The two families became bitter enemies from then on, and would quarrel every now and then.

Ever since He Shanhu handed the shop over to his son.

The shop's long-term supplier also stopped supplying goods and switched to cooperating with Yang's Incense and Candle Shop, forcing He Shanhu to find sources of goods himself. As a result, the cost of his own incense and candle shop increased significantly, and his income plummeted.

With the Yang family's incense and candle shop frequently lowering its prices, the He family's shop has fewer and fewer customers.

The expenses for Ms. Lu and her son were also enormous.

He didn't have a single copper coin in his savings account.

What will we do to support our families if we lose the shop?

Madam Lu set her sights on Feng Lanlan's dowry. Initially, she was relatively restrained, only renting out the shops and fields to collect rent. Later, she simply sold all the shops and fields, leaving not a single penny of the dowry money.

In previous years, the Lu family lived an extremely luxurious life.

I only wear clothes for one year.

A set can easily cost tens of taels of silver.

That won't work now.

She's also started wearing the old clothes she made last year.

That's why they say the mother and son look alike in every way.

Lu Shihua's daughter-in-law, He Wanjiang's biological father.

He sold off the He family's land and pawned their valuable antiques, all to spend his time eating, drinking, and having fun with his cronies.

Even a concubine like Aunt Liu had a large collection of jewelry.

To outsiders, it appears bright.

In fact, the He family had long been living beyond their means.

Looking at Yang Qing's mocking face, He Shanhu suddenly lost his appetite for the delicious wontons.

He kept a cold face and didn't want to talk to Yang Qing.

"Manager He, I heard your son went to a brothel again and spent a fortune. Look at you, what's the point of struggling to keep the shop afloat? Why don't you close it down and give it to me? I'll buy it at a high price, what do you say?"

Yang Qing put his hand on He Shanhu's shoulder.

The next second, He Shanhu slapped him away.

"No need for you to worry. My shop is doing just fine. It's your shop that's been lowering prices all the time. I'm afraid it's not far from closing down, humph!"

He Shanhu lost his appetite and didn't want to eat the wontons in his bowl.

He reached his fingers into the pocket at his waist, preparing to pull out a few coins to pay the bill.

But then I thought about it again.

It's ridiculous that a shopkeeper like him would carry copper coins.

Fearing that Yang Qing would laugh at him, He Shanhu reluctantly gave the stall owner half a tael of silver.

He then got up and left without even turning his head back.

"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir—" The stall owner, holding half a tael of silver, was as happy as if he had seen his own father. He bowed and kowtowed to He Shanhu repeatedly, looking somewhat comical.

"Husband, why do you always oppose him?" The woman standing next to Yang Qing asked after He Shanhu left.

She was beautiful and well-maintained; standing next to Yang Qing, who was over thirty, they looked like father and daughter.

The two are indeed quite different in age.

Yang Qing married Su, who was only seventeen years old, six years ago.

“When I was working as a waiter at He’s shop, He Shanhu would beat and scold me at the drop of a hat. I could tolerate all of that, after all, I was just a waiter. But he shouldn’t have tried to take advantage of my sister.”

Yang Qing's voice was cold.

His eyes were lifeless.

It's like looking at the land in front of you, or like looking at the air.

"What do you mean? Aren't you the only one left in your family?" Mrs. Su asked, her face full of confusion.

She has been married into the family for six years.

I've never heard my husband mention that he has a sister.

"Many years ago, my mother and sister were still alive. Although my father passed away early, my mother and sister did embroidery, and I worked as a waiter in He's shop. We were quite happy. The three of us worked hard to make a living. We had enough to eat and wear, and occasionally we could have a meat feast. But everything was destroyed by He Shanhu!"

The wonton stall was packed with people and very noisy.

Yang Qing then pulled Su Shi to sit down by the river.

He spoke slowly, his voice tinged with anger.

“My younger sister looks like my mother. She was a beauty from a young age. Because of her good looks, my mother was worried that she couldn’t protect her, so she didn’t allow her to go out. She taught her embroidery by hand and made her stay at home to do embroidery. Even when she went out to play, she would put a veil on her. When my sister was sixteen, my mother found her a good family. He was the son of my father’s friend. He was honest and upright, and like his father, he was a traveling doctor.”

He was an only child, his family was small and of good character. If his sister married into the family, although they wouldn't be rich, they wouldn't suffer a hard life either. The two families had arranged the marriage and chosen an auspicious day. His sister was waiting to get married, but then one autumn, it rained. His mother went to the shop to sell embroidery and got caught in the rain on her way back. She soon developed a fever. His sister was terrified and ran to the shop to find him, but she forgot to bring her veil. He Shanhu happened to see her!

Yang Qing choked up as she spoke.

Madam Su was also heartbroken. She picked up a handkerchief and wiped away the tears that had streamed down her husband's face.

She patted his back, offering silent comfort.

"Half a month later, He Shanhu found an excuse to send me to Yuanshan County, saying that a batch of high-quality candles needed to be transported there and that I had to go and collect them myself to prevent the deliverymen from secretly replacing them with inferior goods. I thought he was going to give me an important position, so I went happily. But three days later, when I returned, I found my mother collapsed in the yard and my sister was nowhere to be found. I took my mother to the clinic, but when she woke up, she had gone mad."

From her fragmented words, I learned that my younger sister was dead. She had hanged herself from a tree in the yard with a rope. I asked my mother where my sister's body was. My mother said she didn't know, and she would cry whenever I asked. I had no choice but to take my mother home first and ask the neighbors, house to house, what had happened in the past three days. Someone saw two men come to our house the morning before I returned, carrying away a large, heavy sack. Judging from their footsteps, they were heading out of town. My heart tightened, and I rushed to the mass grave outside the city, searching frantically. "Look at my hands!"

Yang Qing spread her arms out.

Through the faint glow of the evening sun, you could see that his ten fingers had no lines left.

Especially the thumb and middle finger, the nails have stopped growing. I wonder what terrible things these hands went through to become like this.

Yang Qing chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"You'll probably laugh at me for being so foolish as to dig open the grave with my bare hands, for not asking to borrow a shovel. It's because I was afraid my sister wouldn't even have a coffin! I was afraid the shovel would tear her body apart. It took me all night to finally dig open the grave with my bare hands. Do you know what I saw? My sister's neck was covered in bruises! Her clothes were disheveled, as if they had been torn. Her mouth and eyes were wide open, as if she were saying, 'Brother, save me!'"

If my sister hadn't been buried so recently, and the soil on her grave wasn't a different color from the surrounding area, I wouldn't even have been able to find her grave! I wanted to carry my sister's body back to Shucheng, but I couldn't even get through the city gate; the guards wouldn't let me through. I could only leave my sister's body outside the city gate and go alone to the county government office to beat the drum and appeal for justice, hoping the magistrate would investigate the cause of my sister's death. But he said the coroner had already examined the body and that my sister had hanged herself; there was no other cause.