Chapter 2

Mrs. Qian had shed most of her tears and caught her breath, then opened the chest, pulled out a box from the bottom, and opened it to show the money inside to her youngest son and daughter.

Inside were strings of coins, quite heavy, with only two small pieces of silver left over from building their house.

Seeing the money, Mrs. Qian couldn't help but wipe her eyes again.

She counted the money over and over, but there were still only nine strings, and the two pieces of silver added up to only one and a half taels.

Mrs. Qian then took out the money box from the bedside cabinet, which contained the money set aside for daily use. Recently, it was the autumn harvest, and the third and fourth sons had gone to work for the Bai landlord, bringing back their wages, which she hadn't yet counted and stored in the cabinet.

But this money wasn't much either. It was also counted and strung, with one hundred coins per string and ten strings making one string of a thousand coins.

Their luck was really bad; there were only six strings of coins in the box, and at the bottom were about twenty to thirty loose coins.

Mrs. Qian looked at her daughter, then at her youngest son, and hearing the increasingly loud cries of pain from outside, she got up and handed the money to her youngest son to carry out, while she held her daughter's hand and went out.

Seeing his mother carrying the money box, Zhou Sizhong felt a great relief and almost burst into tears.

Manbao saw this clearly and was very angry with her fourth brother.

There were gamblers in the village. At the third house from theirs, Uncle Zhou's son had lost a lot of money gambling six months ago, and had returned with the gamblers, selling his wife and children to pay off his debts.

Their niece, who was two years older than Manbao and a good friend of hers, made her remember that gambling was a deadly thing. She didn't know if it would cost her own life, but it would certainly cost the lives of her loved ones.

At the time, her father and mother had taught the brothers to strictly avoid gambling, but they never thought it would happen to their family.

Manbao, unable to contain her anger, rushed forward and kicked Zhou Sizhong hard in the face.

Zhou Sizhong cried out, "Little Sister, Little Sister, don't kick me, I, I know I was wrong!"

Mrs. Qian didn't stop her but said to her husband, "The money isn't enough, we're still short by four and a half taels."

Old Zhou frowned in distress, and Mrs. Qian looked at the three daughters-in-law and said, "How much do you have in your homes? Bring it all out. Consider it a loan from your fourth brother, and he will pay it back later."

Little Mrs. Qian, Feng, and He looked at their husbands, who nodded with grim faces, and then led their children back to their rooms to get the money.

The Zhou family hadn't divided their household, and all the money earned had to be turned over to the family. Everything they ate and drank was shared. Little Mrs. Qian and Old Zhou had long ago said that they would only divide the household if they died or all the children were married.

But Mrs. Qian knew that married sons and unmarried sons were different, and they needed some money in their hands.

So she had always been lenient, keeping all the harvest from the fields, but only collecting 60% of the money earned from other sources, leaving the remaining 40% to the families.

For example, in the first family, Little Mrs. Qian worked as a cook at the school, earning at least one hundred coins a month. After turning over sixty coins, the rest was hers.

In the second family, the second son had learned some carpentry and basket weaving skills while working for the Bai landlord, and could earn some money by selling his crafts at the market in his spare time.

In the third family, the third son worked hard and was the favorite of the Bai landlord's manager, who always called him for work, so he could earn some money too.

As for the three youngest sons, the fourth son was no help, lying on the ground, and the fifth and sixth sons were too young. Any money they had was either taken by their mother or their sister, or used to buy candy from their second brother at the market. Even if they searched their clothes, they probably wouldn't find two coins.

Mrs. Qian didn't bother to search them.

The three daughters-in-law quickly brought out their private savings, but it still wasn't enough, and they were short by two strings of coins.

Mrs. Qian then looked at the head of the household and the sons.

Little Mrs. Qian couldn't bear it and sat on the ground, slapping her thighs and saying, "Mother, there really isn't any more. We've taken out the money we set aside for buying mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival for my family. This is going to ruin us!"

Mrs. Qian, angry, slapped her, "Why are you crying? I'm not dead yet. We've survived famine, why be afraid of two hundred coins?"

Manbao thought for a moment, then ran back to the main house, took out a silver lock from her treasure box, and gave it to Mrs. Qian, "Mother, use this."

Mrs. Qian's face changed drastically, immediately snatched the silver lock, and put it in her bosom, saying angrily, "This can't be given. This... This is made by your father and me. The Taoist said you have a noble destiny and need something to weigh it down. This is to weigh down your destiny."

Old Zhou also said, "It can't be given."

The thug laughed, "So a longevity lock is more important than your son's life? I'm asking, are you going to give it or not? It's already past noon, and we still need to go back to the county. If we can't get back, you'll be responsible for our lodging and meals."

The thugs behind him immediately started rummaging and kicking around the yard, saying, "Hurry up and give the money. Debts must be paid, it's only right."

