With a smile on his face, Su Dazhi calmly asked, "Guoping is getting married? Which village is she from?"

Guan Yuzhu, beaming, offered him a cigarette: "Brother-in-law, Guoping found a wonderful wife! Hey, why didn't my sister tell you?"

Su Dazhi asked again, "Eight hundred? Why is this wife so expensive? Is she made of gold?"

As Guan Yuzhu lit his cigarette, he said, "Brother-in-law! He's an educated youth! His family is from Beijing, and his ancestors were princes! They were specially protected by the higher-ups! I heard he still lives in a courtyard that's a whole acre in size! Jiaojiao said that after they get married, she'll have her father-in-law find Guoping a good job in a good unit in Beijing!"

Su Dazhi frowned: "Wouldn't this be considered marrying into the family?"

Guan Yuzhu was a little unhappy: "What do you mean by 'marrying into the family'? If Guoping marries Jiaojiao, he'll be a city dweller for life! Guoping said that once he's established himself in Beijing, he'll bring me and his mother to enjoy a life of luxury! When you and my sister come to Beijing, you can stay at our house! It's a courtyard about an acre in size, and I reckon it'll have a hundred or so rooms—stay as much as you like!"

Su Dazhi waved his hand: "Fine, believe this nonsense if you want. Your Guoping has such a big gap between his front teeth, how could a young educated youth from a prince's mansion in Beijing be interested in him? Forget it, I didn't come here to talk about this. Our house was robbed, so pay me back the money you borrowed now."

Guan Yuzhu's smile vanished instantly.

He looked at Guan Yumei: "Sister, didn't we agree to pay it off in three years?"

Guan Yumei then took off her headscarf, mask, and scarf.

Zhou Zhilan gasped – Guan Yumei's face was practically swollen like a pig's head.

"Who beat you up like this? A thief?"

Guan Yuzhu's expression quickly turned cold.

Guan Yumei's voice was low and hoarse: "Zhuzi is your brother-in-law. He brought me back this time because he said he doesn't want to live with me anymore."

Upon hearing this, Guan Yuzhu lowered his fist and looked at Su Dazhi in confusion: "Brother-in-law, what's going on? My sister gave birth to seven children for you, four of them boys! She's a great contributor to your Su family! How could you break up with her? What terrible thing did she do? How could you be so cruel?"

"Let me explain to you what mistake she made!"

Su Dazhi counted on his fingers, "That heartless woman, she signed all the children in the family up to go to the countryside, except for this fourth child."

He pointed to Su Tong, who was hiding in the shade of the eaves in the distance.

Guan Yuzhu frowned: "Isn't it the right thing to go to the countryside? The policy is to leave one child per family! I told my sister a long time ago that if we go to the countryside, we should send all the children here so I can take care of them!"

"You're nothing but a load of rubbish! All you do is talk big!"

Zhou Zhilan leaned against the doorframe, looking as if she wanted to keep them out. "Do you have a house at home where your nephews can live, or do you have enough food to feed them?"

"Your sister signed up the kids for rural assignments without telling me at all. Do you know why?"

Su Dazhi ignored their question and continued to ask Guan Yuzhu.

Why...why?

Guan Yuzhu's mind, like Guan Yumei's, wasn't particularly sharp.

"Because there's a subsidy for going to the countryside, two hundred yuan per person. With four children in our family, that's eight hundred yuan."

Su Dazhi asked, "Have you figured it out?"

"Huh? This subsidy is higher than the one for those who went to the countryside. We only get 150 here. Did that damn brigade leader rip us off?" Guan Yuzhu muttered to himself.

Su Dazhi once again experienced the same despair he often felt when communicating with Guan Yumei through his brother-in-law.

He suddenly roared, "My wife signed all the children in the family up to go to the countryside, and then took their rural allowance of 800 yuan and gave it to you so that you could get your Guoping a wife!"

"..."

Guan Yuzhu finally understood why Su Dazhi kept mentioning eight hundred yuan.

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "What should we do? The bride price has already been given... we can't... we can't ask for it back, can we?"

"I don't want this money."

Su Dazhi shoved Guan Yumei against Guan Yuzhu, saying, "I don't want this wife anymore. I'll give her to your housekeeper and let him deal with her as he sees fit."

After these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.

For a woman, being forced to return to her parents' home is the most severe humiliation.

A woman who is rejected is unlikely to get married properly again in her lifetime.

The marriage prospects of all the unmarried daughters in the family will also be greatly affected.

Even when their sons get married, the bride price is often exorbitantly demanded.

The housekeeper and all the other staff members turned pale.

"No, no, no! Brother-in-law, what are you saying? It will only hurt my sister!"

Guan Yuzhu forced a stiff smile. "Brother-in-law, I know you're angry. You should be angry—my sister was wrong. Actually, it's all my fault."

Guan Yuzhu panicked.

His brother-in-law was the only city person he knew, and also the second richest person he knew—the first being his father-in-law, a prince.

However, the prince's matter is not yet settled, so we can't let the second one get away first.

Su Dazhi remained silent with a cold expression.

His original intention was to force his brother-in-law to repay the money, not to divorce Guan Yumei.

He's not stupid. With his circumstances, where else could he find a woman willing to stay with him and take care of everything at home?

Guan Yuzhu tentatively asked, "Then... if our family pays back the money, will you not divorce my sister?"

Su Dazhi scoffed, "Eight hundred yuan, can you come up with that right now?"

Upon hearing this, Guan Yuzhu felt relieved.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!