Zhao Dayong and Zhao Dawen were in a bad mood. As they walked to the door, they kept turning back, worried. It must have cost at least a hundred taels of silver, which was no small sum.

Even if the three of them split it equally, it's still better than giving it to the youngest son alone.

Is my mother getting delirious from her illness?

He must be delirious from illness!

"Big brother?"

"Let's go, we'll talk about it later."

Wang and Li, Zhao Dawen and Zhao Dayong entered the house together. It was the first time the four of them had been in a room together. They sat on a kang (a heated brick bed) and talked about something.

"Honey, is Mother... delirious from her illness?"

"I think so."

Zhao Dawen was unwilling to accept this. He was the most favored one, so why should he be dismissed? Why?

The other night, he wanted to talk to his mother about the money, but the old lady simply closed her eyes and ignored him. The person who had offered to help him get the money didn't seem to be her. What went wrong?

"Don't worry, Mother-in-law wouldn't do anything foolish. She wouldn't be able to explain it to Father down there." Li knew her mother-in-law best; she knew what she feared most.

"Even if Mother really gives the secret savings to the third son, I don't think he'll want it. What will people say? The third son doesn't ask for anything now, he just wants face."

He wouldn't even look at that little bit of silver, let alone land. How much land does he own? In the prefectural city, the county town, and other villages—just what we know is enough. He wouldn't care about that little bit of stuff.

“But the third brother is reckless. What if he really takes it?” Zhao Dayong hadn’t figured out his third brother.

"No, definitely not."

Ms. Li was angry. Her husband was contradicting her. What was he trying to do?

"Alright, let's think about this again. Maybe Mother will ask the third son for money on our behalf?"

Well... who knows?

If it really is them, I'd laugh myself to death.

Zhao Dashu was the only one inside the house. Huang and the others stood guard at the door, which was then closed.

"Mother, is something the matter?"

Zhao Dashu sat down on the kang (a heated brick bed) and looked closely. The old lady was so thin that she was unrecognizable. He wondered where all the food had gone.

His hair was completely white, his old hands were covered with age spots, and his complexion was ashen.

"Third brother, all of you brothers are thinking about Mother's things. What should I do?"

ah?

Ask him?

How did he know?

Give it to whomever you want.

"What are you thinking, Mother? The things are yours, the money is yours, and you can even decide for yourself who you want to give this little courtyard, which we agreed to split equally."

At this point, all these things actually belong to the old lady, just like her father did back then; she can distribute them freely.

“I didn’t want to end up like your father, who didn’t distribute the money fairly, which led to resentment from the children and gossip from the villagers.”

To be honest, your older brothers have been really anxious lately, constantly on the go, and quite carefree. Seeing them jumping around like this makes me feel really bad.

"It's good that Mother understands."

The old lady is still senile, which is good.

"Originally, I wanted to divide it into three parts, one for each person, so that no one would be favored."

Zhao Dashu thought this was the best way, but his mother said that she had changed her mind.

"And now?"

Old Mrs. Sun said angrily, "They coveted my things, but in the end they weren't willing to give me anything in return. I was really angry. I was thinking of just giving you everything and not giving them anything at all, to make them furious."

Zhao Dashu was flattered; he hadn't expected that Zhao Dashu was also on the list of people he was considering.

But there's no need to think about it; Mother is only thinking about it.

"Although you are the richest among the brothers, this little thing is nothing to you. But if you don't give it to me, you're afraid you'll get angry and won't burn paper money for me in the future."

Your eldest and second eldest brothers are incredibly stingy; they know perfectly well how they've treated this old man like me all these years.

Zhao Dashu's lips twitched. His mother was really thinking a lot these days, and she really knew how to think.

How afraid was she of running out of money in the afterlife?!