Chapter 33

“What?!

“Didn’t Guimei return to her parents’ house with a long face early this morning? Is she back in the village already?

Mdm Fu didn’t see Liu Guimei in the morning and only found out that she had returned to her parents’ house after asking Erxing.

Mdm Fu was rather furious.

She would have stormed into Stone Village and confronted Madam Song if it wasn’t for her grandson.

She planned to ask Madam Song to address her daughter’s outrageous behavior.

“I can’t be bothered with her.” Fu Erxing was still angry from the day before.

How dare Liu Guimei throw a tantrum after doing something wrong?! If she wanted to go back to her parents’ place, she could go back and stay there. Nobody would stop her.

He would not spoil her and give in to her.

Even their son, Fu Xiaoma, did not take her absence seriously and said, “It won’t be long before Mother comes back on her own.”

If it was in the past, he would definitely have made a big fuss when he couldn’t find Liu Guimei at home. However, he had already gotten used to it by now.

He could just look for his Elder Aunt, Jiang Xinghua, instead. Elder Aunt would dote on him and care for him.

She was unlike his mother, who would hit him at the drop of a hat.

“Fu Family, at least one of you should come with me. If we were a second too late, she might just be dead.” Seeing that no one stepped out of the house, the enthusiastic villager continued shouting outside.

“Erxing, go and take a look in case anything happens.” Mdm Fu instructed.

Even when she acted out, Mdm Fu still considered her part of the family and would not let anyone else bully her.

Although Fu Erxing said that he couldn’t be bothered, he still hurried along faster than anyone else. “Where is she? Bring me there quickly.”

“Mother, I’ll go take a look too.” Jiang Xinghua said. She was worried too.

“Okay.”

“How on earth did she start arguing with Fatty Li?” Old Mrs Fu found it unbelievable. “How is it possible that Guimei could lose to Fatty Li?”

It was not just Old Mrs Fu who thought this way. Mdm Fu also suspected that something was amiss.

She knew the combat power of Liu Guimei very well.

In particular, she knew that she was extremely skillful at fleecing others and getting her way.

It was impossible that she would lose.

Not long after.

Fu Erxing and Jiang Xinghua returned together. Mdm Fu asked anxiously, “Why are you back so quickly? Where is Guimei? How is she?”

Jiang Xinghua wasn’t sure of the situation. When they arrived at the scene, Liu Guimei had already left and returned to the Fu’s house.

It didn’t seem like anything terrible happened.

On the contrary, she seemed to be in a particularly good mood.

Fu Erxing’s said with a grim expression, “She’s fine.”

Mdm Fu and Old Mrs Fu immediately guessed what had happened.

She had probably fleeced someone again.

Mdm Fu had told Liu Guimei off multiple times that if she were to keep pulling sneaky stunts, she would one day pay the price.

However, she had repeatedly ignored her words.

“What exactly happened?!”

“Fatty Li was convinced that our family’s bad luck was to blame when she lost a tael of silver yesterday. Guimei got into a heated argument with her and was pushed by Fatty Li. Pretending to be injured, Guimei got Fatty Li to pay her 100 copper coins in compensation.”

Fu Erxing was speechless about Liu Guimei.

It would be good if she used her dirty tricks as self-defense against those who tried to bully her.

However, this unreasonable and shameless way of fleecing someone was way too despicable.

He had warned her against it several times, yet she ignored his advice too.

Sooner or later, she would have to pay the price.

A look of surprise appeared on the faces of Jiang Xinghua and Mdm Fu at the same time. “Fatty Li lost a tael of silver yesterday?”

In that case, she was probably the owner of the tael of silver that Jiang Xinghua found yesterday.

“What on earth is wrong with Fatty Li? How is it our fault that she carelessly lost her money?” Old Mrs Fu said angrily.

While it was true that their Fu family had always had pretty rotten luck, they wouldn’t just accept any baseless allegation like this.

Though what Liu Guimei did was indeed despicable, Fatty Li deserved it.

“Daxing, let’s bring the firewood to Minister Wang’s house and sell them. We can also ask him about the job offers.” Erxing said.

The motivation of the two brothers rekindled.

Now that they had a lucky-star little sister at home, they were certain that everything would go smoothly.

“Alright!”

“Be careful on your way there.”

