Yes, Liu Ermei and Xu Tiezhu were both excited. Their brother was capable and was even close to the emperor. The key was that he was a eunuch, so he definitely wouldn't have any children. His money would be their family's money in the future!

I used to be afraid of Master Xu, but now I'm afraid of the ball.

Bo Mu had been observing the plans and activities on this side, and he told Xu Li about them at dawn.

Xu Li sneered, "Eunuch? Want to have a contest to see who's the oldest?"

Having gotten used to it in the military camp, I would get up early, around 5 a.m., to practice martial arts.

When Xu Tiezhu's family got up, Xu Li, Changming, and Bo Mu had already run more than ten laps around the entire village.

In the fields, they met an old man carrying a chamber pot, watering the rice seedlings with the farmyard manure he had collected overnight.

Changming grinned and asked, "Grandpa, how long have Xu Erlei and Xu Sanduo been gone from our Xu Family Village?"

Upon hearing this question, the old man blurted out, "It's been a long time! Tie Zhu and his wife are dishonest. Back then, when Xiao Pang left, Er Lei learned that Xiao Pang had been taken away, so he sold himself to go find Xiao Pang. But as soon as he got the money from selling himself, the boss took it, and Da Lei was taken away by the brokers."

Where is Xu Sanduo?

"I heard that Sanduo went to mine coal. The eldest brother sold it to the coal mine for ten taels of silver. There's no way to make a living by mining. He's probably long gone."

There are many people in this village who look down on Xu Tiezhu. His parents died, and he sold all three of his brothers. He's no human being!

The old man wasn't being kind; he was just thinking that since Xu Li and Xu Tiezhu had fallen out, they would all die poor together, so why should Xu Tiezhu continue to profit from others' misfortunes?

Changming quietly asked a few more people, and even went to the next village to inquire. That's the good thing about the countryside; you can know all the gossip in the next village. What everyone said was basically the same as what the old man said.

Upon hearing this, Changming immediately went back and told Xu Li.

When Xu Li heard that his two older brothers had been sold out by the eldest brother, he was so angry that his eyes turned red.

In the morning, Liu Ermei cooked a pot of thin porridge, one bowl for each person, so thin that it illuminated their shadows.

She said apologetically, "Uncle, we are poor and really can't afford to eat. Please don't look down on us."

Xu Li stood up and said, "Since we can't even afford to eat at home, we won't add to their burden. If Lord Ying gives me a small courtyard for visiting relatives, we'll stay there."

Xu Tiezhu and Liu Ermei were dumbfounded. They were starving, shouldn't they have given the money? Why did they just leave?