Zhou Bingchen also mentioned that his current position is low and his salary is not high, so he can only send this much home for now. However, he will work hard in the army and strive for promotion and a raise. If Zhao Zhenzhu needs money, he will borrow a few dozen yuan from his comrades after he returns and send it to her.

Zhao Zhenzhu refused.

Zhao Zhenzhu was a somewhat arrogant person.

She could earn the money herself. She just felt that Ding Ermei's actions were very unfair.

Since Zhou Bingchen felt that Ding Ermei had done the right thing, Zhao Zhenzhu didn't want to argue with Zhou Bingchen.

The money was earned by Zhou Bingchen, and he could give it to whomever he wanted.

Without Zhou Bingchen's ten yuan a month, Zhao Zhenzhu didn't think she would starve to death.

Unfortunately, that's not all.

Because of this ten-yuan dispute, Ding Ermei harbored a grudge against Zhao Zhenzhu.

In rural areas, honest people always suffer losses.

Zhao Zhenzhu didn't compete or fight for anything, but instead of gaining Ding Ermei's respect, she was looked down upon.

Ding Ermei is the mother-in-law, and if she wanted to, she could easily manipulate Zhao Zhenzhu, who is her daughter-in-law.

When the children of the first and second wives fall ill, they ask Ding Ermei for money for medical treatment, and Ding Ermei will give them the money.

When the third wife's child fell ill, Zhao Zhenzhu asked Ding Ermei for money. Ding Ermei replied, "Zhenzhu, the family isn't well-off. You and Bingchen can both earn money, so you should pay for the child's medicine yourselves! I'll make it up to you later when the family is better off."

You love your own child.

Ding Ermei isn't giving money, so Zhao Zhenzhu can't just abandon the child!

That's not all.

During festivals, it's customary in Qingshan County for married daughters to send gifts to their parents' home. The gifts are usually small, like a chicken, a pound of meat, or a bag of pastries.

On the side of the first and second wives, Ding Ermei would always take the initiative to prepare gifts for her daughters-in-law.

Zhao Zhenzhu, however, did not.

When Zhao Zhenzhu asked, Ding Ermei casually replied, "You three husbands and wives can both earn money. A bag of pastries doesn't cost much. Just prepare it yourself. The first and second wives aren't capable, so I'll take care of them a little more. Don't worry about it."

Zhao Zhenzhu was unhappy.

However, Ding Ermei was determined not to prepare any gifts for her during the festival, so what could she do?

Did you have a fight with Ding Ermei?

The money was in Ding Ermei's hands, and since Ding Ermei refused to buy it, Zhao Zhenzhu had no choice.

Zhao Zhenzhu couldn't bring herself to not send gifts to her family during the festival.

If the Zhao family doesn't receive any festival gifts, people will laugh at them for raising a daughter in vain.

Zhao Zhenzhu had no intention of divorcing Zhou Bingchen, so she had to pay for the gifts herself.

In this way, Zhao Zhenzhu's hard-earned money, bit by bit, was all used to make up for the shortfall.

Thinking back on the past, Zhao Zhenzhu wanted to slap herself.

This Zhou Bingchen is clearly a son who is blindly filial to his parents.

A man like that should have been kicked out long ago.

She endured the bullying from her mother-in-law, Ding Ermei, time and time again for Zhou Bingchen, bore him children, took care of the family, and even contributed all the money she earned to the household, yet she never received a single good word from her mother-in-law.

She's totally love-struck!

Tsk... Being love-struck is really a bad thing, it's a waste of money.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Hearing the noise, Zhou Yunyun looked up from the comic book in her hand and focused on Zhao Zhenzhu's face.

"It's okay, Mom is looking for something!" Zhao Zhenzhu smiled at Zhou Yunyun.

"Oh." Zhou Yunyun felt relieved and continued reading the comic book in her hands.

Zhao Zhenzhu's eyes darkened slightly.

Although Zhao Zhenzhu had only spent a short time with Zhou Yunyun, she discovered a problem.

Zhou Yunyun seems to lack a sense of security. She gets easily frightened by the slightest disturbance.

That's understandable, though.

The Zhou family's living environment was too complicated. Zhou Bingchen was away from home most of the year, Zhao Zhenzhu was a coward, and Zhou Yunyun was at the bottom of the social hierarchy among her cousins.

Over time, it has become what it is today.

Daughters often resemble their mothers in temperament. In her past life, Zhou Yunyun grew up to be just as gentle and submissive as Zhao Zhenzhu, unable to say no. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been "sold off" by the Zhou family.

However, changing Zhou Yunyun will not be something that can be done overnight.

Now that the problem has been discovered, Zhao Zhenzhu is confident that she can solve it.

There was a carved wooden box under the wardrobe that caught Zhao Zhenzhu's eye.

The wooden box emitted a faint fragrance.

Zhao Zhenzhu picked it up and looked at it, her eyes lighting up.

Holy crap, this is agarwood! It should be worth a fortune in twenty years.

Zhao Zhenzhu remembered that this wooden box was given to her by her mother, Wu Meiyun, when she got married.

At that time, Zhao Zhenzhu had limited knowledge and did not know the material of the box. She only knew that the box contained six gold bars, a dozen silver dollars, and some gold, silver and jade ornaments.

Wu Meiyun's grandmother came from a wealthy family. These things were left to her by her grandmother.

Wu Meiyun said that according to her grandmother's family rules, a girl should bring enough money to live on for the rest of her life when she gets married, so that she can hold her head high in her husband's family.

Wu Meiyun told Zhao Zhenzhu not to tell anyone about the box, including Zhou Bingchen.

Money can be blinding. If Zhou Bingchen finds out, the Zhou family might find out too.

Those years were very chaotic. Families who didn't urgently need the money would secretly hide their gold and silver jewelry; no one dared to take it out to exchange for cash.

If you're not careful and someone starts watching you, it'll be a huge disaster.

However, once the world is stable, these things will definitely be worth a lot of money.

Wu Meiyun was afraid that if she kept the pearl in her hands, her daughter-in-law would be unhappy if she gave it to Zhao Zhenzhu after her son Zhao Tianyu got married.

Zhao Zhenzhu touched the exquisite carvings on the box and put it into her spatial storage.

This heavy box is Wu Meiyun's heavy maternal love!

In her past life, Zhao Zhenzhu failed her mother's deep love for her.

Zhou Bingchen's death was too sudden.

Before Zhao Zhenzhu could react, the husband's family of the young widow Liu Moli kicked down the door and stole Zhao Zhenzhu's dowry: furniture, sewing machine, and even the boxes in the wardrobe.

Of the box full of items, Zhao Zhenzhu only had a white jade gourd pendant left.

The white jade gourd pendant was something Zhao Zhenzhu liked, and it wasn't particularly eye-catching, so she strung it on a red cord and wore it around her neck, which saved her from being robbed.

Later, Zhao Zhenzhu went to the young widow's family to ask for the box back, intending to give the family two gold bars as compensation.

The young widow's family denied it. They said they had never seen a box in the wardrobe.

Those were the most painful days for Zhao Zhenzhu.

First she lost her family, then she lost her husband. Then she lost all the possessions that allowed her to make a living.

If it weren't for her two children, Zhao Zhenzhu would have wanted to die.

This time, Zhao Zhenzhu will definitely not be so foolish.

How can you put something so valuable in a closet? Space is the safest place.

Just as Zhao Zhenzhu finished packing her things, Ding Ermei returned, cursing and swearing.