Chapter 184

Hu Qianqian, divorced and remarried, not only married a billionaire lawyer but is now planning to open her own clothing factory?

The moment this news broke, it caused an uproar in Grandpa Hu’s neighborhood.

However, thanks to the good reputation that Grandma and Grandpa Hu had built over the years, there weren’t many sour remarks. Most people praised Hu Qianqian for being capable and blessed.

And the one who clearly lacked that blessing? Naturally, it was Wei Zhiyong—the man who married a beautiful and capable wife but failed to cherish her.

Some people are just destined to suffer and live in poverty their whole lives. Even if fate spoon-fed him a bowl of fragrant rice, he’d still manage to spit it out.

When Hu Qianqian appeared on a well-known talk show on National TV Station, even if the Wei family hadn’t been paying attention, people from the village who caught wind of it couldn’t wait to spread the news to Wei Zhiyong, eager to watch the drama unfold.

Poor Wei Zhiyong! Ever since he started working, he believed he had done everything he could for his relatives and friends back in the village. Anyone from the village who came to J City for business, work, or school—if they needed help, he never hesitated. During holidays, when he visited relatives, he always brought the best cigarettes and liquor the village had ever seen.

By all logic, with how much heart he’d poured into his hometown, they should treat him like family, right?

Wrong.

As the saying goes, “A gift of rice earns gratitude; a sack of it breeds resentment¹.” Back when Wei Zhiyong was earning ten to twenty thousand yuan a month and could afford lavish gifts, of course the villagers treated him like a VIP.

But in recent years, after losing his job and divorcing his city wife, returning to the countryside, the Wei family’s decline was visible to the naked eye.

His mother and younger brother’s family had always been lazy and gluttonous, relying entirely on Wei Zhiyong, the only one with a stable government job, to support them. For a rural household to squeeze at least ten thousand yuan a month out of their son—it’s easy to imagine how comfortable their life was.

But now, with Wei Zhiyong unemployed, and at his age, even though he was once a prized university graduate decades ago, that no longer held value. Good jobs were out of reach, and the lesser ones he dismissed as “undignified.” In the end, he could only put on a brave face and claim he was “tired of the nine-to-five grind” and wanted to return home to farm and care for his elders.

Unfortunately, after decades of spoiling the village with his generosity, their expectations were sky-high. At first, they assumed that even if he lost his job, he must have plenty of savings from all those years working in the city. Hoping to still benefit from him, the villagers remained warm and welcoming.

But as the saying goes, poverty and coughing are the two things in this world that can’t be hidden.

The money Wei Zhiyong received in the divorce was long squandered by his beloved eldest nephew. With his once high income, he should have saved a fortune. But he had a soft heart and a big ego.

His salary, barely warm in his hands each month, would be mostly taken by his mother. His brother would come crying poverty, asking for pocket money. Add in the cost of gifts during holidays and family visits… After returning home unemployed, years passed, and now Wei Zhiyong couldn’t even scrape together a thousand yuan.

When the villagers saw that his family was truly broke, their attitudes flipped instantly. Some mocked him to his face, others deliberately borrowed money they knew he didn’t have. Some gossiped about how well Wei Sheng and Hu Qianqian were doing now. Others asked why he didn’t just go live off his son in the city. Their words dripped with sarcasm, and Wei Zhiyong was so humiliated he barely left the house.

But even staying indoors didn’t spare him from the village’s thirst for gossip.

“Zhiyong! Quick, turn on the TV! Your wife—oops, my bad, your ex-wife—she’s on National TV Station! Who would’ve thought? Didn’t you always say she was just an uneducated housewife who didn’t know anything? How’d she end up a big-time boss?”

Wei Zhiyong looked up at the person, then slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

“Tch, what’s there to be proud of? So he got into college? Big deal. These days, college degrees aren’t worth much. A grown man who can’t even protect his wife and child—no wonder no one wants to take care of him in his old age!” a villager shouted through the wall, furious at being denied their entertainment.

Nearby, a group of gossipy aunties chimed in, cracking sunflower seeds as they spoke.

“He wants to, but does Hu Qianqian even acknowledge him anymore?”

“Exactly! I heard she remarried a big-shot lawyer, lives in a mansion, drives one of those fancy Porsches worth over a million. What’s she gonna do with Zhiyong? Live in his crumbling brick house? Forget luxury cars, they can’t even afford a four-wheeled vehicle now.”

“What do you mean no four wheels? Doesn’t their family still have that old wooden cart with four wheels? I saw Zhiyong dragging it to the fields to harvest corn just last year.”

“Hahaha!”

Laughter erupted outside the door.

Inside, Wei Zhiyong gritted his teeth in rage. He stormed into his mother’s room and glared at the TV playing a drama on top of the cabinet. He wanted nothing more than to smash it to pieces with a sledgehammer.

But then he remembered—his mother, now bedridden, only stayed quiet when watching TV. Without it, she’d raise hell. If he destroyed the television, who knew what kind of chaos she’d cause?

That night, after Wei Laoniang tired herself out and dozed off against the wall post-dinner, the TV was playing ads. On a whim, Wei Zhiyong switched the channel to the National TV Station’s finance program.

Hu Qianqian’s interview was already in its second half. According to the show’s format, the guests were holding a mini indoor fashion show. When Hu Qianqian stepped out from behind the curtain in a pale green dress, elegant and serene like a plum blossom in early spring, Wei Zhiyong was stunned.

Was this really the same woman who used to wear hand-me-downs and pinch every penny?

