I bring bad luck to my husband, you bring bad luck to your wife.

"I've always had a question, and I hope Mr. Dong can answer it," Yang Tongchuan said, stopping Dong Xingsheng.

"Officer Yang, what are you doing? My brother's case is closed, and that crazy woman Lin Yujun is in jail. What else is there to be confused about?" Dong Xingsheng didn't want to waste words with Yang Tongchuan.

"When Lin Yujun first arrived at the border, she didn't know any herbal medicine merchants and didn't understand pharmacology. How did she manage to concoct such a special tonic?" Yang Tongchuan asked his final question.

Upon hearing this, Dong Xingsheng was taken aback at first, then immediately composed himself.

"How would I know about what happened in my brother and sister-in-law's bed?" Dong Xingsheng's eyes darted away unconsciously.

"I wasn't talking about sex. I was talking about supplements. Who found the formula for Lin Yujun and even had someone teach her how to win a man's heart in bed?" Yang Tongchuan's eyes suddenly sharpened.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Farewell." Dong Xingsheng bowed his head and used a donkey cart to take away the body.

As Yang Tongchuan watched his departing figure, he wished he could stab that beast to death.

He outmaneuvered everyone.

But then they completely cleared themselves of any wrongdoing.

The Dong family only had two sons. With the eldest son dead, the business naturally fell to the second son.

Even if the parents discover something is wrong, they only have one son left, so what can they do?

-------------

With the case closed, the atmosphere in the government office immediately became much more relaxed.

Yang Tongchuan was in a somewhat gloomy mood and left work early.

On the way back, I passed a general store and went in to buy Xiangxi a hand warmer the size of a melon.

The hand warmer at home is a bit too big and hard to carry. This small one is much better; when it gets cold, Xiangxi can take it anywhere.

It's late autumn now, and there are far fewer pedestrians on the street.

Yang Tongchuan was in a bad mood, so he wanted to wander around a bit longer before going home.

As I walked, I came to Xiang Qiang's stall.

"Tongchuan's here, sit down and rest for a bit. What would you like to eat?" Xiangqiang found him a clean spot.

"Brother, there's no need to trouble yourself. I was just buying some things for Xiangxi and stopped by to drop by. I've been busy with official business lately and haven't been here in a while. How's business?"

"It's fine, don't worry. Oh, by the way, there's something I need to tell you." Xiang Qiang leaned closer and whispered.

"The house we live in now is too old, so I'm thinking of selling it and adding some money to buy a newer one nearby. When I went to the real estate brokerage, Officer Wang and his wife were there too. From what I heard, they were also thinking of selling their house."

"Officer Wang is selling his house?"

"Yes, that woman said it herself. Her husband is a police chief, and if any real estate agent dares to cheat them, her husband will have the agent arrested."

"Brother, tell me, what does that woman look like?"

Xiang Qiang gestured, and it seemed that she really was Officer Wang's wife.

Yang Tongchuan was puzzled. Why would Chief Constable Wang want to sell his house when everything was fine?

"Xiangxi, what brings you here?"

Xiang Qiang looked up and saw Xiang happy leading Yanzi this way.

Upon hearing the words "Xiangxi," Yang Tongchuan stopped worrying about Constable Wang and immediately began searching for the person.

"Brother, what's my husband doing here?" Xiangxi walked over, her belly protruding.

"Sit here. Why are you out at this hour?" Yang Tongchuan offered Xiangxi his warm spot.

"A relative came to visit, I think it was my mother-in-law's younger sister, whom we call 'Auntie.' She started crying as soon as she came in, without saying a word, just sitting in the room and crying."

Xiangxi took a sip of water and rested.

"When my sister-in-law saw that things weren't going well, she went to find my older brother and brought me out with her. She told me to sit with my brother for a while so I wouldn't have to listen to all this awful stuff at home and get upset."

"Auntie's here? She came by herself." Yang Tongchuan went to the stove, picked out a small piece of suitable charcoal, and put it in the newly bought hand warmer. Then he had Xiangxi hold the hand warmer.

"Yeah, I came by myself." While Xiangxi was resting inside today, she suddenly heard a loud scream at the door, and then someone started crying.

Xiangxi was so frightened that her stomach tightened.

Thinking something had happened at home, he hurriedly came out of the house.

They saw a well-dressed old woman sitting at their doorstep, crying.

Yanzi clearly recognized the old woman and tried to help her up, but the old woman refused to get up.

She didn't get up from the ground until her mother-in-law came out of the house to invite her.

His sister-in-law told him that this was his mother-in-law's younger sister, who had long since severed ties with them. She said that something must have happened to her family, and that's why she came here to ask for their help.

-----------

"How's the temperature of the hand warmer?" Yang Tongchuan thought it looked alright.

"It's for me." Xiangxi really liked the hand warmer and examined it carefully in her hands.

"Stop asking such nonsense. How can I, a grown man, carry this thing around while working?" Yang Tongchuan saw that Xiangxi wasn't dressed warmly enough and was worried that he would get cold, so he decided to go home first.

"Alright, let's go back and see what Auntie is up to this time." Yang Tongchuan really had no way to deal with his aunt.

On the way home, Yang Tongchuan told Xiangxi the reason why the two families had broken off their ties.

My aunt's family has twins, a boy and a girl. The girl is named Tong Shanshan, and the boy is named Tong Shenghu.

My uncle is the head chef of a long-established restaurant in town, known as Tong Yishao.

In Yang Tongchuan's memory, his aunt's family was the most comfortable among all his relatives, and they could eat delicious food every meal.

It should be noted that Yang's father was just a shop assistant in a grain store in his early years, and gradually worked his way up to become an accountant.

Yang Tongshan's excellent abacus skills were taught to him by his father.

The Yang family only started to live a more comfortable life after their two sons had grown up.

But my aunt was different; when she married her uncle, he was already a chef.

But my aunt has a problem: she loves to compare herself to her sisters.

Whenever any of her relatives is doing better than her, she feels unwell and her whole body aches, as if she has a bad feeling stuck in her stomach.

A few years ago, my aunt approached my mother-in-law, hoping that Yang Tongshan could find her son a respectable job with good pay at a pawnshop.

They said that flipping the wok in the kitchen was too hard work and too dirty, and Tong Shenghu couldn't do it.

Yang Tongshan knew that his younger brother had a habit of petty theft since he was a child. His aunt not only didn't care, but also thought that her son was really smart and would definitely not suffer any losses in the future.

However, this habit is a major taboo in pawnshops, so Yang Tongshan naturally dared not introduce such a person and politely declined.

If pawnshops don't work, government offices will too.

At that time, Yang Tongchuan had just started working at the yamen.

His aunt told him to bring his younger brother along too.

The government office isn't run by the Yang family; they can't just assign people to it as they please.

However, the mother-in-law also told the aunt that if she was willing, she could spend some money to have Yang Tongchuan help smooth things over.

"Why does your son not have to spend money, but my son does? What makes my son any worse than yours? Who do you look down on?" The aunt had long felt that her sister was heartless, only thinking of herself and not caring about sisterly affection at all.

Now it seems that this is indeed the case.

She even wants to earn money from her own sister's family. She's desperate for money.