"Dad, why are the eldest and fourth brothers' families all rich, while we two brothers have nothing? We helped out today too!"

"You're being way too biased!"

The third brother said, feeling very aggrieved.

Zhao Youcai glanced at him and said, "You still have the nerve to talk back! If I hadn't stopped the second brother, would we have been attacking the Li family again today, obediently holding onto our money and waiting to be slaughtered?"

Upon hearing about the money, the second son suddenly slapped his forehead and remembered something.

"Dad, now that I've got the eight dollars back, can I change the amount I owe you to two dollars?"

Zhao Youcai glared at him, "This is what I got back through my own hard work, what's it to you? You owe me ten yuan, that's ten yuan, don't even think about taking a penny less!"

"But..." The second brother opened his mouth, feeling that something was strange, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

After saying this, Zhao Youcai gave him a sweet treat after the initial beating, and said earnestly:

“Second son, it’s not that your father doesn’t treat you like family. That ten yuan was meant to teach you a lesson so you wouldn’t be so impulsive in the future. But today, your instinctive reaction was still to rush over and solve the problem with your fists. It’s clear that the ten yuan didn’t teach you a lesson at all.”

The second son felt increasingly uneasy as he listened. He had no interest in talking about money and just wanted to run away as fast as he could.

My dad has been acting strangely lately. He talks in a very rambling way, and he can easily confuse people with his words.

He's worried that his dad might suddenly ask him to pay back the ten yuan interest.

Fortunately, Zhao Youcai wasn't that unreasonable; he simply glanced around at the people in the room and waved his hand dismissively.

“We can talk about it in a few days. It’s so late, are you not going to let the old man get any sleep? Tomorrow, everyone except the eldest son’s wife and the fourth son’s wife who will stay home to watch over the cloth will go to work.”

Zhao Youcai didn't believe that everyone in the village was so honest. What if no one was watching over the Zhao family and someone secretly ran out of the fields to steal cloth?

That's all money!

"Dad, I don't owe you any money. Look at my share..."

The third brother tried to fight for his own interests, but the second brother grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out.

Are you kidding me? The barley isn't ripe yet, but the wheat is. Not only did your brother not get his money back, but he also owes you ten yuan. You, a petty thief, still want money?

Zhao Youcai chuckled and cursed silently, then closed his eyes and went to work hard in Happy Town.

Early the next morning, Zhao Youcai pushed his handcart toward the town.

When they reached a secluded spot, they first placed all the vegetables on a handcart, unloaded half of them and handed them over to the steel mill, and then leisurely headed towards the textile mill.

At the entrance of the textile factory, the security guard rolled his eyes countless times in secret.

The factory manager and the director are acting like madmen; they're not home early in the morning, and they haven't even eaten.

He was actually standing at the main gate with a security guard, looking around.

He was already preparing to relax in his little room, listening to the radio with his legs crossed, but because his boss was standing at the door, he didn't dare to slack off.

When Zhao Youcai's familiar figure appeared, the two people who were almost turned to stone finally moved.

For the first time, the security guard felt a deep sense of gratitude towards Zhao Youcai.

You've finally arrived, my savior!

If his old arms and legs stand there any longer, they'll be swollen several sizes by the time he gets home that night.

Zhao Youcai was also surprised that Director Ma of the textile factory and Director Liang would personally stand at the gate to greet him.

"Brother Zhao, you've finally arrived! We've been waiting for you to start cooking!"

Factory Director Ma was so excited that his hands trembled as the sky, which had been half-collapsed, finally stopped collapsing.

Yesterday, he was completely controlled by the steel factory for all three meals, and the town leaders started looking at him differently.

Last night, the town mayor even made a special trip to his house and gave him and his newlywed wife a thorough dressing-down.

The town mayor has declared that if the food at the textile factory continues to be this bad, he'll be forced to work until retirement.

Listen to that, how scary!

Even his newlywed wife turned pale with fright.

So this morning, he didn't even drink water, and stood anxiously at the door waiting for Zhao Youcai.

His newlywed wife left home even earlier than he did, and he didn't care where she went.

Seeing that the vegetables Zhao Youcai brought still had dew on them, she said "good" several times in a row, her voice cracking.

"Let's go! Let's go to the kitchen and weigh ourselves right now!"

Zhao Youcai smiled and let Liang Dayang, the purchasing director, take the trolley, while he was happy to have some free time.

I chatted with Director Ma casually, but he was always a step behind.

Zhao Youcai turned his head and looked—

Factory Director Ma's eyes widened with envy as he stared at the half-basket of eggs quietly placed on the truck. He had no interest in talking to Zhao Youcai.

egg!

He hasn't eaten an egg in almost two weeks!

Chickens in winter are afraid of their bottoms getting cold, so they won't lay a single egg.

The supply and marketing cooperative also sells eggs, but those eggs are not only small, but also ridiculously expensive.

He's a grown man, not in a hurry to start postpartum confinement, so there's no need for him to compete with pregnant women for nutritional supplements.

But when she saw the eggs Zhao Youcai had brought, her fingers trembled uncontrollably.

Since these eggs were delivered, they must be for sale.

As for why there was only half a basket, Factory Manager Ma guessed that the steel mill had kept half a basket.

He was incredibly grateful to Zhao Youcai at this moment, since the man had at least left him some money.

What he didn't know was that Zhao Youcai had sold all the chickens he killed, except for two he kept to improve his family's meals.

The textile factory was destined to be outdone by the steel factory in terms of food, but this was no wonder Zhao Youcai was treated better by the steel factory workers.

However, Zhao Youcai specifically instructed that the steel mill must not tell anyone at the textile mill about him providing chicken.

To avoid the textile factory manager getting angry and cutting off his cloth-selling business.

At this stage, Zhao Youcai is still hoping that the money he earns from the cloth business will be channeled legitimately, so he can't afford to cut off this business.

After the vegetables and eggs were unloaded, Zhao Youcai borrowed a handcart from the textile factory for a few days to haul away the rest of the fabric piled on the warehouse shelves.

Humming a little tune happily, Zhao Youcai walked home, his steps even lighter as he thought about selling cloth again tonight.

He'll take the chicken out of the warehouse tomorrow and have his daughters-in-law stew it with mushrooms, making a special meal for himself. Just thinking about the taste makes my mouth water.

Unfortunately, this joy didn't last long. The house, which should have been quiet, was now almost in an uproar.

On the ridge of the field.

Da Mao, the neighbor next door who had been robbed by the third brother, was now looking at Zhao Jianhua with trembling legs and a shaking voice.

"Uncle Zhao, your family has been causing trouble. They've smashed up your yard."