Hard work after winning the lottery

She raised her head, a sharp glint flashing in her cloudy eyes.

She glared at her old man, and the look in her eyes made Hua Mutou's heart tremble.

Can you judge a person solely by their appearance?

The old lady's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable authority.

"Whether he's a good person or not isn't just a matter of words!"

"There are some things you don't know!"

After saying that, she lowered her head and continued picking vegetables with a "swish, swish" sound, not giving Hua Mutou a single glance. Her tightly pursed lips clearly indicated that she wouldn't answer any more questions.

"Hey! You old woman!"

Hua Mutou was completely baffled by the retort, and all the words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat.

He scratched his gray hair, looked at his wife's face which seemed to say "keep away," and dared not ask any more questions.

He had no choice but to turn to his allies, his mind filled with doubt.

He walked over to his son, Hua Shu, who was inspecting the fence by the sheep pen, and nudged him with his elbow.

"Son, did you see that?"

Hua Shu stopped what he was doing and turned around with a simple, honest look: "Dad, what did you see?"

"Your mother, and your wife!"

Hua Mutou lowered his voice and spoke mysteriously, "Haven't you noticed that their attitude towards Yan Jin these past two days has been a bit off?"

Hua Shu was taken aback upon hearing this.

He's a grown man, not very perceptive, but after his father's reminder, he finally understood.

It seems... that's true.

A couple of days ago, his mother and wife were vying to serve him food, but these past two days, the dinner table has been eerily quiet.

He looked at his father's face, which was full of questions, and shook his head vigorously, completely bewildered.

"I don't know."

"Who can understand a woman's mind?"

The father and son stared at each other, both lost in the same deep confusion in the evening breeze.

The strange, lingering pressure that had been hovering under the eaves finally reached its peak after dinner.

Hua Mutou was a veteran, and he couldn't stand this atmosphere of hiding things and speaking in riddles.

The doubts in his mind snowballed, growing larger and larger, almost threatening to devour his patience.

He spotted an opening and saw his wife and daughter-in-law, Li Guifen, carrying washbasins and preparing to go back into the house.

He stood imposingly at the entrance of the main room, his tall figure like a wall, blocking the two people's way.

The tentative look of the evening was gone from that weathered face; only an unquestionable authority of the head of the household remained.

"stop."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was heavy, like a stone thrown into the calm night.

Grandma Hua and Li Guifen stopped in their tracks simultaneously.

The two looked up and saw Hua Mutou's tense face, which was filled with the expression "I need an explanation today," and their hearts skipped a beat.

What was bound to happen has finally happened.

"You two," Hua Mutou's gaze swept sharply across his wife and daughter-in-law's faces, "you must make things clear to me today."

He took a step forward, and the oppressive aura he exuded from the battlefield made the surrounding air seem to freeze.

"What exactly is going on in this house?"

"These past two days, everyone's been like mushrooms with their mouths sawed off, the atmosphere's been so strange. Could it be related to that kid, Yan Jin?"

He went straight to the point, directly targeting what he had always believed to be the root of the problem.

Grandma Hua and Li Guifen exchanged a glance.

In that one glance, there was helplessness, a sigh, and a sense of relief that one no longer had to struggle.

They knew that this matter could no longer be kept secret.

Li Guifen placed the wooden basin in her hand on the stone steps by the door, making a soft "thump" sound.

She took a deep breath, as if summoning immense courage, and looked up at her father-in-law.

"Dad, this is a long story..."

Her voice was hoarse with a hint of weariness. "Please don't get agitated after hearing this."

Hua Mutou gave a heavy "humph," which was taken as tacit agreement.

He turned around, strode back to the main room, plopped down in the main seat of the eight-immortal table, placed his hands on the edge of the table, and struck a pose as if he were about to conduct a joint trial.

Hua Shu also came out of his room upon hearing the noise. Looking at the scene, he followed her in, completely bewildered, and stood behind his father.

For a moment, the lights in the main room were dim, and the air was so stuffy it felt like you could wring water out of it.

Li Guifen poured a cup of hot tea for her father-in-law and husband. The scalding tea steamed with wisps of white vapor, but it did nothing to dispel the chill in the room.

Grandma Hua sat down on the bench opposite Hua Mutou, her cloudy eyes looking particularly heavy under the light.

Silence is spreading.

Finally, Li Guifen spoke first. Her voice was very soft, as if she were telling a story that had nothing to do with her.

"Dad, Ashu, this matter... goes back to five years ago."

Her words, like a stone thrown into a deep pool, instantly shattered the deathly silence.

Hua Mutou and Hua Shu both stared intently at her face.

And so, the two women, one speaking and the other talking, gradually unraveled the secret that Hua Yun had carried alone for five years.

Li Guifen's voice gradually choked up. When she talked about the suffering her daughter had endured, her eyes reddened and her voice trembled.

Grandma Hua gripped the coarse cloth trousers on her knees tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force, as she added the unspoken heartache that Li Guifen felt.

"...That girl, when she came back back then, she was like she had lost her soul."

"She wouldn't say anything when asked, she just hid in her room and cried."

"We just thought she was being wronged in the big city, having trouble at work, we never imagined... we never imagined something like this would happen!"

Hua Mutou and his son Hua Shu went from initial shock to disbelief, and their faces gradually turned ashen.

They listened like two petrified statues, motionless, but their hearts were already churning with turbulent emotions.

Finally, after all the causes and consequences had been explained, Grandma Hua raised her wrinkled face, looked at her old man and son, and dropped a thunderbolt.

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear and heart-wrenching.

"...That's it."

"That Zhou Yanjin,"

"Our distinguished guests have been treated with utmost courtesy these past few days."

"That's our Si'an, Si'le, and Si'tao's... biological father!"

"boom--!"

The last two words exploded in Hua Shu's mind like a thunderclap!

His face, which was usually tanned dark by the sun, instantly turned a deep liver color, and the veins on his forehead bulged and throbbed.

"You bastard!"

A wild, furious roar erupted from his throat!

He suddenly raised his hand, his clenched fist slamming down with tremendous force onto the octagonal table in front of him!

"Bang!"

A loud crash shook the teacups on the table, splashing scalding tea all over the table.

"So it was him!"

Hua Shu's eyes were bloodshot, like an enraged bull, and his whole body was trembling.

"No wonder! No wonder Yunyun looked like she'd lost her soul when she came back back then! I thought..."

He thought his daughter just couldn't handle the hardships of big city life. He, as her father, actually... actually knew nothing at all!

His heart ached as if it were being stabbed with a knife; the overwhelming anger mixed with guilt towards his daughter almost burned away his reason.