On screen, Hu Qianqian wore a trendy “no-makeup” makeup look. Her hair, once always tied back in a messy bun, now flowed in soft, glamorous waves. The dress she wore was next summer’s featured design from her store—a fresh and elegant date dress. The off-shoulder neckline was modest with a hint of allure, revealing her graceful collarbones beneath layers of sheer fabric.

The cut was clean, with not a single embellishment, exuding both poise and refinement.

Looking at his fair-skinned, beautiful ex-wife, Wei Zhiyong could hardly believe his eyes. Wei Sheng was already so grown up—how was it that Hu Qianqian looked even more radiant and stunning than when she was young?

If her post-divorce transformation into a younger, more beautiful version of herself had already hit Wei Zhiyong like a slap in the face, then the host’s next words completely shattered him.

“In just one year since launching her business, Hu Qianqian and her team have traveled across the country, drawing inspiration from traditional Chinese culture. They’ve released hundreds of designs with a national style theme. So far, her team has successfully incubated three social media accounts, and the annual sales from their two online stores have exceeded 200 million yuan…”

Two hundred million?!

Wasn’t Hu Qianqian just a housewife with no education? How could she possibly make that kind of money?!

Wei Zhiyong was consumed by jealousy and rage. He tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.

The next morning, just as he stepped out the door, the same aunt who had laughed loudest the day before came over with a beaming smile.

“Zhiyong, your cousin Zhiqun is getting married in a few days. We’re holding the banquet the day after tomorrow. Since it’s a family affair, we’re all contributing to her dowry. You’re the first university graduate in the Wei family, and you made so much money out there—you can’t be stingy with your cousin now, can you?

“Zhiqun’s brother and sister-in-law are giving 6,666 yuan. As her older cousin, why don’t you give 5,888? That way, it’ll look good for your family too~”

Face. Always about face.

Wei Zhiyong felt like a fire had ignited in his chest.

Because of this so-called “face,” his wife divorced him, his son cut ties with him, and his once-stable government job, his once-whole family—everything had been destroyed by these empty words about “face.”

For over twenty years, how much good liquor had you drunk from me? How many fine cigarettes had my family provided? And now that I’ve fallen, you all just want to step on me?

Fine. You want to celebrate, right? Then let’s do it all—weddings and funerals together.

Two days later, Wei Zhiyong slipped the half-empty bottle of pesticide left over from autumn weeding into his pocket. Taking advantage of the excuse to attend a banquet at his aunt’s house, he poured the entire contents into the large water vat in his uncle’s courtyard.

The village still didn’t have running water. Families with money had dug their own wells and built water towers, pumping water up for daily use. But his aunt was notoriously stingy and refused to use the electric pump, thinking it wasted electricity. Their family had always fetched water manually from the well at the edge of the village, storing it in a large ceramic vat. One full vat could last them two days.

Who would have thought that just half a vat of water would end up claiming over a dozen lives in the village?

Wei Zhiyong had hesitated for a moment. He even glanced at a broken red brick lying in the corner, thinking maybe he should just smash the vat and pretend it was an accident. That way, the pesticide-tainted water wouldn’t be used…

But before he could act, a burst of laughter erupted from the courtyard. Someone waved a phone and shouted at him—

“Zhiyong, come look! Isn’t this your ex-wife?”

“What are you talking about? They’ve been divorced for ages! Didn’t you see the news? Hu Qianqian remarried some super-rich lawyer. Their son’s a big celebrity now, and she even runs several companies. Damn! Just from selling clothes, she made two hundred million last year!”

“Two hundred million? Then they must be swimming in money now! I wonder if Zhiyong regrets it. If it were me, marrying a money-making goldmine like that, I’d be on my knees serving her every meal!”

“Well, blessings only come to those who can handle them. Maybe Zhiyong and his mom were just born unlucky. Otherwise, how come when Qianqian married into the Wei family, she was just a housewife begging for pocket money, but the moment she remarried—bam! She’s her own boss now!”

The courtyard filled with laughter and jeers.

No one cared whether Wei Zhiyong heard them. No one wondered if their words might hurt him.

He was just a washed-up nobody who’d lost his job. He couldn’t lend money or offer favors. Who in the village still gave a damn about Wei Zhiyong?

Expressionless, Wei Zhiyong picked up the broken piece of brick, tossed it back into the corner, and didn’t even bother staying for the meal. He grabbed a handful of candy from the table and left in silence, the sound of laughter echoing behind him.

That night, everyone who had helped out at his aunt’s house fell ill after dinner. The lucky ones just vomited and had diarrhea. The unlucky ones started foaming at the mouth. Ambulances couldn’t come fast enough. Sirens wailed through the peaceful village all night long.

By noon the next day, someone found Wei Zhiyong’s body near the Wei family’s ancestral graves behind the village. A few candy wrappers lay scattered at his feet.

At the same time, villagers broke into his house and discovered that Wei Laoniang had also died in her bed. The room reeked of pesticide, and beside the bed were two bright red candy wrappers, left over from some festive occasion…

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Translator’s Notes

• 6,666 yuan… 5,888: In Chinese tradition, gift amounts use auspicious numbers: 6 symbolizes smoothness, and 8 prosperity; repeating them (e.g., 6666) amplifies good fortune, common in wedding contributions.

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1. A gift of rice earns gratitude; a sack of it breeds resentment: This is a Chinese proverb illustrating how small acts of kindness are appreciated, but excessive generosity can lead to entitlement and resentment instead of gratitude. ↩