My Whole Family Is the Foil in a Period Drama

(This is not a wish-fulfillment novel. If you like wish-fulfillment stories or strong female leads, please don't read this.) The two handsomest young men in Fenghe Brigade married two beautiful, educated young women from the city at the same time, making it a major talking point in the village. People in the brigade often brought the two men up for comparison. One had both parents, many siblings, and was hardworking and capable; the other had both parents, no brothers, and two older sisters, and was lazy and sly. The first man's surname was one that often appeared in novels. His full name was Fu Yu, a name that practically screamed domineering CEO in a romance. The second man's surname was utterly ordinary, one you'd have to search through the list of the hundred family surnames to find. His name was Ning Yanli. Though his name included the character for “propriety,” his behavior had nothing to do with it. Everyone in the village agreed that the Fu family would enjoy better and better days, while the Ning family would fare worse and worse. That was because people generally believed that hard work brought wealth, and the Fu siblings could support one another. Years later, however, the outcome was very different from what the villagers had expected.