Ye Qiu hasn't brought his wife and children back to Ye Village for two years now. He hasn't called home either, and his mother and younger brother's family haven't asked about his situation. Both brothers have intentionally and unintentionally distanced themselves from each other, and the only connection he has with Ye Village is through the village chief's son who works in the provincial city.
The village chief's son knows that his family has made a lot of money from opening a clothing store, but he's not a talkative person, so in these two years, that blood-sucking family hasn't sought them out.
This time, he was contacted by the village chief only because his younger sister, Ye Fang, is getting married, and they were informing him to come back and contribute money.
The man Ye Fang is marrying is called Zhao Haiyang. In his past life, both spouses had always worked under Ye Qiu, earning high salaries as middle managers in his company, considering they were his sister and brother-in-law.
Later, he had a car accident, and although it wasn't their doing, after he became comatose, they never once visited him, the big brother who had improved their lives.
Zhao Haiyang's family lives in the county, and his parents are both civil servants, definitely making him a popular local son-in-law. In his past life, due to Ye Qiu's wealth, he provided a large dowry for Ye Fang, and there were no conflicts with the in-laws, maintaining a good relationship.
In this lifetime, without his financial support, he does not know how the two got together, but he is indeed curious to see.
As for Ye Fang's dowry, it was decided during the division of the family assets that whatever amount his younger brother, Ye Xiu, contributed, he would match, no more, no less.
Initially, Ye Qiu planned to take the bus home to avoid the trouble his mother, younger brother, and younger sister's family would cause if they knew of his success, but the thought of the crowded and foul-smelling bus made him decide to drive back in the new car he bought this year instead.
To avoid gossip from the villagers, he brought some biscuits and candies, along with a set of clothes for his mother, and nothing else.
The village roads are uneven and very bumpy. When he slowly drove into the village, it caused quite a sensation.
At that time in Ye Village, few families owned bicycles, and a car was only seen occasionally when going to the county. Who would have thought that Ye Qiu, who was once kicked out and went bankrupt, now owned a car?
The adults gathered around the car, murmuring in amazement, while the children, less reserved, reached out their dark hands straight onto the car body.
Ye Qiu simply stopped driving, got out of the car, and started handing out cigarettes one by one, making polite small talk. Chen Wen, carrying Ye Manman, also got out, holding a bag of candies and biscuits, stuffing them generously into the children's arms, and those without pockets just held them in their clothes.
"Wow, Sister Wen, I hardly recognized you, it's been two years!" a corpulent aunt exclaimed as she unabashedly grabbed handfuls of candies, staring at Chen Wen in amazement.
It must be said that Chen Wen, now a business owner in the fashionable clothing industry, is truly at the forefront of the times.
Her hair was curled at the ends, dyed chestnut, and today she wore light makeup, a beige trench coat, and brown high-heeled leather shoes, looking just like a movie star.
The difference from her past self was night and day; if not for Fatty Aunt mentioning it, the villagers might have thought Ye Qiu had found a new wife!
"Oh, this must be Manman, looking like a little fairy."
"Sister Wen, you're really lucky."
"Now you've even bought a car, you must be making a lot of money!"
Several aunts and young wives gathered around Chen Wen and Manman, with praises coming naturally. Manman, having no memories before the age of three, was experiencing such a scene for the first time and felt a bit scared, hiding behind her mother.
But Chen Wen has been a big boss for two years and has seen all sorts of scenarios and dealt with all sorts of difficult customers. This trivial matter was easily handled.
They are simply unbalanced in their hearts, seeing someone who was once too poor to farm now wealthy, feeling envy and jealousy, but flattering her with their words, just hoping to gain some benefits from the big boss.
"I was just lucky. When I moved to the city, I met good people who liked my tailoring skills, and that's how I gradually made it." Chen Wen spoke kindly, unconsciously bridging the distance with the people.
"Don't think that we now own a car, we spent our savings on it and even had to take out a loan from the bank to buy it. But there was no choice, as doing business means traveling here and there, and without a car, it really isn't convenient." This was the story agreed upon at home between her and Ye Qiu.
