After saying this, she turned around and walked towards the dim kitchen without even looking at their instantly frozen faces.

In the main room, the three brothers looked at each other and stood there in a daze.

Mom...what happened?

Wasn't it like this before? In the past, as long as they asked, especially the third child, Mom would find a way to satisfy them no matter how difficult it was.

How could you bear to say such harsh words today!

Li Hongjuan curled her lips and muttered to her husband, Zhong Chengfa, "Humph, after all, he's still stingy. He wants to hold all the money for himself! He doesn't even care about his own son!"

Zhong Chengyi reacted faster. He looked towards the kitchen thoughtfully and said, "I think Mom might be angry because we were arguing too much."

Zhang Chunxue ignored it and stepped into the kitchen. Zhong Xiaoxiao was squatting in front of the stove, adding firewood. Her shoulders were shaking slightly. She was silently burning the fire while secretly wiping away her tears.

Zhang Chunxue's heart felt like it was pricked by a needle, and it was aching intensely.

Her daughter was smart and had the potential to study, but she only finished junior high school and then stayed at home to take care of the whole family.

The three older brothers I raised were lazy and gluttonous, and they didn't even get into high school, so they just stayed at home and lived a lazy life.

The man Xiaoxiao is going to marry is the bachelor from the neighboring village who has beaten three wives to death. He is an old, ugly and cruel gambler!

He's already 32 this year, 14 years older than Xiaoxiao. People in the village say that when Wang Laowu gets mad, he even beats his own mother! None of his three wives lived past three years!

"Get up! Are you still cooking for a bunch of animals?" Zhang Chunxue looked into Zhong Xiaoxiao's clear eyes again. Her eyes were sore, but her voice remained unchanged: "Mom won't marry you. I'll send you to school to study!"

Zhong Xiaoxiao was more promising than others when she was in junior high school and ranked among the top in her class. If she could continue on the path of studying, she would definitely bring honor to her family in the future.

Moreover, she likes reading.

Zhong Xiaoxiao's eyes widened, her blistered fingers trembled slightly, and she suspected that she had misheard.

Her mother often beat and scolded her, and she was used to it. Now she was actually saying that she would send her to school? No one could react to this sudden change.

Li Hongjuan, who was outside the house, just wanted to come in to see what was going on. She lifted the kitchen curtain and happened to hear Zhang Chunxue's words.

What? Not getting married? And you're sending that girl to school!

She didn't care what was going on with Zhang Chunxue. She turned around and rushed back to the main room.

"The head of the family, the second son! The third son! Listen, Mom has gone crazy!" Li Hongjuan yelled angrily, "She just told Xiaoxiao in the kitchen that she won't get married and wants to send Xiaoxiao to high school!"

As soon as the voice fell, the second daughter-in-law Zhou Mingli, who had been looking down, suddenly raised her head with a hint of surprise on her face, "Really? Did Mom really say that?"

Great! Xiaoxiao finally doesn't have to marry that beastly bachelor!

But the faces of the three Zhong brothers fell instantly! It was as if someone had poured a basin of cold water on their heads.

"What? You're not getting married?" Zhong Chengfa was the first to jump up, his voice thundering, his saliva nearly spraying onto Zhong Chengren's face across from him. "What about the hundred yuan betrothal gift?"

"Without money, how can I get married?" Zhong Chengyi jumped up and down, his neck turned red with anxiety.

"What medicine did Mom take today? I have to go find her."

Zhong Chengfa added fuel to the fire and rushed to the kitchen as if he was going to fight Zhang Chunxue to the death.

If they don't sell Zhong Xiaoxiao, where will they get the money? He has already arranged jobs in the city and is determined to get her.

"Brother, wait a minute!" The third brother, Zhong Chengyi, was quick-witted and grabbed him. "If you go find Mom now, she's furious. You'll definitely get scolded, and maybe even beaten!"

"What should we do? Are we just going to watch the money fly away?" Zhong Chengfa looked unwilling.

Zhong Chengyi lowered his voice, leaned close to his two brothers' ears, and said slyly, "Let's go find grandma. She loves us the most."

"Yes, yes, let's go find grandma!" Zhong Chengren also reacted.

Their grandmother, Liu Cui'e, was extremely patriarchal and greedy. She certainly wouldn't want to let the hundred yuan go. The three brothers immediately agreed and turned around and walked out.

Zhou Mingli watched them angrily go to find the old lady, and she felt anxious and wanted to go to the kitchen to remind her mother-in-law.

That old lady... is much more difficult to deal with than her mother-in-law!

But as soon as she raised her foot, Li Hongjuan grabbed her arm.

"Second sister-in-law, where are you going?" Li Hongjuan asked with a forced smile and a warning in her eyes.

"I... I'll go see Xiaoxiao." Zhou Mingli hesitated, not daring to look her in the eye.

"What are you looking at? Mom and Xiaoxiao are cooking. Do they need you? Stay still!" Li Hongjuan pulled hard, her eyes fierce. "Don't even think about telling her, or I'll be rude!"

Zhou Mingli's arm was so painful from being grabbed by her, and she was holding her child in her arms. She didn't dare to really break up with her sister-in-law, so she could only stand there and worry.

On the other side, the three brothers of the Zhong family had already arrived at the house of old lady Liu Cui'e.

Liu Cui'e was sitting on the kang, squinting her eyes and puffing on her old pipe.

"Grandma, grandma! Mom woke up from a nap and became very worried about gains and losses." As soon as they entered the room, the three of them knelt down.

(End of this chapter)