On the first day, Liu's parents only handed over two hundred yuan and were punished with a rolling pin.

Liu Cheng didn't contribute a single penny, and not only was he beaten, but he also didn't even have a steamed bun to eat.

At night, the three of them squeezed into the small house where Liu Zhaodi used to live. Liu's father and Liu Cheng slept on the bed, while Liu's mother slept on the floor.

Liu Cheng was so hungry that his stomach felt like it was sticking to his back, and the pain from being hit with the rolling pin seemed to be getting worse. He tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Liu's father was sleeping soundly, as if he were dead. Liu's mother secretly took half a steamed bun from her bosom and handed it to Liu Chengcai.

"Son, eat up, then go to sleep. We still have to earn money tomorrow."

Liu Chengcai wanted to be tougher, but he just couldn't resist, so he took the steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth in two bites.

Before I could even digest it, I quickly closed my eyes and went to sleep.

The three of them had been running around all day and were exhausted, so they were woken up before five o'clock.

"Screw your sleeping, get up and make some money!"

The small alarm clock on the table showed that it was not yet five o'clock, and it was still dark.

Liu Chengcai didn't even open his eyes, muttering, "What time is it? The construction site hasn't even started yet. Where are we going to make money?"

Mr. and Mrs. Liu were also reluctant to get up, looking like they hadn't woken up yet.

Qi An sneered and kicked the father and son off the bed.

Then, taking the rolling pin from Fugui, she offered a "gentle" wake-up call.

A minute later, the three of them, clutching their red and swollen bruises, were completely conscious.

Liu Chengcai angrily said, "This is too much! You eat meat and fish every day, but we only get steamed buns. Now you won't even let us sleep."

Qi An slapped him across the face.

"Am I supposed to provide you with food and lodging, a 9-to-5 job, weekends off, and all statutory holidays?"

She looked at Liu's mother and said, "Tell your son what time I go to bed and what time I get up when I'm making money."

Liu's mother said guiltily, "I go to bed at one or two o'clock and get up at five or six o'clock."

"All these years, I've been working to earn money to support you, sleeping only four hours a day, selling everything from breakfast to late-night snacks. You expect me to sleep in until I naturally wake up?"

Qi An sneered, "Is it that I don't like to sleep? Is it that I like to work twenty hours a day?"

The three of them dared not speak.

Qi An threw a steamed bun at each person: "Hurry up and get out of here, or you'll be eating shit before it's even hot."

When I went outside, I found that there were already people picking up bottles and cardboard on the street, mostly elderly people.

The three of them also joined the team rummaging through the trash cans.

After construction started, Liu's parents continued to move bricks, while Liu Chengcai disappeared without a trace.

After moving bricks, Mr. and Mrs. Liu went to collect garbage, staying around some night market stalls to collect empty beverage bottles left by customers.

They worked until midnight before dragging their exhausted bodies home.

Qi An looked at the 350.06 yuan on the coffee table with disdain: "So little?"

"We...we've done our best."

Mr. and Mrs. Liu felt extremely wronged. They had worked non-stop from 5 a.m. to midnight to earn so much money.

Previously, Liu Zhaodi would give them tens of thousands of yuan every month, which made the two of them think that money was easy to earn.

When it was my turn, I only worked for two days before I realized what it meant to have money hard to earn and life tough.

Qi An cursed, "You're all fucking useless! You should really reflect on why others can make money. It's because you're all too lazy. No pain, no gain. Suffering is a blessing, you know?"

The two felt bitter inside, because these were exactly the words they had said to Liu Zhaodi before.

Just then, Liu Cheng returned.

After entering the room, he proudly pulled out two thousand yuan and threw it on the coffee table: "It's just making money, how hard can it be?"

Mr. and Mrs. Liu were dumbfounded: "Where...where did you get so much money?"

Just as Liu Cheng was about to show off, Qi An ordered Fu Gui, "Chop off one of his fingers."

Fu Gui did as instructed, and with a swift stroke, Liu Chengcai lost another finger.

Liu's mother hugged her son, who was kneeling on the ground in pain, and questioned Qi An while crying.

"Why not? Your brother has earned so much money for you, what more could you want?"

Qi An sneered: "Don't you know how much this good-for-nothing can do? Why don't you ask him where he got those two thousand yuan?"

Liu Chengcai was in so much pain that he was covered in cold sweat, and he stared at Qi An with resentment.

Fu Gui brandished his knife: "Don't you want your eyes anymore? Tell me, where did you get the money?"

Liu Chengcai gritted his teeth: "I...I took it from an old woman."

Mr. and Mrs. Liu looked at him in surprise.

“Wrong.” Fu Gui tapped his face with the knife and corrected him:

"To be precise, you stole the life-saving money of an old lady from the countryside right outside the hospital."

Liu Cheng looked at Qi An and Fu Gui in fear. How did they know?

"You...you were following me?"

Qi An scoffed: "You think you're worthy? Anyway, remember this: no matter what you've done, I know everything. If there's a next time, it won't be as simple as chopping off a finger."

"Don't sleep tonight, kneel down and reflect on your actions."

Before Liu's mother could speak, Liu's father glared at her and protested.

"Why should I? I wasn't the one who stole the money."

Qi An kicked him to his knees.

"If a son is not taught, it is the father's fault. You two old folks only know how to have a son, why don't you teach him how to be a decent person?"

Fu Gui added with a laugh, "Because they don't even know how to be human."

That night, the three of them knelt in the living room all night, hungry.

For the first time, Liu's father regretted having a son.

The old lady who lost her money cried for half the night, but finally found her coin purse in a hidden compartment of her bundle.

After counting three times, the old lady was stunned.

How did two thousand become five thousand?

The next day, before five o'clock, the three of them, rubbing their numb legs, helped each other out the door.

Having not slept all night, they felt dizzy and unsteady on their feet.

Liu's parents still headed straight for the construction site, but Liu Cheng refused to go no matter what, and ran away from them.

Unable to steal, unable to rob, and unable to endure the hardship of manual labor, he had no choice but to take an unconventional path.

Liu Chengcai turned his gaze to the telephone pole... and the small advertisements pasted on it.

For the next week, Liu Chengcai did not return home. His parents thought he had run away and were worried about him all day long.

Mr. Liu was afraid of being blamed, while Mrs. Liu was afraid of something happening to her son.

Seeing the two old men looking so frightened, Qi An and Fu Gui smiled strangely and lewdly.

They really didn't expect things to develop this way.

A week later, Liu Chengcai finally returned and, to the delight of his parents, pulled out 20,000 yuan.

He stood awkwardly, looking at Qi An with a nervous expression.

"I earned this myself; I didn't steal or rob it."

Qi An put away the money and smiled gently, "I know, we've found a good wife."

Fu Gui smiled and pulled up a chair: "Little brother, you've worked hard. Come, come, sit down and let's talk. I've missed you a few days ago."

Liu Cheng waved his hands repeatedly and stepped back, saying, "No, no, no, I won't sit. I'll just stand."

"Come on. This makes it sound like your sister is abusing you."

Fu Gui grabbed him and shoved him onto the hard, solid wood chair.

Liu Chengcai gasped, his otherwise respectable face contorting slightly.