Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

No sooner had she finished speaking than Qin Yuchan raised her hand and punched him in the chest. The force was considerable, and Zhao Lei coughed repeatedly from the blow.

"Cough cough cough! You wretched woman, you want to murder your husband? I told you you're a wicked woman, and you still won't admit it."

"You dare to make fun of me, Zhao Sanshi!"

Qin Yuchan made a move to attack again, but Zhao Lei grabbed both of her wrists and pulled her towards him.

She leaned down and kissed him several times on the face.

Qin Yuchan, her face covered in saliva, was both ashamed and angry: "Zhao Sanshi, are you trying to kill me! Let me go!"

Just as the two were playfully fighting, Jiang Xinyue's voice came from outside the courtyard gate.

"What's going on? Are you two arguing?"

Jiang Xinyue had just returned from the newly built house next door when she heard a lot of noise coming from the main room. Thinking that the two had gotten into an argument, she rushed in.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Lei and Qin Yuchan immediately released their grip and sat upright on the bench, instantly creating an extremely awkward atmosphere.

Jiang Xinyue entered the room and saw the two sitting properly. She asked, "What are you two arguing about? It sounds like you're having a fight."

Zhao Lei and Qin Yuchan said in unison, "It's nothing."

Jiang Xinyue was intelligent and vaguely sensed the ambiguous atmosphere from earlier. She wisely refrained from asking further questions and instead changed the subject to business.

"Sanshi, did you find any clues when you went out to investigate the musk today? Could it have been Fatty Chen?"

Zhao Lei cleared his throat and composed himself.

"I've already reported it to the police. I plan to keep an eye on the process of selling the stolen goods and intercept the thief when he tries to sell them."

Jiang Xinyue pondered for a moment, then nodded: "This idea is feasible. But Qingfeng Town is neither too big nor too small. Can you keep a close eye on all the distribution channels? What if the thief takes the musk to Yunchang County to sell? Then it will be very difficult for us to catch him."

Zhao Lei's expression darkened: "We can only do our best and leave the rest to fate. I've already spoken to the black market and various circles in Qingfeng Town and spread the word. Now, we can only wait for news to come to us."

After listening, Qin Yuchan and Jiang Xinyue understood that there was no point in rushing things now; they could only wait for news.

Zhao Lei then shifted the topic to the housewarming party.

"Yu Chan, Xin Yue, I'll have to trouble you to take care of the housewarming party arrangements. It's set for next Saturday, so there aren't many days left. Whether the house is lacking anything or whether we have enough manpower, it's all up to you. I still need to investigate the theft of the musk, so I'm entrusting all the affairs of the party to you."

The two replied in unison, "Don't worry, leave it to us."

Zhao Lei felt quite gratified.

He could be at the forefront when dealing with outsiders and gathering information, but ultimately, the family's social interactions and trivial matters couldn't be left to the woman to manage.

Only when the whole family works together can they make a living.

His three ex-wives have always taken care of everything at home, from feeding and caring for his children to managing his relationships with neighbors, which has allowed him to focus on his work without any worries.

Jiang Xinyue turned and went into the house, took out a small notebook, and began to work quickly with her head down, her brows gradually furrowing.

"Sanshi, we're having a housewarming party, and we're a little short on cash. If the musk had sold smoothly, this expense wouldn't have been a problem at all, but now the stuff is gone."

Hosting a housewarming banquet isn't just talk; it requires spending real money on everything.

Zhao Lei didn't want to make it too shabby; the standards couldn't be too low. Jiang Xinyue repeatedly calculated that even with the most cost-cutting measures, the ingredients alone would cost over eight hundred yuan.

The family's current savings amount to only six hundred yuan, leaving a significant shortfall.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Lei immediately took out two hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it to Jiang Xinyue.

"Xinyue, this is the money from selling the wild boar cured meat yesterday. I forgot to give it to you before. I've already spent some of it today going around giving gifts."

Jiang Xinyue took the money and immediately recorded it in the ledger. With these two hundred, she could barely cover the cost of the ingredients.

"But Sanshi, you're always out there doing business, so you need to keep some money on you. Why don't you keep these two hundred for yourself, and we'll lower the banquet standards? Six hundred should be enough to get by."

Qin Yuchan quickly waved her hand: "No need, I can get an advance on my salary for this semester."

Zhao Lei immediately shook his head and refused: "No way. Your advance payment of a semester's salary is less than a hundred yuan, which is a drop in the bucket. I'll figure out a way to solve the money problem. You can use the money you have to make the purchase first."

Qin Yuchan then suggested, "How about I go back to my parents' home to borrow some money? Dashan and Bowen have earned quite a bit working with you, so the family should have some savings."

Zhao Lei knew that Qin Dashan and Qin Bowen had indeed made a lot of money with him recently, so borrowing a few hundred yuan from the Qin family wouldn't be difficult.

But he didn't want to owe that favor.

Even though he usually helps his father-in-law's family a lot, financial transactions are the easiest way to damage relationships, and he never wants to ask for help unless absolutely necessary.

"We haven't reached the end of the road yet. If we can find the musk, all the problems will be solved. The only concern is that we might not have enough time. Also, I've set up forty animal traps on the mountain. I'll go up there occasionally to catch some game. Hopefully, we can scrape together a hundred or two hundred yuan."

But with so many things piled up right now, even if Zhao Lei was in two places at once, he couldn't spare much time to go up the mountain. He frowned, still refusing to agree to borrow money from the Qin family.

"Let's start by raising funds based on what we have. We'll see how things go in a couple of days. If we're really short of cash, we'll make other plans. We've already notified many relatives and friends about the housewarming party, so the date can't be changed."

After arranging everything at home, it was nearly five o'clock. Qin Bowen still hadn't returned home.

Zhao Lei thought of Qin Dajun, then turned to his two ex-wives and said, "I'm going out for a bit. I'll have dinner at home."

After saying that, he mounted his old-fashioned bicycle and headed towards Qin Dajun's house. The journey wasn't far; it only took about ten minutes by bike.

As the sun was setting, around 5 p.m., Qin Dajun and several friends were carrying hoes home from work, chatting and laughing all the way.

Zhao Lei called out to him from afar, "Dajun!"

Qin Dajun's eyes lit up when he saw that it was his cousin-in-law Zhao Lei.

Previously, when Zhao Lei returned from hunting in the fields, he would share some suckling pigs with them to satisfy their cravings. He had always hoped to go hunting in the mountains with Zhao Lei.

"Brother-in-law, is there something you need? Are you taking me hunting in the mountains?"

Zhao Lei waved to Liu Erwa and the others behind him: "I have some personal business with Dajun. You guys go home first."

The young men greeted each other and then dispersed.

Zhao Lei led Qin Dajun to a secluded spot on the edge of a field.

"Dajun, there's something I'd like to ask you."

"Brother-in-law, we're all family. Just say what you need to say. I'll do anything for you, even go through fire and water."

Zhao Lei looked at him and laughed, "You sure know how to talk."

"This is a skill of our Qin family. Brother-in-law, what exactly is it?"