"I know, Grandma. Don't be angry. It's not worth it. They're a bunch of ingrates."

"Go ahead, go see Hongmei first, and tell her she can't be angry."

"Grandma, I understand."

"Liu Laogen, you said I can't help you. Everything else is fine, but your wife actually dared to hit you? Just for that, I won't help you."

"Mistress, didn't we fail to hit her?"

"Get out of here, and don't ever come to my house again. How dare you say such a thing?"

"Get out!" Liu Changhe was already furious.

Liu Laogen was startled and quickly ran out.

What should we do? We can't stay in Liujiatun anymore. No, we have to find someone to talk things over.

At that moment, Li Cun's father suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of his second son, who had a good relationship with Hongmei.

I rushed home to get my second son's work phone number; I needed to go to the township and call him to come back immediately.

There was no one at home, and now I didn't care about anything else, so I hurried to the countryside.

Er Lengzi parked the car, entered the yard, and glanced at Chengzi.

Chengzi nodded, and Er Lengzi knew they were all inside.

"Hongmei, don't be angry. It's not worth it. Who are they? You, Fan Yi, don't need to pay them any attention."

"Brother Er Lengzi, I'm fine."

Jinsong sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), head down, feeling extremely sad. How could his grandmother do this?

Zhang Shouyi sat down next to Zhang Hongmei and said, "Wife, let's go visit Uncle San!"

"Brother Zhang, I'll go later. I'm going to visit the old principal. They're all so old, why haven't I seen their children come to take care of them?"

"Okay, I'll go with you. After dinner, I'll head back."

"Alright, you can go back now. Judging from this attitude, I won't stay in Liujiatun for very long."

"Feeling disheartened?"

"Yes, I was too presumptuous and made them too greedy."

"It's good that you know. From now on, you just need to contact the few companies you have close relationships with."

"Um, Grandpa, Dad, would you like to go for a walk?"

"You two go ahead. We'll take Jinsong to Maocai's house. You can just go directly there."

Before the two even reached the old principal's house, they heard Hu Aifen's voice from behind.

"Hongmei, are you alright?"

"Auntie, I'm fine. I have people protecting me, so don't worry."

"Your great-grandmother was worried and asked me to tell you not to get angry now."

"Okay, I understand. Please tell Grandma that I'm fine."

"Okay, your great-grandmother sent me to find out what happened earlier. I'm leaving now!"

Zhang Shouyi thought to himself, "This old lady really knows how to handle Hongmei's emotions."

Su Chen knocked on the door, and Xiao Li stood behind the two of them.

The old headmaster opened the door. "Hongmei, come in quickly, your grandma was just talking about you."

The two-story house was mostly empty, with only the elderly couple living there.

"Grandma, you two are both getting on in years, why don't you go back to live with your daughter and son?"

"Isn't it your grandfather? He doesn't want to leave, and he doesn't want to be mistreated at his daughter's and son's house, so you'll just have to make do with the two of us old folks."

"That's not safe."

"It's alright, we'll take it slow. Don't worry, we're not lonely. The children will have someone come to keep your grandfather company every day."

Zhang Shouyi just sat there smiling. They didn't know his identity, so they weren't at all restrained.

It's almost ten o'clock. "Stay for dinner, and your grandma will make you dumplings."

"Old headmaster, no, I'll have dinner at my third uncle's house today."

It's getting late, we two should head over."

The two were walking down the street. "Brother Zhang, when I get old, I don't want to trouble my children."

"Hehe, it's alright, I'll take care of you in the future!"

"You said it yourself!"

"Yes, I said I would definitely take good care of you."

The two chatted and laughed as they arrived at Liu Maocai's house, where Da Shan's father was helping out.

Liu Maocai didn't invite anyone else, only Liu Aimin and his son Liu Changhe. And Da Shan's father too.

Lu Jing and Han Mei helped Li Cuihua with the cooking. The meat had already been stewing in the pot.

"Brother, where's my sister-in-law?"

"He's at home with your mistress. I reckon he should be here soon."

Zhang Hongmei felt a bit nauseous and didn't like the taste of stewed meat.

Zhang Shouyi kept a close eye on the situation, wondering, "What's wrong with my wife?"

"Brother Zhang, I feel a bit nauseous and don't want to smell meat."

"Shall I walk you home?"

Zhang Hongmei shook her head. "Let's stay here."

The two old men were playing chess, both terrible at the game, and neither was willing to give in, so the courtyard was filled with the sounds of their arguing.

Zhang Hongmei went over to take a look at the two players' battle, then immediately left, not wanting to be their referee.

At this moment, Liu Changhe came in, saw the two people playing chess, and went over to them.

Zhang Hongmei tugged at Zhang Shouyi's sleeve, "Brother Zhang, let's go for a stroll in the village for a while."

Once outside the courtyard, Zhang Hongmei finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong?"

“Brother Zhang, you don’t know, Grandpa is really addicted to chess, and he’s terrible at it. I don’t want to hear those three old rascals arguing. It’s wise of us to hide away.”

"Hehe, you don't know, the two of you spent all day playing chess while you were away. I really couldn't stand watching them anymore. They have absolutely no chess skills. And they both think they're the best."

"Hehe, that's how it is. You don't know, once when the old man saw me playing chess with Liu Jingze, he insisted that I play with him. I felt like I was questioning my life at that time, and he was particularly persistent, always pulling me and not letting me leave. It was simply unbearable."

The two chatted and laughed quietly as they walked slowly through the village.

"Brother Zhang, the brigade headquarters is quite unique."

"Come on, let's go see what the threshing floor looks like. It's not all concrete-surfaced now, is it?"

The two arrived at the threshing ground, which remained unchanged, but the warehouse had been completely rebuilt and looked particularly impressive.

At this time, Li Cun's father also arrived in the village, found the post office, and hurriedly called his second son.

It took ten minutes before it was finally broadcast again?

"Dad, what do you want to see me about?"

"Shuangcun, hurry home! Our apartment and your brother's job are about to be lost too. Come back quickly, or we'll really be homeless!"

"Dad, what exactly happened?"

You'll find out when you get back.

Having no other option, Shuangcun hurriedly went to his supervisor to ask for leave.

Sitting in the swaying car, Shuangcun kept thinking about the purpose of her father's phone call.

Liu Laogen dialed Licun's workplace again, urging him to come back quickly while Zhang Hongmei wasn't involved. There was still room for negotiation; if necessary, the three of them should go and apologize. They didn't want to lose what others had given them—this was no small matter.