The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

Gu’er was stunned by the sheer number of IOU slips.

For all these slips to still be here, it must mean no one ever paid them back. Perhaps they were told they didn’t have to, but the fact remained that they hadn’t. This wasn’t just money—it was a debt of gratitude. This was proof that the entire village was indebted to the Sun Family.

What’s the hardest thing in the world to repay?

A debt of gratitude.

A debt of gratitude is the hardest to settle. You can return material things, but you can never truly repay the kindness of someone who helped you. If these IOU slips were made public, every family would be shown to owe the Sun Family. They would feel a sense of gratitude and guilt from the bottom of their hearts. If the Sun family ever needed anything, they would be obligated to help.

No wonder the Zhou family was so adamant about marrying Zhou Mei to Sun Jiaming. A family with this kind of leverage posed a huge threat to Zhou Da Kui’s position as village chief.

If Sun Jiaming were to present these slips, the villagers would probably support him for village chief if he asked. It was no wonder the Zhou family couldn’t rest easy!

In that moment, Gu’er finally understood why Zhou Mei had to marry Sun Jiaming. She also truly grasped the fear in Zhou Da Kui’s heart.

She glanced at Sun Zhuzi and shook her head inwardly. ’Brother Jia Ming’s father is completely useless. The entire village owes him, and he still couldn’t secure the position of village chief? How pathetic can you get!’

’Then again, if Sun Zhuzi had any backbone at all, Cao Qiu would never have become so brazen.’

Gu’er stepped back again. She wasn’t needed right now.

The color drained from Cao Qiu’s face, only to be replaced by a furious blush. Her expression was a chaotic storm.

"Grandma Sun," he began, "truth be told, we all owe a debt to your father-in-law and your husband. Back then, if it weren’t for the old master, who knows how many people in this village would have starved. Think of the two villages next to ours... how many people starved to death? How many sold their own children? They’d give their kids away for just a mouthful of food. The horror of it... Ai, let’s not even talk about it. This whole village owes its life to the Sun Family."

Third Grandpa sighed. Back in the day, Jia Ming’s great-grandfather’s grain saved far more than just one or two families.

But that’s just how people are. Once the hardship is over, how many really remember the kindness they were shown? Even those of them who were close to the Sun Family rarely thought about it anymore, to say nothing of the other families.

Look at the Zhou family. What kind of lives were they living back then? Back then, if they had dared to act so smug and arrogant in front of Sun Jiaming’s great-grandfather and grandfather, they would’ve gotten a swift slap across the face.

But no matter how good things were back then, two generations had passed. Most people had likely forgotten.

If they hadn’t seen the contents of the box today, they probably wouldn’t have been so deeply moved.

Grandma Sun stroked the items in the box. They might not have been worth much money, but to her, they were incredibly precious.

The paper-cut window decoration was something she had brought from her parents’ home. The genealogy book had been passed down through her family for generations. Her parents had given it to her only because she had no brothers, and after a disaster struck their family, they had fled to the Northeast, leaving them with no other relatives.

As for the other items, some were her father-in-law’s belongings, which her husband had always treasured. So she treasured them too. To her, all of these were priceless heirlooms.

Sun Jiaming was also reeling from the revelation. He had heard bits and pieces of the story before, but never in such detail. Seeing the proof with his own eyes shook him to the core.

Sun Jiaming and Grandma Sun silently placed the items back in the box. This time, they didn’t lock it. They believed no one would dare to steal its contents now.

"Zhuzi, if you ever let your wife cause this kind of trouble again and disturb Grandma Sun’s peace, you’ll have me to answer to! I’m laying it down right here, right now: from this day forward, anyone who gives Grandma Sun a hard time, anyone who tries to send Jia Ming to the city, or anyone who neglects her... you’ll be making an enemy of us, and an enemy of this entire village! Don’t blame us for being merciless when that happens!"

Third Grandpa’s words were aimed at Sun Zhuzi, but they were a clear warning to Cao Qiu. He believed she was the root of all the trouble. He had come to support Grandma Sun, but his feelings now were completely different from when he had first arrived.

Cao Qiu muttered defiantly, ’This is our family’s business. What are these old geezers sticking their noses into?’

"No matter what, Jia Ming is my son! I gave birth to him, I raised him, so why can’t I have a say in his life? That makes no sense to anyone! Even if you’re elders, you can’t just gang up and bully a woman like me."

Cao Qiu was used to getting her way. Seeing Sun Zhuzi stand there silently, she knew she couldn’t count on him. She couldn’t hold her tongue; after all, she figured, what could a few old coots like them really do to her?

Just as Third Grandpa was about to retort, a voice came from the doorway. "She’s right. It’s unheard of for a mother to be forbidden from having a say in her son’s life. And using your seniority to bully someone... that wouldn’t sound very good if word got out."

The voice came from the doorway—someone new had arrived.

Gu’er and the others, not expecting anyone else, all turned to look at the door.

Several people entered, led by none other than the current village chief, Zhou Da Kui.

Trailing behind Zhou Da Kui were Second Grandpa, Sixth Grandpa, and Zhou Erpao.

The Zhou family faction had arrived. It looked like they were here to back up Cao Qiu.

A flash of understanding lit Gu’er’s eyes. She knew that Zhou Da Kui wasn’t just here to support Cao Qiu. His real goal was to stir up trouble within the Sun Family and have them fight amongst themselves. That way, his own position as village chief would be secure.

Sun Jiaming clearly understood this as well. But he was the host, and with guests in his home, he couldn’t very well throw them out.

Unable to rely on his father, Sun Jiaming stepped forward to greet the newcomers.

The expressions of those already in the room soured as they watched the Zhou family faction enter, but no one said a word.

"Brother Zhou, you’re here! You have to help me! Tell them, Jia Ming is my son! They’re all ganging up on me—isn’t that just bullying me because I’m a woman?"

A glint appeared in Cao Qiu’s eyes as she saw them arrive; an idea was forming. ’The Zhou family is desperate to have Zhou Mei become my daughter-in-law, so they won’t just stand by and do nothing,’ she thought. ’If the Zhou family helps me, I’ll have the leverage to deal with those old geezers. I might even be able to get back that written promise I made. As for that pile of junk, I don’t want it. Anyone who wants it can have it.’

’As for Gu’er, I’m not too worried about her. Even if Jia Ming doesn’t go to the city, I can still persuade him to marry Zhou Mei, which wouldn’t be a bad outcome. Now that the Zhou family themselves have shown up, my mother-in-law and those old men will have to give them some face. In the end, Gu’er will be left with nothing.’

Zhou Da Kui rushed to console Cao Qiu, but his gaze subtly swept over Third Grandpa, Gu’er, and the others.

"I have to say, Third Brother," Second Grandpa chided, "how could you all not call us when something like this happened at our sister-in-law’s home? When we brothers heard, we knew we had to come and help."

Second Grandpa grumbled at Third Grandpa and his group. As the eldest among them, he was used to throwing his weight around, and he immediately started finding fault.

Third Grandpa shot him a glare. He’d never been able to stand Second Grandpa and his cronies, even when they were young. Back then, Sun Jiaming’s grandfather—the man they all called ’Big Brother’—was there to keep them in line, so they never dared to step out of place. But now that Big Brother was gone, they had sided with the Zhou family to lord it over the village, showing no respect for anyone else. Third Grandpa was utterly disgusted with them.