At the very least, their family owned a lot of land, and their eldest grandson was studying at the academy. No matter what, there was still hope for the future.

But now… things had turned out like this.

Thinking of this, Old Man Zhang turned to Old Madam Liu, who was still sitting on the ground, and asked, “How much silver is left in the public fund?”

It would have been better if he hadn’t asked. The moment he did, Old Liu snapped back at him:

“Weren’t you the one who went to get the silver today? Don’t you know?”

She wasn’t wrong.

Because of his injured leg, Old Madam Liu had sent Old Man Zhang to fetch the money himself.

All the silver was stored in the same place—how could he not know how much was left?

In the past, she would have deferred to him and never embarrassed him in front of the whole family.

But after what happened today, her heart had turned completely cold.

In court, he had pushed all the responsibility onto her.

Isn’t there a saying that true feelings are revealed in times of hardship?

So why was it that, when trouble came, he was the first to abandon her?

And besides, was this even considered a real disaster yet?

Back when they discussed going to the village’s edge, Old Man Zhang hadn’t explicitly said whether he was for or against it.

But between the lines, everything he said was pushing her to go.

Fine, she went. And now, she was the one to blame.

If something went wrong, she had to bear it.

If something good happened, he was the head of the household.

He took all the credit, while she took all the blame.

There was no way things could be this unfair.

Old Man Zhang was already in a foul mood, and when he heard Old Liu’s retort, his anger flared. He kicked her hard.

“What kind of attitude is that, huh? Look at the good-for-nothing sons you’ve raised! One worse than the other! And you still dare to shout at me?”

The kick was not light. Old Liu was already injured, and with this blow, she collapsed to the ground and couldn’t get up.

Even so, she still wouldn’t back down and started yelling at Old Man Zhang.

“You heartless bastard! I gave birth to your sons, and now that they’re useless, you blame me? You wretched man—curse you! Curse you—”

Before she could finish, Old Man Zhang slapped her several times.

And he wasn’t holding back.

Thinking of the five taels of silver he had lost, his heart still trembled with rage.

“Father… Father… stop! Please, stop!” Zhang Zhirong, realizing what was happening, rushed forward to pull Old Man Zhang away.

Seeing this, Fang Miaojun quickly went to help Old Liu up.

If Old Man Zhang kept hitting her, they’d have to call a doctor.

Wouldn’t that cost even more silver?

“Mother, just say a little less, will you? Things are already messy enough!” Fang Miaojun said impatiently.

Her tone was bordering on anger.

“Oh? And this mess is my fault?” Old Madam Liu snapped at her.

She didn’t dare to fight back against Old Man Zhang, but did that mean she wouldn’t dare to argue with Fang Miaojun?

Seeing how clean and tidy Fang Miaojun looked only made Old Madam Liu feel even more resentful.

So she continued, “Eldest daughter-in-law, you sure know how to play the game. Second, third, and fourth families have all run into trouble, yet your family remains completely untouched in this courtyard.”

“Second brother said before that your family was best at keeping out of things, and I didn’t believe him. But looking at it now, isn’t that exactly the case?”

“People say it’s easy to talk when you’re not the one suffering. Turns out, they were right. You’re just standing here, watching the show.”

Hearing this, Old Man Zhang finally realized something.

She was right.

All this time, because of their eldest grandson, they had overlooked the eldest son’s family.

Since their grandson was studying at the county academy, they had subconsciously placed them on a pedestal.

Whenever there was dirty or tiring work, they never assigned it to the eldest branch.

But now that he thought about it…

That grandson was still their grandson.

Even if he succeeded in the future, he would belong to them, not the eldest son’s family.

Besides, who was the one supporting their grandson’s education?

It was them!

The eldest son’s family was simply reaping the benefits without lifting a finger.

Thinking this way, Old Man Zhang became even more displeased with the eldest branch.

He immediately turned to Fang Miaojun and said, “What, are you not going to gather pigweed tonight? You’re still standing here—are you planning to just stop working altogether?”

Fang Miaojun: “…”

So, she really shouldn’t have stepped in to break up the fight.

She should have just let them beat each other up.

Of course, she wasn’t one to take things lying down.

Since they were practically pointing at her nose and scolding her, how could she not fight back?

So she said, “Father, listen to yourself. Gathering pigweed has always been second brother’s job. Third brother used to help out out of kindness. I still need to sew clothes for Tianyi, and now you’re—”

“Enough nonsense! I told you to go, so you go!” Old Madam Liu shoved Fang Miaojun aside.

She had finally figured it out.

Every time she assigned Fang Miaojun a task, she always came up with some excuse.

Before, they all thought the eldest grandson’s studies were the most important.

But looking back now, they had been completely fooled by this lazy woman!

Old Madam Liu secretly swore to herself: From now on, she would make sure the eldest branch paid back everything they owed.

She would assign them as much work as possible.

If she didn’t work them to the bone, she wasn’t a Liu.

“Zhirong—”

“You can call whoever you want, it’s useless! If you don’t go gather pigweed, you won’t eat tonight!” Old Liu declared.

On the side, Chen Sixi smirked smugly.

She had never liked Fang Miaojun.

And now, she finally had her chance.

“Big sister-in-law, you’d better hurry up. It’s already dark, and there are snakes and bugs everywhere. You should be extra careful. If you finish quickly and come back, at least you’ll feel a little more at ease, right?”

Chen Sixi’s words were dripping with mockery.

Hearing this, Fang Miaojun was practically fuming.

But seeing that neither Old Man Zhang nor Old Liu were on her side, she had no choice.

Even after playing her trump card, it was useless.

It seemed like she had no way out—tonight, she would have to go.

Even so, seeing Chen Sixi’s smug face made her even more furious.

So she turned to Old Man Zhang and Old Liu and said,

“Father, Mother, if I go gather pigweed, then I can’t cook. I don’t mind skipping my meal, but Mother is still injured. Someone has to cook, right?”

With those words, Old Madam Liu immediately turned to look at Chen Sixi, who had been comfortably sitting and watching the drama unfold.