Chapter 18: No One Owes Anything

Liu Jin'e sensed the atmosphere was a bit tense, so she quickly invited Zhang Pengfei to sit at the table and went to serve him some rice.

Zhang Pengfei didn't say anything, just quietly watched as Liu Jin'e excitedly took out several bowls and lined them up on the stove, then lifted the pot lid—"Huh?!"

Liu Jin'e was stunned and exclaimed, "Why hasn't anyone cooked?!"

Cooking? Go ahead and cook your own food!

I only boiled one pot of water and used it all to wash Huahua's hair and bath; not a single drop was left!

Zhang Pengfei smiled smugly to himself, but put on an expression of complete ignorance. He wanted to thoroughly disgust Liu Jin'e!

"What's wrong?" He walked over. "Is the food not ready yet? Did the second son forget?"

Liu Jin'e frowned and glared, giving him the look of utter disgust. Just then, her second son, Zhang Pengchao, came out of the house, stretching and yawning, and casually asked, "Mom, isn't it time to eat?"

Liu Jin'e finally found an outlet for her emotions and yelled, "Eat, eat, eat! All you ever think about is eating! You starving ghost!"

Zhang Pengchao was baffled by the scolding. He scratched his head, wanting to ask his father what was going on, when he met Zhang Pengfei's gaze.

Zhang Pengfei glanced at him sideways, his deep, dark eyes shooting out a cold, sharp light, as if he wanted to cut a piece of flesh off him. Zhang Pengchao couldn't help but shudder and stammered, "Brother Pengfei."

Hua Hua also came out after taking a shower and changed into a clean set of clothes. Although she looked very different from how she looked more than three months ago, she finally looked like a pretty young girl.

Zhang Pengfei reached out and took the bundle from his sister's hand, bent down and asked her softly, "Have you packed everything?"

Hua Hua nodded and took Zhang Pengfei's hand: "Everything is packed. My clothes and shoes are inside. Brother, let's go now."

Zhang Tianmin was dazed: "Leave? Leave? Where are you going? Why are you leaving so soon after we got here?"

Zhang Pengfei laid his cards on the table: "Uncle, I'm taking Huahua with me." His words were clearly sarcastic: "Thank you and my aunt for taking care of Huahua. I won't trouble you again."

Liu Jin'e was a shrewd woman with a quick mind. She sensed the dissatisfaction in Zhang Pengfei's words and guessed that his sudden return was probably due to some gossip.

She laughed and said, "Oh! What trouble? They're all our own kids, why are you leaving? Don't listen to those people gossiping, people these days are wicked, they can't stand to see others doing well!"

She glared at Zhang Tianmin, signaling him to say something. Zhang Tianmin hummed and hawed for a while before finally uttering two words: "Exactly!"

Liu Jin'e didn't want Zhang Pengfei to take Huahua away. Although the child was a bit clumsy at work, it was better than nothing, wasn't it?

Her eyes darted around, a hint of threat in them: "Besides, Huahua is going to start elementary school in a few days. If you take her away, how will she go to school?!"

"Also, even if you are his brother, Hua Hua is still a girl. There is a difference between men and women. How many days can you take her with you?"

Zhang Pengfei sneered: "No need for you to worry. Since I'm taking Huahua with me, I can definitely make arrangements for her. Although my father is gone, don't forget that there are more men in our family than just my father!"

Anger flashed across Liu Jin'e's face. She dropped the pretense and grinned, "Oh! Pengfei, you've really grown some guts. When things were tough, you dumped your kids at our house, but now that you've got money, you're completely ruthless. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at by the neighbors? I bet you're not planning to stay in the village anymore."

Zhang Pengfei sneered; he really had no intention of staying in the village: "You're right!"

Liu Jin'e's fiery temper exploded: "So, I've raised your sister with such care for over three months, and you just want to take her away like that? No way!"

Zhang Pengfei wasn't about to tolerate her: "You still know this is my sister? You've only raised her for three months and you've already tormented her into this state, and you still have the nerve to say that!"

Liu Jin'e stood with her hands on her hips, her face showing no remorse but rather a sense of self-righteousness: "What did I do to her? I just made her do a little work, didn't I? A girl this age, shouldn't she learn to do some housework? I was doing it for her own good! I was worried she wouldn't be able to get married in the future!"

Zhang Pengfei lifted his eyelids, looked Liu Jin'e up and down, and chuckled: "Don't worry, someone like you doesn't have to worry about getting married, let alone my sister!"

Liu Jin'e pointed at him and said, "You little brat, how dare you speak to your elders like that!"

Zhang Pengfei was too lazy to argue with this shrew, and glared at her, saying, "You don't deserve to be my elder!"

He grabbed his sister and left!

Liu Jin'e swiftly grabbed a broom and stood in front of Zhang Pengfei, her face contorted with rage, truly displaying an imposing presence: "Let's see how you take her away today!"

Hua Hua had never seen anything like this before, and she hid behind Zhang Pengfei in fright.

Zhang Pengfei narrowed his eyes, never expecting that this shrew Liu Jin'e would dare to fight him!

A chill ran through him, and his voice was icy: "I didn't originally intend to pursue the matter of you abusing my sister, but if you insist on courting disaster, I can call the police and have you arrested right now! Don't forget, I'm a law student!"

Zhang Pengfei exuded righteousness and showed no fear of the broom in Liu Jin'e's hand. He took a step forward, his chest almost touching the broom.

"Your actions constitute illegal detention, which, according to Article 238 of the Criminal Law, carries a sentence of up to three years in prison. Before you stop me, shouldn't you think it through?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tianmin quickly snatched the broom from Liu Jin'e's hands and bowed and scraped as he spoke to Zhang Pengfei, saying, "Pengfei, your aunt didn't mean it that way. She just can't bear to see Huahua leave."

Zhang Pengfei entered Peking University that year as the top liberal arts student in the province's college entrance examination, which caused a great sensation at the time, and even the county magistrate came to visit.

In recent years, he has also benefited a lot from Zhang Pengfei's success. Knowing that Zhang Pengfei is capable, he has great respect for his nephew.

Unfortunately, Liu Jin'e couldn't stand her husband's cowardly behavior, and since her two sons were not academically inclined and had no hope of ever getting ahead in life, her jealousy quickly twisted her mind.

Liu Jin'e was also stunned by Zhang Pengfei, but she couldn't swallow her anger. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Fine, you can take her away, but Huahua has lived in my house for 3 months and 17 days. I won't ask for more from you. Just pay me 1,000 yuan a month for her food expenses, and we'll keep to ourselves from now on!"

Zhang Pengfei scoffed and asked his uncle, "Do you have anything to say?"

Zhang Tianmin smiled wryly: "In this family, your aunt has always been the one who calls the shots."

"Fine!" Zhang Pengfei thought he would be furious, but to his surprise, apart from extreme disappointment, he couldn't muster any other emotions.

"I'll give you 4,000, and from now on, our two families will be completely cut off, and neither of us will owe the other anything!"