Chapter 64 The Proper Young Master

Wu Peng tidied the yard, Yao Fanghua tidied the house, and the third brother circled around Yao Fanghua, following her everywhere.

After washing up, I put the clothes I had changed out of into the washing machine.

As the sun set, the two carried their things to the tenement courtyard. Behind them followed Lao San, who clung to Yao Fanghua's trouser leg, determined to follow them out.

It was right around the time people were leaving get off work, and Li Chunying's steamed bun stall was thriving.

The two of them decided to have dinner there.

Yao Fanghua and Wu Peng sat head to head at the stone table, eating porridge and steamed buns, with a large dog squatting beside them. The third dog nudged Yao Fanghua with its head, whimpered, and then looked at her with a pitiful expression.

Seeing Yao Fanghua stuff a steamed bun into the dog's mouth, Li Chunying's brow twitched. Thank goodness parading people through the streets wasn't common anymore. She remembered seeing someone so pampered with their cat, only to be rushed up by people shouting slogans and paraded through the streets. Those people were shouting "class enemy!" and charging like they were on a battlefield. It was chilling. She had pressed herself tightly against the wall, terrified. She thought, "Those people are truly heartless, like they've gone mad."

She thought, so keeping a cat is wrong, it makes people uncomfortable, it's wasteful, but why does it have to be this bad?

Li Chunying snapped out of her daze; public parades weren't common anymore. She glanced around, feeling relieved. "What are you looking at? Why are you frowning? What are you pointing at? Are you trying to ruin your family's fortune?! It's none of your business!" Remembering Zhang Jie's teachings about making money through harmony, Li Chunying cursed inwardly, a smile still on her face.

Li Chunying was busy picking up steamed buns for customers, but even if she wasn't busy, she knew it was pointless to interfere or say anything. What a waste! Who feeds a dog steamed buns? What a waste! Don't think she didn't know Yao Weimin had been secretly feeding the dog steamed buns. She'd just had Yao Weimin take them back, and now the dog was back again. It was good enough that it wasn't allowed to fend for itself outside; feeding it leftovers, pot wash water, and vegetable scraps was already a favor. Who raises a dog like this? It'd be better to raise a pig! No wonder the dog was so close to Hua Hua; if she were a dog, she'd be close too if someone fed her like that! Out of sight, out of mind, Li Chunying turned her head away and continued smiling as she collected money and sold steamed buns.

People around them turned their heads to look, and some even started pointing and whispering.

Yao Fanghua sped up her eating and urged Wu Peng to finish quickly.

Wu Peng shook his head helplessly. "If you see dogs eating steamed buns like this, you'd be spitting blood if you saw the extravagance of the people in Gangcheng."

In the past, he would have eaten even more slowly. But he wouldn't indulge them like that.

Now, well, he's a boss, someone who's seen the world. Fine, I'll listen to Hua Hua.

There's an idiom, something like, "To beat a mouse is to risk ruining something good." Right, in Wu Peng's eyes, these people pointing and whispering were like mice. He and Hua Hua were precious people now, and he wouldn't stoop to their level or get entangled with them. For someone as precious as him, getting involved with them would only result in him suffering losses.

After a quick meal and putting their things down, they went back to the tenement to visit the old man, and gave Director Yu some tea and pastries before returning to Yao Fanghua's place.

Wu Peng lingered until after 8 PM before finally being kicked out. Sigh, what a heartless person! No matter how much he pleaded and acted pitiful, he couldn't stay. He didn't really want to do anything; he could sleep in the living room or the study. He really didn't want to go back to his cold, empty home, the cold stove, the cold bed—just thinking about it made him feel pathetic.

In the courtyard, Li Chunying packed up her stall and went home. She was excitedly showing off her new shoes and clothes to Aunt Zhong. "How can I wear these out? They're too eye-catching. I'm so old, how can I be embarrassed to wear them?"

Aunt Zhong glanced at the Yu family's side and said, "What's there to be embarrassed about? You're not fat at all, you'll look great in a skirt. It's not like we haven't seen other people wear them before, so hurry up."

Aunt Zhong pushed her into the house and urged her to quickly change into a dress and come out to show her.

Li Chunying changed into a new dress and new leather shoes, showing them off in the yard, and even twirled around as Aunt Zhong had instructed. After trying on a dark red cheongsam, she changed into a blue floral dress…

With Zhang Xiuxiu added to the mix, the entire courtyard was filled with the laughter and chatter of the three of them. Both of them had received pastries from Hong Kong from Li Chunying, and now they were praising Li Chunying with equal fervor.