Upon hearing that they had spent their savings and taken out loans, most believed it, because after all, they had only gone out for two years—who could earn so much money in such a short time!
Fatty Aunt's smile became more genuine, "Oh, this is quite good indeed; out of our whole village, it's only you and your spouse who have made something of yourselves."
"Aunt, what success are you talking about? It's all out of necessity for living. If it weren't for those fields back then... sigh! Who would want to leave their hometown? If we hadn't met a noble person, we probably wouldn't even have enough food now!"
Though not everything was said, who among those present didn't know the reason?
Indeed, if it hadn't been for Granny Ye and Brother Ye's family doing the wrong things, there wouldn't have been subsequent events. It could only be said that the couple was blessed in disguise, as God watches over everyone, and good people get good rewards.
In the past, in the village, who didn't know that Ye Family's eldest daughter-in-law was a capable handler of affairs, managing both farm and home impeccably? With Sister Wen's hardworking spirit, prosperity was just a matter of time. This content belongs to novel✦fire.net
Some with more active thoughts even pondered whether they should also go out and strive, possibly becoming the next one to drive a sedan!
At this time, Granny Ye, Ye Xiu, and Liu Ping, for some reason, although they heard that the eldest son/big brother had become prosperous and returned in a sedan, they did not come out to welcome him.
Their thoughts were complicated, only Ye Yu stood at the doorway, watching his friends taking home candies and cookies, wanting to go out and find his uncle, but his dad forbade it, furiously throwing a tantrum.
Ye Yu was eight years old this year; although his memory from two years ago was blurry, he hadn't forgotten — vaguely, he remembered that his uncle liked him, always bringing toys and snacks every time he came. But since the uncle left home for reasons unknown, he never returned, and naturally, those things stopped coming.
However, he didn't mind, as Granny Ye would also buy those things for him and even gave him pocket money; he was always the most envied among his friends.
But today, watching his friends hold those candies and cookies he had never seen before, he felt extremely begrudging; those items were supposed to be his. How could he just let others have them?
And his father, blocking him from going out—if he went late, what if there were no more snacks or toys left?
Ye Yu, an eight-year-old boy, was not small in stature or strength, particularly as Granny Ye's treasured jewel, pampered with good food and drink, physically bigger than his peers, kicking and punching away—he slipped past Ye Xiu, who couldn't stop him in time.
"This damn child, running so fast, how useless you are, you can't even stop a kid," Liu Ping cursed at her husband Ye Xiu, not knowing whether from frustration at their plight or jealousy of the now prosperous elder sister-in-law.
Ye Xiu appeared as his usual honest self, never fighting back nor talking back, only those close to him knew how dark his heart could be when it came to his own interests.
"Enough, why say so much!" Granny Ye had a fair amount of money, and Liu Ping catered to her daily despite resentments, as at the end of the day these were her son's concerns, she had never countered them.
"The nephew going to find his own uncle, what's wrong with that? Don't vent all your anger on the child and your husband." Granny Ye scoffed, she didn't like her daughter-in-law, not only talkative but lazy; her only advantage was giving birth to a grandson for the old Ye family.
Listening to people passing by talking about how successful her eldest son and daughter-in-law were, Granny Ye felt conflicted; although originally her eldest son had supported their family, without a son, she regarded him as if she had forsaken him.
But she never expected, this child she abandoned would turn out to be successful.
Despite regretting her past actions, Granny Ye did not admit her mistake—as men carry on the family line and provide for the elderly, while daughters once grown belong to someone else's family.
Although her relationship with her eldest son had been somewhat strained these past two years, she thought, after all, she is his mother, could he really not care for her?
Moreover, he had no sons, who else but her grandson would take care of her in her old age!
The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Granny Ye sat relaxed, waiting for her eldest son to come and honor her.
Little did she know, her eldest son was no longer the same person he used to be, and in this lifetime, he had no intentions of giving a single penny to his eldest grandson.