My sister broke off her engagement to marry someone richer? My older sister married me and became in

Old Man Lin's words, "This marriage is off," echoed through the courtyard, each syllable a resounding crash.

Wu Cuifang opened her mouth, but seeing the old man's gloomy face, she swallowed her words.

In this house, if Old Man Lin really got angry, she wouldn't dare utter a single word.

Wu Cuifang didn't dare to make a scene, but Lin Xiumei couldn't hold back any longer.

Seeing that she was about to lose the extra dowry she could ask for, she turned pale with anger.

She yelled directly at Old Man Lin, "Dad! Are you out of your mind! The Lu family is so poor, they've only had a couple of good days in their lives. If they don't take advantage of this now, what are they waiting for? They'll all be peasants in the future!"

"Snapped!"

A crisp slap suddenly rang out.

Old Man Lin lost face and got really angry. He slapped Lin Xiumei across the face, making half of her face instantly red and swollen.

"Shut up!"

Old Man Lin pointed at her, "In the end, wasn't this broken engagement all your doing? If you hadn't been so materialistic and greedy, would we have made such a fool of ourselves today?"

Old Man Lin took a step forward and threatened in a low voice, "If you dare to cause any more trouble and ruin the family's reputation, I'll call off your marriage to that family in the county town!"

For Lin Xiumei, marriage in the county town was her lifeline.

She bit her lip hard, glared at Lin Xiulan with venomous eyes, then turned and ran back into the house crying.

The courtyard fell silent.

Lin Xiulan stood there, clutching the meat, her eyes welling up with tears.

She knew in her heart that her father's attitude had changed so much not because he loved her, but because of the generous gift Lu Qingshan had given her today and the confidence he had shown in the main room.

All of this is thanks to Lu Qingshan.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking.

Lu Qingshan packed the cut pork into sacks, filling four large bags.

His father, Lu Changgui, was still extremely worried when he looked at the mountain of meat piled up in the yard.

"Qingshan, this...this many, can they really be sold?"

"Father, don't worry."

Lu Qingshan didn't explain much. He simply wrapped a piece of pork belly weighing three or four pounds in oil paper, went out the door, and headed straight for Old Liu's house at the east end of the village.

Old Liu was one of the few people in the village who owned an oxcart.

As soon as Lu Qingshan arrived at the gate of the courtyard, Old Liu was feeding the cows, his face full of worry.

In the dead of winter, with no farm work to do, the livestock just eat for free at home. People still have to worry about feeding them.

Just as he was wondering what else he could feed the cows, Lu Qingshan walked in.

"Uncle Liu, are you feeding the cows?"

"Qingshan, what's wrong?" Old Liu looked a little nervous when he saw him, after all, Lu Qingshan's reputation was too bad in the past.

Lu Qingshan pretended not to see it, grinned, and said, "As the saying goes, you can't hit a smiling face."

Lu Qingshan reached out and handed over the meat. "Uncle Liu, I'd like to borrow your oxcart for a trip to the county town. Take this meat and give it to your aunt and the kids to enjoy."

Old Liu's eyes lit up when he saw the piece of pork belly with alternating layers of fat and lean meat.

It's a famine year in winter, and the crops harvested early are almost all gone.

The villagers were so hungry that they were emaciated and had almost eaten all the tree bark and grass roots, let alone any oil.

At this critical moment, meat is a rare commodity that can save lives, harder to find than gold.

Old Liu stared intently at the piece of fatty and lean pork belly, glistening with oil, his eyes practically glued to it.

"Use the oxcart if you want, why bring meat? That's too formal!"

But before he could finish speaking, the old hand shot out with lightning speed.

With a "snap," he grabbed the piece of meat and squeezed it tightly into his hand.

"It's my pleasure." Lu Qingshan took the opportunity to stuff the meat into his arms. "This cart of meat will be hard on you, Uncle Liu. I don't know how to drive, so I'm sorry to trouble you to come with me all day. I can't let you work for nothing."

"Of course, of course!" Old Liu grinned so hard his teeth were showing. Getting such a big piece of meat just by catching a train was a fantastic deal!

