Especially him—he even went to the county town to hire a doctor, spending more than a tael of silver. Their mother scolded him several times for that.

Yet, the entire third household returned completely unharmed.

How could he not be furious?

They had all gone together—so why was the third household able to return unscathed?

If it weren’t for the fact that the third household was usually close to the fourth household, he wouldn’t have believed, even if beaten to death, that Jian Xiu would overlook them.

And precisely because they knew this, they deliberately hid their plans from the third household when they left today.

“Big Brother, what do you mean by this? Am I not even allowed to ask a few more questions? And let’s not even talk about previous years—just look at this year! Who has done the most work in the fields? It’s always us from the third household!”

Zhang Zifu truly had complaints about this.

Even if his wife, Wang Xiuying, hadn’t mentioned it, he would have.

It wasn’t just Wang Xiuying—he himself had been holding in a stomach full of frustration.

Hearing Zhang Zifu’s words, Zhang Zirong felt guilty.

When it came to farm work, the third household undeniably did the most. Meanwhile, the first household did the least.

Yet among all the households, the third household was the one that ate the least.

“What’s the matter? Big Brother, do you have nothing to say? Or is it that you don’t want to say anything?” Zhang Zifu pressed.

Today’s sun was scorching, and after working hard all day, he was already brimming with frustration.

Now, Zhang Zirong had conveniently walked right into his line of fire, giving him a perfect outlet for his anger.

“Enough, enough! Just focus on your work!”

Seeing the two brothers about to start an argument, Fang Miaojun quickly intervened.

They had gained quite a few good things today, so her mood had improved considerably.

Normally, if she saw the brothers arguing, she, as the eldest sister-in-law, would definitely scold them.

But today, she only made a brief remark before continuing with her work.

Seeing this, Zhang Zirong said nothing more.

But Zhang Zifu was still unsatisfied. Lately, he had been seriously considering splitting from the family.

Now, after hearing Zhang Zirong’s words, that thought grew even stronger.

With his mind entirely preoccupied with the idea of separation, Zhang Zifu didn’t notice the unusual behavior of the others.

But Wang Xiuying did.

From the moment they returned, she had sensed it.

They all seemed especially happy today.

Afraid that their household was getting the short end of the stick, Wang Xiuying walked over to Zhang Zifu and nudged him with her elbow.

Zhang Zifu looked at her, puzzled, signaling with his eyes for her to speak.

Since the field was large, and she didn’t want the others to overhear, Wang Xiuying pulled Zhang Zifu aside before saying, “Don’t you think the first and second households seem overly excited today? And our sister-in-law—she didn’t scold us at all when we came to the fields.”

Normally, taking advantage of her status as the eldest daughter-in-law, she would be the last one to start working when their mother wasn’t around.

And no one dared to say anything about it.

Yet, every time she came to the fields, she always started by scolding them.

It was always the same complaints: they were too slow, too clumsy, and after all this time, they had barely made any progress.

But today, she hadn’t said a word. Instead, she had merely told the two brothers not to argue.

Something wasn’t right.

Something was very, very wrong.

Hearing this, Zhang Zifu immediately realized something was off.

He glanced over at the first and second households again, and everything seemed even more suspicious.

And another thing—his second brother, Zhang Zihua, was nowhere to be seen.

It wasn’t unusual for their mother to stay home when the weather was too hot.

That wasn’t strange.

But among all of them, no matter who it was, every single one of them had a smile on their face.

Usually, on such scorching days, who wasn’t walking around with a bitter, sunburned expression?

But now…

Realizing this, Zhang Zifu strode directly toward Zhang Zirong and Fang Miaojun.

The third household never got along well with the second household, so if he asked them, they wouldn’t give him the answers he wanted.

Worse yet, it might lead to another fight—or even a brawl. That would be completely unnecessary.

Besides, his second brother, Zhang Zihua, wasn’t even here, so questioning his second sister-in-law, Chen Sixi, wasn’t a good option either.

So, he went straight to the first household and demanded:

“Big Brother, Sister-in-law, what’s going on here? Are you all ganging up to push our third household out now?”

Zhang Zifu wasn’t one for beating around the bush—if he had something to say, he’d say it directly.

Compared to his second brother, Zhang Zihua, he actually preferred dealing with his eldest brother, Zhang Zirong.

Hearing this, Zhang Zirong hesitated for a brief moment.

But he quickly composed himself and said, irritated, “How are we pushing you out? At home, whatever we eat, you eat too. How is that exclusion?”

Fang Miaojun quickly chimed in, “That’s right! No one in this house has ever shortchanged your third household. Whatever our first household has, your third household has too.”

Unlike Zhang Zirong, Fang Miaojun saw through the third household’s intentions completely.

She had long realized that they were thinking about splitting from the family.

After seeing how well the fourth household was doing on their own, how could they not be tempted?

But right now, the third household was the backbone of labor in the old house. If they left, what would happen?

She knew exactly what kind of people the second household were.

Before, when the fourth household was still part of the family, the third household didn’t have to work as much, nor did they suffer as much.

But now that the fourth household had separated, the third household had essentially taken their place.

If the third household left too, then the ones left struggling would be the first household.

She knew her simple-minded husband all too well—he always felt that, as the eldest son, it was his duty to contribute the most to the family.

If the third household left, the ones who would suffer the most would be them.

Not to mention, the second and third households harbored some resentment.

Because the biggest expense in the family right now was her eldest son, Zhang Tianyi.

His school fees alone cost more than twenty taels a year, not to mention all the ink, brushes, and paper.

If everything was added up, the total could easily reach thirty taels.

If one really thought about it, their first household had every reason to feel guilty.

So now, upon hearing Zhang Zifu’s accusations, Fang Miaojun instinctively stepped in to smooth things over.

Sure enough, after hearing her words, Zhang Zifu’s anger subsided significantly.

Not far away, Wang Xiuying had been watching her husband closely.

Seeing him get pacified so easily by just a few words from Fang Miaojun, she was filled with frustration.

She knew it—she couldn’t count on her simple-minded husband to get any useful information.