Chapter 198 Relatives

Zhou Xiye frowned as he looked at Shang Xingzhou running up to him. He understood that Shang Shiyi had sent Shang Xingzhou because the other family was already doomed and had no strength left to even put up a fight, let alone retaliate.

I still asked, "Why did you come here?"

Shang Xingzhou couldn't contain his excitement: "Brother-in-law, my dad came here to work, and I came to stay with my mom. I happened to have some free time today, so I came to see you and my sister."

Zhou Xiye glanced at Shang Xingzhou; he seemed quite familiar with him.

Jiang Zhizhi pushed the cart over, smiling, "Shang Xingzhou said he'll stay at our house for two days."

Zhou Xiye naturally had no objection. After all, Shang Xingzhou was his brother-in-law, so it was only right that he stay at his house. He nodded and said, "Let's go home first."

Shang Xingzhou walked beside Zhou Xiye, turning his head to look around repeatedly: "Brother-in-law, your family compound is so big! I see there are still a lot of bungalows over there. Is Xiangshan Mountain behind it? Brother-in-law, shall we go hiking tomorrow?"

Zhou Xiye sighed, “I’m not that free. If you want to go hiking, wait until the sun comes out and the fog clears tomorrow.”

Shang Xingzhou was about to nod when he remembered something and quickly shook his head: "No, I have something to do tomorrow."

Jiang Zhizhi asked curiously, "What could possibly happen to you? Haven't you already caused trouble? Why are you still running around like this?"

Shang Xingzhou nodded with a serious expression: "Yes, I have something very important to do."

As they approached their house, Li Yuanchao rode out on his bicycle. Seeing Jiang Zhizhi in the distance, he called out excitedly, "Zhizhi, Zhizhi, you're back!"

Then he greeted Zhou Xiye: "Brother Zhou, you're back too."

Zhou Xiye had gotten used to the fact that Jiang Zhizhi's friends only had eyes for her. He nodded slightly: "Going out so late?"

Li Yuanchao shook his head: "No, we have guests at home, and my dad asked me to go buy some wine."

After saying that, he stepped on the ground and brought the bicycle closer to Jiang Zhizhi: "Zhizhi, do you have time on Saturday? Let's go ice skating at Glasses Lake, and then have steamed buns at the cafeteria for lunch. The cafeteria has tofu and vermicelli steamed buns on Saturdays, they're so delicious."

He added at the end, "It used to be your favorite food."

Jiang Zhizhi was both amused and exasperated: "I'm afraid that won't work. I have to go to class, and I only get a day off on Sunday."

Li Yuanchao exclaimed, "Then let's go on Sunday. But the canteen serves coarse grain buns and pickled vegetables on Sundays, and the food isn't very good."

Jiang Zhizhi couldn't help but laugh: "Then let's skip dinner and go ice skating."

Li Yuanchao was delighted: "Okay, we'll come find you at nine o'clock on Sunday morning. You guys go ahead with your work, Brother Zhou, I'll be going now."

After saying that, he rode off on his bicycle.

Shang Xingzhou had been watching Li Yuanchao ever since he appeared. After Li Yuanchao walked away, he turned around and looked at him again before going around to Jiang Zhizhi's side: "Sister, are you and him very close?"

Jiang Zhizhi nodded: "Yes, we all grew up in the same compound, so we must have a good relationship."

Shang Xingzhou fell silent, then muttered very softly, "I wish I had been in this compound when I was a child."

Jiang Zhizhi sensed a hint of sourness in his words and patted him on the shoulder with a smile: "You can come and play often in the future. Besides, you've been staying at my house, but they've never stayed at my house."

Upon hearing this, Shang Xingzhou became happy again, his eyebrows raised in a smile.

Watching from the side, Zhou Xiye couldn't help but sigh inwardly. These two siblings were truly inseparable; their emotions were often the same, coming and going quickly.

...

Fang Hua saw that Zhou Xiye and Jiang Zhizhi had brought back a guest, a pretty and polite child.