"My ox is fast; it'll reach the county town by noon!"

As they spoke, the two drove to the Lu family's courtyard.

Seeing the two of them getting along so well, Old Master Lu took a puff of his cigarette, said nothing, but his eyes shone with satisfaction.

This kid has finally figured things out and knows how to handle things.

Lu Qingshan and Lu Changgui loaded four large sacks of pork onto the truck, so heavy that the truck bed sank.

Just as things were settled, Lu's father, Lu Changgui, rushed over from home, carrying a kettle.

"Qingshan, I...I'll go with you."

Lu Qingshan was taken aback.

Lu Changgui was too embarrassed to say it directly, so he put the water bottle on the car and said, "I'm afraid you're a young guy and you might get scammed in the city. It's good to have more people watching."

He wasn't worried that Lu Qingshan would be fooled; he was worried that the meat wouldn't sell and Lu Qingshan would lose face in the city.

Lu Qingshan knew exactly what was going on, but he didn't point it out and just smiled.

"Okay, Dad, then we can keep each other company."

Lu Qingshan cracked his whip, and the oxcart creaked and started moving, heading towards the village entrance.

Just as I reached the old locust tree at the village entrance, a strange, sarcastic voice drifted over.

"Oh, so you're off to the city to make a fortune?"

Zhao Laosan leaned against a tree trunk, his hands tucked into his pockets, glancing sideways at the bulging sacks on the oxcart.

Lu Qingshan drove the carriage without even lifting his eyelids.

Zhao Laosan said sarcastically, "Qingshan, if you share this meat with the villagers, we men will put in a good word for you, and the Lin family will definitely marry Xiulan to you."

Old Liu, having accepted a bribe, couldn't help but retort when he saw Zhao Laosan's demeanor.

"Qingshan is capable; he hunted pigs, sold them, and used the money to marry a wife. He's a really capable young man; who wouldn't agree to marry their daughter to him?"

Old Zhao spat on the ground, "Pah! Marry him? I feel sorry for Lin's eldest daughter! She just broke off her engagement with Xiumei, and then she hooked up with her sister. Isn't that just using someone and then abandoning them? Once he's spent all the money from selling the pigs, let's see who he'll still pay attention to!"

"You don't know anything!" Old Liu snapped. "I've watched Qingshan grow up. This kid used to be a troublemaker, but now he's really made something of himself! Look at how steady he is in handling things; he's bound to amount to something! Xiulan will be living the good life if she marries him!"

Zhao Laosan pursed his lips, wanting to say something, but seeing that the oxcart had already gone far away, he could only mutter sullenly.

"Enjoying life to the fullest? Wait until the meat rots in the city, then you'll come crying back!"

The oxcart left the village, leaving two deep ruts in the snow.

Lu Changgui sat in the car, his heart pounding with anxiety.

"Qingshan, who are you going to sell this meat to?"

"The factory in the city."

"What! Those are all state-owned factories. They have many rules about buying things. What if they try to lower the price, or refuse to buy our meat because they think its origin is unclear?"

Old Man Lu was genuinely worried. The villagers had spent their entire lives working the land, and the moment they heard that the land was to be sold to a state-owned factory, they immediately became anxious.

"Father, don't worry." Lu Qingshan looked ahead, "I have a brilliant plan."

The oxcart swayed and rattled until it reached the county town, which was already noon.

Upon entering the city, the bustling traffic, the shouts and hawking of vendors, and the sheer volume of people left Old Man Lu completely bewildered.

He had never traveled far from home in his life, and he didn't know what to do with his hands and feet. He followed closely behind Lu Qingshan, afraid of getting lost.

In contrast, Lu Qingshan acted as if he were back in his own backyard, skillfully directing Uncle Liu to drive the oxcart, making several turns and heading straight for the machinery factory in the west of the city.

The large iron gate of the machine factory was wide open, and a man in his thirties, wearing a blue work uniform and an armband, stood at the entrance with an arrogant expression.

As soon as Lu Qingshan parked the oxcart, the man came over and asked in a pretentious tone.

"What are you doing? You can't park your oxcart here! There's such a strong smell, get out of here! This is the city, not your village!"