Upon closer inspection, it really was Zhao Ergou.

But Zhao Ergou is acting suspiciously. What wrong thing has he done in broad daylight? Also, why is he in the county? Shouldn't he be in the village?

Fatty Zhao and Skinny Zhao exchanged a knowing glance, and then followed in tacit agreement.

In broad daylight, the two followed Zhao Ergou all the way to Rouge Alley.

There's a lane called Rouge Lane in Changning Street, where the entire street is lined with prostitutes. There are high-end and low-end establishments.

Someone as poor as Zhao Ergou could only go to the lowest-class places. In the dilapidated and damp houses, you could clearly hear all the sounds from next door from room to room.

Zhao Ergou looked around to make sure no one was watching, then slipped into a room.

This was the first time Fatty Zhao and Skinny Zhao had been to a place like this, and they couldn't understand why all the women and men were smiling and soliciting customers at the entrance.

"Big brother, what's this for?" Zhao Shou asked curiously.

Fatty Zhao shook his head. "How could I know if you don't even know?"

“Come on, let’s go take a look.” Zhao Shou pushed Zhao Pang out, exposing the two of them to the bright sunlight.

A sharp-eyed woman spotted the two brothers and came over, swaying her plump hips and clutching a handkerchief.

"Oh, you two young men are here looking for some fun, aren't you? Come here." With that, the woman reached out to pull Zhao Pang.

Zhao Pang dodged abruptly. Men and women shouldn't touch each other, so why was this woman sticking so close to him?

The woman was taken aback, but then she understood. She wasn't embarrassed, and waved her hand, saying, "Young man, is this your first time here?"

Both Fatty Zhao and Skinny Zhao understood what he meant, and they nodded blankly.

"So, are you two together or apart? I'm telling you beforehand, if you're together, it'll cost extra." The woman began to negotiate her terms.

Fatty Zhao and Skinny Zhao were completely baffled. What was going on here? They were talking about money?

"Brother, let's go, we're broke," Zhao Shou whispered in Zhao Pang's ear.

Fatty Zhao agreed, and the two turned to leave.

The woman stepped forward and quickly stopped them, asking, "Why are the guests who just arrived already leaving?"

"Hey...you two young men, don't go! We won't charge you extra, just ten coins each, okay?"

Ten coins per person, twenty coins for two people. She's been waiting all day and hasn't made a single sale yet.

Zhao Pang and Zhao Shou ignored them and ran away as fast as they could, disappearing from sight.

The two returned to the dock and headed south. By then, all the cargo at the dock had been unloaded.

Zhao Xiangnan carefully put the twenty coins he received from the employer into his pocket.

Seeing his two sons running and sweating profusely, Zhao Xiangnan scolded them impatiently, "What have you two good-for-nothings been doing? You're so tired, how will you have the energy to walk back?"

Both Fatty Zhao and Skinny Zhao remained silent, neither revealing what had just happened.

It was still early, and Zhao Shou suggested, "Father, let's go see Mother. Anyway, the restaurant isn't far from here."

Zhao Xiangnan thought about it and realized that he was right. He came to the county to work every day, but he had never visited his wife even once.

"Isn't your mother too busy at this hour?" Zhao Xiangnan asked, somewhat puzzled.

"not busy!"

“No rush! Mother usually doesn’t rest at this time,” Zhao Shou quickly replied.

After the two brothers finished speaking, they realized something was wrong, and Zhao Shou explained again, "My mother told me this when she went back last time."

Zhao Xiangnan was skeptical, but the three of them, father and sons, went to the largest restaurant in the county, "Wanchunlou".

This was the first time Zhao Xiangnan had ever been to such a grand place. Even just standing at the entrance of the restaurant, he felt a surge of pride.

Look, his wife is working right here, and no one else can even get in.

"Father, let's go to the back door. There are too many people and too many eyes here."

The two brothers, familiar with the place, led Zhao Xiangnan to the backyard of Wanchunlou without knocking.

Zhao Pang squatted at the door and barked like a dog a few times. Soon after, he saw Cheng Shi come out from inside.

"You little brats, it seems you've come more than once." Zhao Xiangnan glared fiercely at Zhao Pang and Zhao Shou.

It seemed like Mrs. Cheng was carrying something in her arms. After she came out, she looked around carefully before closing the door.

When she saw Zhao Xiangnan, Cheng was not particularly surprised.

Perfect timing! She brought plenty of food today, enough for her husband and two sons.

Cheng walked up to Zhao Xiangnan and stuffed the things she was holding into his arms into his hands.

"Honey, you must be tired from working. Eat quickly."

Zhao Xiangnan smelled the aroma of the roast chicken. It smelled so good that he no longer wanted to ask Cheng Shi where it came from.

Fatty Zhao and Skinny Zhao quickly grabbed a large chicken leg each, and the three of them squatted on the ground and wolfed it down. In the blink of an eye, they finished the whole chicken.

Zhao Xiangnan wiped the grease from his mouth before finally asking, "Is this chicken from the restaurant?"

Mrs. Cheng nodded. "It's leftovers from the guests. You have no idea how rich those guests are; they waste so much meat and fish every day."

Although Ms. Cheng felt that she worked hard every day, she gained weight at a visible rate after working in the restaurant for a month.

"Really? Then my son and I can come and eat here every day?" Zhao Xiangnan's eyes lit up.

Cheng's eyes darted away. Although there were leftovers every day, she knew she would be discovered if she took them every day.

"I'm busy at the restaurant, so I have to go back. I can only get this when I have time. It's getting late, so you should all hurry back too." After saying this, Madam Cheng hurried back to the courtyard.

The father and his two sons were still burping when they got home, and all three were in a good mood.

Zhao Xiangnan clearly already knew that his two sons had been eating it for a long time, but they had kept it from him before.

However, he is quite satisfied with his meal now and is too lazy to dwell on it.

Everyone in the village knew that Chief Zhao was recruiting people to help Widow He at the village entrance.

The men finished digging the ditch in a day. He Tiantian went to check on it and found that the river water was not as much as it had been the last time she had seen it.

It's more than enough to irrigate these ten acres of bean seedlings.

Watching the clear river water slowly flow into the bean seedling field, the parched land was instantly nourished.

This one irrigation should be enough to last until the bean harvest.

Zhao Xiangbei and his two sons did manual labor all day, and the three of them earned sixty coins.

Zhao Xiangbei took the money out of his pocket and handed it to his mother, saying, "Mother, here's your wages."

Old Mrs. Zhao carefully counted the money and gave Zhao Xiangbei another eighteen coins.

“From today onwards, you will be treated the same as the third wife. Keep 30% of your earnings for yourselves and save 70% with me.”

Zhao Xiangbei had never held a single coin in his hands before, so he was both excited and happy.

"Mother, do you know whose family I'm working for this time?"

"Whose house is this?" Old Mrs. Zhao asked.

"My second brother's wife's family! And they grow ten acres of beans." Zhao Xiangbei clicked his tongue, his bean sprouts were growing really well, they looked so pleasing.

Old Mrs. Zhao snorted coldly, "What a waste of money, having to spend money to hire people to work on this little bit of land."