Era: Seven money-losing girls? They're trying to trick me into having a daughter again!

Xu Rui was furious because his sore spot had been hit.

Fang Wei is right.

His watch and outfit were definitely not something he could afford with his meager salary of just over thirty yuan.

Xu Rui, after all, held the title of a staff member in the subdistrict office and had some power. Occasionally, people would come to him asking for favors, and as long as it wasn't too outrageous, he would accept them.

But that bastard Fang Wei just exposed all his secrets!

This matter cannot be left unresolved!

Xu Rui thought about it for most of the night. What had he been trying to achieve by pretending to be a good nephew to Uncle Wu and Aunt Wu for so many years? Wasn't it all for Wu Shaoli?!

When Wu Shaoli married Fang Wei, he hadn't been transferred back to the town yet.

By the time he returned, the daylilies were cold, but Xu Rui still kept thinking about them!

Wu Shaoli was literate and had a good appearance. Although she had given birth to seven children, she was born with a good constitution.

As long as she leaves that gambler Fang Wei and takes good care of herself for a while, she will definitely be no worse than those young ladies in town.

Xu Rui is a government official, after all. How could he lose to a gambler?!

The next morning, Xu Rui took a day off and went straight to the county town.

How did Fang Wei, a penniless wretch, suddenly have money to buy meat and candy after just one trip to the county? There must be something fishy going on! He has to find out!

……

Yonghetang.

The old man who had just served Fang Wei yesterday, who was also the manager of the place, looked up when he heard someone lift the curtain and come in.

A young man wearing a white shirt and black leather shoes walked in, with a watch on his wrist; he was clearly not an ordinary person.

"Comrade, need some medicine?"

Xu Rui pulled a small red notebook from his pocket and waved it in front of the shopkeeper. "I'm from the neighborhood committee. I need to ask you something."

The shopkeeper put down the medicine in his hand and said seriously, "Comrade, please speak."

"Didn't a farmer come to your shop to buy medicinal herbs yesterday?"

Xu Rui gestured, "About this tall, a bit thin, dark-skinned, dressed in tattered clothes, looks like a poor farmer."

Normally, unless it's market day, there aren't many people coming from the countryside to the county.

With a little effort, he easily found out Fang Wei's whereabouts.

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper's heart skipped a beat.

Isn't that the armored guy who came to sell wild lingzhi and vipers yesterday?!

"...There is such a person."

The shopkeeper nodded, glancing furtively at Xu Rui's expression as he spoke, "He brought a wild Ganoderma lucidum to sell, along with a snake."

Yesterday he kept wondering how a farmer could get such good stuff, and now he knows why!

Xu Rui: "How much did you sell it for?"

"Well—"

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment before opening the shop to do business. In principle, the business between the buyer and seller should not be discussed with outsiders, but the person in front of him was a government official, and he could not afford to offend him.

"Sixty-five pieces of Ganoderma lucidum, twelve pieces of snake, a total of seventy-seven pieces."

Xu Rui's pupils suddenly contracted.

Seventy-seven dollars!

His monthly salary is only thirty-something yuan, and Fang Wei made seventy-seven yuan in one trip to the mountains? That's more than two months' salary for him!

"Did he sell anything else?"

That's all.

Xu Rui asked a few more questions about the details, such as the age and quality of the Ganoderma lucidum, as well as Fang Wei's attire that day. Only then did he put away his work ID and leave the pharmacy.

On his way back, he felt increasingly uneasy.

That's seventy-seven yuan, a huge sum! How much did you spend on meat and candy? You must still have a lot of money left!

What Xu Rui was most concerned about was where Fang Wei got that wild Ganoderma lucidum.

Xu Rui works at the subdistrict office and knows everything about rural affairs.

Wild Ganoderma lucidum grows on mountains, and the mountains surrounding Laotang Village, whether barren or forested, are nominally all the property of the village collective.

Fang Wei dug up Ganoderma lucidum from the mountain and sold it for money. To put it mildly, he was taking advantage of the collective.

To put it bluntly, that's undermining socialism and stealing collective property!

Xu Rui sneered. This was truly a case of someone delivering a pillow when you're sleepy!

Fang Wei, watch how I kill you!

……

Fang Wei was chopping firewood in the yard, while several maids squatted beside him picking up wood shavings, intending to save them for starting a fire in the winter.

Wu Shaoli sat on the threshold sewing clothes. She was skillful and her stitches were fine and dense. In just two days, the new clothes were already taking shape.

Fang Wei leaned over to take a look and praised, "Wife, your cooking skills are really good."

"Stay away from me, you're covered in sweat."

Although Wu Shaoli pushed him away, the corners of her mouth turned up, clearly enjoying the compliment.

Da Ya grinned from the side.

Why does this person always say such sticky, mushy things? It's even stickier than Sanya stealing candy! I can't stand it at all!

However, her attention was still on Wu Shaoli.

Because last night, her mother secretly told her that she was going to give her a new set of clothes!

New clothes!

She's grown up and hasn't had many new clothes to wear!

Before, the clothes I wore were all old clothes that my mother had altered to fit smaller sizes, patched upon patched, with frayed edges on the cuffs.

but……

Da Ya glanced at Fang Wei.

Her mother had specifically told her that her father had specially bought the new fabric, and that all the sisters would have new clothes.

She knew why her mother brought this up, but she... she just couldn't get close to this man!

If only I could be as silly as Sanya and Siya...

Just as Fang Wei was interrupting himself to tease his wife a little more, a group of people barged into his yard.

The leader was Xu Rui, whom I had just met that day. Behind him were Village Chief Zhou from Laotang Village and three other villagers.

The very old man was called Uncle Wang; he was the village accountant.

The other two burly young men, one named Zhou Mao and the other Zhou Wei, were both nephews of the village chief.

"Fang Wei!"

As soon as Xu Rui entered, his voice became extremely loud, as if afraid the villagers watching the commotion outside wouldn't hear him: "You'd better give everyone an explanation today!"

When Wu Shaoli saw Xu Rui suddenly lead so many people in, her expression immediately changed.

Why did my cousin suddenly show up?! And why does he look so aggressive?!

"Xu Rui, what do you mean by this?"

Fang Wei stuck the axe into the ground, patted the sawdust off his hands, and asked in a calm tone.

"What do I mean?"

Xu Rui sneered and turned to Village Chief Zhou, saying, "Village Chief, since Fang Wei has asked, please explain this matter clearly in front of everyone."

Village Chief Zhou was an old man in his fifties with a face full of wrinkles.

"Ahem!"

He cleared his throat, a hint of embarrassment on his face, but pressed by Xu Rui's gaze, he finally spoke: "Fang Wei, it's like this..."

"Cadre Xu came to me and said that a few days ago you sold a wild Ganoderma lucidum and a poisonous snake at the Yonghetang Pharmacy in the county town for more than seventy yuan. Is that true?"