Liu Junlan was so angry that she trembled all over.

She was willing to adopt Lin Wanyue, partly because she felt sorry for her; such a tiny little girl sitting by the roadside, gazing longingly at her! Even now, Liu Junlan still feels heartache when she thinks about it.

Secondly, he really liked the little girl, but she was too old, and it wouldn't sound good if word got out, so he took her in as his granddaughter on behalf of his son.

However, Zhang Cuihong thought that she only adopted Lin Wanyue for her own benefit.

This completely erased Liu Junlan's affection for Lin Wanyue!

If Wanwan heard this, how heartbroken she would be.

"I think you've lost your mind! My granddaughter is perfectly fine, why should I let you raise her?" Liu Junlan slapped Zhang Cuihong hard across the face again, angrily cursing, "If you dare to come to my house again, I will definitely have my son beat you to death! I'll say you came to my house to steal my child, and no one will dare to say a word even if I beat you to death."

Liu Junlan was already taller than others and used to farm work, so he slapped Zhang Cuihong without holding back, knocking her to the ground.

"..." Zhang Cuihong felt her head was buzzing, stars were flashing before her eyes, and she was so dizzy from the pain.

Zhang Cuihong, who was blinded by the overwhelming wealth, had to temporarily come to her senses.

If she dares to stay here any longer, it will be impossible for her to take Lin Wanyue away.

However, it is indeed very possible that they will continue to be attacked.

Zhang Cuihong was unwilling, but in order to avoid being beaten to death, she could only run home with a face full of resentment.

...

The summer weather is getting hotter and hotter, and with the drought and lack of rain, the sun in the sky is showing its power even more than ever without the cover of clouds.

Even the most diligent person can't work during the midday hours; they can only get to work in the fields early in the morning before the sun comes up.

After finishing the work, I went home for dinner, covered in sweat.

Yu Dong is an example of this.

He was covered in sweat, his stomach growling with hunger, but when he got home, he couldn't find Zhang Cuihong anywhere.

"What the hell has that old hag been up to this time?" Yu Dong frowned.

When he went to the kitchen, he found the pots and stoves were cold and the water tank was completely empty!

Enraged, Yu Dong smashed the water ladle in his hand on the ground. The old ladle, which had been there for many years, shattered into six, seven, or eight pieces in an instant.

Yu Dong was both regretful and angry.

He had no choice but to carry the bucket to the well to fetch water himself.

Just then, Yu Dong ran into Zhang Cuihong, who was returning while cursing. He instantly became furious and blurted out, "What have you been doing, you old hag? You've stopped cooking all day, haven't you? Are you trying to starve me to death?"

Zhang Cuihong glared at him fiercely: "Following you, I've never had a single good day in my life!"

Yu Dong then noticed that Zhang Cuihong's face was bruised and purple, with a large handprint on it. Her face was swollen, and the corner of her mouth was broken, with a little blood seeping out.

"You..." Yu Dong's imposing manner instantly weakened, and he asked with some concern, "What happened to your face? Who hit you?"

Zhang Cuihong's eyes darted around, but she didn't dare to say it directly outside, for fear that others would overhear.

"Come in with me for a moment!" She pulled Yu Dong back into the house.

"I have something I'd like to discuss with you..." Although Zhang Cuihong's face was badly swollen, her eyes gleamed as if she had seen some gold and silver treasures.

Yu Dong didn't understand what was wrong with his wife.

"I want to take the money we've saved to build the house and buy back the Lin family's little girl." Zhang Cuihong spoke too quickly, and her face started twitching again, forcing her to shut her mouth immediately.

"Zhang Cuihong! Are you out of your mind?" Yu Dong shouted. "That's the money I've worked so hard to save up all my life! And you actually want to use it to buy some worthless piece of junk? If you're sick, go get it treated. Don't even think about spending a penny of my money."

"You don't know anything!" Zhang Cuihong retorted without backing down, immediately glaring at her.

"Cuihong!" Yu Dong called out, his voice tinged with pleading, "I don't know what's wrong with you right now, but our own grandchildren are starving and freezing, what are you thinking, spending money to buy someone else's worthless little thing? Stop thinking about this and just live a normal life for me, okay?"

"Live a good life!" Zhang Cuihong jumped up and pointed her blackened finger at Yu Dong's nose, cursing, "How many good days have I had with you in my life? How many meals of meat have I eaten?"

“Look at the Lin family now. How were they any different from us in the past? We were still the same people who went to the forest to pick wild vegetables and mushrooms to eat!” Zhang Cuihong said through gritted teeth. “Now look at them! They can eat meat every few days. Yesterday they even brought back a tiger that weighed two or three hundred pounds. Just that tiger skin alone could sell for five taels of silver in town! Can you save five taels of silver in a year? And they have so much meat, enough to last until next year!”

“You don’t want to live such a good life? I do!” Zhang Cuihong said aggressively.

Yu Dong glanced in the direction of the Lin family's residence, still puzzled. What did this have to do with Lin Wanyue?

“They can afford to eat meat, but isn’t that all thanks to Wei Ming’s skill? Our family doesn’t have that ability. Although we can’t afford meat, we won’t starve to death,” Yu Dong said sullenly.

It's only natural to feel envious seeing the Lin family living such a lavish life.

Every single one of the dozens of households in the village was envious.

But they didn't have Lin Weiming's skills. That big tiger—forget about them dragging it back; even if they encountered it on the road and survived, they'd have to thank their ancestors for having influence underground and being able to bring their descendants back.

They admired him, but they also knew their own limitations.

Zhang Cuihong was absolutely furious.

"You, you, you are a useless good-for-nothing... You've wasted half your life, I knew I couldn't count on you." Her hand, pointing at Yu Dong's nose, trembled.

"Zhang Cuihong, I don't care what's wrong with you, don't even think about touching the money for building the house." Yu Dong didn't care what she was thinking either, his stomach was still growling with hunger.

He decided to cook for himself in the kitchen, rather than starve to death.

...

Liu Junlan returned carrying a large bucket of water, but her face looked terrible.

After cooking the wild vegetable porridge, Xuefu noticed her mother-in-law's furrowed brows as she let it cool and couldn't help but ask, "Mom, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

Lin Zheyun chopped firewood with his three younger siblings for a while, and the four little ones were all covered in sweat.

"Mother, we already have tiger meat, why are we still eating wild vegetable porridge?" Lin Zheyun wiped away her sweat and asked with some disappointment when she saw the wild vegetable porridge.