Reborn in 1950: Shorting the Federal Reserve at the Start

Shen Yaozu's triangular eyes were like two boning knives, scraping Shen Jinghong from head to toe.

From the worn-out collar of the gray trench coat to the dusty old leather shoes on his feet, and then to the cheap-looking faux leather suitcase, the more he looked, the more interesting his expression became. His initial anticipation quickly crumbled into undisguised disgust, and finally turned into a kind of humiliating anger at being mocked.

"Tsk tsk tsk."

He tilted his head, the cigarette in his mouth bobbing up and down as he spoke, his nonchalant demeanor making him look like a hoodlum just released from jail.

"Brother, I'm not trying to be mean, but you're a PhD who went to America to get a prestigious degree, how come you're looking like a beggar? Does this whole outfit even cost ten dollars?"

Shen Yaozu put his legs off the table and rubbed the soles of his shoes hard on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Where are the US dollars? Where are the big yellow croakers? I heard from the neighbors outside that you brought back a box of treasures, but all you brought back was this box of junk?"

Shen Jinghong looked at him quietly.

This is the younger brother he painstakingly supported in his past life. The little snotty-nosed boy who used to follow him around calling him "brother" has now grown into this vicious wolf who eats people without spitting out the bones.

"Yaozu, watch your tone."

Shen Jinghong spoke calmly, his voice not loud, but it carried a chilling undertone: "I'm your brother, not your ATM."

"Brother? Ha! You still remember you're my brother?"

Shen Yaozu seemed to have heard the funniest joke. He suddenly stood up, pointed at Shen Jinghong's nose, and started spitting, "Since you know he's my brother, is this how you treat me when you come back? I'm getting married soon, and Zhao Yanzi is pressuring me, and you come back empty-handed? What am I supposed to offer as a betrothal gift? Your poor, pathetic appearance?"

He got more and more excited as he talked, and his spoiled, childish temper completely erupted.

"I don't care if you were washing dishes or shoveling latrines in America, now that you're back, you have to pay my dowry! It's what you owe me!"

Shen Jinghong was so angry that he laughed instead.

What do you owe him?

In his past life, he gave up his dignity, his ideals, and even his life for this younger brother. In the end, did he still owe him?

"What do I owe you? Do I owe you for not being your slave?"

"nonsense!"

Shen Yaozu raised his head arrogantly, his shameless face a carbon copy of Liu Cuihua's. "Your parents raised you and sent you to school. Now that you've made something of yourself, shouldn't you repay your family? I'm the only son of the Shen family. Helping me is helping our Shen family continue its lineage, isn't it?"

As he spoke, he irritably scratched his slicked-back hair, which was slicked with half a bottle of hair oil, and his eyes darted around the room, finally settling on the pile of unwashed dirty clothes in the corner.

"Alright, I'm too lazy to waste my breath on you. Since you don't have money, then contribute your labor."

Shen Yaozu kicked a basin on the ground, making a screeching sound as it hit the metal. "See that pile of clothes and socks? I've been saving them up for a week. Go wash them right now! Also, I'm having braised pork tonight. Go to the grocery store and line up to buy the meat later. Don't even think about slacking off!"

He executed this whole process of instructing people with remarkable ease, clearly categorizing this newly returned elder brother as a "free laborer."

The couple standing nearby, Shen Dayong and Liu Cuihua, not only didn't see anything wrong with it, but even picked up their teacups and took a sip, looking on with amusement. In their view, it was only natural for the eldest son to serve the second son.

Shen Jinghong stood still.

He looked at the dirty washbasin that had rolled to his feet, then at Shen Yaozu, who had an imperious look on his face, and the smile on his lips gradually turned cold.

"What? You're not deaf yet? Didn't you hear me tell you to go do the laundry?"

Seeing that he didn't move, Shen Yaozu became even angrier. He was used to taking his frustrations out on his family when he was down on his luck outside, and now that he saw this "useless older brother" daring to disobey him, he felt that his authority had been challenged.

"I think you're just pretending to be broke! I don't believe it. You've been in America for so many years, how could you really be penniless?"

Suddenly, as if remembering something, his greedy eyes locked onto the leather suitcase in Shen Jinghong's hand.

"No! You've definitely hidden some money! Is it in the box?"

