On the second day, Zeng Ruixiang returned from school with a heavy expression and asked Shen Shi as soon as he entered the door: "Did Zilu go to Big Brother's place during the exam?"

  "Nothing, you know big brother's temperament, cold and hard. It's been three years, not even coming back to see mom and dad. We're going there, aren't we still feeling uncomfortable? What's up, is there something?"

  "I seem to have heard a kid in the village say today that the lotus in Brother's house has withered. I don't know if it's true or not?"

  Shen's family was shocked and said, "How can that be? When did it happen? Such a big thing, parents didn't notify us, how can we believe it? If parents know, we should know too, you must have misheard."

  Zeng Ruixiang thought for a moment and said, "It seems to be the case of the outbreak in Anzhou some time ago. It's probably true that it was spread from his wife's family. Why don't we hire a car to go take a look after lunch? Although he doesn't act like an older brother, this is such a big thing and we should know about it. If we don't go, I'll be uneasy in my heart. You can just accompany me."

  "Go take a look, after all, it's your brother. Don't be too sad, it may not be true, besides, our family had two kids with acne recently, who has the energy to care about others?" Shen comforted.

  Who would have thought that by the time it got dark, Zeng Rui Xiang and Shen Shi still hadn't returned home. Everyone was getting anxious, and by around 10 o'clock, Zi Lu said he wanted to go take a look at the old house. As soon as they opened the courtyard door, they saw Zeng Rui Xiang supporting Shen Shi back home.

  Ziying saw her parents' hard work and felt uncomfortable, so she quickly prepared some food, boiled hot water, and waited for them to finish washing up. Just as Ziying was about to ask something, Zeng Rui Xiang waved his hand and said: "Go to sleep now, Dad is tired today, we can talk about it tomorrow."

  Zi Qing and Zi Lu had no choice but to return home. A night without conversation.

  The next morning, Zeng Rui Xiang had already gone to school, but Shen Shi was still in bed. Zi Qing felt a sense of foreboding and hastily went into the house to check on her. She found Shen Shi lying silently in bed, tears streaming down her face. Zi Qing was flustered and didn't know what to do. She quickly asked: "Mother, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me! If there's something bothering you, please tell me, don't make yourself sick. Have you forgotten how Second Aunt fell ill?"

  Shen wiped away her tears, and Zi Qing hastily handed over a handkerchief. At this time, He and Zi Lu heard Zi Qing's cries for help and rushed in. Zi Qing brought over a cup of water, which Shen drank from. Only then did she recount the events of the previous day.

  It turned out that Zeng Rui-xiang and his wife had rushed to Zeng Rui-qing's home the day before. As soon as Zhou saw them, her eyes reddened, and without a word, she tried to shut the door and drive them away. Shen was pushed to the ground, but after Zeng Rui-xiang helped her up, he hastily asked: "Elder sister, why are you driving us away? There must be some reason for this. You haven't returned home in three years. We have come with good intentions to see you."

  "Still want what ghost reason, your family's Zi Yu finally killed my Zi He, your family's Zi Yu is so hard-hearted! My Zi He was so clever and obedient, she wasn't even six years old yet, just gone like that, what kind of evil fate is this?! How can I go on living?! Oh, my Zi He!!" Zhou Shi said as he sat down on the ground, slapping his thigh and wailing.

  Shen's family heard Zhou's wailing and asked with a held breath: "Elder sister, what exactly happened? You'd better say it out loud. When did Zihe pass away? Why didn't we know about it? The other day when the children had chickenpox, both kids in our household were infected, I was busy taking care of them and didn't go out.

  Zhou's family heard this and started crying, it turned out that Zihua had contracted smallpox outside, Zhou was afraid of infecting her only son, so she locked Zihua alone in a side room. Because in the past, Ziqing was also locked in a pigpen when he got smallpox, they would send him some food every day and let him out after a few days, still jumping around, so they didn't take it seriously. After all, there was only Zhou's family, she couldn't take care of everything by herself. Zihua lasted three days before passing away.

  Zhou Shi spent those days holding her son, not daring to go out, and her tears had dried up. Zeng Ruiqing buried Zi He, but unexpectedly, the things were not cleaned up properly, and Zi Quan was still infected. Zhou Shi served him day and night for over ten days, while Zeng Ruiqing was busy inviting doctors and asking for medicine. No one thought of informing Old Master and Tian Shi. When Zi Quan came back from the gates of hell, Zhou Shi was again busy going to the temple to burn incense and thank Buddha. Unexpectedly, she was stopped by a passing fortune teller who said that there would still be bloody disasters in the Zhou family, but he had a way to resolve them.

  Zhou's family was shocked, as if a thunderclap on a clear day, and was so frightened that two of his three souls left him. It wasn't until half a day later that he came to his senses and asked for a solution. Finally, he gave the fortune teller a full two taels of silver, and only then did the fortune teller say: "You have a close relative in your wife's family whose luck is too strong, and has been suppressing your branch of the family all along. To break this curse, the best thing to do now is to cut off all relations with them and keep a distance. You can resume contact only after your son gets married."

  Zhou returned home and repeatedly cried to Zeng Ruiqing, both of whom agreed not to have any more dealings with the Zeng Ruixiang family. Originally, Zi Yu's fate was hard enough to overcome Zi He, but if something happened to Zi Quan again, they would not be able to survive either.

  Zeng Ruixiang and Shen's wife listened silently for a moment, then Shen's wife reacted and said: "Elder sister, if you say so, it's not right. Your family moved to the city three years ago and haven't returned home. Our Zi Yu hasn't seen Zi He again either. How could it be that Zi Yu was killed? Besides, these three years, we didn't have any contact anyway, do we need to cut off all ties? Can't you just push everything onto us whenever something happens in your family? For so many years, we've worked hard to serve our parents, but instead of being grateful, you're full of complaints."

