No, why does fate always play tricks on her whenever she tries to ingratiate herself with Lord Shen?

Before Master Shen could get angry, Zhan Xinjia grabbed him and started yo-yoing. As she ran, the group of bewildered beggars chased after her, banging their broken bowls.

"Boss!!"

"Holy crap, boss, wait a minute!!!"

Unable to bear it any longer, Zhan Xinjia gritted her teeth, turned around and angrily rebuked them.

"Get out!! All of you, get out!!!"

I'll scatter all your ashes later. You have no sense at all, you're a disgrace to her!

She dragged Master Shen all the way to the gate of the dilapidated courtyard she had bought before she finally managed to shake off the group of beggars. Even Zhan Xinjia was exhausted from running all the way, let alone the already frail Shen Suqing.

The two of them had to support themselves on their knees for a long time before they could catch their breath.

Looking up at the house in front of him, Shen Suqing's pupils constricted in shock, and his eyes twitched almost imperceptibly.

Although he had indeed mentally prepared himself for the house Ah Zhi bought to be shabby, he never expected that this unidentified building could actually be called a house...

If he hadn't been told, he would have thought it was someone's abandoned grave.

A courtyard enclosed by wet red mud, overgrown with weeds, the tallest of which were almost knee-high. Two cave-like structures stood in the center of the courtyard, their doors and windows clearly handmade, some even covered with only two layers of paper.

Just by standing at the gate of the courtyard, he was covered in two layers of dust.

Zhan Xinjia was clearly already used to it. She skillfully brushed the dust off her shoulders and took out her keys to open the door.

As soon as the key was inserted, there was a loud "snap," and the two wooden doors, which were even more rotten than the coffin boards that had been buried in a mass grave for over ten years, crashed to the ground and split open.

Zhan Xinjia: "..."

Zhan Xinjia: "Haha, Wogan! Maybe the door is a bit worn out because I haven't been back for so long... Never mind, Master Shen, please go in and sit down and rest for a while. I'll go pour you some tea!"

Shen Suqing walked in with a heavy heart.

Pushing open the paper door, the furniture and furnishings inside were even more indescribable, with a unique caveman-style atmosphere.

He even began to doubt whether it was really necessary to lock the door. To be honest, he felt that the furniture inside was so bad that no one would bother picking it up even if it were thrown on the street.

Of course, if these junk items can be called furniture...

Despite the physical and psychological discomfort caused by her obsessive-compulsive disorder, and in order not to make her child feel inferior or sad, Shen Suqing kept a straight face the whole time, trying her best to appear more easygoing and calm.

However, this composure soon crumbled...

He casually picked up a chair and sat down, but before he could even touch the seat, all four legs of the chair fell apart and instantly turned into a pile of indescribable rotten wood.

Shen Suqing: "..."

Zhan Xinjia: "..."

She gave an awkward, dry laugh. "Uh, why don't you switch seats?"

So Shen Suqing watched as the other chair he had brought over also crumbled into a pile of rotten wood.

After losing his fifth chair and acquiring five piles of rotten wood, Shen Suqing finally couldn't remain silent any longer.

His voice trembled slightly.

"...It's okay, I can stand."

The main problem is that there are no chairs in the room for him to sit on.

Zhan Xinjia was so embarrassed that she dug her toes into the ground. She screamed "Damn it!" in her heart but was helpless. She could only rack her brains to think of a way to make amends. After all, it was the first time she had brought Master Shen back to this house. She had to leave him with a good impression, right?

Thinking this, she poured him a cup of tea with great care.

Looking at the clay bowl with a chipped rim that the little girl handed him, and the layer of sand at the bottom, Chen Suqing fell silent again.

His hands were trembling as he held it.

She slowly raised her eyes, her tone filled with disbelief.

"Is this...are you sure it's safe for humans to drink?"

It's no exaggeration to say that any water you scoop up from any river right now would be cleaner and clearer than this cup of "tea".

Upon receiving the letter, Jia remained silent, only scratching her head repeatedly and giving an awkward, guilty laugh.

Shen Suqing sighed deeply in his heart, feeling helpless. Well, he couldn't let the child down no matter what.

Having made ample preparations, he was ready to face death and drink it all in one gulp. However, as soon as he raised the bowl, he watched helplessly as the clay bowl slowly melted into a lump of mud in his hand.

Then, it slipped through his fingers with a "plop" and left a muddy puddle on the ground.

The pupils of the eyes were filled with the sound of an earthquake.

Under the questioning gaze of Master Shen, Zhan Xinjia didn't dare to raise her head and stood there awkwardly, pretending to look down for something.

She swore that while her family's products weren't exactly high quality, they weren't this bad!

Why did they all break down suddenly after she brought someone she liked home, when they were working perfectly fine for the past few years?!

666, are you playing me?

Since she had already lost face beyond measure, Zhan Xinjia decided to give up entirely. She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, found a broom in the pile of rubble, and started sweeping the floor on the spot.

After all, people tend to pretend to be busy when they feel awkward.

While cleaning, she didn't forget to call out to Master Shen, who was standing in the wind and almost petrified.

"Haha... It's so sunny outside, but at least it's cool inside, and there's a place where we can find some shade."

As soon as she finished speaking, a gust of evil wind swept through, taking away the thatched roof of her house...

Zhan Xinjia: "..."

Shen Suqing: "..."

He closed his eyes.

I haven't felt this awkward in a long time. I feel so desperate. What should I say at this moment without hurting my child's self-esteem?

He tried his best to find the words to comfort her, but looking at the four walls that were left in front of him and the lump of mud left in his hand, he hesitated and hesitated again. He tried his best to learn everything, but he couldn't come up with a single word for a long time.

In the end, he just stood there stiffly and helplessly, afraid that he might make a rash move and break something else.

The young Grand Tutor even looked a little embarrassed.

Forget about him, Zhan Xinjia is practically broken.

She awkwardly put down the broom, raised her finger to tuck the stray hairs in front of her face behind her ear, and gave a forced smile.

"Um, Mr. Shen, please sit...stand for a while, have a drink...a little bit of the northwest wind. I'll go and get my roof back down. Don't worry, I'll be quick!!"

After saying this, Zhan Xinjia burst out of the door... leaving no trace.

She was really about to break down.

Holy crap, holy crap, God, I'm really going to fuck you! How can someone be so shameless?!

"Hey, Zhan family girl, out on the grass again?"

An elderly man from next door, walking his dog, smiled broadly as he passed by.

Zhan Xinjia felt a wave of dizziness and angrily grabbed the roof of her house and headed back. When she re-entered the house, she found Master Shen huddled weakly in a corner, silently facing a nest of rats the size of shoe soles.

Shen Suqing raised his hand to his forehead; he had a terrible headache.

"Ah Zhi... have you considered moving? Or should I buy your family another house?"

Zhan Xinjia was taken aback and subconsciously shook her head.

Even if this house is dilapidated, she still managed to buy it by saving up money through collecting garbage. Although she still has 20 years of mortgage payments to make and some interest owed to the money lender.

When Yan returned, they had offered to help her buy a house. After all, he was a prince of the Beijing circle, and any money he could easily give her would be enough for her to live on for eight lifetimes. But Zhan Xinjia felt that what she had saved had a special meaning.

Perhaps this is the kind of useless persistence that comes with being poor—

Hey, I refuse to believe I can't do anything right!!

As Zhan Xinjia was stroking her chin, trying to figure out how to put the roof back on decently, the wooden planks she had just propped up by the door cracked again, and a thin, old man with a pipe walked in swaggeringly.