Reincarnation and Rebirth

As soon as Su Youlu stepped out of the room, he saw that his other brothers had also come out wearing clothes.

"Big brother, what's wrong with Mother?"

"I don't know, go check on them quickly, just in case something bad has happened."

The brothers rushed to the door of the main house and pounded on it. From inside the room came the heart-wrenching cries of Old Lady Su. Old Man Su, with a dark face, opened the door.

"Father, what happened?"

When Old Mrs. Su saw her sons coming over, she cried out, "Damn it, are you all dead? A thief broke into our house yesterday, didn't you know?"

"Thief?" Su Youfu was stunned, looking at his father in disbelief.

Old Man Su was quite upset when he saw that everything in the rat hole was gone that morning. He didn't know who the thief was, whether they were after the items or just a simple thief who had come to steal from them after learning that his family had made money selling perfume. When his eldest son asked him this, he suddenly raised his hand and slapped each of his sons, leaving them completely bewildered.

"Are you all dead? What if one day, thieves empty our house and kill me and your mother? Will you just stand there and not react?"

"Father, this, this is impossible," Su Youcai stammered.

Su Youlu knelt down with a thud, "Father, Mother, we really didn't know anything, we didn't hear a sound at all."

Su Youfu hurriedly added, "Yes, yes, Dad, we slept very soundly last night for some reason."

Old Su's eyes were dark and unfathomable. Thinking back, his family members must have been drugged last night. So, it couldn't be just some petty thief. If it were a thief from the neighborhood, even if they used some kind of drug, it would be the cheap kind. But when he woke up this morning, he didn't smell anything unusual at all.

Thinking this, his heart sank even further. Could it really be because of that incident more than twenty years ago? But so much time has passed, and there were no marks on the things he left behind. Old Man Su was also very cautious and never even considered touching those things unless absolutely necessary. Even if he wanted to sell them, he would do so in Qingzhou, not even daring to go to Meizhou Prefecture. How could he have been discovered?

Su Wan'er saw the old man's reaction through the crack in the window, and recalling what the two men had said about top-quality goods last night, a ridiculous idea suddenly came to her mind.

It is said that the Su family suddenly became rich enough to buy land and even sent Su Youfu to school. When the villagers asked, Old Mrs. Su said that Old Mr. Su had made money doing business outside, but no one knew exactly what he did. Could it be that the Su family's money came from an illegitimate source?

Before she could figure it out, she heard Old Lady Su start crying again, "You heartless bastards! It must have been your wife who did this! She sold the perfume and got the money, but she didn't know how to keep quiet and let the thieves find out!"

Well, this old lady is quite clever; she knows it's a display of wealth.

Old Man Su glanced at his sons with a gloomy face and said, "Go and call everyone in your house here."

Soon, the main room was filled with people. The old lady was still crying and shouting. Suddenly, Old Man Su glanced at her, which startled her so much that she immediately fell silent. This old man had become the same unpredictable person he used to be. After being husband and wife for so many years, the old lady thought that Old Man Su had changed. It seemed that he hadn't changed at all, which was terrifying.

Once everyone was present, Old Master Su first scanned everyone with a gloomy expression, and finally fixed his gaze on Madam Chen and Madam Xiang, "When you came back from selling the perfume yesterday, did you notice anything unusual?"

Chen hurriedly shook her head, "Dad, no, no, we came straight back by car after leaving your place."

Madam Xiang quickly chimed in, "Yes, Father, we didn't say anything in the car."

Su Wan'er then said quietly, "Grandpa and Grandma, when we went out, we only said we were going to town to sell balm, and we didn't say anything else. Oh, right, on the way back, on the donkey cart, someone asked Aunt how much silver she made. Aunt didn't say, she just showed the empty basket to the person."

Old Su's face darkened, and he slammed his hand heavily on the table. "Idiot, do you think everyone is as ignorant as you?"

Enraged, Chen was about to step forward and hit Su Wan'er, "You brat, I'll teach you to talk nonsense..."

Unexpectedly, Su Youlu suddenly stood in front of Su Wan'er, blocking Chen Shi, "Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Let's talk this out, don't hit the child."

Su Wan'er was a little confused about Su Youlu. What was going on? Before she could think about it, Chen pointed at Xiang and said, "Father, you can't blame me. When we went there, the woman was from my fourth sister-in-law's village. She struck up a conversation with my fourth sister-in-law."

When Xiang saw that Chen wanted to smear her, she immediately objected, "What do you mean by that, sister-in-law? What's wrong with the people from my hometown village? I was just telling them I was going to town to sell some trinkets. You're the one who said you were selling perfume balm, and you're the one who wanted to show off."

"you……"

“You even told people that you were the daughter of the owner of Chen’s Grocery Store, and you even brought business to your family. Sister-in-law, I wasn’t wrong, was I?”

"Shut up, shut up..."

"Enough, stop arguing!" Old Man Su shouted, and the room immediately fell silent.

Su Wan'er wasn't going to let them get away with it so easily, so she added, "I remember I was the one who closed the first deal. I sold one piece for three taels of silver, and that young lady bought two pieces."

"What, three taels?" Old Mrs. Su was particularly sensitive to money. At this moment, she no longer cared about Old Mr. Su's face, which was as black as ink. She got up and started scratching at Chen and the others.

"You wretch! How dare you lie to me! You said it would only cost two taels of silver per piece! You dare to lie to me? Tell me, where's the rest of the silver? Hand it over..."

Chen and Xiang were beaten by the old lady and quickly separated. "Mother, don't listen to that little slut's nonsense. Where did she get three taels of silver? It's not true."

After saying that, he didn't forget to glare fiercely at Su Wan'er.

Su Wan'er quickly pretended to be scared and stammered, "Grandma, but, maybe I remembered wrong."

That look was exactly what they meant by "protesting too much."

Now that all the money of the two elders in the main house has been taken away, the old lady naturally wouldn't let go of the opportunity to plunder her daughters-in-law's private savings. She knew before that the two daughters-in-law would secretly hide some money, but considering that both families had scholars, and that the money would eventually be spent on her grandson anyway, she turned a blind eye as long as the majority of it was in her hands.

But things are different now; she doesn't even have enough money left for her funeral.

Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, Old Lady Su pushed open the door and walked towards the main house. Madam Chen was shocked, "Mother, what are you doing?"

Grandma Su ignored her completely, shouting as she walked, "Xiao Hua, go search your fourth sister-in-law's room. How dare she hide money under my nose? She's gone too far!"

Inside the main room, Old Man Su watched the farce unfold without making any attempt to stop it.

Su Youcai was more anxious than Su Youfu. "Dad, this, isn't this about discussing thieves? How come Mom came into our room?"

Old Su pulled out his pipe, completely ignoring his son's words. At that moment, he had only one thought in his mind: Did the thief come because he heard they made money selling perfume, or because of what happened twenty years ago? What if something bad happened to those lost jewelry?

As for the old woman in the family, it would be good if she could squeeze money out of her daughter-in-law. After all, the old man is also a money-loving man.