After learning their names, he didn't ask any more questions and called the three of them to wash their hands and eat.

Shang Xingzhou had a sweet tongue; during the meal, he kept praising Fang Hua: "Auntie, your spicy tofu is really delicious."

"This pickled radish is also delicious."

Fang Hua laughed and said, "It's just a simple home-cooked meal. Look at what you're saying. I didn't know we had guests. Otherwise, I would have bought some meat and made dumplings."

Shang Xingzhou smiled brightly: "Auntie, it's alright, we can have dumplings tomorrow, I'm not leaving."

Fang Hua was stunned. She thought the child had just come back with Jiang Zhizhi and the others to have a meal. She didn't expect the child to stay overnight. She turned her head and looked at Zhou Xiye with a question in her eyes.

Zhou Xiye nodded: "Yes, he'll stay at our house for two days."

Shang Xingzhou put down his chopsticks, took out a handful of bills and money from his pocket, and placed them in front of Fang Hua: "Auntie, I can pay for the meals."

Fang Hua was both amused and exasperated: "I don't need your meal ticket, just stay here."

Shang Xingzhou insisted that Fang Hua accept the meal ticket: "My mother said we can't trouble others and make them spend money."

Jiang Zhizhi glanced at Zhou Xiye and had a feeling that Bian Suxi had deliberately arranged for Shang Xingzhou to come.

After dinner, Shang Xingzhou insisted on washing the dishes, saying, "I'll do it, I'll do it. I do all these chores at home."

Fang Hua was surprised. Looking at Shang Xingzhou, who was fair-skinned, clean-cut, sunny, and cheerful, he never expected that Shang Xingzhou would do housework.

She was quite adept at washing dishes and tidying up the kitchen.

Fang Hua called Zhou Xiye upstairs to tidy up his old bedroom so that Shang Xingzhou could stay there that night.

Jiang Zhizhi leaned against the kitchen door, watching Shang Xingzhou roll up his sleeves and wash the dishes. He was very skilled at it, and it was obvious that he had done a lot of housework at home. "I thought you were the only young master of the Shang family and wouldn't know how to do these chores."

Shang Xingzhou turned his head and glared at him: "What are you talking about? I know how to do this little thing. My mother is in poor health and doesn't like having outsiders at home, so I've had to do housework since I was little."

When he was only five years old, the old merchant made him learn to buy vegetables, soy sauce and vinegar, and then come back and chop vegetables while standing on a stool.

Old Shang said he wanted to be a man and protect his mother.

Jiang Zhizhi smiled and said that Shang Shiyi and Bian Suxi had done a good job educating Shang Xingzhou.

...

Fang Hua and Zhou Xiye went upstairs and changed the bedding on the bed. While making the bed, Fang Hua asked Zhou Xiye, who was tidying up the table, "What does Shang Xingzhou's family do? He doesn't seem like an ordinary family's child. He's very well-mannered and speaks eloquently."

Zhou Xiye didn't hide it: "He's Shang Shiyi's son."

Fang Hua sat up in shock: "Shang Shiyi's son?! Isn't that Shang Shiying's nephew and Li Yuanchao's cousin?"

Zhou Xiye nodded: "Yes."

Fang Hua frowned: "Does he not know that Shang Shiying is his aunt? Shang Shiyi is the same. He had a falling out with his sister back then, and after all these years, they really haven't had any contact."

Zhou Xiye remained silent. It wasn't appropriate for Fang Hua to know about Jiang Zhizhi's relationship with Shang Xingzhou.

Fang Hua became curious again: "Who did Shang Shiyi end up marrying? I overheard something from Shang Shiying's words before. It turned out that Shang Shiyi and she had a falling out because she didn't approve of the person Shang Shiyi was dating, but she didn't say the specifics."

Before Zhou Xiye could speak, a loud crash came from downstairs—the sound of bowls and plates shattering on the ground…