After transmigrating into the body of the female supporting character's biological mother, she

Wang Guifen sat on the ground, clutching the box, and cried, "You damned wretch! You set fire to your parents' house, why didn't you burn me to death too? You beast, I should have strangled you when you were born!"

Zhou Lizhong found her insults offensive and clicked his tongue impatiently.

Zhou Chen walked over to her and squatted down in front of Wang Guifen.

Wang Guifen looked up at him and suddenly stopped cursing.

This son has truly gone mad.

Zhou Chen reached out and snatched the box from her arms.

Wang Guifen screamed and trembled when she met Zhou Chen's cold gaze.

A small iron lock was hanging on the box.

Zhou Chen gripped the lock and yanked it hard, pulling the lock and nail off together.

When you open the box, you find layers upon layers of tattered cloth inside.

At the very bottom, there was a thick stack of money.

It was tied with a rope.

The courtyard fell silent, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the stack of money.

Zhou Chen took the money out of the box and handed it to Zhou Lizhong, saying, "Secretary Zhou, you can count this money."

Zhou Lizhong took the money, moistened his fingers with saliva, and counted the bills one by one.

"Eight hundred and sixty yuan."

Old Zhou's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Wang Guifen. "How come there's so little left? Where's the money?!"

Wang Guifen avoided his gaze, not daring to look at him.

Zhou Jianmin would ask her for money from time to time, initially giving her only ten or so yuan at a time.

Later, he incurred gambling debts, and if he didn't pay them back, they threatened to chop off his hands.

Wang Guifen doted on her youngest son the most, so she quickly paid off his debts.

Once you start spending money, you'll start spending more and more.

A collective gasp of astonishment came from the side.

"A thousand yuan! That's almost enough to buy a tractor for the production team!"

"Even if Zhou Jianmin spends all his time eating meat and drinking in town, he couldn't possibly spend this much, could he?"

"This is all Zhou Chen's hard-earned money, and his mother gave it all to Zhou Jianmin. Zhou Chen is so pitiful..."

Regardless of the outcome, Zhou Chen has at least secured the moral high ground by making this fuss.

When the village distributes money, it first deducts the cost of food rations, public welfare funds, and reserve grain. A strong laborer might only receive about 30 yuan a year.

It would take a strong laborer more than 30 years to earn back a thousand dollars.

Even if Zhou Chen doesn't care about Old Man Zhou and Wang Guifen anymore, the villagers won't dare to say he's unfilial.

After all, no one in the surrounding area has as much money as he has to support his parents.

Zhou Chen said, "This is only enough to repay the compensation the organization issued. How are you going to give me the remaining eight hundred?"

Upon hearing that he also had to repay the organization's pension, Zhou Lizhong immediately stuffed the 860 yuan into Zhou Chen's hand.

This is a serious matter and cannot be delayed.

Zhou Chen squatted down and looked at his mother. "Where's the rest of the money?"

Wang Guifen's lips trembled, "Jian, Jianmin took it to bribe his way into a job."

Zhou Chen smiled and said, "If he's using my money to bribe people, then you guys should write him an IOU."

He tilted his head and looked around the house. "This house was also built with my money. You should move out today."

Old Zhou glared at him, "You might as well just beat us two old folks to death right now, or I'll die right here in this house."

Zhou Chen sneered, "Fine, I'll just burn this house down then."

"You dare!"

"Am I afraid?"

Old Zhou was sweating profusely. This son of his had become rebellious; he was truly capable of burning down the house.

An older woman squeezed through the crowd and said, "Zhou Chen, are you selling this house? Why don't you sell it to me?"

Zhou Chen looked at her.

This woman has four sons, all of them tall and strong. Now that her sons are getting married, their old house is no longer big enough for them.

Her family wanted to build a house, but they were struggling to raise enough money.

Zhou Chen made such a scene today, and the auntie just wanted to take advantage of him.

Moreover, her four sons are not afraid of trouble caused by Old Man Zhou and Wang Guifen.

Zhou Chen asked Zhou Lizhong, "Secretary Zhou, can this house be sold?"

Zhou Lizhong glanced at Old Man Zhou and said, "The land belongs to the collective. The house can be sold, but only to people from this village."

"Okay, I'll sell!"

Old Zhou's eyebrows furrowed in anger. "Zhou Chen, you dare! If you sell the house, I'll smash my head against this wall and die right here, then let's see who dares to buy it!"

Zhou Chen ignored him and asked the woman, "Auntie, are you still buying?"

The woman called out, "Buy it!"

She pursed her lips. "But if your dad really dies here, you'll have to give me less money."

She doesn't believe in any gods or ghosts. Her family is about to have a new member, they're practically living in the mountains, so what's there to be afraid of about dead people?

"But I'll only offer 200 yuan. You can sell it if you want. I can't afford any more."

Someone nearby chimed in, "Buying such a nice house for 200 yuan? Aren't you getting a great deal? I'll offer 201 yuan then."

"Then I'll bet 210!"

"I'll offer 230!"

"..."

These people actually started bidding against each other.

It wasn't until Zhou Lizhong lost his temper that he yelled, "Shut up, all of you! What's all this fuss about! Zhou Laosan, you're offering 250? Do you even have 250?"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Zhou Laosan chuckled awkwardly, "We're all from the same village, I'll just buy it on credit for now."

Zhou Chen shook his head and looked at the older woman from before, "Auntie, I'll sell it to you for just two hundred yuan!"

Whether those people were genuinely offering a price or just joining in the fun.

Zhou Chen has no intention of selling the house to them.

He knew his parents' nature: they bullied the weak and feared the strong. This aunt's family had many men, and they couldn't beat them, so they didn't dare to go up and cause trouble.

Urged by Zhou Chen, Zhou Lizhong began to write the deed for the sale of the house.

The production team cadres, accountant, and villagers happened to be there, and they were all witnesses to the sale of the house.

Wang Guifen wanted to rush up and make a scene.

They were stopped by the aunt's sons.

Once the matter was settled, Wang Guifen collapsed to the ground, looking utterly defeated.

Old Zhou still wanted to stay put and refuse to leave.

But the woman's son carried her out.

The villagers all gathered around to watch the spectacle.

Zhou Chen put the money away carefully.

Zhou Lizhong said, "Zhou Chen, haven't you gone a bit too far?"

Zhou Chen did not answer his question. "Secretary Zhou, I will leave you my address later. If my parents get sick or die, please write me a letter. As for other things... you don't need to tell me."

Seeing his resolute tone, Zhou Lizhong sighed and didn't try to persuade him any further.

"Secretary Zhou, where is my grave?"

Zhou Lizhong was taken aback. "I had completely forgotten about this. Your father built a cenotaph for you in the back mountain. I'll take you there."

Zhou Lizhong led Zhou Chen to the back mountain. "You're still alive. Let's demolish this grave. It's bad luck."

Zhou Chen shook his head. "No need, Secretary Zhou, I want to be alone for a while."

Zhou Lizhong gave him a deep look, patted him on the shoulder, and walked down the mountain.

Zhou Chen dug up the grave, put his wife's clothes together with his own, looked at them for a while, and then reburied them.

No one knows how long Zhou Chen stayed on the mountain.

No one knows what he said to that empty grave.

All the villagers knew was that Zhou Chen had never returned since then.

Cai Laifeng and his family hid at home for several days, and only went out after they learned that Zhou Chen had fallen out with his parents.

However, by this time, the news that Zhou Jianjun had harmed Zhou Chen had already spread throughout the entire village.

Lin Zhilan received Zhou Chen's letter half a month later.