Forced to marry a disabled man in the countryside? I'll repay you tenfold!

"I'm telling you, I've sold my job at the neighborhood committee today—for 150 yuan. From now on, we're all going our separate ways. You can pretend you don't have a mother, and I'll pretend I don't have two sons. As for retirement..."

"I used to rely on you, but I've been paralyzed in the hospital for over ten days, and not a single one of you has come to see me, so I've given up on you. Now, give half of your father's compensation to Xiuer, or we're not done!"

Good jobs naturally cost more. For example, a supply and marketing cooperative pays five or six hundred yuan. Her street office job is considered lower-middle class, with low wages and low benefits, but it's stable and provides grain and 18 yuan a month.

It's still better than the jobs of the eldest son's wife and the second son's wife; at least they have permanent positions.

"What?! Mom, you sold your job too?!" the second sister-in-law shrieked. They had a perfectly good plan: with their mother-in-law paralyzed, their father-in-law's job would go to the eldest son, and their mother-in-law's job would naturally go to the second son's family. They had just sold their original job yesterday, waiting to fill in for their mother-in-law today—who would have thought that not only would she come back healthy and energetic, but she'd even sold her job!

Seeing that things were not going well, the sister-in-law tugged at her husband: "Let's move our things back to the dormitory first. Mom... Mom will come to find us when she has thought things through." She gave him a wink.

Brother Chen understood: "Since Mom has made all the arrangements, we won't say any more. We'll move our things first and come to see you another day." He then went to pick up the bedding and pots from the ground.

"Wait! Who gave you permission to leave?" Second Sister-in-law's eyes were red as she blocked their way. "You took over Dad's job, you have to give us three hundred yuan! If you don't give it to us today, nobody's leaving!"

Seeing that another fight was about to break out, Granny Wang turned to the surrounding neighbors and shouted, "Fellow villagers, since I've lost my house, I don't need these pieces of furniture and belongings anymore, so I'm selling them all cheap! This pot is two yuan, the table is one yuan, the chair is fifty cents... I'll sell them for whatever price you want!"

Su Wanqing was dumbfounded—good heavens, Aunt Wang wasn't planning to leave anything for her son at all!

The sister-in-law panicked: "Mom! These are family belongings!"

The second sister-in-law seized the opportunity to grab the eldest sister-in-law: "You're not getting away today! You're in charge of all the money in your family, aren't you? We didn't get Mom's job, but you took Dad's, so you have to give us three hundred!"

Brother Chen quickly said, "Your sister-in-law only got a hundred yuan from selling her old job; she can only give you fifty at most!"

Chen Erge stepped forward with a gloomy face: "Eldest brother, you've always been the most favored in the family. It was agreed that Dad's job would belong to you, and Mom's job would belong to us. Now Mom's job is gone, and you're occupying Dad's. You can't be so heartless. How about this: we'll give you fifty yuan, and you give up Dad's job?"

The two brothers started arguing on the spot. Taking advantage of the chaos, Aunt Wang and Xiu'er quickly packed up the clothes and valuables they had moved out. The remaining bedding, tables, chairs, pots, pans, etc., were all sold to the neighbors at extremely low prices. Su Wanqing even helped to promote the items, and in the end, they managed to sell them for more than fifty yuan.

By the time everything was sold out, it was already dark. Brother Chen and Brother Chen were still arguing and fighting in the yard, and the children were crying their eyes out.

Taking a breath, Aunt Wang picked up her late husband's portrait from the corner of the wall and gently wiped off the dust.

"Let's go." Her voice was a little hoarse. "From now on, I don't care whether they're doing well or badly. As for the old man's pension... if we can't get it back, so be it. Let's sell their belongings today, and that'll settle things." She had originally felt a little sorry for her two grandsons and granddaughters, but he had been hospitalized for so many days, and his grandsons and granddaughters hadn't visited her. She had come in and come back without asking him anything, so she decided to let it go.

Su Wanqing nodded silently.

The neighbors who had come to watch the spectacle, rice bowls in hand, went home satisfied after witnessing the whole farce. As for what happened to Chen Lao Da and Chen Lao Er afterward, nobody knew. Only as Su Wanqing and her group turned to leave, the faint sound of angry curses lingered in the wind:

"That old hag! Why did she sell all our bedding and clothes?! We're not done with this!"

·

Su Wanqing and her group took Aunt Wang back to the guesthouse, reheated the remaining seafood, and let them try it. Since only two rooms could be booked, Uncle Ding and Zhou Yanshen stayed in one room, while Su Wanqing, Chen Xiuer, and Aunt Wang squeezed into the other double room.

"Xiuer, things are settled here. Are you planning to go back to Xinjiang first, or wait until we finish our business in Bincheng before we leave together?" Su Wanqing asked.

Chen Xiuer thought for a moment. Her mother had just gone through such a terrible ordeal and was feeling quite upset. With Dr. Su by her side, the two of them would feel more at ease. So she said:

"Dr. Su, my mother and I will go back to Xinjiang with you. I also want to take this opportunity to see if there are any new cultivation techniques in Bincheng so that I can grow mushrooms even better when we get back. And by the time we get home, the prize money for the mushroom competition might be coming in."

She pondered the prospects of the mushroom business—although private individuals couldn't openly expand their businesses yet, Dr. Su had the skills and connections. If she could control the mushroom supply in Yili Prefecture, she could earn a fortune! Recently, the policies seemed to be becoming more and more lenient. If she could set up her own stall to sell mushrooms in the future…how much money would Dr. Su earn?

It was as if the message ingrained in her bones was frantically telling her how to make money and how to make more money.

Su Wanqing nodded and smiled: "Okay, hopefully the reward will arrive just in time for us to get back. I heard it's a tractor, which is quite an honor for the troupe. Let's get some rest early tonight and head to Bincheng first thing tomorrow morning." She didn't go into details about what they would do there—these days, it's best to keep a low profile when it comes to "making money."

Chen Xiuer couldn't help but imagine: "It's so convenient to have tractors in other places! They can plow fields, haul goods, and do transport! If our regiment had one too, Dr. Su, wherever you go, the regiment would definitely be happy to pick you up and drop you off—you earned that honor!"

Su Wanqing smiled and said nothing more. The group went to bed early.

……

Office of the Ili Prefecture Government.

"Report: We just received notification that the 65th Regiment won first place in the national oyster mushroom competition, and a tractor awarded by higher authorities has arrived at our location. Should we notify the regiment to come and collect it for registration?"

The cadre behind the desk raised his eyelids slightly and slowly said "Oh": "What does the 65th Regiment need a tractor for? They don't need it. Our prefecture is short of agricultural machinery, so leave it here for now and we'll try it out for a while. If they ask, just say it hasn't arrived yet and tell them to wait."

……

The next morning, at the entrance of the guesthouse.

Just as Su Wanqing and her group finished packing their luggage and were about to leave for Bincheng, they were ambushed by Chen Laoda and Chen Laoer, each accompanied by their wives.

As soon as Chen Laoda saw his younger sister carrying the baby out, he rushed forward and grabbed Chen Xiuer's arm:

"Xiuer! You've finally come out! We've been waiting here for ages! Where's Mom? Where's Mom? You and Mom can't just leave like this!" You think you can just walk away with so much money?