Chapter 11 Squandering the Family Fortune

Because of this incident, Zhou Chengli found himself with far fewer people around him, with only a few close friends not taking it seriously.

In the blink of an eye, another month passed. Zhou Chengzhu and Zhou Chengyu remained well-behaved and did not cause any trouble. Of the twenty poultry they raised, fifteen survived. Song Yushu not only kept his promise but also bought thirty chicks and ducklings, and also brought back two goats and three piglets.

"So many, can we possibly feed them all?"

Over the past month, Zhou Chengyu has lost his arrogance. Song Yushu intentionally made him and Zhou Chengzhu do housework. At least when she wasn't home, the two siblings could cook something to fill their stomachs, which was an improvement.

"Don't worry, I'll raise the pigs for a while first. You can raise chickens, ducks, and goats," Song Yushu said. She wasn't comfortable letting her siblings raise pigs. These three pigs were precious to her. She still hadn't forgotten the shocked expressions on the Wei family's faces when she asked Brother Wei to help castrate the three piglets.

Wei's mother even came over to persuade him for a long time, but she still couldn't dissuade Song Yushu from letting Wei's eldest son castrate the piglets.

In the end, Song Yushu was naturally satisfied and brought back the three castrated piglets to raise.

Raising pigs was a first for Song Yushu. Although the original owner of the body had raised pigs before, she had never castrated them. Pigs don't grow big, so they don't earn much. She would have to take good care of them these next few days, since piglets don't sell for cheap, and she would be heartbroken if they died.

Those two goats are easy to raise; just take them out to graze. Let Zhou Chengyu and Zhou Chengzhu each raise one, and when the goats are sold, give them half the profit—that's a perfect deal.

With so many livestock added to the Zhou family's second branch, it naturally attracted a lot of attention.

"What's wrong with Lao Er's wife this week? She's buying chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep, including three piglets!"

"And there are two more goats! Buying these will cost a lot of money, and she's not afraid of them dying."

"Doesn't Zhou Lao Er do anything about it? His son's wedding is at the end of this month, isn't it? The wedding banquet isn't cheap, so why is he letting Wei Shi waste money?"

"Hey! Isn't that Zhao girl? Just ask her and you'll know," the plump auntie, who was talking enthusiastically, nudged the woman next to her.

The woman was somewhat related to Zhao Yuzhi, and taking advantage of her seniority, she was quite blunt: "Yuzhi, you're almost married, why are you still doing these menial jobs?"

"I came out to buy some things, is there anything I can help you with, Auntie?"

Zhao Yuzhi originally wanted to walk around while they were chatting and not paying attention to her, but she was called back anyway.

"You're about to marry into the Zhou family, so let me remind you a few things. Zhou Xiucai's stepmother, Wei, has recently acquired a lot of poultry. She's even willing to buy sheep and piglets. She's probably emptied the Zhou family's coffers. I don't know if we'll be able to hold our wedding banquet at the end of the month! You'd better be careful!"

Under the guise of caring for Zhao Yuzhi, the woman patted Zhao Yuzhi on the shoulder and looked at her with sympathy.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yuzhi gripped the basket in her hand tighter and forced a smile: "Thank you for reminding me, Auntie. I don't know the details either. I'll have my father ask him later."

"Yang Chunmei! Aren't you just stirring things up? Aren't you afraid the Wei family will come knocking on our door?" Aunt Pang said, pulling the woman who had been stirring things up aside as Zhao Yuzhi walked away.

"Hmph! Do you think I'm afraid of her? I just can't stand her arrogant attitude. A butcher's daughter, she really thinks she's someone important." Yang Chunmei couldn't stand Song Yushu's arrogant attitude, so she naturally wouldn't let go of this opportunity to trick her.

Seeing this, Aunt Pang didn't say anything more, just waiting to see the show.

Zhao Yuzhi couldn't say anything outside, so she hurriedly went to town to find Zhou Chengli a few days later.

Zhou Chengli had been feeling uneasy lately. His classmates from the academy used to be very welcoming to him, but now they wouldn't even greet him and would act as if they didn't see him. If it weren't for a few close friends around him, he would have felt really uncomfortable.

"Brother Zhou, there's a girl outside looking for you. She should be your fiancée, Miss Zhao."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chengli couldn't wait to put down his book and go out to see his sweetheart.

"Yuzhi, what brings you here?" Zhou Chengli hadn't seen Zhao Yuzhi for almost a month.

“We’re getting married soon. If it weren’t for something, I wouldn’t have rushed over to see you like this,” Zhao Yuzhi said, seeing that Zhou Chengli’s expression was normal, and she knew that he was unaware of what was going on at home.

"But did the Wei family make things difficult for you again?" Zhou Chengli frowned.

"No, it's just that I heard she bought a lot of poultry recently. I was thinking that these must have cost a lot of money. Since you and Uncle Zhou aren't home, I was afraid you wouldn't know, so I came over to tell you."

Zhao Yuzhi naturally didn't want Song Yushu to spend so much of the Zhou family's money, otherwise, wouldn't the Zhou family just be an empty shell after she married into the family?

"Don't worry, I'll go ask Father when I have time. If she spent money she shouldn't have, she'll make her pay it back. I'll protect you then, and you won't be wronged." Zhou Chengli obviously thought the same thing. In his opinion, everything in the Zhou family should be for him. After all, he was the most successful one now, and Wei Shi, an outsider, naturally couldn't touch the Zhou family's money.

“Of course I believe you,” Zhao Yuzhi said, relieved to see that he had taken her advice.

Zhou Lao Er rarely comes back, only to find that the area around the house has changed drastically.

Although the house was still old, there were now three piglets and two sheep in the pigsty next door, and a large flock of chickens and ducks were raised in the backyard.

His pampered twin children are busy cleaning the sheep pen and have no time to pay attention to him.

Upon entering the house, he found that the master bedroom had already been locked. After looking around, he discovered that his clothes and bedding had been moved to Zhou Chengli's study.

"Why hasn't your mother come back yet?" With Song Yushu gone, Zhou Lao Er had nowhere to vent his anger.

"Dad, you're back! Mom's selling things in town, why didn't you come back with her?" Zhou Chengzhu asked, puzzled.

Zhou Lao Er didn't know how to explain. He had heard Zhou Chengli's words and thought that Wei Shi was causing trouble again, so he rushed back. He had forgotten that she was still selling food in town.

When Zhou Chengyu saw Zhou Lao Er, his expression was indifferent, lacking the usual intimacy. Over the past month, he had come to understand that the two siblings combined were not as important to him as a single fingernail of Zhou Chengli.

"Your mother bought all of these? And you two little ones are just feeding them? That's outrageous."

“Mother is just giving us something to do. She even said we can keep the money from selling these poultry!” Zhou Chengzhu rarely defended Song Yushu.

“You’re still young and don’t understand. You’ll understand later,” Zhou Lao Er said. He didn’t think his two children could raise these poultry properly and just thought they were fooling around.

When Song Yushu returned, she was surprised to see Zhou Lao Er. She had almost forgotten about him after he hadn't been back for over a month.