Besides, he is old now, so he won’t have to bother to make a living anymore. His son is grown up and can take care of him in his old age.

Zhang Dengke retracted his kick at Zhang and walked to the village chief in a fawning manner, saying, "Zhang Gaobang was the one who killed the man. It has nothing to do with me, Zhang Dengke. If you want money, you should ask Zhang Gaobang for it, Village Chief!"

Zhang Gaobang was shocked when he heard this. He never thought his son would treat him like this. Gao Dengbang stood up with great effort, walked in front of Zhang Dengke, and slapped Zhang Dengke in the face.

Zhang Dengke would never let an old and frail man knock him down. He turned his body to the side, raised his foot, and sent Zhang Gaobang flying.

"Ah, you evil son, how dare you hit me?! I am your father." Zhang Gaobang was furious.

Zhang Dengke spat directly in his face, "How dare you call me my father? Have you ever taken care of me since I was a child? If it weren't for you, a prodigal son, squandering all my grandfather's savings, would I have suffered so much? I have accomplished nothing now, and it's all because of you."

Zhang Dengke turned to look at the village chief and said respectfully, "Village chief, Zhang Gaobang killed your son, he deserves to die!"

When Zhang Gaobang was taken away by the village chief's men, he felt extremely regretful. He regretted that he had not educated his son well when he was young and had left his son in the hands of a mere woman named Zhang.

Zhang is as stupid as a pig. She can't read or count. How can she possibly teach her son well?

If he had trained his son well, perhaps his son would have passed the imperial examination long ago. Then he would be the father of an official now. Who would dare to touch him?!

Before his death, Zhang Gaobang lamented, "It's too late to regret!"

When in Shanghai, Huang Wanzhen had already conceived the general outline of the novel, so it didn't take her too much time to write the outline.

After a good night's sleep, Huang Wanzhen woke up in the morning and smelled the fragrant aroma of pancakes. She came to the main room and saw a plate of steaming pancakes on the eight-immortals table.

Huang Wanzhen walked out of the door with a smile and shouted towards the kitchen, "Thank you Dahua." Huang Wanzhen hadn't eaten pancakes for a long time since Yuya went to Shanghai. It was not that she couldn't afford it, but mainly because Huang Wanzhen didn't want to make time to buy it just for food.

Unexpectedly, Xiulan, dressed in a blue gown, came out of the kitchen gracefully. "I knew that the young lady liked to eat pancakes. I guessed right."

Zhao Dahua followed closely behind, looking annoyed and said, "I've been with Mr. Huang for such a long time, but I didn't realize that he likes to eat pancakes. If I had known, I would have learned to make pancakes for him a long time ago."

Huang Wanzhen was surprised. "Today's pancakes are made by Xiulan? How come you have time to come here?"

Xiulan smiled and said, "Of course it's a happy event."

Xiulan handed the shovel to Zhao Dahahua and followed Huang Wanzhen into the house. Huang Wanzhen washed her hands and started to cook at the table.

"What happy event?" Huang Wanzhen took a big bite of pancake and did not forget to care about Xiulan's happy event.

"I bought a house in Xuanwu. It has three main rooms and two side rooms. Although the house is not big, it is enough for us to live in." Xiulan said with a smile. She looked different in spirit and seemed to have more hope.

"What a great joy! Congratulations!" Huang Wanzhen was very happy for Xiulan. She didn't hide her feelings and directly expressed her joy to Xiulan. "I'm so happy for you to be where you are today."

Xiulan couldn't help but laugh, and as she laughed, tears somehow welled up in the corners of her eyes.

Huang Wanzhen cried out, "Ouch!" and hurriedly handed her a handkerchief. "What's wrong? It's such a good thing, you should be happy, why are you crying?"

"I owe everything to you today. You treated me better than my parents did in my memory." Xiulan murmured as she wiped her tears with a handkerchief. "I heard from my grandmother that my father threw me away when I was born, but she couldn't bear it and took me back. I grew up at home until I was five, and all I remember is hunger. I heard from others that they don't remember anything before the age of five, but I do because it was so painful. The pain makes it impossible for me to forget those things. It's a lifelong pain, and I feel like I'll never be able to get rid of it."

Huang Wanzhen wanted to comfort her, but she didn't know what to say. She had not experienced Xiulan's pain, and all her current words were just lies from a bystander. She had no position and no qualifications to forget the pain she had experienced before.

"Look forward, walk towards the light. As long as you work hard, you can walk out of the darkness." Huang Wanzhen picked up a pancake from the plate and handed it to Xiulan. "It tastes really good. Come and try it. Don't they say that delicious food can heal pain? Eat more. It's okay if you're a little fat."

Xiulan took the pancake sheepishly, put it in her mouth and took a bite, "Hmm, the soybean paste made by Chunhua is really delicious."

Xiulan didn't want Huang Wanzhen to worry about her, so she tried to calm her emotions. She took a deep breath and said, "Miss, you don't know yet, right? Xiao Shitou and Chunhua are dating. Chunhua's family is very satisfied with Xiao Shitou. Maybe it won't be long before you can attend their wedding."

Huang Wanzhen said with a smile, "Really? These two people didn't tell me. I have to give them a big red envelope when the time comes."

On that day, Xiao Shitou and Li Chunhua, at Xiulan's reminder, confessed their relationship to Huang Wanzhen.

Huang Wanzhen glared at the two of them in feigned anger, "Our company doesn't forbid dating, so why are you hiding this from me?"

The young couple looked at each other, and Li Chunhua said, "I didn't mean to hide it from you. We hadn't settled our relationship before, and I was afraid that Xiao Shitou's uncle wouldn't agree, so I didn't tell you."

Huang Wanzhen teased, "Our Chunhua is not only literate, but can also speak foreign languages. She's so talented. If Xiao Shitou's uncle still doesn't agree, then that's Xiao Shitou's problem."

Li Chunhua was afraid that Xiao Shitou would be unhappy, so she quickly explained, "No, Xiao Shitou is fine..."

"Oh?" Huang Wanzhen asked with a smile, "What's good about him?"

Li Chunhua lowered her head, secretly glanced at Xiao Shitou, and whispered, "Xiao Shitou's parents are both gone. My family wants him to come to our house, but we're afraid his uncle won't agree!"

Huang Wanzhen asked again, "You two are telling me now, I guess it's settled. How did you resolve it?"

Li Chunhua twirled the ends of her braid with her slender fingertips and said sheepishly, "We've both saved some money over the years working at Jixiangtang. We were thinking of taking it out and borrowing some more to buy a small house near my home. After we get married, we can live on our own, neither going to his house in Daxing nor living in my house."

Huang Wanzhen praised after hearing this, "That's perfect. I don't know who came up with this idea for you."

This time Li Chunhua didn't say anything, but turned her head and looked at Xiao Shitou.

Little Stone said "Oh" and looked up, "That's what I thought. I think this way I can take care of my parents-in-law nearby and also get past my uncle."