It must be said that this incident greatly shocked her and her daughter, Yun Manyin.
So when her sister-in-law gave the order to clean up the row of collapsed houses after lunch break, she came without any resistance.
A group of people worked in silence, their moods heavy, unsure of what to talk about.
Zhou felt bitter inside. Her eldest daughter had once been the apple of her eye, and now her marriage had been arranged so hastily. She was certainly not satisfied with it.
But circumstances dictate that things are beyond our control. Finalizing this marriage is a hundred times better than being harassed by a scoundrel like Aunt Hua. Given the current situation, there's no way the outcome could be better than this.
The idea of tidying up these rooms only came to her after she had discussed it with Zhao Huai.
Although it's still a long way off before they can build a house, that doesn't stop them from clearing out the ruins first.
Amidst the silent yet bustling activity of labor, Su arrived with her brother and sister.
"Is your older cousin's wife busy?"
As soon as Zhou saw Su, her face lit up with a smile. "Cousin, the weather is getting colder now. Why don't you stay inside and rest more?"
Madam Su smiled and said, "I was just talking to the two children yesterday. The weather is getting colder, and we haven't bought any winter clothes or quilts yet. We were thinking of going to the county town tomorrow. Do any of you need to come along?"
The sisters-in-law were all tempted, but none of them dared to ask their cousin from the Su family to buy them some winter clothes and quilts.
The weather has turned noticeably colder recently, and they've been having trouble sleeping at night because of the cold.
Aside from the clothes and bedding they had prepared before leaving the capital, they had also bought some with the money from selling the tiger that day. They had everything they needed.
Madam Yu smiled and said, "Third Sister-in-law, have you collected any embroidered handkerchiefs recently? If so, let's go with them, so that Uncle Feng won't have to make a separate trip when we go."
After thinking for a moment, Guo nodded and said, "I have saved up some. I'll give it to you later."
She could also see that her cousin Su and her two children were the saviors of their family. She had been trying to find an opportunity to build a good relationship with them, and going to the county town together would indeed be a great opportunity.
Xiao Youran, with her hands behind her back, jumped around on the ruins.
This row of houses was destroyed by the flood and was very muddy. After being left to dry for more than two months, the ground has become firm. It is still just ruins with many collapsed wooden planks lying on the ground.
Suddenly, Xiaoyou waved, "Brother, come here quickly."
Jiang Youchen was watching his mother and his aunt chat, feeling a bit bored, when he heard his sister call him and immediately rushed over.
As a result, he wasn't paying attention and tripped over a stick that seemed to be lying sideways out of nowhere, and fell to the ground with a thud.
It fell right at Xiaoyouran's feet.
Xiao Youran wasn't surprised. Instead, she pointed to a large millstone that had been erected because of a collapsed pillar in front of Jiang Youchen and said, "Brother, look, there seems to be something inside!"
Jiang Youchen didn't even bother to rub her sore knees. She crawled forward a couple of steps on her stomach and, sure enough, saw a large hole beneath the graphite disc. It was covered with fallen tiles, broken planks, and mud, and for a moment, no one noticed it.
Only when you're lying on the ground can you see that there seems to be a jar inside the hole.
Jiang Youchen immediately switched to a broken record, "Aunties, Mother, come quick! There seems to be something in here!"
Guo was the most enthusiastic, dropping everything she was holding and rushing over.
The others slowly arrived as well, and together they carefully moved the rubble, planks, and pillars that were blocking the cave. However, the large stone millstone was too heavy to move at all.
This resulted in the large urn being unable to be removed because the graphite was blocking it.
Xiao Youran couldn't help but recall the wish she made in her notebook yesterday. Could this be the meaning of unexpected wealth?
Hey, do you have a misunderstanding about the term "windfall"?
Li, being the most cautious, spoke first, "This urn looks like the kind ordinary people use to pickle vegetables..."
Guo shook her head and said, "Who would bury a large jar of pickled vegetables so deep underground? And place it next to the load-bearing stone slab? No ordinary family could possibly dig up the location of the load-bearing stone slab when repairing their house."
These load-bearing stone slabs are used to fix the load-bearing columns of the house, which is equivalent to the foundation, and they cannot be easily dug up.
Hongyu exclaimed in amazement, "Third Madam, you know so much!"
Guo immediately shut her mouth. How could she have accidentally revealed the truth? Couldn't she just let bygones be bygones about the fact that her ancestors were peasants?
Ms. Yu hesitated before saying, "That wouldn't be... ashes or something, would it?"
These words sent chills down everyone's spines.
Guo rolled her eyes at her, "All you ever do is fight and kill! Who would bury ashes at home?"
Madam Yu glared back, "If it weren't for my fighting skills, would our family be able to eat meat so often?"
Guo remained silent.
"Pah, pah, pah! Our little Youran is a little lucky charm! How could she possibly dig up a jar of ashes?" Zhou Shi grabbed an axe from the side and handed it over, saying decisively, "Chen Ge'er, you're close enough to just smash it. If it were just a jar of pickled vegetables, that would be fine."
Jiang Youchen took the axe, reached into the hole, and struck the urn.
Unfortunately, the space inside the cave was too narrow, so the axe couldn't withstand the force.
Xiao Youran suddenly grabbed her brother's hand and said, "Brother, just hold on like this and don't move."
The axe was pressed against the black urn with one end, and the other end protruded outside.
Xiao Youran picked up another stone with difficulty from the side and was about to smash it against the other end of the axe.
Zhou understood her intention, took the brick from Xiao Youran's hand, signaled Jiang Youchen to let go, and then she gripped the axe handle herself and smashed it twice with force towards the end.
Then a muffled sound was heard from inside the cave, as if the black urn was shattering.
Jiang Youchen remained lying on the ground, staring intently at the urn.
The black urn shattered, but neither the juice from the pickled vegetables flowed out nor any white powder was spilled out. Instead, something could be vaguely seen inside.
Unable to see anything, the adults in the Zhou family anxiously asked Jiang Youchen, "Did you see what it was?"
Jiang Youchen reached out and slowly scooped the contents out of the jar.
It was a light yellow cloth bag, and when it was opened, everyone was stunned.
But inside the cloth bag were several gleaming silver ingots.
The sisters-in-law were overjoyed.
Li's eyes immediately welled up with tears. "It's thanks to the Yun family ancestors that we received this windfall, enough to buy winter clothes and quilts so that our whole family can get through this cold winter."
Guo was overjoyed, dancing with delight. "Isn't that right? This money came at just the right time. I reckon it'll start snowing in Sanyang Village in another half month. Luckily, Taizhou is in the south, where the weather is warm. If we were still in the capital, it would have been long ago..."
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