My domineering ex-husband is living off his wife in ancient times.

Chapter 135 Stay for 2 more days

The two of them were already shocked when they arrived at the Cheng residence yesterday.

Being invited in to wait for Cheng Ruoan today has caused a huge uproar in my heart.

As soon as the two were brought in, Cheng's mother welcomed them to the dining room in the front yard for breakfast.

After the meal, I took them on a tour of the house and showed them the three workshops that are currently in use.

The tofu mill in the front yard, the pastry workshop in Cheng Ruotong's yard, and the hand cream workshop in Cheng Ruoan's back yard.

Other people's ways of making money are passed down from generation to generation; one business can provide enough food and clothing for several generations.

The Cheng family has three such profitable businesses.

In Cheng's mother's words, "There are three so far. We don't know what An'an will cause in the future, so let's just wait and see."

If Si Silang and Lin Shi knew the word Versailles, they would surely want to write it on the gate of the Cheng residence.

And how long has Third Sister-in-law been back at her parents' home?

It hasn't even been half a month, and they've already bought people for the family!

Good heavens.

In the past, the landlords in Baihua Village only had three servants, but the Cheng family now has six!

Si Silang knew that his third brother and sister-in-law were now powerful people, and it was only natural that they would leave the Si family and live a good life, but he did not expect it to happen so quickly.

The couple both felt that if the second brother knew that his third sister-in-law was taking him to her parents' house to live such a good life, he would be furious.

Thinking about it, Si Shilang couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Cheng Ruoan: ?

"Fourth brother, what's wrong with you...?" She laughed in anger because she wouldn't return to the Si family?

That should not be the case.

Si Shaoheng once said that as long as Si Niu is under control, Si Silang and Lin Shi are completely trustworthy people.

It was only because of the concept of filial piety that the three parties could not take the fourth branch with them when they left Daxi Village.

Si Silang met Cheng Ruoan's questioning gaze, scratched his head and smiled, "It's nothing, I just think that you, Third Sister-in-law, are right to insist on not returning to the Si family."

Third Sister-in-law, you don't know this, but Second Brother is now clinging to Zhong Gong's money purse and won't let go. He won't even pay the wages for building the house. It was Mother who used her dowry money to build the house.”

Seeing that her husband had spoken so directly about her second brother-in-law, Lin stopped being coy and echoed him:

"And the food rations for each person in the family were also cut so drastically by my second brother that he practically made us drink rice water every day... No, it can't even be called rice water, it's more like rice washing water."

Si Silang was furious when he spoke: "Third sister-in-law, you and your third brother took away the grain given to you by your family. From the next day onwards, the meals at home turned into a big pot of water with a few grains of rice. Who can stand that?"

"If it weren't for you introducing my wife and me to help Doctor Hu gather medicinal herbs, earning a couple hundred coins a day, we would have starved to death."

"Alas, we've never suffered like this even on the road of fleeing from disaster. Who would have thought that once we settled down, famine would strike so soon?"

Cheng Ruoan listened with amazement, "I knew the money for repairing the house was not enough, and I also guessed that my mother would use her dowry money to make up for it."

But why can't we even afford food? Where did all the money go?

Si Silang's face also darkened. He leaned close to Cheng Ruoan and whispered:

"I don't know when my second brother got involved with the people from Sijia Village. They said that the nephew of my seventh uncle's daughter could help my second brother do business."

My second brother said he was coming back to ask Mom's opinion, but we think he's probably already invested all the money.

Cheng Ruoan: ...

"He's using the connections of Sijia Village to do business?"

Si Shiro: "Yes."

As soon as you and Third Brother left, he started being stingy.

Then, a couple of days later, I went back to Sijia Village and talked about doing business.

My mother said that the family is in dire straits right now, and told us to find some work first. If we really can't find anything, then we can stay home and help build the house. At least each of us can save 20 coins a day in wages.

But my second brother didn't listen. Not only did he not help at home, he also drove the horse-drawn cart to Sijia Village every day.

Cheng Ruoan rolled her eyes speechlessly, "I should have taken the rest of the carriages with me when we left."

If he really gets involved with the people of Sijia Village in business, I think not only will Zhonggong lose all his money, but he'll even lose his family's carriage.

It wasn't that Cheng Ruoan looked down on Si Erlang; it was simply that the people from Sijia Village had left her with an extremely bad impression.

Si Erlang was somewhat clever, but he was also very shrewd and experienced. His cleverness was no match for the elders of Sijia Village.

At this point, Si Silang became troubled: "That's why Mother sent the two of us to pick you and Third Brother up from home, saying that the power to manage the household still has to be given to you."

"Ha, now that we have no money to build a house and no food to cook, we know we're going to give you the power to manage the household." Cheng Ruoan laughed in anger.

She said something jumped onto her face; it turned out to be Zhao's abacus beads.

This truly lived up to the old saying her own mother, Cheng's mother, had once said—"After you've already soiled your pants, you suddenly remember you need to find the outhouse."

Seeing Cheng Ruo'an's expression, Si Silang and Lin Shi knew that his words had really angered her, and the couple waved their hands in tacit understanding to explain.

"These are Mother's exact words. We're just relaying them, but we also support you and Third Brother not going back for the time being!"

Si Shilang even raised his hand, looking like he was swearing: "I didn't even want to help Mother carry this, but as soon as I refused, Mother started crying and making a fuss. I really had no choice."

Si Silang and Lin Shi not only supported the two of them not going back, but they even wanted to come to the Cheng residence to ask for shelter.

Cheng Ruoan naturally wouldn't hold a grudge against the fourth wife and her husband, and simply said with a faint smile, "Your third brother and I really can't go back now."

Sanlang passed the county school entrance exam and is now studying at the county academy, where he only gets one day off every ten days.

As for me... you know my family has helped me a lot along the way, so I have to help out at my family home to repay that debt, right?

Otherwise, if rumors spread later that Si Sanlang's family only made it from Bachuan Prefecture to Beiming Prefecture by relying on his wife's family to beg for money, it would seriously affect your third brother's future."

Upon hearing this, Si Shilang and his wife realized that it made sense!

They can't bring anyone back today, but if they take these words back with them, their mother will probably stop making a fuss.

Although it's impossible for him to never go back, Cheng Ruoan really doesn't have the time to go back and deal with the mess that's going on at the Si family right now.

Especially since Si Shaoheng went to study at the county school, she had no one to help her when she went back to argue.

However, she didn't completely ignore the Si family, since these people were still related to her reputation points in the space.

So far, it seems that Si Erlang hasn't done anything heinous, but it's hard to say what might happen in the future.

Cheng Ruoan needs to find someone to keep an eye on things.

In addition, although she was in Huangyang Town, she still wanted to help out Da Hua from the fourth and first wives' families.

Cheng Ruoan wanted the two of them to take some of the green bamboo paste back to Daxi Village to sell, but there was no green bamboo paste in stock and it had to be made fresh in the afternoon.

After that, it will take another day or two to solidify and dry completely.

So Cheng Ruoan let the two of them stay at the Cheng residence for a couple more days.

The two of them were naturally embarrassed.

But Cheng Ruoan had some news that would put their minds at ease and allow them to stay.

"Sanlang and I previously sent people to look for my elder brother and Xia Shi's whereabouts, and they said that news would come back tomorrow or the day after.

Why don't you wait until tomorrow, when you get news of your elder brother, to bring it back to your mother-in-law?"

Upon hearing this, both of them naturally agreed to stay.

"Third Sister-in-law, is there anything we can do to help you? We can't just come here and eat for free."

Yes, the Cheng family even eats dry rice for breakfast!

Steamed white rice that smells delicious!