RIRW – Chapter 9

Some Chapters are password protected, please use - rirw2025c to unlock these chapters. This is to top theft of translations.

“Why are you against it? If you’re not thinking about yourself, at least think about our daughter. In our family, only the second household’s Xiao Cong is going to school in the county. Who knows how long we’ll have to support him? We can’t keep doing this in the future.”

Xu Fengxia had thought this through carefully. If they continued living together, the money that she and Zuo Hongjun earned from working would have to be handed over to Mother-in-law, who would then use it to support the only grandson of the old Zuo family, Xiao Cong, in his studies.

If they split the household, the money they earned could stay with them instead of being given to Grandmother, and they could even ask the second household for money to support the elderly.

Zuo Hongjun said, “Supporting Xiao Cong’s schooling isn’t a bad thing. He’s the only male descendant of the Zuo family’s third generation. In the future, we’ll need him to carry on the family. We can’t just cut off the bloodline.”

“Bah, bah, bah, why are we cutting off the bloodline? In the future, we can have our eldest daughter marry someone who’ll come to our family. Any children she has will still carry the Zuo surname.”

Zuo Hongjun looked at her in surprise. “I thought you were going to have the younger one marry into someone else’s family. You always dote on her.”

Xu Fengxia smiled smugly. “I’m not that stupid. Our Huan Huan needs to marry a capable man. What’s good about a man marrying into our family? Let Qian Qian marry into another family, it’s fine.”

Since Zuo Hongjun didn’t have a son, he didn’t feel particularly attached to his two daughters. He would follow his wife’s preference, but when he had supported Xiao Cong’s education, it was also because he had no son and thought that this nephew might help him out in the future.

Now, with his wife’s new plan, even if they didn’t have a son, they could still find a son-in-law to marry into the family. If a male child was born, that would be their grandson. He’d still have a grandson to carry on the family, and it would be the same if the grandson was born through a son-in-law.

If it really came to that, he’d have to leave some family assets for the grandson.

Although Mother didn’t show any favoritism between the two brothers, she still loved her grandson in her heart. Even if they did marry in a son-in-law, Mother would still prefer Xiao Cong.

That was not acceptable.

Zuo Hongjun started to seriously consider the matter. However, there were still some reservations in his heart. As the eldest son, he had promised his father that he would support the family. If they split the household, it would be difficult.

Also… “What about the third one?”

He still had a younger brother who wasn’t married yet. If they split the household, what would happen to his third brother?

Hearing Zuo Hongjun mention the third brother, Xu Fengxia’s face turned slightly sour. She coughed lightly. “Old Zuo, it’s not that I’m speaking harshly, but the third one is always so out of sync, lazy and good-for-nothing. We can’t support him. He’s nearly thirty, and we can’t keep supporting him.”

The key issue was that, in the future, when the third brother married, it would cost a lot of money.

Xu Fengxia didn’t dare say it out loud, but she was mulling over it in her mind.

Zou Dan had no idea what her Aunt and Uncle were thinking. That night, after everyone had fallen asleep, she quietly sneaked into the orchard, boiled water, and took a hot bath.

She cleaned herself up, ate a compressed biscuit, drank some water, and filled her stomach before returning to her bed and lying down to sleep.

Just as she closed her eyes, she heard rustling noises from the courtyard. Zou Dan listened carefully, and it sounded like someone was climbing the wall.

Her heart skipped a beat. In the middle of the night, who would be climbing the wall?

She hadn’t expected that in an era that was supposedly the safest, there were still people doing these sneaky things.

Worried she might have misheard, Zou Dan got out of bed, opened the door, and peeked outside through the gap. Sure enough, she saw a figure carefully sneaking into the house. It was too dark to make out who it was, but it looked like the figure of a man.

When she realized someone had indeed climbed in, Zou Dan grabbed a small stool from the room and shouted, “There’s a thief! Catch the thief—!”

Her loud voice broke the stillness of the night, and the previously dark house was soon lit by oil lamps.

Zuo Qing and Zuo Huan were also startled, jumping out of bed.

“Where’s the thief?” Zuo Dacheng and Zuo Hongjun rushed out of the house, holding their carrying poles.

“My goodness—” The person in the yard seemed startled by the sudden noise, yelling in fear.

“Brother, don’t hit, don’t hit, it’s me.”

Seeing Zuo Dacheng and Zuo Hongjun holding the carrying poles, the person covered his head and crouched in the corner.

Hearing the voice, Zuo Dacheng and Zuo Hongjun froze in place, looking at the person in the corner with their poles. “Third brother?”

The person in the corner moved his hands away, revealing a filthy face. “Brother, it’s me.”

Zou Dan stared wide-eyed at the scene.

The person who had been climbing the wall in the middle of the night was none other than Grandmother’s third son—her third uncle, Zuo Chengcai!

The Zuo family caused a ruckus in the middle of the night, and neighbors from the surrounding houses heard the commotion and came over to help. After a lot of persuasion from Zuo Dacheng and Zuo Hongjun, they finally managed to calm the person down.

Grandmother Zuo sat in the main room, looking at her third son, so angry that she slapped the table.

Her third son had always been irresponsible, and as he grew older, he became even worse—never working in the fields, constantly disappearing for days on end.

