Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

When Chen Zaiguang slapped her, Lin Ruiqing immediately went up to scratch him with red eyes. Huang Lanzhi shouted, "What are you doing? You've gone too far, Lin Ruiqing! Are you planning to hit your husband in front of your mother-in-law and father-in-law?!"

Huang Lanzhi's stern shout brought Lin Ruiqing, who was almost out of her mind, back to her senses. Her eyes were red and tears streamed down her face. She just stood there without saying a word.

Huang Lanzhi, the notorious tigress in the village, unleashed her fury. Her fierce shout startled Chen Xiangui, not to mention Axi and Aguai, who were standing by watching the commotion. They stood there with blank faces, like wooden stakes, not daring to utter a sound.

Huang Lanzhi was known for being fiercely protective of her children. Although she would beat her own sons with sticks and ropes, if any outsiders dared to lay a finger on them, Huang Lanzhi would dare to block their door with a hoe and smash it down. If anyone dared to come out, she would chop them up with a single blow.

I didn't see Liu Lishi causing trouble in Lianzhai last time. She was beaten so badly by Huang Lanzhi that she lost several teeth. Now she's much more restrained. After all, she's a grandmother now. If it were before, someone like Liu Lishi would be buried with grass growing taller on her grave.

Huang Lanzhi bent down to pick up the bankbook from the ground, walked to the sofa, slammed the bankbook onto the coffee table, sat down, and coldly asked Lin Ruiqing, "Ruiqing, I've been married into the Chen family for decades and have never touched a single penny of the family's money to support my family. But you, without a word, gave 140,000 yuan to your brother."

"Now I'd like to ask you a question: are you still going to stay at this place?"

Lin Ruiqing, covering her face swollen from Chen Zaiguang's beating, cried with red eyes, "Mother, I didn't give myself away for nothing. My brother said that if the battlefield makes money, we'll get a share..."

"Dividends," Chen Zaiguang sneered, his voice distorting, "your brother, that good-for-nothing, can't even manage his own life. You believe he can make money? Where's your brain?"

Lin Ruiqing tried to argue, "Chen Zaiguang, don't speak so rudely..."

"That's awful!" Chen Zaiguang pointed at her face and demanded, "You gave your brother 140,000 yuan behind my back, and you think it's unpleasant for me to tell the truth? I'm asking you, Lin Ruiqing, have you no shame?!"

"Look at us, we're still living in this old house. And look at your two brothers on your mother's side, they've already built four-story villas. You're telling me this is running a business?"

Chen Zaiguang raised his hand to slap Lin Ruiqing again, but Chen Xianggui immediately stopped him, saying, "Enough, third brother, you've really grown up, hitting your own woman at home!"

Huang Lanzhi took a deep breath, suppressing her anger, and looked at Lin Ruiqing, "Ruiqing, tell me the truth, when did you give this 140,000 yuan to your family?"

Lin Ruiqing lowered her head and spoke in a soft, mosquito-like voice, "I gave him several thousand or ten thousand at a time. My brother somehow found out that I had money, so he asked my mother, sister-in-law, and brother's wife to come and persuade me, saying that my brother was going to open a sand quarry with someone and was short of money, so he asked me to take some out as... an investment."

"Where's the contract? There should be a promissory note, right?" Huang Lanzhi pressed.

Lin Ruiqing remained silent, only shaking her head. Chen Zaiguang trembled with anger, pointing at her, "You didn't even ask for an IOU!"

My brother said... we're family, no need to be so formal...

Chen Zaiguang was so angry that he couldn't speak. He plopped down in a chair. Lin Ruiqing stood there, tears streaming down her face, but she didn't dare to cry out loud. Huang Lanzhi glanced at Chen Xiangui, intending to let him make the decision. Chen Xiangui walked over to Huang Lanzhi with a sullen face, sat down next to her, took out a cigarette, lit it, and didn't say a word.

The room remained silent for a long time. Ah happy and Ah Guai, like two wooden figures, stood there awkwardly. Ah happy spoke first, "Brother Xiangui, um... we'll go back first."

Ah happy tugged at Ah Guai's sleeve, and Ah Guai immediately chimed in, "Yes, Brother Xiangui, there's still some cold tea simmering on the stove at home. I need to go back and check the fire."

Chen Xiangui, his face ashen, nodded and tossed a peony to each of them. "Alright, then let's come back for tea another day when we're free."

"Okay, okay," the two quickly made their escape, only daring to breathe a sigh of relief once they were outside. Ah Guai lowered his voice and said, "140,000! The Chen family is really wealthy."

Ah-Xi sighed, saying with a mixture of envy and schadenfreude, "Who says otherwise? You gave away 140,000 and still have 280,000 left. That's a family fortune of 420,000! But no matter how rich you are, if you don't marry a good wife, you'll squander it all."

The two exchanged a smile, shook their heads, and went their separate ways. In less than half an hour, all the old women and young wives at the entrance of Lianzhai Village knew about what had happened to Old Chen's family.

In the main hall of the Chen family's old house, the atmosphere was as cold as an ice cellar. Chen Xiangui, with a sullen face, smoked his cigarette until only the butt remained before stubbing it out in the ashtray. Seeing that her husband hadn't spoken, Huang Lanzhi said, "Ruiqing, go ask your brother for this money tomorrow. Tell him that you've divided the family property and need it to build your own house."

Chen Xiangui shook his head. He knew that once the money was given out, his third son's wife hadn't even written an IOU. It was like throwing good money after bad, and expecting his third son's wife to ask for it back by herself was a waste of time.

Seeing her husband shake his head, Huang Lanzhi asked, "Xiangui, what do you suggest we do? We can't just let it go like this. This is 140,000, not 14 yuan!"

"Third brother, go back to work at the factory first. When your brothers come home tonight, we can talk about what to do together." Chen Xiangui saw that Chen Zaiguang's brows were furrowed, so to avoid making him too anxious, he thought he would send him back to work at the factory first and let him calm down before talking to him in the evening.

Chen Zaiguang shook his head and said, "Dad, how can I be in the mood to go to work right now? I've almost lost 140,000 yuan, what's the point of going to work!"

"How can you be useless?" Chen Xiangui scolded. "You're helping Adong with his work. How can you abandon the task Adong entrusted to you because of your own personal matters? If you don't go to work, how can your apprentices cook properly in the canteen in Jinbu?!"

"In life and in business, you need to distinguish between what's important and what's not. What's the use of being anxious now? Can you go and get your money back by yourself?"

"Hurry up and wash your face, get back to work. If you dare not go, I'll have your mother break your legs," Chen Xiangui slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "You better work properly and don't let your own problems cause the food to burn or become too salty. I'll ask Adong about it when he gets back tonight."

Chen Zaiguang reluctantly went back to his room, grabbed his car keys, and left. Huang Lanzhi picked up the bankbook from the coffee table, turned around, and went into her room. Lin Ruiqing could only turn around and go into her room while crying. She closed the door, climbed onto the bed, and started to cry softly.

Chen Xiangui sat on the sofa, lit another cigarette, shook his head and remained silent. What a misfortune for the family. They had only separated a few days ago, and this had already happened. If his mother, Old Madam Wei Shufen, found out, who knows how angry she would be.