He started by killing his abusive father, and from then on, he embarked on the road to wealth.

Chapter 53 Shan Nilian! You come out here!

Dan Ziyi pointed to someone who looked rich just by his appearance.

The game began with the two playing the simplest game: rolling dice to see who could win.

Meng Fuqing stood near the gambling table next to Shan Ziyi, her fingers pressed down on the table. She watched them finish a round of dice rolling and put the dice cups on the table. A thin vine, almost invisible to the naked eye, sprouted from her fingertip, went around the corner of the table, and entered Shan Ziyi's dice cup.

Most of the onlookers placed bets on the other side, while Shan Ziyi's side received very few.

Meng Fuqing then placed the gambling funds he had just exchanged on Shan Ziyi's side.

At the moment the cup was opened, Shan Ziyi's score was 566, while the opponent's score was 346.

Dan Ziyi shouted, he never expected his luck to be so good this time.

For the next four or five rounds, Shan Ziyi's side won. His once fair face was now flushed with excitement. He didn't care about the 'grandfather' standing to the side and just shouted loudly to continue, his eyes full of fervor.

The person opposite him was clearly a seasoned gambler who was now blinded by greed, betting bigger and bigger each time. In just a few rounds, Meng Fuqing won back the money he had spent treating others to dinner and the money he had given away for free.

She stopped at the opportune moment and asked, "We've won quite a bit, shall we go?"

Dan Ziyi was in high spirits after winning, and without thinking, she shook off the hand that was grabbing his sleeve. "If you want to leave, go ahead. I'm helping you win money, and you're still not happy!"

Seeing this, Meng Fuqing quietly left the gambling den alone, leaving the vine strand on the gambling table as she went.

She manipulated the vines to flip the dice, allowing Shan Ziyi to win several more times before stopping.

She retrieved the thin vines and leaned against the wall outside the gambling den, listening intently to the sounds inside.

At this point, Shan Ziyi had already attracted the attention of the dealer.

"You brat who hasn't even grown a beard yet dares to cheat in front of me? I think you're tired of living!"

"I didn't!" Shan Ziyi retorted. "I drew all the numbers myself. If you accuse me of cheating, you can produce evidence!"

"Evidence? My eyes are the evidence. More than ten rounds in a row, and every time it's either a five or a six. Do you think I'm blind?! You son of a bitch, you're a scholar who doesn't study properly but is full of tricks!"

"I didn't...it wasn't me..."

Dan Ziyi was flustered and at a loss by this sudden change. Suddenly he thought of his relative surnamed Dan and hurriedly searched for him in the crowd, but none of the faces were that of the young man surnamed Dan.

In his panic, he called out the other person's name: "Shan Nilian! Shan Nilian! Where is he? Come out here!"

To the dealer and his bettors, this sounded like a provocation. The casino manager angrily stepped forward and slapped him, yelling, "Whose face did you slap? Huh? Whose face did you slap first?!"

Dan Ziyi was stunned by the slap, and only then did he realize that he had been tricked.

A surge of rage rose within him, and he wanted to rush out to settle scores with that person, but he was blocked by a group of burly men wielding sticks, leaving him unable to move forward or backward.

The man he was betting against sneered, "Manager Fang, I'm a regular at your gambling den, and this time I've not only been tricked but also humiliated. How do you suggest we resolve this?"

The gambling den manager said with a fawning smile, "Third Master Qiao, our gambling den has its own rules. Anyone caught cheating will have one hand chopped off. What do you think..."

Upon hearing this, Shan Ziyi broke out in a cold sweat, his legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

"No, no, you can't chop off my hand! I was tricked! That kid who came with me, he's the one who got me to gamble. He won halfway through and then ran off. He must have cheated! It must be him! Go and catch him! Hurry!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs, but no one was moved.

Every gambling table has a dealer, and Shan Ziyi's table was no exception.

At this moment, the man spoke up: "You mean that twelve or thirteen-year-old kid? He didn't even touch your dice cup. He only bet on you a few times from beginning to end. Do you mean he can cheat remotely? Even the world's top gambling masters can't do that. Who do you think that kid can do? Who are you trying to fool!"

Dan Ziyi roared, "What about me? I don't cheat at all, yet you're slandering me out of thin air..."

A fierce-looking man stepped forward and kicked him, knocking him to the ground. "Who slandered you?! Our officers can tell whether you've cheated or not with just one look!"

The man, whom the steward called Third Master Qiao, said impatiently, "Alright, chop off one of his fingers, give me a hundred taels of silver, and we'll call it a day."

Manager Fang immediately agreed. He gave his subordinate a wink, and soon his subordinate brought a written IOU and red ink to Shan Ziyi.

"Press your handprint, leave a finger, and you can leave."

Dan Ziyi was so angry that he trembled all over. He lay on the ground and felt dizzy. Even so, he still saw the words "Owes two hundred taels of silver" written in black and white on the paper. A surge of blood rushed to his head, and his vision went black. He fainted.

As Meng Fuqing left, he heard a scream coming from inside the gambling den.

This scream meant that Shan Ziyi's political career, which had not yet begun, had been cut short.

To participate in the imperial examinations, one needed to be of good appearance and without physical disabilities. Meng Fuqing used this to ruin his career and seize the inheritance they had stolen from his maternal grandfather, thus ending the matter.

Now that she had come to the county, Meng Fuqing did not intend to go back empty-handed. She bought some prepared food from a roadside stall and put it into her spatial storage. She went back and found the mule cart. She drove the mule cart leisurely through the streets, sweeping through every place she passed.

She had prepared enough things at home, so she planned to only take back some vegetables and meat, and store the rest in her spatial storage.

In winter, chicks and ducklings are rarely seen, so Meng Fuqing could only buy two chickens and two ducks, one male and one female, and put them in her space, hoping that they would work hard to lay eggs and then hatch more chickens, so that she would never have to worry about not having chicken and duck eggs and meat to eat.

She had just left the county town after shopping when it got dark. She packed up what she had bought, took out the fabric she had found and put it in the car, and started to speed up her journey home.

With half the journey remaining and no one else on the road, she put the mule cart into her spatial storage, took out her motorcycle, fully armed, and sped home.

She got back into the mule cart when she was still some distance from the village.

The sudden movement, alternating between light and darkness, terrified the mule, which had been unable to reach the carrot. It kept making "ah~ ah~" noises, and when it was released, it puffed out air and took a bite of Meng Fuqing.

Meng Fuqing ignored it and continued driving towards the village entrance.

The figure waiting at the village entrance could still be seen from afar. Meng Fuqing smiled and gave the mule another jerk.

For some reason, Meng Fuqing always had to return from the county town in the dark. Shan Qiyu wondered if she should go with him next time, so that she wouldn't be unaware of any trouble that might happen.

As I was thinking, I heard the braying of a mule.

The mother and daughter exchanged a few words before driving their mules home together.

On the way, Shan Qiyu said, "Qingqing, I've thought it through. Our village has been really good to us. We should cut ties with those relatives who don't like us. I'm going to go to town tomorrow to talk to that family and make things clear. We should all go our own way and not hold grudges against each other, so they won't cause trouble every now and then and make our lives miserable."

Meng Fuqing nodded: "Mother is right, but let's wait a few days before going."

She was worried that if Shan Qiyu went there at this time, he would be extorted again.