"I... I..." Er La Niang didn’t dare raise her voice at her brothers and their wives. "I really don’t have any money."

After she spoke, Er La Niang gave Zhang Erlai a pleading look. The meaning was obvious: she had no money, but she hoped Zhang Erlai would come up with some to smooth things over for her.

Watching from outside the fence, Su Qing couldn’t help but frown, a wave of sympathy for Zhang Erlai washing over her. She hadn’t interacted with him much, but from their few encounters, she could tell he was a good person with sound principles, and he was pleasant to be around.

But to be stuck with such an unreliable mother.

Zhang Erlai could hardly miss his mother’s meaning. He felt a fire ignite in his gut. "Mother," he said irritably, "don’t look at me like that. I don’t have any money. And even if I did, that’s no reason to give it to robbers."

Er La Niang’s older sister-in-law was instantly offended. "Er Lai, what’s that supposed to mean? Who are you calling robbers?"

"If the shoe fits, wear it." The anger in Zhang Erlai’s heart had reached its peak today. In the past, his mother would always dote on her maiden family. Any time they had something nice, she would send it all over without a second thought, leaving him to eat nothing but bran and wild greens with her. He had endured all of it. But today, they actually expected him to pay for his two cousins’ betrothal gifts. ’Not a chance,’ he thought.

Zhang Erlai sneered. "You’ve been leeching off our family for years. For my mother’s sake, I never said a word, even when all I had to eat with her was thin gruel and wild greens. But look at you now! Your greed just grows and grows. Now you want our family to pay for your sons’ betrothal gifts? The whole ’three rounds and a sound’ package, no less? Pah! Where do you get the nerve? Are my two cousins’ parents dead and gone? Do they have to come to our house to beg?"

"What did you say, you little punk?" Niu Dashun and Niu Ershun were instantly furious. ’Is he cursing us to die?’

"Was I wrong? I was putting it mildly," Zhang Erlai said with a look of utter disdain. "Are my two cousins missing their arms and legs? Are they brain-damaged or something? Grown men, hitting up relatives for their own betrothal gifts."

Er La Niang couldn’t bear to hear any more and slapped Zhang Erlai across the face. "You brat! Those are your uncles! You don’t talk to them like that!"

"I have no such blood-sucking uncles!" Zhang Erlai whirled around and roared at his mother, startling her so much she froze. She had never seen him this furious. "How are they any different from bandits and robbers? You’ve fattened them up, but look at yourself! Even if you carved off your own flesh to feed them, they’d still complain it wasn’t enough!"

After he finished, Zhang Erlai turned and shot a cold glare at Niu Ershun and the other three. The look sent a chill through their hearts.

"Little Sister, are you just going to stand there and let Er Lai insult us? Do you even want us as family anymore?" Er La Niang’s older sister-in-law glared at her, her face furious. She had seen the rage on Zhang Erlai’s face and felt a tremor of fear. Not daring to confront him directly, she aimed her anger at Er La Niang instead.

"Of course, I do. Of course, I do." Er La Niang had always been meek and submissive when it came to her maiden family. Hearing her sister-in-law’s words, she said in a panic, "Sister-in-law, please don’t say that."

"Hmph! I don’t think you want to be our family at all," Er La Niang’s second sister-in-law added angrily. "Little Sister, if your two nephews’ engagements fall through because of the betrothal gift, then our relationship is over. Don’t bother coming back home anymore, and we won’t acknowledge you as our sister. We’ll just sever ties completely."

"That’s right, Little Sister! If your nephews’ engagements fall through, we’ll disown you," Niu Dashun and Niu Ershun added furiously.

This was, of course, a bluff to scare Er La Niang. They knew full well how much she cared about her maiden family; she would never be willing to cut ties with them.

The surrounding villagers, having heard the threats from her brothers and their wives, stared wide-eyed at Er La Niang, waiting to see how she would respond.

The whole situation was utterly ridiculous—going to a relative’s house to demand betrothal money for your own son, and acting like it was owed to them. If any of the villagers had relatives like that, they would have cut them off long ago.

But with Er La Niang, it was hard to say. She was, after all, the type to let her own son suffer just to keep her family happy. Today, she would either have a sudden awakening and cut off these parasitic relatives for good, or she would remain stubbornly blind and force her son to come up with money to fill their bottomless pit.

Everyone waited for Er La Niang’s response.

As for Er La Niang, she was completely stunned by their words. Her mind went blank. ’How could they sever ties? The one thing that had been drilled into her head since she was a child was to always put her two older brothers first. Her purpose in life was to help them live well. All she ever wanted was to see them smile. For that smile, she would even ignore her own son.’

"Er Lai, Er Lai, I’m begging you," Er La Niang cried, grabbing Zhang Erlai’s arm and looking at him with pleading eyes. "Please, just get some money and help your cousins finalize their engagements."

Zhang Erlai looked at his mother with deep disappointment. He stiffly pulled his arm from her grasp and said to her, enunciating each word, "Mother, give up on that idea. I have no money. And I can do without relatives like these." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"No, you can’t! They’re your uncles, you can’t just ignore them!" Hearing this, Er La Niang grew even more frantic. Her mind was a panicked, muddled mess, with only one thought running through it: ’How can I stop them from disowning me?’

With this thought, Er La Niang’s panicked eyes darted around.

Aunt Tao had saved Su Qing a prime spot right at the front of the crowd, just outside the fence. It was a very conspicuous position, so when Er La Niang’s eyes scanned her surroundings, they easily landed on Su Qing.

At that moment, Er La Niang’s eyes lit up. She pointed at Su Qing and said to her brothers and their wives, "Her! She has money! Make her give it to us, and then Xiaoping and Little An will have the money to get married!"

Xiaoping and Little An were, in fact, Er La Niang’s two nephews.

Su Qing was left speechless. ’Is this woman out of her mind?’ she thought. ’I have absolutely nothing to do with her family. How can I get dragged into this just by being a bystander?’

Seeing Er La Niang trying to drag an innocent person into this, Aunt Cuihua and Aunt Tao immediately shielded Su Qing behind them and snapped back, "Niu Ni, have you gone mad? Why are you dragging other people into your mess?"

"Mother, are you insane?!" Zhang Erlai was furious when he saw his mother target Su Qing. "What does our family’s business have to do with her? Why are you dragging her into this?"

Seeing that Zhang Erlai was being reasonable, Su Qing kept quiet. As long as he could stop his mother, everything would be fine.

After yelling at his mother, Zhang Erlai turned to Niu Dashun and the others. "Let me make myself clear. There is no money. And I have no intention of acknowledging you as relatives anymore. Now get the hell out of here, or don’t blame me for what comes next."