"Here I am!"

Chen Mai confidently pushed his bicycle out of the yard.

Xu Weiguo and the others followed them out, wanting to see how they operated.

Chen Liang skillfully climbed onto the crossbar in front of the bicycle, then Chen Mai stepped onto the pedal with one foot, slid forward a few steps, and smoothly stepped over the bicycle with the other foot.

He rode quite steadily, but because Chen Mai's legs weren't long enough, he had to stand up to ride the bicycle. When he rode, his buttocks swayed back and forth, which was quite rhythmic.

"Okay, he did ride quite steadily, but it must be tiring for him to ride like that, having to stand the whole time."

"It's okay, it's better than walking. And consider it exercise."

Xu Fang had thought it through and said to Xu Weiguo, "Brother, I've made up my mind. I'm going to go and ask Mom and Dad for clarification."

Are you sure you want to go?

"Yes, I want to go!"

Seeing Xu Fang's resolute gaze, Xu Weiguo didn't say anything more. Whether or not to ask for clarification was a decision only Xu Fang could make; they weren't involved, and there was no need for them to interfere with her decision.

"Since you've made up your mind, let's go find them and ask them for clarification after we finish eating."

...

After lunch, Xu Weiguo took Xu Fang to find Grandma Xu and the others.

Xu Hongxia originally wanted to go too, but Zhang Yumei told her to stay home and watch over Chen Mai and Chen Ming, and wouldn't let her go.

Xu Hongxia initially refused, but Zhang Yumei said, "If you take good care of your two younger brothers at home, I'll give you an extra dollar for pocket money. Do you want to come with us now, or stay at home?"

"I'll stay home and look after my younger brothers!"

If Xu Hongxia hesitated even for a second, it would be disrespectful to the money. It wasn't about the money; she just preferred staying at home.

After seeing Zhang Yumei and the others leave, Xu Hongxia waved the one yuan she had just received and said generously, "Come on, I'll treat you to popsicles!"

Chen Mai asked hesitantly, "But didn't my aunt just tell us to stay home obediently? Is it okay if we go out?"

"It's okay, we just bought some popsicles at the supply and marketing cooperative and came right back. It's fine. Let's go, let's go!"

Xu Hongxia said there was no problem at all; Zhang Yumei just didn't want them to come along. As long as her two younger brothers were safe, it wouldn't matter if they went out for a while.

......

Chen Ermei opened the door and found Xu Weiguo and his family there, which she found strange. She had been married into the family for over two months and roughly knew that the two families had fallen out.

So why did Xu Weiguo suddenly come over?

Grandma Xu saw that Chen Ermei was dawdling over opening the door, so she simply walked over.

"Why are you dawdling like that?! Who's knocking? Let them in if you know them, and kick them out if you don't!"

Grandma Xu really disliked her granddaughter-in-law. She wasn't good-looking, and she wasn't very bright. Moreover, she always felt that Chen Ermei was incompetent at housework and was always thinking about food.

Grandma Xu shoved her impatiently: "Get out of the way, what are you doing standing here!"

Then she saw Xu Weiguo, Zhang Yumei, and a man she didn't recognize. Grandma Xu got angry when she saw them and was about to scold Xu Weiguo when she saw him move.

Xu Weiguo took two steps to the side, exposing Xu Fang behind him to Grandma Xu.

When Grandma Xu saw Xu Fang, her pupils dilated instantly, and she froze on the spot.

Seeing Grandma Xu's expression, Xu Fang knew she recognized her and called out with a cold laugh, "Mom, do you still recognize me?"

Hearing Xu Fang call her name, Grandma Xu could no longer contain herself and screamed, "A ghost!"

Then she suddenly fainted. Seeing Grandma Xu suddenly collapse, Xu Weiguo instinctively caught her. Then he seemed a little lost.

Xu Fang and the others hadn't expected Grandma Xu to faint from fright, and they didn't know what to do next.

Zhang Yumei felt a bit of a headache. Xu Weiguo had instinctively reached out to catch Grandma Xu, and after realizing that she had indeed fainted, she was now very worried about her condition.

Zhang Yumei had always known that Xu Weiguo was very upset about the family division. If they hadn't gone too far back then, and she hadn't been unwilling to compromise, they might not have divided the family even now.

Even years after the family split, the two families still maintained contact. Just the fact that Xu Weiguo was able to keep the fact that he had severed ties with them a secret for over a decade shows that he still had feelings for Grandma Xu and the others.

Zhang Yumei doesn't even know if coming to them was the right or wrong thing to do. She was too naive; she completely forgot that Xu Weiguo is most easily swayed and easily coaxed by Grandma Xu.

She should have waited until Xu Junhui was home too, and then come over with them. Zhang Yumei recalled the two sentences Xu Weiguo had said most often since she married him.

One sentence is: My mom doesn't have any bad intentions, she just has a bit of a temper. It wasn't easy for her to raise me, so please be a little more tolerant.

Another thing he said was: "We're all brothers, there's no need to be so calculating about money. Being too calculating makes it hard to get along." I believe that if Weimin had a salary, he wouldn't be so calculating with us either.

Zhang Yumei felt that she had forgotten all the lessons she had learned after a few years of good life. She didn't know if it was too late to take Xu Weiguo away now.

It was obviously too late, because Xu Weimin had already come out with Grandpa Xu and the others.

Grandpa Xu angrily questioned, "You unfilial son! What have you done?! You actually made your mother faint!"

"Your mother worked so hard to give birth to you and raise you, and you're not only unfilial, but you even came here specifically to upset her!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yumei felt a wave of dizziness. She could already predict what Xu Weiguo would do; he would definitely apologize first.

Sure enough, the next second we heard Xu Weiguo admit his mistake.

Xu Weiguo said with shame, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to upset Mom."

"It wasn't intentional, but it's already made your mother faint! If you did it on purpose, were you going to kill us?"

Zhang Yumei felt as if everything was going black.

Xu Fang: ? ? ?

No, Xu Fang was stunned. Why was Xu Weiguo apologizing?! He hadn't done anything wrong. Since they arrived, she was the only one who had called him "Mom." Why was he apologizing?!

Xu Fang sensed something was wrong and quickly interrupted, "Brother, why are you apologizing? We didn't do anything wrong!"

"Dad, Third Brother, do you still recognize me?"

Grandpa Xu and Xu Weimin were better mentally than Grandma Xu. Although they were shocked, they quickly composed themselves.

A shadow crossed Xu Weimin's eyes. Back when they went to the police station to inquire, they were told that Xu Fang had already passed away. Why was she suddenly appearing here now?!