“Uncle and I have collected all the trash in the county over the past two days. After we categorized them, we sold what could be sold. It’s not bad, but the county is too small, so there’s too little trash. We’ve got to go to the big city, where there’s more trash, Mommy.”

  Mu Jingzhe understood. “You can arrange it as you wish. I support you. It’s just that your uncle needs more training before he can be independent.”

  “There’s no hurry. We’ll take it slow.” Shao Dong was very steady.

  Shao Dong’s scavenging business officially began. He first took some specially-collected trash and sold it to places where it was needed, earning his first bucket of gold.

  Of course, two people weren’t enough. Mu Han and Shao Dong asked around in the village if anyone wanted to come along and scavenge with them.

  Initially, many people in the village were wondering what scavenging was. Later on, when they found out that it was picking up rubbish, they immediately turned around and left, finding it embarrassing and dirty.

  Although everyone trusted Mu Jingzhe and thought highly of the Shao Family’s children, picking up trash… was still out of the question.

  Next door, Zhao Lan and Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao’s sarcasm couldn’t help acting up. They said that it was a joke to recruit people to pick up trash, much less go to the big city to do so.

  “I must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to hear these words. It’s not like I’m going to starve to death and have to resort to picking up trash.”

  After the incident with the woman from Little Eastern Village, everyone was now very cautious about finding work outside the village. When they heard the words ‘picking up rubbish’, they had quite a lot of opinions.

  Eldest Brother Shao, who had been keeping a low profile for quite a while, came to their door and tried to persuade Shao Dong.

  “Stop fooling around. Look at what the village is saying about you.”

  The meaning behind his words was that they shouldn’t listen to Mu Jingzhe and Mu Han’s nonsense and fool around, for it would harm the Shao Family’s reputation.

  Shao Dong no longer had any intention of acknowledging the eldest branch. “This is my personal opinion and intentions. Whatever others have to say about it is none of my business.”

  Eldest Brother Shao was so furious that his face turned green. When he came out, he told the villagers that he couldn’t do anything about it and could only try to persuade the villagers to ignore them.

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  Old Lady Mu was also angry about being mocked like that. She gave Mu Han a harsh dressing-down, and even Mu Teng and Li Zhaodi were scolded.

  “Their surname is Shao. How are they related to you guys? All they did was call you Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle, and you forgot what your surname is. Do you really think that you’re their grandpa, grandma, and uncle?

  “I’ll say this now. Mu Han, if you really dare take people to pick up rubbish, don’t say that you’re a member of the Mu Family in the future! I can’t afford to lose this much face!”

  Mu Han had originally been full of enthusiasm. He’d been thinking about how he was going to rope in villagers to earn money and become rich with them, as they were all from the same hometown.

  He hadn’t expected the villagers to not understand. Even his grandmother was like that.

  “I said that there’s money to be made from this, and this is not inferior to being an employee. Why don’t you believe me?”

  “Believe you? Why should I believe you? If there’s money to be made from this, why aren’t others doing it? Do you think everyone is a goon? You’re the only burden in the family, and now you even want to pick up rubbish. Why can’t you be more considerate for Xiao Xue’s sake!

  “Out of the eldest branch of the Mu Family, Xiao Xue has become a teacher, and the third branch’s Xiao Cai has entered high school. Who knows, he might even be able to get into university in the future. You’re the only good-for-nothing. You don’t know what shame is and want to continue harming others. Are you bent on destroying Xiao Xue’s chances of marrying into a good family?”

  If Xiao Xue married into the Tang Family, they would be the in-laws of a family like the Tangs. The Mu Family’s status paled in comparison to the Tangs to begin with, so how could Old Lady Mu allow someone in her family to pick up garbage?

  “Mu Han, let me tell you something. If you affect Xiao Xue, I won’t let you off!”

  Mu Han knew that he was the most useless among his siblings, but he still felt so bad that he couldn’t breathe after being insulted like this.

  Mu Teng had long had enough of Old Lady Mu’s favoritism. This conflict had accumulated for a long time and finally erupted.

