Despite the youngest daughter-in-law resorting to all sorts of tactics—crying, making a scene, threatening suicide, and rolling on the ground—she couldn't change the old woman's mind.

In addition, her husband is blindly filial to his parents, and he always says "My mother said..."

No matter how much she tried to stop him, no matter how much she reasoned with him or appealed to his emotions, she couldn't persuade her husband to think of other ways, even if it meant borrowing money from Zhao Youcai's family.

Not only did no one in her family listen to her, but her husband also raised his hand to slap her.

The woman finally resigned herself to her fate, her mouth bleeding and her molars loose.

She could only silently pray that her man wasn't too stupid and that he wasn't too naive.

It's not that the woman loves the man that much; after all, no one likes someone who hurts them.

But she knew even better that if there were no men in the house, this old woman would definitely lead her sisters-in-law to find a way to kick her and her daughters out of the house.

Orphans and widows already have a hard life. How can a woman with no education and no money manage to raise several girls?

Unfortunately, the longer it goes on, the colder a woman's heart becomes.

"Mother, let my eldest and second eldest brothers go to the county to check. What if they didn't see clearly on their way back and fell into the ditch?"

She didn't dare to voice her concerns, but what she really wanted to ask was if her older brothers could go to the county police station to get the person out.

But she forgot that this shrewish old woman had been able to run rampant in the house for so many years and even angered the previous generation of old ladies to death. How could she possibly have any human touch?

"Then he deserves this fate. If he really fell into the ditch, someone will find him when it gets light tomorrow. Your older brothers have to go to work tomorrow; they don't have the strength or time to go out and look for him."

Hmph! Do they really think she's a fool?

It's clearly the youngest son who's useless; he can't even handle such a small matter properly. He deserves to die in the police station.

Zhao Youcai originally thought that Director Qi would take him back to his home in the county, but unexpectedly he was taken directly back to Zhaojiagou.

"I need to talk to the village officials about this as soon as possible, so we can at least take precautions."

After all, that's how petty people are; they might suddenly appear from some ditch and bite you.

That's how people who lack martial ethics act—they'll stop at nothing to achieve their goals. With the enemy in the shadows and us in the open, we're completely defenseless.

But he still had to give the necessary reminders, as he didn't want Zhao Jiagou to lose its reputation because of this one person and delay Zhao Youcai's important matters.

Relatives in Beijing have already called to say some things, and Director Qi, having overheard some of their remarks, knows that policies are basically changing every few days.

There are signs of unrest emerging in Beijing.

The only way to prevent a region from being too affected is to find a way to make the local situation even more dazzling, so dazzling that everyone covets it but no one dares to fight for it.

After all, those who play politics are not exactly clean-hearted, but they all value appearances and at least want to appear clean on the surface.

The Qi family is currently trying to send its younger generation to various parts of the country, and they haven't kept a single young descendant in Beijing.

It wasn't just the Qi family; the families of the steel mill director, the textile mill director, and many other groups that had met Zhao Youcai but hadn't developed a close relationship with him were all doing the same thing.

If Director Qi wants to protect the safety of his own family and stabilize the situation in the Qi family's headquarters, finding a way to enhance his influence and status is his top priority.

But he had just been promoted to director, and although he seemed to have more and more power, it was actually far from enough.

Moreover, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly contacted Zhao Youcai in an effort to win him over, a foreign ally with exceptional foreign exchange earning capabilities. They have even neglected their regular duties, which speaks volumes.

Whether for personal reasons or for the greater good, he had to protect Zhao Youcai.

Originally, Director Qi planned to talk to Zhao Youcai about something, but then he realized that the situation was not yet fully settled, and telling Zhao Youcai in advance would only cause him panic.

But Director Qi didn't know that Zhao Youcai had traveled from the future. Although he didn't know much about some small things and details, he did know some of the major events.

After all, anyone who has been to school and studied history knows that China's five thousand years of glory is only a thin volume, while the history of humiliation in modern times is a thick two-volume set.

Although he dared not write too much about certain events from the 1960s and 70s when it came to political issues, Zhao Youcai had studied those turbulent ten years.

Even though I've been away from campus for many years and my memories have become hazy, I still know things are about to get chaotic.

This is why Zhao Youcai is so eager to develop his network of contacts.

Originally, he just wanted to do some small business and find some support in the local area so that he could at least help his family get through the turbulent years to come.

But the sudden appearance of a festival called the Thousand Ears Festival, which Zhao Youcai had never heard of before, completely disrupted his overall plans.

According to Zhao Youcai's thinking, since he had already made a name for himself, it would be pointless to act mediocre, ignorant, and incompetent.

Now that we've been thrust into the limelight, let's find a way to stir up the storm even more fiercely.

After all, a fishmonger from later generations once said: the bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish.

Tsk, you can't just say fish.

I got hungry as soon as I said that.

The first thing Zhao Youcai did when he got home was to take out two three-scaled fish from the warehouse and prepare a lot of other ingredients, planning to make grilled fish for tomorrow.

Director Qi didn't waste a second and hurriedly headed towards the captain's house in the darkness.

Children have very sensitive ears. As soon as Zhao Youcai opened the door to his room, his eldest grandson and granddaughter raised their little faces, grabbed their books, and ran straight to Zhao Youcai's room.

"grandfather!"

"grandfather!"

The shouts from the same voices startled Zhao Youcai, who was about to take off his vest, so he stopped in his tracks.

The eldest daughter-in-law, who was preparing to deliver two bowls of noodles to the two studious children, looked at the empty house with suspicion. After listening to the commotion outside, she quickly ran towards Zhao Youcai's house.

"You two are just causing trouble. Your grandfather has been working hard all day; let him rest. Come on, both of you, come back with me to recite your lessons!"

But when he reached out to grab the two little ones, his gaze inadvertently fell on Zhao Youcai's vest.

This vest was also very common in later generations; it was the pure white vest that was defined as an old man's shirt.

"Father, this dress is..."

No wonder the eldest daughter-in-law looked confused; it wasn't that she hadn't seen this style before, but rather that she had never seen this material before.

He's an experienced tailor, and his eldest daughter-in-law was certain she'd never seen this fabric before.

Zhao Youcai didn't expect that two little ones would barge in when he was only halfway through taking off his clothes. The ready-made clothes he took out from the [Happy Town Tailor Shop] quietly amazed his eldest daughter-in-law.

"Oh, you mean these clothes? Someone gave them to me when I went to Heilongjiang Province on business. I have a few more here, you can take them if you want."