You jinx, whose legs are you trying to break?

Thinking of her younger brother's past track record of unreliability, Su Xiaoyan felt even more anxious inside.

She shook the excited Liu Chunhua and warned, "Mom, don't just blindly rejoice. Do you know where this money came from?"

Liu Chunhua thought it was marvelous. "It's the reward Ah Chen got for helping someone with a task! It's a whole lot of money, way more than two thousand. I saw an even thicker stack of cash in Ah Chen's leather bag."

"A task? Ah Chen told you he was helping someone with a task? But he told me he was fortune-telling for people." Su Xiaoyan took a deep breath, thinking to herself: As expected, her younger brother was just lying to her!

What old man Jiang said might actually be true!

The next moment, she saw Liu Chunhua nodding repeatedly.

"That's right, Ah Chen set up a stall in the city to tell fortunes. But Ah Chen has real skills; I heard Ah-De say last night that he killed a mountain ghoul with a single slash. If it's something like catching ghosts, a big boss giving a few thousand isn't that much..." Liu Chunhua chuckled awkwardly. "Right?"

"A mountain ghoul? Catching ghosts?" Su Xiaoyan slapped her forehead. "No, Mom, do you really believe a word that comes out of Ah Chen's mouth? He says whatever crosses his mind, and you just believe it? This money, this money..."

Knowing she couldn't keep it hidden anymore, Su Xiaoyan gritted her teeth. "This morning, old man Jiang saw Ah Chen getting into a wealthy woman's car at the bus station—a luxury compact car. It's already the talk of the town, people saying Ah Chen is living off a rich woman! What task? I'm afraid this money came from that wealthy woman."

Even though Su Xiaoyan was her favorite daughter, Liu Chunhua was furious.

"Bah, bah, bah! Ah-Yan, what kind of nonsense are you spouting? How could Ah Chen be living off a rich woman? Even if he got into a rich woman's car, that—that was definitely the rich woman seeking Ah Chen out for help with something!"

Su Xiaoyan let out a hum of disbelief. "I bet the thing he helped with was *that* kind of thing."

Liu Chunhua was stunned, then flew into a towering rage. Catching sight of a broom in the corner, she rushed over, grabbed it, and swung it directly at Su Xiaoyan.

Su Xiaoyan was too old to just stand there and take a beating, so she hurriedly dodged with quick steps, trying to persuade her mother while avoiding the blows.

"Mom, Mom, what are you doing? I'm telling you the absolute truth! For Ah Chen's own good, you shouldn't let him go to the city anymore in the future. It sounds terrible if word gets out."

Liu Chunhua was beside herself with rage. "You still dare to run your mouth? Watch me beat you to death!"

Such a commotion caused the neighboring villagers to stick their heads out to watch, not to mention Old Man Su and Lin Chun娇, who rushed out immediately to break up the fight.

Old Man Su yelled angrily, "Early in the morning, what is all this racket about? What are you making a scene for?!"

Liu Chunhua put down the broom, placed her hands on her hips, and retorted, "I've really raised a fine daughter! Instead of protecting her own younger brother, she insists on making wild guesses. You old geezer, listen to the kind of ghost talk this unfilial girl is spewing!"

Lin Chun娇 cast a suspicious look at Su Xiaoyan, who had already caught sight of the neighbors' heads sticking out next door. She offered an awkward laugh, hurriedly darted into the house, and added a parting warning, "Mom, Mom, you better come inside quickly. Don't broadcast shameful matters for the whole village to hear."

"Shameful? What's shameful about it? The money Ah Chen earns is perfectly clean, and he is innocent and upright too! Is this how you act as an older sister? Instead of wishing the best for your younger brother, you insist on smearing his name and talking about rich women. I'll show you who the rich woman is!"

With that, she raised the broom once more.

"Mom, Mom, don't be impulsive!" Lin Chun娇 rushed forward to block her.

Ah-Liang also stepped in to shield her. "Grandma, Third Aunt must have misunderstood. Let's sit down and talk it through properly. Please don't get angry; be careful not to make yourself sick."

Seeing this, Su Xiaoyan stamped her feet in frustration. "No, Mom, I'm trying to stop you from airing this out, why are you still shouting about it? If you keep this up, how is Younger Brother going to face people in the future?"

After hearing what Liu Chunhua had to say, Old Man Su vaguely figured out the situation, and his face immediately darkened. "Why wouldn't Ah Chen be able to face people?"

"Dad? You're taking Mom's side too? No, you can't just believe his wild stories simply because he gave you money! What kind of fortune-telling can make several hundred a day—no, several thousand? Old Jiang and I work hard from dawn till dusk, and we don't even make that much in a whole year!"

Lin Chun娇 froze for a moment, then spoke hesitantly, "Third Sister-in-law, could... could you have misunderstood?"

Ah-Liang nodded repeatedly. "That's right, Third Aunt. My Uncle is very impressive. Him making big money... is pretty normal, right?"