  “I’ll support whatever Xiao Han wants to do. Mom, if you think we’re an embarrassment, you can just split our share of the family assets.” Mu Teng proposed to split up the family assets.

  Old Lady Mu was so angry that she stumbled backward. “Fine, fine. You’ve sold buns for a few days, and now your wings have hardened. Do you think you’re some bigshot? Fine, if you want to split the assets, I’ll give you your share. Don’t regret it in the future and don’t even think about taking advantage of Xiao Xue!”

  Mu Teng had said that he wanted to split the family assets, but Third Brother Mu was unwilling to do so. If he stood by Mu Xue’s side, he would be in-laws with the affluent Tang Family when Mu Xue married into their family. There were bound to be benefits to be reaped from being associated with them. Third Brother Mu couldn’t fathom why Mu Teng would want to split up the family assets.

  Eldest Brother Mu and Third Brother Mu felt that Mu Teng was being silly. He would definitely regret it in the future.

  However, Mu Teng had made up his mind this time and wouldn’t have any regrets. He hadn’t been able to gain anything from Mu Xue in the past, nor would he be able to benefit by being associated with her in the future. He didn’t want to take advantage of her either. Now, he just wanted to earn money honestly.

  Jingzhe had said that it was viable for Mu Han to do this, so he wanted his son to give it a shot. No matter what, it beat staying at home.

  Even if he was mocked, so be it. It wasn’t as if he would shed a layer of skin because of the mockery. As a man, why should he fear being laughed at?

  Mu Jingzhe hadn’t expected that the village would react so strongly to this matter. Besides, the situation inside the Mu Family had gotten so dire that they were speaking about splitting up the family assets.

  When Shao Dong heard this, he panicked a little, but Mu Jingzhe thought about it and felt that it would actually be good to split up the family assets.

  Mu Teng and Li Zhaodi weren’t living well in the Mu Family now. In the future, they would be able to live well by earning money on their own, so why should they be tied together by force? They might as well split up the family assets and live their own lives.

  “No need to be nervous. This is actually a good thing. I support splitting up the family assets.”

  Then, under the gazes of Mu Jingzhe and the elders in the village, the second branch of the Mu Family, Mu Teng’s branch, had their share of the family assets carved out.

  Because he had angered Old Lady Mu, the way the assets were split was unfair, but Mu Teng didn’t say much.

  After the separation, Mu Han matured a lot over a short period of time. The tenderness between his brows decreased a lot, but there was now an additional determination and resolve.

  He had to make a name for himself this time.

  Mu Jingzhe was very satisfied with his condition. After that, Mu Han brought a few of his close friends and Li Fang’s older brother with him. Facing the finger-pointing and confusion of the villagers, they embarked on the scavenging path.

  Li Fang had always felt that Mu Jingzhe was brilliant, so she persuaded her brother to go along.

  Unexpectedly, this trip completely changed her older brother’s fate.

  Those few people, who the villagers didn’t think highly of, underwent a huge transformation after scavenging for over a month. They smelled bad, but their pockets bulged. They had only been gone for a month, and they’d made money others could only make in six months or even a year.

  They didn’t return home after they made some money. However, Li Fang’s brother sent a letter back and asked his wife to come over. The other young men did the same and asked their parents or relatives to come out and do business with them.

  They went north, and under Shao Dong’s long-distance guidance, they became bolder and bolder. They also completely succeeded in making this scavenger business viable.

  At this point, the villagers finally realized that they had really earned money.

  Zhao Lan, Eldest Brother Shao, and his wife were slapped in the face. Likewise, Old Lady Mu, who hadn’t expected them to succeed, ended up feeling embarrassed as well.

  It was at that moment that Old Lady Mu finally understood why Tang Moling had said that it might work.

  Now that they knew there was money to be made from this, the villagers changed their attitude. They said that there was nothing wrong with picking up rubbish. It was a little dirty, yes, but it was fine as long as they could earn money.

  Previously, everyone had been unwilling to touch rubbish with a ten-foot pole, but now, they were fighting to join them and pick up trash, asking them if they could come along.