren. Their hard work has finally paid off at this moment. After hardship comes sweetness. No matter when, sweetness has finally arrived.

They often think that all of this is thanks to their eldest brother and sister-in-law, and that sending Pengfei back was the best decision they ever made.

Millennium.

These kids are all doing very well. After all, they were college students in the 1980s. How could they not be doing well? Moreover, the end point for him, Ah Ling, Song Ying, and Engineer Lin is the starting point for these kids' lives.

In the Yangtze River Delta region, the advantages of only children are becoming increasingly prominent. The concentration of family resources gives them more opportunities and support during their growth, and their "value" is constantly rising.

Take Zhuang Honghui, the only son of Zhuang Tunan, for example.

The grandfather was a doctoral supervisor in the Chinese Department of Jiaotong University, and the grandmother owned shares in a listed company.

My maternal grandfather was a university professor, and my maternal grandmother was a chief physician in obstetrics and gynecology.

The uncle of the "God of Retail Investors," the aunt of the research institute, and the professor aunt of the Chinese Department at Fudan University.

The uncle of the general manager of the Shanghai branch of a foreign company.

Such a powerful family background gave Zhuang Honghui a halo from birth, making him a true "young master" of Shanghai.

......

After returning from studying abroad, Wu Shanshan was directly hired by a well-known foreign company.

With her outstanding work ability and decision-making skills, she has now been promoted to representative of the China region, enjoying great success in her career. In terms of love, Shanshan has also found her soulmate, the senior student who had been silently waiting for her all along.

Both of them were very career-oriented and focused on their careers after marriage. It wasn't until three years later that they welcomed the fruit of their love—a lovely daughter.

While working hard, they also take good care of their little family, and their life is happy and fulfilling.

After graduating from vocational school, Xiao Jun was introduced by Lin Wufeng to work at Xinsheng Home Appliance Factory.

He has worked his way up step by step and has now been promoted to a junior manager.

Shanshan bought him an apartment in Suzhou.

Old Wu and his sister still live in that old house.

Every year during holidays, Shanshan would bring her family back to Suzhou to visit them, and she would also bring various nutritional supplements.

Looking at Shanshan, who is now successful in her career and living a happy life, Lao Wu felt extremely regretful.

He often recalls his selfish behavior in the past and regrets not giving Shanshan more care and support.

He couldn't help but think that if he had been more open-minded and less unreasonable back then, perhaps he could be living in a spacious mansion in Shanghai with Shanshan now, or at the very least, Shanshan could buy him an apartment in Suzhou.

But there's no going back in life.

Amei's temper has gotten worse in the past two years, and she often has to help Xiaomin take care of her child, so she rarely stays at home.

In the past, the household chores were always handled by A-mei, but now that she's not home, these chores naturally fall to Lao Wu.

Whenever Lao Wu complained, A-mei would put her hands on her hips and say fiercely.

"I have Xiaomin to rely on, so we can just get a divorce!"

Upon hearing the word "divorce," Lao Wu immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, losing all his temper.

He knew in his heart that it would be difficult for someone like him, who had been married before, to find a suitable partner again, as most of those people were only after his money.

After much thought, he decided that he could only continue to make do with Amei.

Duke Zhuang and his wife, Zhuang Apo, favored their son over their daughter, neglecting the life and death of their eldest son. The old woman's lack of virtue is now reaping the consequences of her actions.

The once lively family is now broken apart, with only Ganmei left by their side. The eldest and second eldest sons have long since lost all affection for them and severed ties with them.

Whenever they heard news about the eldest son's family from their old neighbors, the elderly couple felt deep regret. They were filled with remorse, hating themselves for being so cruel. They wouldn't admit that they were wrong, but simply because they were old and helpless, they had chosen the least promising person to be their caregiver, making the wrong bet.

The Ganmei family is living a comfortable life these days, neither too good nor too bad, thanks to the elderly couple's retirement pensions.

Ganmei and his wife were both laid off, losing their stable source of income and having to do odd jobs.

Although Zhendong is still working at the factory, his salary is not enough for him to live on.

A family of six had to squeeze into two rooms.

With such family conditions, no girl would want to marry into this family.

Zhenbei repeated his senior year of high school for three years in order to get into university, but in the end he had no choice but to give up and work in a factory.

Grandpa Zhuang was an old man with a very bad temper, and faced with such an unsatisfactory life, he vented his anger on Ganmei every day. Ganmei and her husband went to work irregularly, and their daily expenses were almost entirely covered by the old couple's pension.

I can't get over it even if I curse every day.

Not long after his seventy-third birthday, perhaps due to long-term jealousy of his eldest son's family and resentment over his youngest son's lack of ambition, Grandpa Zhuang suffered a sudden heart attack.

He passed away in his sleep, ending his life filled with resentment.

Just a few months later, Grandma Zhuang followed in her husband's footsteps.

When their parents were alive, Zhuang Ganmei and his wife were able to make ends meet, as the two elderly people would occasionally help them out.

But now, with the sudden passing of the two elderly people, they have instantly lost their two pensions, which were their livelihood.

At this moment, Zhuang Ganmei and his wife suddenly thought of their eldest brother's family again.

A while ago, they even saw an interview with their eldest brother on TV. In the footage, their eldest brother was very successful and looked quite glamorous.

In their view, they were all family, and it didn't seem unreasonable for them to get some money from their eldest brother.

Zhendong and Zhenbei are both of marriageable age, but they don't even have a wedding house. The older brother is so rich, it's only natural that he would buy two wedding houses for his two nephews.

So they racked their brains and came up with what they thought was a "brilliant" plan.

Since they couldn't see their elder brother and sister-in-law, they set their sights on their elder brother's niece, Zhuang Yuyao, hoping to extort money from him by blocking her way.

This time, Zhuang Chaoying will not show them any mercy.

The tolerance and forbearance we showed in the past have only resulted in the other party taking even more extreme actions.

When Zhuang Ganmei and his wife took action, Zhuang Chaoying acted decisively, sending them directly to a dark room to make them pay the price for their actions.

......