Chapter 63 Let's think about it again.

Zhang Xiuying glared at her money-grubbing eldest daughter-in-law, then smiled and said to Shen Yi, "Alright, I'll listen to my daughter. She's agreed, so we old folks naturally have no objections."

Shen Yi immediately raised his wine glass and solemnly toasted the two elders: "Thank you both for your kindness! I will go to the city to prepare the betrothal gifts later. No matter how tight the time is, I will never wrong Zhixia!"

Seeing his sincere and responsible demeanor, Zhang Xiuying and Liu Shouren finally felt completely relieved.

Zhang Xiuying picked up her wine glass and drank it all in one gulp: "Good! With you saying that, we can entrust our daughter to you with peace of mind!"

After lunch, Shen Yi and Xu Zhigang hurriedly prepared to enter the city.

"Wait a minute!" Liu Zhixia called out to them.

Shen Yi immediately turned around: "What's wrong? Do you need anything?"

“No,” Liu Zhixia looked at him and cautiously advised, “Gu Mansheng and Lu Huaiyuan’s situation is still undecided, and I’m afraid it might cause complications. Let’s not announce our marriage yet; we can wait until the banquet to announce it.”

Shen Yi looked at her strategizing and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll listen to my wife."

Liu Zhixia's cheeks flushed slightly: "Go ahead, be careful on the way."

Watching the two figures leave, Liu Zhixia's lips curled into a sweet smile.

Inside the house, Zhang Xiuying was happily counting the betrothal gifts that Shen Yi had sent.

"Don't let their youth fool you, these two young men are very capable and courteous."

Shen Hongmei watched with envy and couldn't help but sigh, "This is even more than when the second son gave his betrothal gifts! It seems this future brother-in-law's family is quite wealthy! That dowry..."

"As long as my daughter can live a good life, all these things are secondary." Although Zhang Xiuying said this, she couldn't hide the smile on her face.

Shen Hongmei immediately took Liu Zhixia's arm affectionately: "Good little sister, when you go to the city to enjoy the good life, don't forget about us!"

Liu Zhixia glanced at her and teased, "How could I forget? Weren't we going to hand over the pickled vegetable business to you?"

"Really...really?" Shen Hongmei's eyes lit up instantly!

"I've left with the army, so I naturally can't continue this business. If I don't hand it over to you, who will?"

“But…” Shen Hongmei became anxious again, “You’ve handled everything – the formula, the distribution channels – we don’t know anything about it!”

"It's not like I'm leaving right away. I'll take my time to arrange everything."

Zhang Xiuying slapped her forehead: "Right, we need to call the second brother and the others back and discuss this properly."

Liu Xiangyang immediately stood up: "Then I'll go to the city to inform them."

“Hey, hey, hey,” Shen Hongmei quickly pulled her husband back, then said to Zhang Xiuying with a smile, “Mother, the second son and his family are so busy in the city, how could they have time to do this business?”

Zhang Xiuying snorted coldly, seeing through her little scheme at a glance: "This business was put forward by my daughter for the Liu family, and the second son is also a member of the Liu family! Don't even think about taking it all for yourself, and don't even think about bringing your family members in!"

Caught off guard, Shen Hongmei was somewhat embarrassed and tried to argue, "Mother, what are you saying? I was just thinking that many hands make light work, and we can earn more..."

Seeing that Zhang Xiuying was about to lose her temper again, Liu Zhixia calmly spoke up:

"Sister-in-law, aren't you afraid that bringing so many people will expose our business? Besides, there's only so much food. No matter how many people you bring, the output won't increase. We're already doing well just to maintain the orders from the timber mill."

Liu Xiangyang immediately chimed in, "That's right! This business is all about keeping it secret, the fewer people who know, the better! Honey, don't cause trouble! If the business falls through, none of us will earn a single penny!"

Shen Hongmei was rendered speechless by the siblings' back-and-forth banter, and could only mutter sullenly, "I just feel that we did all the work, so the second brother and his siblings are just here to reap the benefits..."

“How could it be like taking advantage of someone else?” Liu Zhixia retorted, her tone calm yet powerful. “This big deal at the timber factory was facilitated by my second brother and sister-in-law, wasn’t it? They have a wider network in the city than we do, and they can bring us more customers. We don’t have that kind of advantage in the village.”

“Exactly!” Zhang Xiuying chimed in. “Without our second brother, do you think those hundreds of jars of pickled vegetables could have been sold? If they hadn’t spread the word about the pickled vegetables in the factory, we wouldn’t have had this good fortune today.”

At this point, Shen Hongmei was completely speechless.

Seeing this, Liu Xiangyang pulled his wife up and said, "Alright, let's go to the city now and tell the second brother about our little sister's good news. Let them come back for the wedding banquet the day after tomorrow."

The two had just reached the door when they ran into Aunt Zhou, who was entering the courtyard.

"The Liu family!" Aunt Zhou's voice preceded her arrival. "I heard you came back halfway through your work in the fields today. Did something happen?"

Shen Hongmei turned around and said with a smug smile, "Auntie, don't worry, it's a fantastic thing!"

"Hurry up and go!" Zhang Xiuying urged from inside the house. "If we delay any longer, it will be dark!"

The young couple then hurriedly went out the door.

Aunt Zhou looked at the things in the yard that hadn't been tidied up yet with a puzzled expression. When she saw the sugar, cloth, pork, and flour on the table, her face instantly darkened.

Anyone with experience can tell at a glance that this is a betrothal gift!

Both of Liu's sons are married, and Liu Xuejun is focused on his studies, so these things... can only be given to Liu Zhixia!

Aunt Zhou's gaze fell sharply on Liu Zhixia.

Liu Zhixia smiled calmly and replied, "Auntie, what brings you here today? Is the Lu family still having a headache over Lu Huaiyuan's matter?"

"Huaiyuan and Gu Zhiqing's marriage is settled, the ceremony will be held the day after tomorrow." Aunt Zhou forced a smile and replied, then immediately steered the conversation back on track, "But what about your family? All these things on the table... is there some happy occasion?"

Liu Zhixia replied succinctly, “There have been a lot of things going on at home lately, so I’m planning to invite my second brother and sister-in-law back for a meal. As you know, they’re usually very busy and rarely come back.”

Why did they specifically call their second son back from the city when it wasn't a holiday?

Aunt Zhou's heart sank. It seemed that Liu Zhixia's marriage was really settled!

But they were unwilling to talk about it, clearly because they were wary of me.

She looked at Zhang Xiuying with unwavering determination and forced herself to persuade her, "Sister, why don't you reconsider the matter of the child? There are plenty of excellent boys out there!"

Her son, Kai, has just been promoted to battalion commander. He has a bright future ahead of him and is definitely better than these peasants in the village, right?

Zhang Xiuying naturally understood her unspoken meaning and felt sorry for her. She could only sigh regretfully, "Sister Zhou, you know that my daughter and Lu Jianping's family have already fallen out. Even if they become relatives in the future, they will see each other all the time, and it won't be easy for them to get along."

Aunt Zhou felt a pang of regret.

If she had known this would happen, she should have acted decisively yesterday and gone to propose marriage with the gifts!

Now look what's happened, someone else beat us to it!