Su Xiaoyan was dumbfounded.

"No way, have you all lost your minds to money? What kind of skills could Ah Chen possibly have? If he really had any abilities, why wasn't he ever capable before?"

At this point, the neighbors stopped listening from behind the walls and crowded directly into the front courtyard.

Su Xiaoyan clutched her head in a headache when she saw them.

She had originally intended to come home and properly advise her parents, never expecting it to blow up into such a huge scene.

And her parents too—her younger brother had a silver tongue since he was a child, spinning tall tales left and right, yet they actually believed him?

Just as she was feeling thoroughly depressed, she heard Ah-Liang speaking up. "Third Aunt, Uncle is really, truly capable!"

"Yesterday, Ah-Hu and I went into the mountain intending to snare wild boars, and we ran into a mountain ghoul. Later, we were saved by the Squirrel Fairy, but we were still trapped in the mountain. Dad and Fourth Uncle went looking for us and also ran into the mountain ghoul. Thankfully, Uncle went to rescue us, otherwise Fourth Uncle probably would have lost his life."

"Uncle really, truly has supernatural skills! You can't refuse to believe it just because you didn't see it with your own eyes. If you really don't believe me, you can ask Ah-Hu and Ah-Tang. I was bewitched by the fairy and kept eating dirt; even now, my stomach feels hard and uncomfortable."

The neighbors at the entrance looked at each other in bewilderment, feeling as though they were listening to a fantasy story.

However, one of them did nod.

"Late last night, when I was half-asleep, I did hear some commotion, and the sound of a woman crying."

Lin Chun娇 smiled awkwardly at the person. "Uncle Tan, sorry for disturbing you."

Su Xiaoyan was frozen in place. "No... Ah-Liang, is everything you said true?"

Ah-Liang nodded repeatedly, then thought for a moment and said, "Third Aunt, if you don't believe me, Dad is out in the fields right now. His face got scratched up by branches when he went into the mountain last night."

Su Xiaoyan frowned. "But... but how could Ah Chen possibly have that kind of ability?"

Liu Chunhua gave a light huff. "Your younger brother has always been smart; is that something you're only realizing now?"

Su Xiaoyan still remained somewhat doubtful. "Well... I'm going to go out to the fields and ask my older brother about this."

Old Man Su waved his hand helplessly. "Go on, go, go."

As soon as Su Xiaoyan left, the neighbors gathered at the entrance began chattering all at once.

"Ah-Liang, did you guys really run into a mountain ghoul last night? What did the mountain ghoul look like?"

Ah-Liang was an honest kid and immediately spilled everything he knew from start to finish.

Last night, Old Man Su and Liu Chunhua had returned ahead of the others, so they hadn't heard Su De and Su Mao discussing the mountain ghoul later on. Hearing it now, they reacted with gasps of shock. When they heard about the Squirrel Fairy carrying a box of cookies up a tree, Liu Chunhua burst out in exasperation, "I was wondering how a whole box of cookies disappeared so fast, you guys ate every single one of them!"

Immediately after, she hurriedly asked, "Ah-Liang, where is that fairy? Is it far? If it's not too far, Grandma will go offer her respects later."

Ah-Liang shook his head awkwardly.

"I—I don't know where it is. Last night we just followed Uncle the whole way back," he lowered his head, "and that was my first time running so far."

Seeing this, Lin Chun娇 glared fiercely at him. "If there's a next time, I'll break your legs."

"You jinx of a woman, whose legs are you planning to break?" Liu Chunhua rolled her eyes, cast a displeased look at Lin Chun娇, and then affectionately brought out a large porcelain bowl for Ah-Liang.

"Grandma, what is this..."

"Hmph, your grandfather said you need to nourish your body. Didn't your uncle bring back some abalone yesterday? I stewed a few pieces for you. Hurry up and eat, and Grandma put five eggs in there for you too."

Ah-Liang looked hesitatingly at Lin Chun娇.

"What are you looking at your mother for? What? Are you afraid to eat your grandmother's food? Afraid your grandmother is poisoning you?"

"No, no," Ah-Liang hurriedly waved his hands.

"If not, then eat."

With that, Liu Chunhua fetched two bags, packed some dried goods into each of them, and tossed them to Lin Chun娇's feet.

"What are you standing around here for? Go back, go back! Take one bag for yourself, and give the other one to that sickly thing so she can nourish herself too."

Old Man Tan reminded her, "Ah-Hua, Ah-Ying is your daughter-in-law after all. Calling her a sickly thing all the time sounds rather harsh."

Liu Chunhua glared at him. "Are you going to mind my business?!"

Then she yanked Lin Chun娇 up. "What are you standing there stunned for? Hurry up and go back, or are you not going to cook lunch and plan to freeload a meal here instead?"

Lin Chun娇 endured the urge to snap back and obediently picked up the bags to leave.

Yet when she returned home and handed one of the bags to Ah-Ying, Ah-Ying reached into the bottom and fished out a hundred-yuan bill.