When Liu Shi first married into the Xie family, her family naturally provided a dowry.

You have to understand that in ancient times, if a girl got married without a dowry, she would be the subject of gossip behind her back.

But who could blame Liu Shi for being a typical “supporting brother” type?

Not long after the wedding, Liu Shi secretly sent her dowry silver back to her family.

Over the years, taking advantage of the fact that Grandma Xie didn’t pay attention to the small savings hidden away, Liu Shi had cleaned out all the private savings of the main house!

So, at this moment, not only could she not produce her dowry, but she couldn’t even come up with a single copper coin.

“I, I…”

No matter how good Liu Shi was at pretending, she couldn’t produce anything, and she had no way to explain herself. Her expression was flustered and evasive.

It was clear something was off.

Grandma Xie immediately guessed what was going on and squinted as she asked, “Did you use your dowry to support your family?”

“I, I… Wuwu, I’m sorry, Mother-in-law, I didn’t mean to! My family is too poor. When I went back before, I saw my parents and younger siblings, and they were so thin they looked like skeletons. It was too tragic.”

“Wuwu, I really couldn’t bear it. I thought our family wouldn’t miss my dowry, so I sold my things to help my family. I’m sorry, Mother-in-law, it’s all my fault, all my fault…”

Liu Shi knew she couldn’t hide the truth any longer and quickly admitted her mistake.

It’s not good for a daughter-in-law to support her family behind her in-laws’ back, but using her own dowry wasn’t a huge crime.

If the Xie family insisted on pursuing this, they would end up with a bad reputation for coveting their daughter-in-law’s dowry.

Don’t be fooled by Liu Shi’s weak and gentle appearance; she was actually quite formidable.

Grandma Xie was so frustrated she felt stifled.

But Mother Xie wouldn’t let her off the hook so easily. Her son had said in a dream that Liu Shi had supported her family with more than just her dowry!

Mother Xie immediately continued, “Oh, come on, big sister-in-law, if your family is in trouble, just tell us! Our Xie family isn’t the kind of people who would turn a blind eye to relatives in need, right?”

“Big sister-in-law, what you did was really a bit stingy…”

“Forget it, forget it. How you use your dowry is your own business. Let’s not talk about that now. We need to gather money for your husband and the fourth son. You don’t have a dowry, but the main house must have some private savings, right?”

“Don’t say you don’t have any, our mother allows us to save private money. Over the years, your husband has been hunting in the mountains, and the boys in the main house can work too. There’s no way you can’t come up with a single copper coin, right?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Uncle Xie, who was lying nearby, quickly spoke up weakly, “We have it, we have 10 taels. Child’s mother, hurry and take the money out to buy medicine for the fourth son…”

Uncle Xie was good at hunting, and the main house had three strong sons, so it wasn’t surprising they could save up 10 taels over the years.

But Liu Shi still couldn’t produce anything; all the family’s silver had been secretly sent to support her family!

“I, I…”

Liu Shi stammered for a long time without being able to say anything.

At this point, anyone who couldn’t guess the truth would be a fool.

Auntie Two glared, “Big sister-in-law, you didn’t empty the house, did you?!”

Uncle Xie and the boys from the main house also looked incredulous.

They never expected their gentle and kind mother had secretly emptied their family’s savings.

“Wuwu, I really didn’t mean to! My family is poor, my brother is getting married, my sister is getting married, and everywhere needs money. As the eldest sister, I can’t just ignore it! I’m sorry, wuwu…”

“It’s my fault for not being capable, my children, it’s my fault.”

“Mother-in-law, please divorce me! I shouldn’t have supported my family; it’s all my fault.”

Seeing that she could no longer hide what she had done, Liu Shi could only kneel on the ground, wipe her tears, and act pitiful, continuously admitting her mistakes.

Because she knew that the Xie family would never divorce her for this.

After all, she had given birth to three sons for the Xie family, one of whom was a son! Usually, she pretended to be obedient and filial, and aside from supporting her family, no one could say anything bad about her.

Sure enough, although Grandma Xie and Grandpa Xie were very angry, they didn’t actually consider divorcing their daughter-in-law.

No one is perfect; which couple in the village doesn’t have their quarrels and bumps in the road?

“Doomed star! Our Xie family must have been cursed for eight generations to have married you! You stand aside; I’ll deal with you later!”

Grandma Xie scolded angrily, but now wasn’t the time to argue with Liu Shi; the injuries to her son and grandson were the priority.

She didn’t want to take out all the family’s silver, fearing the money would go to waste, and then they wouldn’t be able to treat the injuries, which would also delay the fourth grandson’s examination.

But since Xie Wenyuan had already expressed his stance, the elders were used to following their grandson, so they could only comply, reluctantly taking out the family’s savings.

The couple from the second house contributed 5 taels of private savings.

Father Xie contributed 1 tael of private savings.

