The three of them looked at Liu Guiying in disbelief, each thinking the same thing:
The fire had finally burned to them.
Sun Jiandang was the first to refuse.
“Why should I wash dishes? I’m a grown man. If my classmates find out, how am I supposed to show my face?”
“Why? You ask why?” Liu Guiying shot back. “Because if you don’t do it, you don’t eat tomorrow. No work, no food. That’s the rule.”
“Live, you work. Die, do whatever you want. Simple.”
“I won’t eat then! I’m a man—am I afraid of being hungry?” Sun Jiandang huffed and stormed off.
He didn’t believe his mother would really let him starve. One or two meals wouldn’t kill him.
Sun Xiuju and Sun Jiancheng exchanged looks.
Xiuju winked right, Jiancheng winked left—both waiting for the other to speak.
In the end, Sun Jiancheng had no choice but to step forward.
Relying on his status as the youngest son, he tried to argue:
“Mom, this isn’t fair. Big brother doesn’t do chores either.”
“Your big brother works. Why don’t you mention that? He finds supplies for you at work—why don’t you mention that?”
“The clothes you wear, the shoes you step on—aren’t they all from him? Did you think they fell from the sky?”
“But there’s only one job in the family, and he already took it. So technically, he’s the one benefiting the most,” Sun Jiancheng still tried to argue.
“Fine. Tomorrow I’ll take you to withdraw from school and let you take over your brother’s job,” Liu Guiying said calmly.
“Don’t worry—your brother isn’t ungrateful. You support the family and bring in supplies, and he’ll thank you for it.”
Sun Jiancheng was speechless.
Seeing his mother so calm instead of angry like yesterday, he panicked.
He knew she wasn’t joking—one nod from him and she might really drag him to withdraw from school immediately.
Meanwhile, Sun Xiuzhen quietly began washing dishes without a word.
What else could she do? Family bonds couldn’t be counted on in moments like this—let the younger brother take the blame.
Sun Jiancheng, seeing his fourth sister working so quickly, resigned himself and picked up a broom. As for feeding the chickens? He had only eaten them, never fed them—better leave that to his sister.
Ma Lijuan wanted to help, but her mother-in-law stopped her.
“Let them do it. Break a bowl? No food tomorrow. Sweep poorly? No food. Can’t even handle small chores—what good are they?”
“If the chickens aren’t fed properly, I’ll chop them up and feed them to the chickens tomorrow.”
The two of them looked at her in horror, and Sun Xiuju immediately abandoned any thoughts of cutting corners.
After speaking, Liu Guiying didn’t care whether they did the work well or not and went back into the house.
She didn’t have time to waste on these brats—she had a fortune to chase.
..
That night, under the moonlight, Liu Guiying quietly left the house with her tools without alarming anyone.
Only after leaving the town did she dare turn on her flashlight.
The night was pitch black, with rustling leaves on both sides of the road—like something out of a horror movie.
But Liu Guiying’s mind was full of money. She felt energized.
In rural fields, small graves were scattered everywhere. It was no wonder people sometimes thought treasures were buried “ancestral jars” near tombs.
She tiptoed toward her target.
In this area, there were two harvests a year—wheat in spring, corn in autumn. The corn had just been planted and was only a handspan tall.
Soon, she found the small grave that had been mentioned.
“Three meters to the left.”
She stood there and began apologizing while pulling up seedlings:
“Sorry, sorry… I have no choice…”
An hour passed.
Nothing.
She frowned.
“Did I get the wrong grave?”
She kept digging.
Another hour passed.
Still nothing.
Now she was annoyed.
Maybe she was in the wrong place? Maybe she hadn’t dug deep enough? Maybe she had disturbed the grave and the occupant had moved it?
She refused to consider the possibility that she had simply searched too small an area.
Finally, in frustration, she expanded her search area.
Thud.
A sound rang out.
Her heart jumped back to life.
She quickly turned on her flashlight.
A dark corner glowed faintly in her eyes.
She carefully dug away the soil and pulled out a ceramic jar, opening it urgently.
Under the light—
Bundles of banknotes.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She removed the money and saw gold bracelets, gold necklaces, even gemstone jewelry.
And at the bottom—
gold bars neatly stacked.
Her heart pounded like a drum. She forced her shaking hands to stay steady.
“You useless hands, stop shaking!”
She slapped her hand.
Then she started counting.
“One, two, three… four, five, six…”
“I’m rich! I’m really rich now!”
She grinned so wide her teeth showed.
This was true unexpected fortune—nothing could stop it.
She quickly packed everything into a torn cloth bag she had brought, lining it with grass.
Then she “cleaned up the scene.”
She buried the soil back, rearranged the seedlings, and even rolled around on the ground to make it look natural.
She tossed a worn pair of men’s underwear into the cornfield as well.
“Perfect,” she muttered.
Finally, she walked back to the small grave, clasped her hands, and apologized:
“Sorry for disturbing you… please don’t blame me. I’ll bring you good wine and food during the holidays.”
Then she left.
On the way, she dumped the ceramic jar into a river near town, and threw away the lid separately.
“That way, if anyone ever finds it, they’ll just think some ancestor went traveling,” she chuckled proudly.
“I’m really a genius.”
She hurried home.
Sneaking into her house like a thief, she hid the treasure in different corners like a squirrel storing food.
Too excited to even count properly, she cleaned herself briefly and went to bed, falling asleep with dreams of sudden wealth.