After finishing their New Year's Eve dinner, the family sat around the charcoal fire to stay up all night.

Lu Qiqi went back to her room, put the prepared red envelopes in a wooden tray, and took them to the main room.

"Third Uncle, Third Aunt, this is a red envelope for you. I hope everything goes well for you."

Lu Qiqi gave Lu Dahai and Li Shi a red envelope each.

Li accepted it without refusing, and then took out a red envelope from her pocket, saying shyly, "This is New Year's money. I hope our Qiqi will grow up to be more and more beautiful, and that she will find a handsome husband in the future."

"This New Year's money may not be as much as what you gave me, but I hope you won't mind."

Lu Qiqi laughed and said, "Third Aunt, you're overthinking it. I won't mind if it's a penny from you. After all, you're the only elders who can give me New Year's money."

Upon hearing Lu Qiqi's words, Madam Li said she didn't know what to say. These two sisters had lost both their parents and had pitiful backgrounds. She could only hope that they could find good homes in the future.

Madam Lu felt a pang of heartache and quickly took out a red envelope from her pocket and stuffed it into Lu Qiqi's hand. "This is from your aunt. Every year you celebrate the New Year with your aunt, your aunt will give you this. Even when you get married and have children, your aunt will still give you this."

Lu's words amused many people.

Little Xi Bao thought the red envelopes were adorable and said in her sweet, childish voice, "Auntie, I want to celebrate the New Year with you!"

"Hahaha, give them all, everyone give them all."

Mrs. Lu gave red envelopes to Xibao and then to the children.

Lu Qiqi also gave red envelopes to the whole family. She gave quite a lot of red envelopes, five taels of silver for adults and one tael of silver for children.

After giving out red envelopes, New Year's Eve was almost over, and everyone went back to their rooms to sleep.

After returning to her room, Madam Lu opened her red envelope and rubbed her eyes twice before she could believe that Lu Qiqi had actually put a five-tael silver red envelope in it.

You should know that one red envelope is enough to feed an ordinary farming family for two years!

Immediately, Mrs. Lu was filled with anticipation for the days to come.

...

New Year's Eve is a day when families gather together.

An extraordinary event was destined to unfold in a thatched hut in Heping Village.

Two men and one woman were tied to chairs with thick hemp ropes, their eyes closed, unconscious.

The candlelight flickered, and a basin of cold water was forcefully splashed on my face.

Yuan was jolted awake by the cold.

Yuan suddenly opened her eyes. Her mind was still a little muddled, and she didn't know where she was. She twisted her body and found that she couldn't move.

Only through the dim candlelight could Madam Yuan barely make out her current situation.

She was actually tied to a chair, and her husband and son opposite her were in the same situation!

What on earth is going on?!

She had just eaten the New Year's Eve dinner cooked by her daughter-in-law, and tonight, on New Year's Eve, she even went to the market to buy a small piece of fatty meat to satisfy her craving.

I just finished a plate of stir-fried fatty pork and mushrooms, and now I've woken up to find myself tied up.

Having thought this through, is there anything left to be unclear?

The mushrooms picked from the mountain would cause mental confusion if eaten. No wonder Lu Changping coaxed her into cooking them; she wanted to poison them!

"You filthy hussy, I am your mother-in-law! What do you think you're doing! Let me go right now!" Yuan shouted.

Lu Changping slowly came out of the kitchen with a kitchen knife in her hand and placed it on the table.

Madam Yuan immediately shut her mouth, her face deathly pale, and dared not move, fearing that Lu Changping would suddenly go mad and kill her with a single blow.

Lu Changping put down the kitchen knife and, without speaking to Yuan, picked up her bowl and chopsticks to eat.

She didn't touch the only meat dish on the table.

After Lu Changping finished eating and put down her chopsticks, Madam Yuan whispered, "What do you want to do by tying us up?"

"If you dare to act recklessly, the government will not let you off!"

When Yuan saw Lu Changping eating mechanically, like a lifeless person, she became more and more frightened. The cold water on her body made her feel quite cold, and her teeth were chattering.

Lu Changping sneered, "Your husband and son haven't woken up yet, the show hasn't even started, what's the rush!"

She was already ugly, and when she didn't smile, she looked even worse. But when she smiled in a strange, eerie way, her face looked like a ghost, terrifying beyond compare.

Lu Changping took a step to get up, and Yuan tried to back away, but she was tied to the chair and couldn't move at all, with nowhere to retreat!

Lu Changping walked past her and stood in front of the Liu father and son, splashing cold water on their faces.

When Liu Dahang woke up, he found himself unable to move. He struggled violently against the rope, terrified, and shouted, "Mother, Mother, Mother, come quick!"

"Hang'er can't move, Mother, Hang'er needs to pee," Liu Dahang struggled to get up. The hemp rope chafed his exposed skin, but he felt no pain. He only knew to shout loudly for his mother.

Seeing this, Madam Yuan felt heartbroken and cried, "Hang'er, be good, don't move around."

Seeing that his mother wouldn't come to his aid, Liu Dahang struggled even harder, leaving a trace of blood on the rope.

When Old Master Liu opened his eyes, he saw his wife and children tied up, while his daughter-in-law stood by and watched coldly.

He immediately cursed, "You vile woman! Untie me right now!"

Lu Changping sneered, "Poisonous woman, bastard, whore, your family not only knows how to have fun, but also how to curse people in different ways."

The sound of a baby crying came from inside the room. Lu Changping's smile became even more bizarre. "You worthless bastards! You don't even care about your own granddaughter! You're not even human!"

Lu Changping suddenly became agitated, and Old Master Liu secretly sighed that something was wrong. His heart tightened, and he stared intently at Lu Changping's actions.

"Don't you want a grandson?" Lu Changping suddenly asked.

Yuan immediately became alert and asked, "What are you going to do?"

Lu Changping picked up the kitchen knife on the table and walked step by step toward Liu Dahang.

Liu Dahang was already in a hurry to urinate, and was also quite frightened by Lu Changping, so the main room was immediately filled with a strong smell of urine.

Lu Changping suddenly burst into laughter through her tears, pointed the knife at Liu Dahang's trouser leg, and said to Yuan Shi, "Look at your stupid son's useless appearance, you actually expect him to carry on your family line! It's a joke!"

Hearing Lu Changping scold her son, Madam Yuan's anger overshadowed her fear as she said, "You were originally a wife I bought to carry on the Liu family line. Blame your parents for abandoning you!"

"If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have bought you to save half a bag of rice bran. If it were the granddaughter of Old Huang next door, she might have given birth to a son long ago."

The more Yuan thought about it, the more she felt this deal was not worthwhile, and she exclaimed excitedly, "You have to compensate me for my grandson!"

"Old Huang's granddaughter is a year younger than me. Your whole family is worthless and deserves to die!"

Suddenly, Lu Changping went berserk, unleashing a flurry of blows at Old Man Liu.

Screams erupted throughout the main room, blood splattered everywhere, and cries continued unabated.

Having avenged herself, Lu Changping's cleaver was dripping with blood, and her clothes were stained red, making her look like a red-clad female ghost lurking in the night.

Yuan and Liu Dahang were terrified by what they saw. Their eyes were bloodshot and wide open, and they were screaming.

Lu Changping spat on the ground.

"You old bastard, you tied me up and let your son humiliate me, this is your retribution!"

"I'll make sure you die a horrible death!"