He still remembered the nursery rhyme: Girls and boys, don't be greedy, after Laba comes the New Year. Laba porridge, a few days later, it will be the 23rd. On the 23rd, sticky sugar melons; on the 24th, sweep the house; on the 25th, fry tofu; on the 26th, stew mutton; on the 27th, kill the rooster; on the 28th, let the dough rise; on the 29th, steam buns; stay up all night on the 30th; on the first day of the New Year, walk around the streets, meet people and make fortunes.

The order in which they prepare for the New Year is similar to this. Tomorrow is Laba Festival. Aunt Tao and Mr. Xu have already prepared the beans and are ready to cook a pot of fragrant Laba porridge.

But before he could even drink the porridge, trouble came knocking.

As soon as Zhao Chengmo got home, Aunt Tao said to him anxiously, "Your elder and second brothers are here, and they are sitting in your old house waiting for you."

"What are they here for?" Before Zhao Chengmo could speak, Gu Lingze couldn't help but speak.

"They are definitely up to no good. Neither of them is a good person!" Aunt Tao cursed.

Zhao Chengmo said nothing and walked towards the door.

"I'll go with you." Gu Lingze thought to himself, if he didn't go with him, who knows what kind of harm this taciturn guy would suffer.

The reason why Zhao Chengmo didn't care about the silver that was taken away before was because he was poisoned and didn't have much time left, so he didn't want to fight for it and was too lazy to fight for it.

He looked at the person standing beside him, but now it was different, he had his own home.

Before leaving, Gu Lingze asked Aunt Tao to pack two snacks for him, and then the two of them went to the place where Zhao Chengmo had lived before.

When I pushed the door open, I saw Zhao Hongcai and Zhao Hongwen talking excitedly.

When he saw them come in, he stopped talking.

"Third brother, you're here." Zhao Hongcai stood up and said enthusiastically, "Why don't you go home to see your parents? Everyone in the family is missing you."

But Zhao Chengmo didn't look at him, he just said two words coldly: "Get out."

"Are you still angry with your second brother? You can't blame him. We were all fooled by his words before. I'll apologize to you on his behalf first."

Zhao Hongwen rolled his eyes, stood up and said sincerely: "Second brother, I apologize to you. I was wrong that day."

Zhao Chengmo remained indifferent and was not moved at all.

Seeing his attitude, the two men stopped pretending and after sitting down, they finally told him the purpose of their visit today.

"Do you have a share in the dim sum business of Yunlai Restaurant?" Zhao Hongcai asked with a gleam in his eyes.

Before Zhao Chengmo could answer, Zhao Hongwen hurriedly said, "Third brother, this is your fault. My elder brother and I support our parents. Why didn't you tell our family about this opportunity to make money?"

"I will pay the three taels of silver agreed upon when the family was divided every month." This was all Zhao Chengmo said.

"You've made a lot of money now, and you can get rid of us with just three taels of silver. Don't even think about it!"

At this time, Gu Lingze took a step forward and walked in front of the two of them, saying, "If you have something to say, please talk slowly." Then he patted them on the shoulders.

When Zhao Chengmo saw his actions, his face darkened and he grabbed Gu Lingze's hand and pulled him back.

Zhao Hongcai then pretended to be serious and said, "Dad and mom are old now. Mom was in poor health when she gave birth to you. Now I need to check your pulse and take medicine every few days."

After saying that, he pretended to wipe his face twice, "Even if you don't recognize us, you can't deny your parents."

"How much more do you want?"

Zhao Hongcai didn't hear the sarcasm in Zhao Chengmo's words. He thought he had convinced him and his face lit up with joy.

"Why don't you let your family run the dim sum business? We'll still give you a share of the profits and save you the trouble." After saying that, he couldn't help rubbing his hands together.

"He's not the only one doing this business. Let's discuss it first. It's getting late. How about you two go home first?" Gu Lingze suggested.

Zhao Hongcai and Zhao Hongwen also knew that they couldn't push them too hard, so they could only let them come up with a result as quickly as possible.

Before leaving, Gu Lingze handed them two bags of snacks that he had prepared earlier.

"I just made it today. I'm taking it home for my family to try."

Seeing his attitude, the two men thought it was a sign of submission, so they took the gift and left arrogantly.

After the two left, Zhao Chengmo looked at Gu Lingze in confusion. Gu Lingze sneered, "Don't worry, they won't have time to bother you before the New Year."

When Zhao Hongcai and his companion returned home, Zhao Hongwen proudly told them what had happened, as if the business was already in their pocket.

Mrs. Hu shook her neck and said contemptuously, "If he doesn't pay, I'll go to the government office and sue him. Being unfilial to one's parents is a serious crime. I'm his mother, and I'll win the case if I sue him."

"With mother here, he definitely wouldn't dare." Zhao Hongcai said as he opened the snacks that Gu Lingze gave him and placed them on the table.

"This is the snack from Yunlai Restaurant. Dad, Mom, please try it."

After taking a bite, everyone was attracted by the taste of the snack and stuffed piece after piece into their mouths.

"I didn't expect this to be so delicious. I thought it was a rip-off for one tael of silver per serving." After finishing the snacks, they still felt unsatisfied.

"When we get this business, we can raise the price immediately. Since there are so many buyers, a higher price is not excessive."

The whole family was immediately immersed in the daydream created by Zhao Hongwen's words, as if they were sitting on a mountain of gold and silver, counting endless money.

Aunt Tao was still worried about Gu Lingze and the others, so she stood at the door waiting.

Seeing them coming back, she hurriedly asked, "They didn't cause any trouble, did they?" Gu Lingze held her hand and found it was ice cold.

"Auntie, you're standing at the door in such a cold weather. What if you get frozen?" After saying that, the three of them hurried into the house.

"Don't worry, I've sent them away. They won't come back before the New Year." Gu Lingze poured three cups of hot tea and handed them to the two of them.

"You won't give me money, will you? That won't do! Everyone in the village knows that when the family was divided, they took all of Zhao's money."

"No, I can't suffer this loss." After saying that, he stood up and was about to leave.

Gu Lingze stopped her with a smile, thinking that Aunt Tao was really warm-hearted and impatient, and hurriedly told her the purpose of wanting snacks today. After hearing this, Aunt Tao held her stomach and laughed.

"They deserve it! They're greedy! You two sit here first. I'll make you a bowl of spicy and sour tripe soup." After saying this, Aunt Tao happily went to the kitchen.

Even if Zhao Chengmo didn't show it on his face, Gu Lingze knew that he was in a bad mood.

"Don't worry. If the branch family still can't get rid of these locusts, we can sign a letter of severance of the relationship in the future." Gu Lingze's words at this time can be considered shocking.

Splitting up a family just means living separately, and this is usually not done while parents are still alive.

But severing kinship is different. It means completely ending the kinship relationship. After that, you become strangers and will never have any contact with each other until you die.