“Little Sister, we’re heading off.” The two brothers came to Fu Xing’er’s side and caressed her face lovingly before leaving reluctantly.

Fu Xing’er smiled at them. She said in her heart, ‘Good luck, big brothers.’

“I can’t just sit around. I’ll go take a look in the fields too.” Second Fu said.

As the harvest season approached, Second Fu knew that his crops were in rough shape and that he would be lucky to salvage what he could.

“Second, I think it’s better not to go. Otherwise, you might feel more depressed after seeing it.” Old Mrs Fu couldn’t bear to see her son suffer another blow.

Second Fu was a diligent man who worked hard in the fields. However, his crops had always appeared shriveled and looked like they were on the brink of death.

His luck was extremely bad.

On the other hand, his neighbor, Old Wang, rarely put in effort throughout the year to care for his crops. However, his crops grew tall and well.

It was simply unfair.

“It’s alright, Mother. I think there would at least be some that could be harvested.”

“Daughter, Daddy is going to be busy in the fields. I’ll carry you when I come back.” Second Fu held her up again.

He wore a satisfied look of “my life is complete” on his face, as if having a daughter brought him all the joy in the world.

Fu Xing’er grinned at him. She said in her heart, ‘Go on, my undependable dad. Good luck to you too.’

After sitting for a while, Old Mrs Fu was wheeled back into her room to rest.

The central room was left with only Mdm Fu and Jiang Xinghua.

“Mother, should we return the tael of silver to Fatty Auntie?” Jiang Xinghua asked Mdm Fu sincerely.

“No, let’s not do that. It’s her own fault for always spreading rumors and saying bad things about our family.”

If it were anyone else, Mdm Fu would have returned the money immediately without hesitation. However, when she heard that it was Fatty Li, she instantly changed her mind.

“Xinghua, you picked up this tael of silver. Why don’t you decide what you want to do with it?” Mdm Fu said as she placed the tael of silver into Jiang Xinghua’s hand.

Finders Keepers.

Jiang Xinghua refused to accept it. She said, “Mother, I haven’t even gotten to spend the money that you gave me previously. It’s not easy for you to manage this family with so many household expenses to worry for. You keep it.”

Why was there such a huge difference between her two daughter-in-laws?

The other one had immediately gone back into her room to hide the money once she got it, as if she was afraid that it would be taken back from her.

“If you don’t want one tael, I’ll just give you 100 copper coins. You have to accept it.” Mdm Fu’s tone was firm.

Otherwise, Guimei would have an additional 100 copper coins as compared to Jiang Xinghua.

She wanted to ensure that she was being fair and impartial to her two daughter-in-laws.

“Alright, Mother.”

Jiang Xinghua looked down at Fu Xing’er who was in her arms. She thought happily, “I can buy more goodies for Fubao again.”

In the fields.

Second Fu carried a hoe as he walked along the edge of the field. He happened to pass by the field which belonged to Old Wang.

“Second, look at how well my crops are growing, even without much care!” Old Wang called.

There was a clear hint of smugness in his words.

Second Fu didn’t say anything.

Old Wang boasted, “I’ve got to say, my harvest this year is better than previous years. And here’s a little secret for you—sometimes laziness pays off. Just look at how plump these grains are.”

He insisted Second Fu to take a bite. Second Fu did as told and answered, “They do look good.”

“The crops in your field looked half-dead the past few days. I’m not trying to discourage you, but I think you should just stop working. Whatever you had tried to grow in the past, they had died. It’s truly a waste of manpower, material, and financial resources.”

Second Fu’s expression hardened and said, “Mind your own business! I will grow whatever I want.”

After finishing his sentence, he stomped towards his own field angrily.

“Hmph, not listening to me, aren’t you! You guys have such bad luck. Do you expect the dead crops in your fields to come back to life?”

Seeing that Second Fu wouldn’t listen to him, Old Wang snorted.

He would suffer another blow later.

Everywhere he passed by, farmers were boasting that their crops had grown very well and that it would be a good harvest this year.

Second Fu felt more and more upset.

As a farmer, he only had one simple wish—to have a good harvest.

However, he had farmed crops for decades, and his yearly harvests got worse with each passing year.

Second Fu didn’t bear much hope and decided to just wait and see.