  "It's not that your family's luck is too good, you married into the Zeng family and had child after child, but I only have one daughter, Zi Ping. They all ran to your house, didn't they? Even when Zi Qing got acne, she could still survive being locked in a pigsty, but my son, Zi Yu, died in just three days in a side room. It's easy for you to separate from the family now that you've been buying land and building houses these past few years, while we're still renting a broken-down house. Isn't it true that all the good luck in our family has gone to yours? You're supporting your parents, isn't that what you should be doing? If I had your good luck, my family would also be happy to support them." Zhou Shi continued to scold while sitting on the ground and slapping her thigh.

  "Sister-in-law, for three years we've been separated and had no contact. Your family's fortunes haven't improved, but instead have gotten worse. Why don't you think about this? My daughter, Ziying, was locked in a pigpen by your family and barely survived. We didn't blame you, but instead you're resentful that she's lucky to be alive! Who doesn't work hard for their money? Did it just blow in on the wind and land in our courtyard? You only see that we're doing well now, but where were you when we were struggling? Everything is always about your family first - the fields, the house, the belongings... and yet when things don't go well for you, it's still our fault! We can't make sense of this. Where's my brother?"

  At this time, three-year-old Ziquan ran out. When Madame Zhou saw him, she quickly got up from the ground, picked up Ziquan and went into the house. Before entering the house, she spat three times at Shen's couple to ward off evil spirits. Shen was so angry that he couldn't speak for a long time. Zeng Rui-xiang saw this and wanted to leave with his wife. As they turned around, they bumped into Zeng Rui-qing who was coming over. Just as Zeng Rui-xiang was about to call out "older brother", Zeng Rui-qing didn't even give him a glance, went straight into the house and slammed the door shut.

  Zeng Ruixiang was so angry that he glared, Shen Shi had to hold back her temper and comfort him, after all, she was his family member, the pain in his heart was even deeper. Zeng Ruixiang didn't say anything, he just tightly grasped Shen Shi's hand.

  Zeng Rui-xiang and Shen returned, first going to the old house, telling Master Zeng and Tian about what had happened. The two were shocked when they heard that Zi-he was gone, and for a long time they didn't react. After a while, Tian jumped up and scolded: "What's the use of raising a son? Not coming home for three years, and not even telling his parents when his daughter is gone! What kind of evil deed is this?! His heart is too hard! One day we'll be gone, who knows if he'll come to burn incense and kowtow.

  Tian's family was still chattering nonstop, when the old master shouted: "Shut up! Is this the time to talk about that? Don't you listen to Er Ye and the others? Did they see Lao Da in the back? What did they say? Are we going to keep this house or not?"

  Zeng Ruixiang listened and had to bring out Zhou Shi's words, "Listening to Big Sister's meaning, Big Brother also agreed not to come into contact, I estimate that we have to wait until Zi Quan gets married before he can come back. Big Brother saw us and didn't even say a word, directly closing the door."

  The old man listened without comment, but Tian Shi clapped his hands and said: "Isn't that so? The fortune teller's words are really accurate. The good fortune of our whole family has been brought to your family, so second son, it's not me saying this, since the good fortune of our whole family has made your family's life better, you should help our whole family live a good life too. Especially Spring Jade's family of nine people, who are still squeezed into half a house, if you can help Summer Jade build a house, why not also help Spring Jade? They're all from the same womb, and we can't neglect any one of them."

  The Shens couldn't bear it anymore, watching Tian's mouth opening and closing like countless mosquitoes buzzing around them. Taking advantage of Xia Yu shouting for Tian's help in the house, they quickly ran out without even saying goodbye. Zeng Rui Xiang also rushed out to catch up with his wife, citing that it was too late and he didn't feel safe leaving Shen behind.

  Zilu and Ziqing were both speechless with anger, but He Shi, who had experienced more in life, said: "At the time of the child's birth, I thought about these things. No matter how hard we try to avoid them, it's all fate. Heaven has already arranged everything. You don't have to worry and grieve anymore. The days will go on as they should, and heaven is watching. What belongs to you, no one can take away; what doesn't belong to you, even if you grab it, it's useless. The old saying is not wrong at all."

  "Mother, this is called retribution. In the past, they locked my Qing'er in a pigpen and she managed to survive. This time, they've locked their own daughter inside. Who knew that Zi He didn't have as much luck as Zi Qing? That's why people shouldn't do bad things, one day it will come back to them. Mother, should I still give the silver to the child's eldest aunt's family to build a house?" Shen Shi said.

  "Mother, what's going on? If we don't come out, Grandma and the others will think we're guilty. This is our family's hard-earned money, not something that came from nowhere." Zi Qing hastily said.

  Zi Rong also disagreed, and He Shi thought for a moment before saying: "What Zi Qing said isn't unreasonable either. This person has been greedy, and one house is not enough to fill his desires. From now on, just be more filial to the two elderly people, that's all."

  Shen's expression relaxed as she said, "Mom, I was afraid you'd advise me to give her the money. Actually, I don't want to fork out this money either. Just because of what her aunt did, I have to build another house for her, it's really too humiliating. Later, I'll tell my husband, whoever wants to squeeze can squeeze, it has nothing to do with me."

  He said with a scold: "The bigger you get, the less proper you become. You even swear in front of children."

  "Am I also being fooled?" After saying this, Shen's mood improved a lot.