I couldn't take it anymore; when I went home for Chinese New Year, the family genealogy book ha

"One million a year! It covers everything from birth to old age, illness, and death! You can even be buried on a dragon vein after you die!"

In a drafty, dilapidated rented room on the outskirts of the county town, Jiang Jianwen's wife, Wu Xiulian, was holding up a secondhand mobile phone with a cracked screen and reading out a message she had just seen in the Jiangjia Village relatives' group chat in a high-pitched voice.

With each sentence she read, Jiang Jianwen, who was soaking hard steamed buns in boiling water next to her, looked increasingly grim.

Since being driven out of Jiangjia Village, their family's life has plummeted.

Jiang Jianwen considered himself a cultured man and disdained to work on a construction site. After searching for a job for several months, he was neither good enough for high-paying nor low-paying jobs, and finally could only work as a proofreader in a small printing factory, earning two thousand yuan a month.

Wu Xiulian couldn't endure hardship and stayed at home idly, spending her days complaining and cursing.

The little money they brought with them has long been spent, and now they can barely afford the rent.

"One million... My God..."

On the other side, Liu Cuifen, who was also crammed into the same rented room, dropped half a steamed bun into a bowl full of grease with a "thud" after hearing the news.

Her eyes instantly turned red and became bloodshot.

Since being kicked out, her husband Jiang Jianguo has been sighing every day, her son Jiang Haoran has been fooling around with other women and has not been home for days at a time, and she herself has gone from a pampered village woman to a haggard old woman who has to worry about three meals a day.

The more prosperous life became in Jiangjia Village, the more it felt like a knife, slowly scraping at her heart.

"No! I can't just let this go!"

Liu Cuifen suddenly jumped up from the hard bed, her hair disheveled, looking somewhat crazy.

"We are also of the Jiang family bloodline! Why is it that Jiang Chen eats and drinks the best food, while we can't even get a hot meal!"

She grabbed Jiang Jianwen's arm, her nails digging almost into his flesh.

"Jianwen! Aren't you the most knowledgeable? You quickly think of a solution!"

"Our names must be on this family tree! We must have a share of that million!"

Jiang Jianwen felt a sharp pain from her grip and frowned as he pushed her hand away.

He adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, his eyes flashing with jealousy and scheming.

"What's the use of crying! We have to go back and make a scene!"

He paced back and forth in the small room with his hands behind his back, pretending to be a master strategist.

"Jiang Chen is now the person in charge of Jiangjia Village, and he values ​​his reputation the most! If we go back, in front of the whole village and all those big-time business owners who come to buy vegetables, we just need to make a big scene!"

"Just say he disrespects his elders, forgets his roots, and is driving his own relatives to their deaths!"

"Look at his face, where does he even put it!"

Liu Cuifen and Wu Xiulian's eyes lit up; they thought the idea was brilliant.

"Yes! That's what we'll do!"

The three hit it off immediately.

Jiang Jianwen drove out his secondhand, dilapidated van, which he had bought for eight hundred yuan and was almost falling apart.

Liu Cuifen and Wu Xiulian squeezed into the back seat, discussing overnight who would cry first and who would be responsible for lying on the ground.

The rickety bread cart, belching black smoke and rattling like an old dog about to die, sped off towards the brightly lit, fairyland-like Jiangjia Village.

The car had just come to a stop in front of the imposing village entrance archway.

As soon as Liu Cuifen opened the car door, her pent-up emotions erupted instantly.

She swept her hair across her face, not caring whether the ground was clean or not, and plopped down on it.

"Oh my god! Heavens! Open your eyes!"

"This is outrageous! I can't live like this anymore!"

A loud wail shattered the tranquility of the village entrance.

Many villagers who had finished their meals and were out for a stroll, as well as some tourists who had come specifically to take photos at the village entrance, were all drawn to this unexpected scene.

Jiang Jianwen got out of the driver's seat and straightened his wrinkled jacket.

He walked over to the wailing Liu Cuifen with his hands behind his back, adopted the aloof posture of a scholar, and spoke loudly and indignantly to the crowd.

"Fellow villagers, friends, I've made a fool of myself in front of everyone!"

"We are native members of the Jiang clan in Jiangjia Village. Just because we spoke a few words of justice, we were ruthlessly driven out of our home by the current village chief, who is also my nephew, Jiang Chen!"

He pointed at Liu Cuifen on the ground, his voice filled with grief and indignation.

"Now, when the village is compiling its family genealogy and distributing profits, Jiang Chen would rather give the money to outsiders than acknowledge us, his own uncles and cousins!"

"Isn't this betraying one's ancestors? Isn't this bullying others with one's power?!"

His words were very inflammatory, and some tourists who were unaware of the truth began to point and whisper about the archway.

"How could such a big village do something like this?"

"They seem quite wealthy, but I never expected them to be so heartless."

Some busybodies even took out their phones and started filming Liu Cuifen as she threw a tantrum on the ground.

"Everyone come quick! Jiangjia Village is bullying their own people!"

The security guards at the village entrance all ran out and formed a circle, but they didn't know what to do.

Let's do it. The other person is an elder, and a woman at that. She's lying on the ground; it's not a good time to attack her.

If we don't take action, the consequences will be too bad.

A young security guard, holding a walkie-talkie, was sweating profusely with anxiety.

"Captain! Captain! What should we do? Should we notify Brother Chen?"

Just then, the crowd was pushed apart, creating a small gap.

Wang Dagou walked out of the crowd with his hands on his hips and a disdainful look on his face.

He looked down at Liu Cuifen, who was rolling around on the ground, crying with snot and tears streaming down her face, and spat at her.

"Who do we have here? It's just you bunch of stray dogs who were kicked out."

Wang Dagou's loud voice drowned out Liu Cuifen's wailing.

"When you took the millions of yuan that Brother Chen gave you and signed that agreement to sever ties, why didn't you say you were from the Jiang family?"

"Now that they see the village is benefiting, they're coming back to demand official recognition?"

"What kind of good deal is this? Have you no shame? Have you all lost all face?"

Liu Cuifen's sore spot was touched, and her crying stopped abruptly.

But she was incredibly thick-skinned; in just a moment, she started crying even harder.

She completely ignored Wang Dagou, crying as she crawled on the ground, like a maggot, wriggling her way towards the village.

"I won't listen! I won't listen!"

"I'd rather die today in the Jiang family ancestral hall!"

"Jiang Chen! You little bastard! Come out here!"

"If you don't add my name to the family genealogy today, and if you don't give me a million dollars, I'll hang myself on your front door!"