Shen Yaozu disregarded all manners and rushed over to snatch the box, shouting, "Give it to me! Open it! I need to check!"

That hand, covered in grease and cigarette ash, reached straight for the handle of the suitcase.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the suitcase.

"Snapped!"

A slender, fair-skinned, and seemingly weak hand suddenly reached out and precisely gripped Shen Yaozu's wrist.

Those were Shen Jinghong's hands.

"What are you doing? Let go!"

Shen Yaozu instinctively tried to shake it off, but found that the seemingly scholarly hand was now like an iron clamp, firmly welded to his wrist, not moving an inch.

"I told you to let go! Did you hear me... Ouch! That hurts!"

Shen Yaozu's curses instantly turned into screams of agony.

Shen Jinghong's expression remained unchanged, still bearing that faint smile, but he applied a little force with his thumb, gently pressing on the fragile wrist joint.

Even with just one-tenth of his strength, his enhanced physical abilities were far beyond what Shen Yaozu, a useless man whose body had been weakened by wine and women, could withstand.

"Ah—! It's broken! My hand is going to be broken! Mom! Help! Murder!"

Shen Yaozu was in so much pain that he curled up like a shrimp, his face contorted in agony, and cold sweat instantly poured down his face. He struggled desperately, but it felt as if his wrist had been shoved into a shredder. The excruciating pain made him unable to stand, and he collapsed to his knees with a thud.

"What's wrong?!"

Liu Cuihua, who had been watching the scene unfold, was startled. She dropped her teacup and rushed over screaming, "Boss! Are you crazy! Let go! That's your own brother!"

Shen Dayong grabbed his pipe and was about to smash it at Shen Jinghong: "You unfilial son! How dare you hit your brother? You've gone too far!"

Shen Jinghong deftly sidestepped the pipe bowl and released her grip.

"Oh dear, Mom and Dad, you've misunderstood."

He clapped his hands, looked at Shen Yaozu who was rolling on the ground groaning and clutching his wrist, and shrugged innocently. "I was just joking with my brother. We haven't seen each other in a long time, so I was just being affectionate. Who knew he was so weak? He cried out at the slightest touch."

As he spoke, he bent down and approached Shen Yaozu, whose face was covered in cold sweat.

On that refined and elegant face, the smile remained gentle, but in those unfathomable eyes, a chilling light flickered that sent shivers down Shen Yaozu's spine.

"Little brother, I've got it."

Shen Jinghong's voice was very soft, only the two of them could hear it, yet it felt like a cold, venomous snake slithering into their ears:

"Don't stretch your arms out too far. They'll break easily."

"you……"

Shen Yaozu hissed in pain, looking at his older brother who was both familiar and unfamiliar, and for the first time, a nameless fear welled up in his heart. Was this still the bookish nerd who could be easily manipulated?

He was about to get up and throw a tantrum, wanting his parents to teach this arrogant ingrate a lesson.

"Da, da, da."

A crisp, rapid sound of high heels suddenly came from the courtyard, each step feeling like a blow to the heart.

Immediately afterwards, the cotton curtain at the door was roughly ripped open.

A strong scent of face cream, mixed with the currently popular cheap perfume, instantly diluted the smell of tobacco in the room.

A woman wearing a bright red wool coat, with fashionable permed hair and a face painted like a monkey's butt, strode in, wearing high heels.

As soon as she entered the room, her slanted eyes, like radar, first scanned Shen Yaozu, who was rolling around on the floor, and then quickly locked onto Shen Jinghong, who was standing to the side.

That look carried three parts scrutiny, seven parts calculation, and ten parts harshness.

"Hey, this must be the older brother who returned from overseas, right?"

The woman didn't act like an outsider either, crossing her arms, holding her chin high, and speaking with an air of arrogance:

"I could hear ghostly wailing coming from inside this house when I was still at the alley entrance. What's this? Setting rules for the family as soon as you get back?"

Upon seeing this woman, Shen Yaozu felt as if he had seen a savior. Ignoring the pain in his hand, he scrambled over and cried out in a tearful voice:

"Yanzi! You've finally arrived! Look at this, this is my dear brother! Not only will he not give me the money, but he also tried to cripple my hand! You have to stand up for me!"