Reborn a day later, I emptied my enemy's possessions beforehand.

The three dishes had just been served.

The three of them had just sat down and picked up their chopsticks, but before they could even take their first bite, footsteps sounded at the door, followed by two loud coughs.

Zhou Fuxiang and Zhou Hailong returned after finishing their farm work.

They were carrying hoes, covered in sweat and dirt, when they passed by the clinic. Their eyes swept over the two newly renovated houses next door, and the two of them stopped in their tracks.

They saw the two newly installed doors, the bright glass windows, and the warm light and aroma of food shining through them.

He was frozen in place, his mouth involuntarily agape.

Zhou Hailong was the first to step in, his hoe leaning against the outer wall. He walked to the table, his gaze falling on the dishes—

The scrambled eggs with tomatoes glistened bright red with oil, the winter melon and pork rib soup had distinct pieces of pork ribs floating on top of a thin layer of oil, and the shredded pork with garlic sauce was rich and flavorful.

He stared intently at the dishes, involuntarily swallowing hard, his Adam's apple bobbing several times, his voice trembling.

"Brother...where did you get so much money? Buying meat and ribs? How much money are you hiding?"

Zhou Fuxiang followed him in, his eyes scanning back and forth between the dishes on the table and the doors and windows of his sister's new room. His voice carried an barely suppressed anger:

"Zhou Haibing, you've been buying bicycles, repairing houses, and buying meat and vegetables. How much money have you been hiding from us? Where did this money come from?"

Zhou Haibing put down his chopsticks, looked up at the two of them, and spoke in a calm voice, as if he were talking to two strangers:

"I have nothing to do with you anymore. Where my money comes from and where I spend it are none of your business. You have no right to ask me."

Zhou Hailong's face flushed red instantly, and his voice became urgent and impulsive, like a child who had been robbed of something:

"You're so unfilial! You've been hiding so much money from your own father and brother! We all have a share of that money, and you have to give it all back!"

Zhou Haibing looked at him, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly:

"Hasn't the slap the village chief gave you yesterday woken you up yet?"

Upon hearing the word "village chief," Zhou Hailong instinctively raised his hand to cover his cheek—

The spot where Sun Deming slapped me yesterday still faintly shows a dark red mark today.

His face turned pale and then flushed, and he seemed to have something stuck in his throat, wanting to say something but not knowing how to respond.

He froze for a few seconds, then pounced on the table like a mouse cornered against a wall, reaching out to grab the plate of shredded pork with garlic sauce.

Zhou Haibing's hands were faster than his.

His hand precisely gripped Zhou Hailong's wrist, his five fingers tightening like an iron clamp around his wrist joint.

Zhou Hailong's wrist was as thin as dry firewood. Once he gripped it, the person could no longer exert any strength, and their entire forearm went numb.

Zhou Haibing was surprised to find that his strength was much greater than he had imagined.

He didn't use any force; he just gave it a light squeeze, and Zhou Hailong's face contorted as he started yelling, making a series of indistinct "ah ah ah" sounds.

"Ouch! Ouch! Big brother, let go! I was wrong! I won't steal it anymore!"

Zhou Hailong's voice was shrill and urgent, and his whole body was retreating, as if he were being pulled backward by an invisible hook.

He tried to pull his hand back, but Zhou Haibing gripped his wrist tightly, and he couldn't pull it away. The more he tried, the more painful it became.

Zhou Haibing applied a little more force and twisted Zhou Hailong's wrist outward.

Zhou Hailong was spun half a circle to the side by that force, his shoulder slamming into the door frame with a dull thud.

Zhou Haibing released his grip and gave Zhou Hailong a push, causing Zhou Hailong to stagger back two steps and almost collide with Zhou Fuxiang.

He rubbed his wrist, wincing in pain. There was a red mark around his wrist, like he was wearing a red bracelet.

His eyes were red and filled with hatred as he looked at Zhou Haibing, his lips trembling, as if he wanted to curse but dared not.

Seeing that his second son had been taken advantage of, and noticing the unsettling calm on Zhou Haibing's face—

He had never seen that expression on anyone else's face before. He was neither anxious nor angry, neither hot nor cold, just looking at you calmly, but you felt a chill run down your spine when he looked at you.

He swallowed back the harsh words he was about to say and reached out to tug at Zhou Hailong's arm:

"Walk!"

He pulled Zhou Hailong out the door, and the two walked away along the village road.

Zhou Hailong was still rubbing his wrist, glancing back at the clinic as he did so.

Zhou Fuxiang pulled him along quickly, their figures growing smaller and smaller in the twilight until they disappeared around the old locust tree at the village entrance.

Zhou Haiqing watched his father and second brother walk away, then turned to look at his eldest brother, his voice filled with undisguised, heartfelt admiration:

"Big brother, you're amazing! That grab just now made Second Brother scream like a pig being slaughtered!"

As she spoke, she mimicked Zhou Hailong's contorted face, making faces and making faces, which made Li Su'e laugh.

Li Su'e sat beside her and smiled slightly.

Her gaze fell on Zhou Haibing, whose profile was bathed in a faint golden light in the afterglow of the evening.

She looked at the hands that had so easily subdued Zhou Hailong, and remembered how those hands had spent the entire day repairing the roof—

Use a putty knife to plaster the wall, a scraper to fill the gaps, and a hammer to nail the tiles—

Having spent the afternoon twirling the spatula by the stove, he now calmly placed it back on the table and picked up his chopsticks again.

The thought in her mind became clearer and clearer—

Zhou Haibing is indeed different from before.

He used to be timid and fearful, always hiding behind others. He wouldn't dare talk back when his father scolded him, and he would just endure being bullied by his younger brother.

Things are different now. He has his own opinions, he is capable, he is responsible, and it seems that he has finally become the person he was meant to be.

She picked up her chopsticks and placed a piece of shredded pork with garlic sauce into his bowl:

"Eat quickly, the food is getting cold."

Zhou Haibing smiled and put a piece of pork rib into her bowl.

The ribs were stewed until they were so tender that they fell off the bone with a touch of chopsticks, and the meat chunks trembled slightly.

The family sat down around the table again.

Zhou Haiqing had already started eating rice from his bowl. After a couple of bites, he reached out with his chopsticks to pick up some scrambled eggs with tomatoes. He stuffed a large piece of egg into his mouth, his cheeks bulging, and mumbled "Delicious!" as he chewed.

Li Su'e sipped her soup slowly and methodically, taking a sip of soup and a bite of rice at a time, eating slowly but steadily.

Zhou Haibing picked up a piece of shredded pork with garlic sauce and put it in his mouth. The sauce coated the shredded pork and vegetables, and the flavor was just right, with a perfect balance of sour, sweet, spicy, and salty.