While his granddaughter is undoubtedly his own flesh and blood, he has also developed feelings for his wife and stepdaughter who have been by his side for so many years.

When he learned that the two bastards who had bullied his granddaughter had been killed, he decided to end the matter.

He's getting old and just wants to live out the rest of his life in peace; some things can't be taken too seriously anymore!

As a result, the Zhou family in Yanjing and the Jiang family in Zhao Province both breathed a sigh of relief.

Only the Liu and Niu families in Lijiapo seemed to have lost their sky!

That same day, the Wudaohe Police Station brought over the bodies of Niu Guang and Liu Baobao, and Li Jin led a group to hand them over.

Gai Fengniang and Aunt Niu fainted from crying. Liu Laonian supported his white-haired mother, tears streaming down his face. From now on, his Liu family line would be extinct. Heavens!

Only Niu Yonggui remained unmoved, his face clouded with worry, showing no change whatsoever due to Niu Guang's death.

When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out.

They were old neighbors who had lived together for decades, and although they felt it was unlucky, everyone still helped bury the two people.

Since her eldest grandson's burial, Grandma Gaifeng has been bedridden, refusing to eat or drink. Old Liu, enduring the pain of losing his son, still has to take care of his elderly mother.

Gai Fengniang's household relied on Gai Feng for service.

The whole family was shrouded in gloom, but despite his parents' objections, Wang Erhu made several trips a day to the Liu family's house.

In the blink of an eye, it was the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, and Lijiapo began its year-end distribution!

Similar to the annual year-end settlement, the settlement working group is composed of brigade leader Li Jin, two production team leaders Liu Changhai and Li Tang, accountant Wang Zhenbo, storekeeper Li Qing, and five member representatives.

They first settled the prices of various goods, including staple foods such as wheat and corn, as well as cash crops such as watermelon and cabbage.

There is also income from side businesses such as wheatgrass seed oil, canned fish, and canned braised pork.

After deducting this year's expenses, you get this year's net income.

Subtracting expenses such as retained earnings and charity funds from net income, and setting aside the cost of seeds, feed, fish fry, and shrimp fry for next year, what remains is the year-end dividend.

The work points are calculated by dividing the total work points of all members of the production team by 10 points per workday. The work points amount can be obtained by dividing the dividend money by the work points.

Inside the brigade headquarters, the final accounts working group was busy with abacuses and taking notes, everyone chattering away.

The courtyard outside was packed with people, chatting animatedly. Although the final results weren't out yet, this year was sure to be a prosperous one.

The old men, pipes in hand, chatted loudly, while the women, holding the soles of their sewn shoes, smiled broadly. The children skipped and played happily.

After checking it twice more, Wang Zhenbo adjusted his tortoiseshell glasses, which had slipped down. "Each work point is worth this much money?!"

Despite being mentally prepared, the people in the room still fell silent upon hearing the number.

The young men outside, who were constantly listening for any sounds coming from inside, were pounding with excitement.

Wang Zhenbo clicked the abacus beads again, "That's right, this is the number for each work point!"

The young men outside practically jumped out of the house.

As soon as they appeared, everyone in the courtyard quieted down and stared at them expectantly.

"Each, each, every work point..."

As he spoke, he swallowed hard and began to breathe heavily.

Everyone in the courtyard grew anxious and urged him on, "Speak up! Stop panting!"

"What a useless person! He can't even understand a sentence!"

"Gou Shengzi, hurry up and tell us!"

Gou Shengzi swallowed hard. "Each work point is worth seven cents!"

What?

Am I hallucinating?

In previous years, one of our work points was only worth eight cents, wasn't it?

That's quite a few somersaults!

First came a deathly silence, then a heartfelt cheer!

Li Jinshan and other elderly men were in tears, muttering to themselves, "God! Can an old man like me still live such a good life?"

A young man nudged his wife's shoulder and said, "Didn't you say that marrying into our Lijiapo was the worst thing that could happen to you? You never had enough to eat or wear. What do you say now?"

The young wife rolled her eyes at her husband, smiled, and remained silent.

When Wang Zhenbo came out with red paper covered in calligraphy and posted it, the atmosphere reached another climax!

After all, it was Gou Shengzi who relayed the message earlier, but now it's in writing, stamped with the brigade's seal!

Regardless of whether they could read or not, everyone crowded around the red paper to look at it.

This lively atmosphere continued until dusk, with people still lingering in front of the red paper, reluctant to leave.

However, Li Xiangdong didn't join in the fun; he stayed home cleaning the room with Li Lan and Li Zhen.

When Li Jin went home for dinner, he told Li Xiangdong, "This time, we've set aside 10,000 yuan as a special reward for those who have made contributions to the brigade."

For example, Li Xiangdong was the most important driving force behind the rocket-like increase in income of Lijiapo Brigade. Next were Guo Daming, Liu Changhai, Li Jinshan, Guo Haiguang, and so on.

Rewards will be given based on the size of individual contributions.

"Dad, does everyone agree with this? We mustn't let this little bit of money give anyone a handle to use against us."

"Let's make it public first. If there are no objections, everyone can sign it. There won't be any problems. Besides, this is also an encouragement to everyone. Whoever has the ability can bring it out."

The next day, everyone lined up to receive their money, and one strong laborer actually received 12 ten-yuan bills!

Like my second aunt's husband Li Zhaowang's family, which has many male laborers, their combined income is a staggering 8,340 yuan!

Other families also have considerable incomes, with most earning over two thousand yuan a year!

Only Li Weijun's family received a little over 600 yuan because they had only been back for half a year and Liu Yuxiu hadn't transferred her household registration.

Actually, over six hundred yuan is quite a lot, but comparisons are odious, and when you compare things, you feel a bit uncomfortable.

Lee and Song also felt uncomfortable.

He was a wage earner, making 38 yuan a month, which amounted to 456 yuan a year, far better than the peasants in his village!

Who knew that before he could even enjoy the sense of superiority that came with the envious glances of others, these peasants were already earning more than him!

Chunhua actually earned more than 800 yuan!

Not to mention the 300 catties of wheat, 10 catties of pork, two watermelons, 10 catties of wheatgrass seed oil, 1 catty of dragon beard candy, 3 feet of cloth coupons, 2 catties of meat coupons, and half a catty of sugar coupons that were distributed at the end of the year!

He didn't receive any of these benefits!

Just because his household registration isn't in the village!

Li Song was so angry that he didn't go home for several days!

Chunhua is eight months pregnant and her belly is very big. She is busy with chores every day, and the neighbors can't bear to see her like this. They help her with any chores they can.

By the time these things were distributed, it was already the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Two department stores in Yanjing came to pick up their last shipment, loading a large truck full of bok choy and canned braised pork.

The cannery has officially started its holiday break, and the people of Lijiapo can finally rest and prepare for the Chinese New Year!