This time, he had been gone for several days and returned looking like a beggar. And now, in the middle of the night, he was climbing his own family’s wall. It was too embarrassing.

“You little beast, are you trying to make me die of anger?” Grandmother Zuo slapped her chest in frustration.

Zuo Chengcai trembled in his heart. “Mom, I did this for the family to live a better life.”

“Then why are you climbing the wall in the middle of the night?”

Zuo Chengcai looked awkwardly at the younger members of the family, hesitating to speak. He wasn’t keen on talking.

Grandmother Zou deliberately made things harder for him, angrily saying, “What’s wrong? You dare do it, but you’re embarrassed?!”

Zuo Chengcai quickly shook his head, “Mom, I had no choice…”

It turned out that Zuo Chengcai had gone out after hearing that people could make money by following truck drivers. He managed to get in touch with a truck driver and started following him. This was more or less like a bodyguard job.

Although the public order was good in those days, life was still tough for many, and some ruthless criminals were lurking in remote areas, making it hard to predict what could happen. Truck drivers were often looking for strong, young men like Zuo Chengcai to accompany them.

At first, things went well, and he made some money. He had planned to continue, but one day, they encountered robbers. He barely saved his life, but lost all the money. Worse still, the truck driver thought Zuo Chengcai had failed in his job of guarding the goods and refused to let him leave. Zuo Chengcai, though strong, wasn’t much help physically compared to the truck driver, so he had no choice but to give up everything of value he had on him. He barely managed to return home with nothing.

Without money, he had to beg for food on his way back, making the trip home a very humiliating one. Worried about being ridiculed, he snuck back under the cover of darkness, only to be discovered by his niece, leading to this situation.

Listening to Zuo Chengcai’s story, Zou Dan found it quite interesting. She looked at her third uncle with admiration.

At this time, Zuo Chengcai’s actions were considered unorthodox and unconventional, but to Zou Dan, it seemed forward-thinking and daring. If not for the robbery, he might have made some money.

“Third Uncle, how did you come up with such a way of making money?” Zou Dan was curious about this forward-thinking man.

Seeing the admiration in his niece’s eyes, Zuo Chengcai perked up. “Your third uncle has many connections. I know people in the county town. You wouldn’t believe it, but the truck drivers make a lot of money. In addition to their wages, they can also deliver things for others and make money on the side…”

“I said Dandan, don’t tell me you think your third uncle’s way is right? You’re just getting him into trouble!” Xu Fengxia interjected sarcastically.

Xu Fengxia didn’t believe the money-making story. If he could really make money, why did he come back so miserably?

Besides, over the years, her brother-in-law had never made money, so his words weren’t trustworthy.

“Dandan, go back to your room,” Zuo Dacheng quickly said.

Zou Dan glanced at him, realized what was happening, and saw Grandmother Zou glaring at her with a bad look, signaling that it wasn’t the right time for talking. She nodded, gave Zuo Chengcai an “I can’t help you” expression, and quickly went back to her room.

After all, the third uncle was Grandmother Zou’s own son, so they couldn’t go too far with him.

As soon as Zou Dan got back to her room, she heard the sound of Zuo Chengcai screaming from the main room.

“Mom, I was wrong, I won’t do it again! Ah—”

Zou Dan shuddered and curled up in bed.

Soon, Zuo Huan and Zuo Qing came back. Zuo Qing looked frightened, her face pale, while Zuo Huan seemed to be enjoying the scene with a touch of schadenfreude.

Zou Dan wasn’t surprised by Zuo Huan’s attitude. Zuo Chengcai wasn’t much older than them, and since they were young, they were used to being hit. The younger generation never regarded him as a senior.

Even the original owner kept a distance from this uncle.

Despite the chaos last night, the family still got up early the next morning.

Zou Dan heard the commotion and got up as well. Today, she had to work in the fields. Just like going to work, she couldn’t be late, or her work points would be deducted.

This time, Grandmother Zou didn’t have to go; instead, Zou Dan and Xu Fengxia went, with an additional Zuo Chengcai, who had a swollen face.

Grandmother Zou seemed to be lenient because he had to work, so she didn’t beat him, but his face was still swollen.

Zuo Chengcai, carrying a shoulder pole, sighed as he saw his niece coming out. His eyes lit up. “Dandan, come, let’s go together.”

Hearing him say “let’s go together,” Zou Dan suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. However, in front of the elders, she couldn’t embarrass her uncle, so she grabbed a sickle and walked beside him.

As she passed Xu Fengxia, Xu Fengxia snorted heavily, her face as dark as a thunderstorm.

Just as the Zuo family was leaving, three loud gong sounds came from the threshing ground under the old locust tree. This was the signal to gather everyone for work.

Under the old locust tree, the old team leader Zuo Shuisheng stood on a pile of grass, shouting, “Folks, we have some educated youth from the city here, let’s give them a warm welcome.”

A round of applause rang out, and everyone looked at the young faces beside the old team leader, discussing how city kids were different from country ones, looking neat and clean, and clearly not suited for hard work.

Even Li Hui and Zuo Dacheng glanced over. However, Li Hui seemed to freeze for a moment, staring intently at one of them.