The gamblers always left nothing when they came to collect, and how could Zhou Dalang allow them to search the house? He hurried to stop them.

Zhou Erlang and Zhou Sanlang also stopped holding Zhou Sizhong and hurried to help their elder brother.

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang, their blood boiling, also joined their brothers, and the villagers, seeing their neighbor being bullied, also came to help.

The thugs, seeing so many brothers and the villagers surrounding them, didn't dare to be too aggressive, just pushing and shoving, but their anger was still rising.

The village chief sighed and said, "Alright, it's just two hundred coins. Uncle Jin, I'll lend it to you. Just remember to pay me back later."

He then sent his son to get the money.

With this, the money was finally gathered, filling the box. Besides the two small pieces of silver, it was all copper coins. The thugs didn't mind, just counted and put the copper coins in bags.

But they tossed the silver pieces and said, "This silver can be exchanged for more than this. You should know that in the money shop, one tael of silver can now be exchanged for twelve strings of copper coins, so..."

Zhou Dalang stepped forward and kicked Zhou Sizhong, asking, "Did you gamble with copper coins or silver?"

"Copper coins, copper coins."

Zhou Dalang, fists clenched, asked angrily, "Copper coins, copper coins?"

Zhou Sizhong, with a bruised face and a bloody nose, wailed, "Copper coins, just copper coins."

Zhou Dalang, not stopping, punched him in the face, his face dark, "Copper coins, copper coins?"

Zhou Sizhong, crying and calling for his parents, "Copper coins, big brother, just copper coins. They lied to you, they lied to you."

The thugs, seeing Zhou Dalang's relentless beating, hesitated, put away the silver pieces, and nodded, "Alright, copper coins it is."

They then turned to leave.

Zhou Erlang blocked their way and asked, "What about the IOU?"

The thug sneered, handed him the IOU, and patted his shoulder, "A family like yours can't afford to lose. You should keep a close eye on your brothers. If you're not careful, next time your luck might not be so good. Many families have been ruined by gambling."

The Zhou brothers all looked at Zhou Sizhong with disapproval.

Zhou Sizhong, curled up on the ground, seeing his brothers' gazes, buried his head and didn't dare to cry too loudly.

The thugs finally left.

Old Zhou and his eldest son smiled and thanked the villagers for their help, especially the village chief, promising to treat him to a meal.

After sending them off, Old Zhou had Zhou Liulang close the door, turned around, and picked up the stick to continue beating his son.

Mrs. Qian, fearing her daughter would be scared, took her back to the room, but it didn't help much because the child kicked off her shoes, climbed onto her bed, and watched her father beat her fourth brother from the window, enjoying it.

Mrs. Qian, in poor health, was both sad and exhausted from the ordeal, and didn't stop her daughter. She asked the three daughters-in-law to go to the kitchen to prepare some food, as they hadn't eaten a grain of rice since morning, and the children couldn't bear it.

After making the arrangements, she called her daughter over, put the silver lock on her, and said, "Didn't I tell you not to take it off? This is to weigh down your destiny, given by your father and me. You must never take it off, understand?"

Manbao, reluctantly, said, "It's uncomfortable to wear."

Mrs. Qian thought for a moment and said, "You can take it off at night, but you must wear it during the day."

Manbao, reluctantly, agreed, seeing her mother's distressed face, asked, "Mother, what about Fourth Brother?"

"Let your father beat him. He's only had a few good years, and he's already learned to gamble. He's a ruinous thing, and he deserves it."

Manbao said, "If he dies, it would be better if the gamblers killed him. We'd save money."

Mrs. Qian, taken aback, said, "You're just like your father, never letting anyone off."

"Hey, is my father that clever?"

Mrs. Qian didn't answer her question but said, "He still needs to be beaten to learn a lesson. If he keeps this up, how much money will we have to give him?"

"Fourth Brother only remembers the food, not the beating. Even if he's crippled, it won't help. Unless his legs are broken so he can't walk."

"That's not possible. We still have to take care of him," Mrs. Qian, fearing Old Zhou would hurt him, sighed and shouted out the window, "That's enough. If you cripple him, we'll have to pay for his medical bills, and we don't have a single coin left."

The sound of beating gradually stopped, and Old Zhou, with a look of disappointment, kicked his son and had the eldest and second sons drag him back to the room.

Manbao, inside, said to her mother, "Mother, I have a good idea. It can punish him without costing the family any money."

"What idea?"

"Let Fourth Brother go and reclaim the wasteland, and let him plant crops there. The money he earns can be used to pay back the family and his brothers and sisters-in-law. He owes the family and his brothers and sisters-in-law fifteen taels of silver."

Mrs. Qian was puzzled, "Reclaim the wasteland? How did you think of that?"

Manbao said, "Didn't the village chief say that the government is encouraging us to reclaim the wasteland? The land we reclaim will be ours, and we won't have to pay taxes for the first three years."