epare to face the unknown disaster on their own. The disappearance of the Supreme Sovereign was the greatest event under heaven and earth. While the rulers of the Yin and Yang and the Five Elements Palaces searched everywhere for him, the Fu family in West Village suddenly experienced an auspicious omen: a white caterpillar crawled into the mouth of the pregnant Mrs. Fu.

This strange occurrence alarmed Mrs. Liu, who was taking care of the birth, and the midwife Aunt Sanjiu. Their exclamations caught the attention of Secretary Liu waiting outside the delivery room. He pushed open the door, only to be playfully scolded and pushed back by Mrs. Liu with her large belly. 

"It's not the right time for this kind of behavior, but here you are," Secretary Liu complained as he was forced back outside.

"Is a delivery room any place for men?" retorted Mrs. Liu, giving him a glare.

"Is she not our family? As her uncle, why can't I be here?" Secretary Liu protested weakly, struggling to maintain his dignity.

"Relax, with them here, there's nothing to worry about," Secretary Fu said, taking a deep drag on his cigarette and casting a glance into the delivery room. In East and West Villages, there was a custom that men entering a delivery room would bring bad luck.

"What's there to ensure? If it's a boy, he's mine!" Secretary Liu yelled back with a grimace.

"And why would having a boy make him yours?" Secretary Fu chuckled helplessly. He and Secretary Liu were childhood friends who shared everything, even their ambitions. Fu became the secretary of the West Village, and Liu followed as the secretary of the East Village.

Their rivalry had propelled both villages into modern prosperity. Liu, being Fu's brother-in-law, frequently visited, with the river being the only divide between their homes.

"It's a boy!" The cry came as a loud infant wail united Secretaries Liu and Fu in a tight embrace. "He's mine!" "Deal!" "If I have a daughter, she's yours!" "No problem!" "You're too fake," Liu commented as he walked away.

Eighteen Years Later

"Husband, can you stop pacing? You're making me dizzy. So what if the east bought a car? You can go get one tomorrow," Mrs. Fu said, wiping down the table. Despite being over fifty, she retained an elegant, noble demeanor in simple, clean clothing.

"Do I seem like the competitive type? I'm just wondering, is he driving himself, or did he hire a driver?" Secretary Fu muttered, pacing and smoking.

"Didn't you ask him during your morning fishing?" she replied. Morning fishing involved both families fishing from their respective balconies across a five-meter-wide river.

The balconies also displayed their honors, and every morning, the two men would rise at dawn to fish without bait before going about their day, a tradition they c

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