This was in the late Qing Dynasty. Wang Geng and Li Sen had been very close since childhood, but their relationship became increasingly close when they grew up. Wang Geng was born into a poor peasant family, while Li Sen was born into a merchant and his family was wealthy. Therefore, he often helped Wang Geng's family. Wang Geng had a son named Tianfu and a daughter named Cuihong. Li Sen had only one son named Li Siyu. Li Siyu was honest and honest by nature, and he was as kind as his father.
Once Wang Geng went to Li Sen's house to ask him for more rice food, but he was a little embarrassed to always ask for it, so he asked his daughter Cuihong to go with him. For one thing, Cuihong could do some housework in Li's house casually, and for another, he would not be too embarrassed to ask for rice. Seeing that Cuihong had become a beautiful big girl, and spoke softly, Li Sens deliberately asked Cuihong to be his daughter-in-law. At that time, Wang Geng was very happy. He immediately went home and discussed with his wife, and quickly married Cuihong to Li Siyu.
After Cuihong married Li Siyu, she was filial to her in-laws, spoke softly to her husband, and the relationship between husband and wife was sincere, and she never spoke loudly to her servants. But there were unexpected circumstances, and within a few years, her mother-in-law fell ill and died without stopping for a long time. Her father-in-law Li Sen was in unbearable grief, and soon became terminally ill. Li Siyu and his wife asked famous doctors everywhere for medicine to no avail, and Li Sen's illness had reached the point where he could only exhale but could not breathe. So he asked his son to call his good friend and in-law Wang Geng.
When Wang Geng saw that Li Sen was dying, the two hugged their heads and cried. Li Sen asked Wang Geng to close the door and said, We have been in love since we were young. I treated you like brothers, and you married your daughter to my family as a daughter-in-law. Although we are not brothers, we are better than brothers. I can't do it now, but I just don't worry about the Siyu couple, who are only in their early twenties and have an inflexible mind, so I 'm afraid that the money I have accumulated will be squandered by them. I 'm not saying you know that I also have my own brothers, but they are all greedy for money. I 'm afraid that if I leave, they will plot against my only son.
Li Sen asked Wang Geng to pull out the two large boxes that had been prepared under his bed. Wang Geng opened them and saw that they were two boxes of golden gold bars and jewelry. Wang Geng was so frightened that he had never seen so much money. Li Sen continued: I will put two boxes of gold for you today. If Siyu does business, you can help him and give him some money. If Siyu can do business alone in the future, you can give them all the money. Usually they give them less silver, but they can't live a life of hunger and cold.
Wang Geng looked at the golden money and hurriedly swore, "In-laws, don't worry. Our relationship is closer than that of brothers, and I will never fail your trust. The two locked the box and shipped it to the Wang family. But they didn't expect Li Siyu and Cuihong to hear it clearly outside the door. And from the crack of the open door, they also saw the two boxes of gold bars and jewels. If it wasn't for Cuihong and the other two bringing tea to their father, they wouldn't have been able to see it.
The next night, Li Sen died, and Wang Geng took his son Wang Fu to assist his son-in-law organize the funeral for his good friend. After the funeral, Li Siyu and his wife found 100 taels of silver at home. Because the two were young and could not live, their lives gradually became difficult, and their servants ran away one after another. When Siyu's uncles saw that his family was also declining, they stood by and did not ask. But Siyu and his wife knew in their hearts that their family's money had gone there, so if they had no money, they went to their father-in-law's house to ask for it.
Wang Geng didn't get his friend's money to help his son-in-law with his business, but he used the money to buy a large amount of land, and spent a large amount of money to buy his son Wang Fu's fame. His son was very smart, so he quickly established himself in the official world. But Cuihong and Siyu only gave them a few taels of silver every time they went to ask for it. He didn't ask for it a few times, but Wang Geng didn't give them a penny, and angrily scolded them two times: You two don't do anything, ask me for money every day, and now I have no money to give you. This time Wang Geng completely subverted his promise to his friend, let alone let Siyu do business, not even give them a few taels of silver anymore.
Cuihong was angry, so she exposed the two boxes of money that her father-in-law had given him when he was critically ill. Wang Geng became angry and said aggressively: How could this be possible? If your Li family has money, you should give it to you two, why would you give it to me? You two are lazy people, and you think about money and go crazy to deceive me like that. After Wang Geng finished speaking, he kicked them out and told the servants not to open the door again if they came again.
From then on, the young couple sighed at home every day and went to sue, not only was there no evidence, but they would also be infamed for being unfilial. Besides, Cuihong's brother was already a high-ranking figure in the imperial court, and it was difficult for ordinary people to bring down their family. In this way, the two of them sold almost all the things in the house that could be sold, and finally managed to maintain a difficult life. That night, when the two of them had just picked up the gruel to drink, a black man in his forties covered in blood broke into his house.
The two of them were terrified at the time, but the strong man fainted before he could speak. They were originally a kind couple, so they carried the man covered in blood to bed and simply treated his wound. Cuihong slowly fed him the gruel that she hadn't drunk yet, and the man slowly woke up after drinking the gruel. He looked at Siyu and said, "Aren't you Li Sen's son? Siyu nodded, and the man looked at his house and said, "Who doesn't know that your family is a rich family within a hundred miles? Why is your family in decline like this now? Siyu turned his face away from his words.
The man felt bored and said viciously: You two saved my life today, and I will tell you the truth. I am a bandit leader on the North Mountain. I went to town this morning to take a few brothers to do something, and when I was recognized, I was chased by officers and soldiers. All the people I brought with me are dead.
The bandit also ate porridge at his house, but he was able to move around and leave after eating well. That night, when he was about to leave, he asked Si Yu again, Why did your family decline like this now? Si Yu still lowered her head and remained silent. Cuihong, on the other hand, described in detail how her father-in-law handed over the money in the family to her father before he died. She also said that her father doesn't recognize this now, and he won't let the two of them enter their house again.
The bandit turned his head and left. From then on, the young couple slowly forgot about the bandit, and Si Yu completely realized that he was really poor. So he bought some melons and fruits from various villages and sold them in the city, and slowly life of the young couple continued.
That night, the two of them had just fallen asleep when they heard someone break into the door. The two of them quickly came out to check, and it turned out that the bandit leader they had rescued had come in with a few people. And they were also carrying two big boxes, and these two big boxes were given to Cuihong's father by Siyu's father before he died. The bandit leader said to them: You two buy a carriage and run away, maybe the money may be less than before, but it can only be like this. He turned to Cuihong and said: You two are kind and have a small heart, so your family will not think that this matter has anything to do with you now, but not only can you two not offend your official brother, but we can't offend him either, so you two can go as far as you can.
The next day, the two of them got into a carriage and ran away overnight. Cuihong's family later found out that the two of them were missing, thinking that they had gone out to beg for food, so they ignored them. Besides, because the money was robbed at these times, Wang Geng was so angry that he vomited blood and was about to die, but he never dreamed that he was greedy for Li Sen's money and went back to the Li family. After that, Li Siyu and Cuihong completely cut off relations with the Wang family, and they lived a happy and prosperous life in a foreign land.