Mother Xie contributed 3 taels of dowry.

The younger generation, aside from those from the main house, also contributed a few copper coins here and there.

Mother Xie feigned shock and asked, “Eldest son, second son, third son, you don’t have a single copper coin on you?”

“Uh, we all gave it to Mother…”

The three of them turned red, feeling regret and shame as they lowered their heads.

If they had known that their mother could empty the main house, they definitely wouldn’t have handed over their private savings. Now that their father and fourth brother were injured, the main house couldn’t even produce a single copper coin; it was truly absurd.

Uncle Xie, lying in bed, was so angry he almost fainted.

The cousin who had crossed over, Xie Wenqi, felt like he had been deceived by the original owner’s memories…

In the original owner’s memories, his mother was clearly gentle and kind. Although she was weak and lacked ability, she always worked hard to support her children, a loving mother.

But the truth turned out to be like this.

What kind of loving mother was this? She was clearly a cold-blooded and muddle-headed “supporting brother” type!

Yes.

If she were truly a loving mother, how could the original owner’s mother watch her four sons grow thin and still comfortably enjoy the savings from their children’s hunger?

In contrast, the Xie family’s third house, which he had thought was cold-blooded and ungrateful after seeing the original owner’s memories, showed more familial affection at a critical moment.

On the first day of his crossing over, Xie Wenqi learned a lesson.

He finally understood the truth he had realized just before dying in his previous life: the original owner’s memories cannot be fully trusted!

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his cousin on the bed with a constantly changing expression.

Xie Wenyuan nodded in satisfaction.

It was worth it for him to remind his mother to act this way; with a good first impression, it would be much easier to fool his cousin.

After all, his cousin, who had crossed over, was a bit… naive when it came to emotions.

But that wasn’t enough.

As long as Liu Shi was still around, still the cousin’s mother, the Xie family wouldn’t find peace.

Xie Wenyuan discreetly tugged at his father’s sleeve.

Father Xie received the signal and stood up, looking worried, “This silver might only be enough to buy two doses of medicine. We’ll have to borrow the rest; otherwise, where can we earn it in a short time?”

“Our Wenyuan is a scholar; the borrowed silver can definitely be paid back later, so don’t worry too much.”

“Now, I’ll go back with Cui’er to ask her family, and the second brother and his wife will go to the second sister-in-law’s family. You two go to the grandfather’s house; let’s borrow as much as we can to get through this tough time…”

This was the best plan for now.

The few children in the family also stood up and said, “Grandma, we’ll go out and ask our friends too.”

The weak Uncle Xie and the cousin who had crossed over felt their eyes turn red, their throats choked with emotion.

They were deeply moved.

Father Xie continued, “Alright, it’s decided. We’ll go borrow money. The boys and girls at home will stay to take care of the eldest brother and the fourth son. Big sister-in-law, you go with the doctor to get the medicine.”

He casually mentioned it, almost scaring Grandma Xie to death.

Grandma Xie reacted and shouted, “What? Let the eldest family go get the medicine!”

Wasn’t that like letting a mouse into the rice bin?

Father Xie and Mother Xie certainly understood this principle, but they wanted this effect.

Mother Xie, playing the good person, advised, “Mother, although big sister-in-law made a mistake before, we can’t blame her entirely. She was just too filial to support her family and didn’t expect something would happen at home.”

“Big sister-in-law isn’t really foolish; she is the wife of the eldest brother and the biological mother of the fourth son. No matter what, she wouldn’t touch the life-saving money.”

“Now, she’s the only elder left in the family. If we don’t let her go with the doctor to get the medicine, are we going to let the little ones take charge? They’re so young; can we trust them?”

Grandma Xie: …

Compared to the eldest daughter-in-law, she was indeed more at ease with her grandchildren.

Although Liu Shi didn’t know why the third house was speaking up for her, this was indeed her chance to show herself.

She quickly wiped her tears and stated, “Mother-in-law, don’t worry, I know I was wrong. I won’t casually support my family anymore. Just give me a chance to make it right.”

Xie Wenyuan seized the opportunity and said, “Alright, Grandma, let’s do it this way. The injuries of Uncle and my cousin are urgent.”

The others thought about it and felt that Mother Xie’s words made sense.

No matter how foolish Liu Shi was, she wouldn’t touch her husband and biological son’s life-saving money, right?

After all, Liu Shi had successfully maintained her image as a good wife and mother, and the Xie family was willing to speak well of her.

In the end, to avoid delaying the time for saving lives, Grandma Xie had no choice but to agree.

She handed the money to Liu Shi and let her go to the city to get the medicine.

At the same time, the younger brother of the Liu family, who was worried about gambling debts, also heard the news that the Xie family was in trouble and had gathered dozens of taels for medical expenses.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly chased after Liu Shi, blocking her halfway.