Fang Guizhi stared at Li Chunying showing off for a long time with disdainful eyes and nose, then closed the doors and windows and lay on the bed to gather her energy.

Bai Hui, engrossed in her sewing machine, pretended not to hear. She looked down on Li Chunying's behavior. Superficial and vulgar! Arrogant and uncouth after achieving a little success—how crude!

But she couldn't resist her man watching with great interest through the window. Bai Hui's fingernails dug into her palms, and she unconsciously increased the force with which she pressed the sewing machine.

Wu Peng didn't sleep for half the night after returning home. He tidied up the books and calligraphy in the house. The books were left by his grandfather, and the calligraphy and paintings were his grandfather's posthumous works. There were also some porcelain pieces, which were not very old and not of much value. But a few were particularly beautiful and could be used as vases.

He loaded all the items into his tricycle and planned to deliver them to Hua Hua's place tomorrow, leaving her to manage their storage. His home now felt even more desolate and empty.

The next morning, Wu Peng knocked on the door.

Yao Fanghua rushed off to work, while he stayed home with his third brother.

The day after tomorrow, the two set off early in the morning, heading towards Wu Peng's hometown.

After changing buses twice, I finally got on a tractor to go back to the village.

"Are you really from Brother Tian's family? That second son?"

This man wasn't much older than Wu Peng, but the "Brother Tian" he mentioned was Wu Peng's grandfather.

"Yes." He just couldn't bring himself to say "Grandpa Hai."

Wu Hai was on official business; the village chief sent him and the village accountant to the county to purchase woven bags and farm tools.

With the wheat harvest approaching, and given that their village had started contracting out farm work to individual households last year, many families were short of farming tools and woven bags for harvesting wheat. So, the village chief asked everyone to report their needs, and the village would purchase them collectively. Of course, it was made clear upfront that each household would have to pay for these things themselves; those who didn't have the money would send it to their account first, and then pay with grain after the wheat harvest.

Wu Hai needed to urinate, so he went to the bus station to relieve himself. As he came out, he overheard this young man asking about buses to Wu Family Village. The man was dressed smartly, and there was a pretty woman standing next to him. Wu Hai went up to ask him. The young man actually said he was from Wu Family Village, from Wu Tian's family.

Huh? He does look a bit like his brother. This kid, on the other hand, looks more like his grandfather.

After receiving another positive reply, Wu Hai let the two of them get on the tractor.

"I knew you looked kind. When were you released?"

Wu Peng raised an eyebrow. Had news of his imprisonment reached the village? Bad news really does travel fast.

The tractor sputtered along, and Wu Hai shouted at Wu Peng, "Why did you come alone? Where's your brother?"

Wu Peng's brow twitched. Judging from the tone, Wu Peng had a feeling that this Grandpa Hai might have seen his brother before.

Wu Peng remained calm and said, "He had something to do, so I came by myself."

"oh."

"My house? Now?" Wu Peng wanted to find out who was currently occupying his house.

"Everything's fine, the village chief is taking care of things. Don't worry, your brother has already asked the village chief for help, so he'll make sure no one tries to sabotage it." He knew his brother had given the village chief some wine. As for whether he'd received a bribe, he didn't know.

Wu Peng had a bad feeling. His expression was gloomy, and he remained silent for a moment.

"Uncle Hai, do you know I'm in jail?"

"Hey, didn't your brother come back two years ago to ask for the ancestral home? The village chief just casually asked, wondering why you brothers hadn't come back together to visit, and that's how he found out you were in jail."

Speculation and profiteering are not serious crimes. Nowadays, you would get away with it and only be unlucky.

It's alright, everyone knows you didn't commit any heinous crime.

Wu Peng's face turned cold. Wu Kun had returned two years ago and had taken back the ancestral home.

During the years he was in prison, Wu Kun never visited him once. Of course, the brothers were only superficially close; he didn't care whether Wu Kun visited him or not.

But they took back the ancestral home without even telling him. Ha, since when did he become the one making decisions for the Wu family!

Outsiders all know that the Wu family has two brothers, but few people know that his older brother was born to his father and another woman.

Even though his grandfather later became more open-minded, he never truly respected Wu Kun. In the Wu family, he was the legitimate heir and the proper young master.