"Excuse me, sir, you live next door, right?"
Su Jianguo nodded.
"Yes, I live next door. Old Zhang's family is..."
"They've moved out!"
The old lady had a loud voice.
"Their son found a good job in Shanghai and brought the elderly couple and their young grandson to live with them. They rented this house to us."
She introduced herself enthusiastically.
"My surname is Zhou. This is my daughter-in-law, Xiaomei, and my grandson, Xiaobao."
The young woman named Xiaomei lowered her head slightly as a greeting, but her eyes kept darting away, avoiding eye contact with Su Jianguo.
The child in her arms stared at Su Jianguo with wide, curious eyes.
"Oh, I see."
Su Jianguo nodded.
"You guys get back to your work, I'm going home now."
He pushed his bicycle toward his own gate, but a question began to bother him.
Two widows with a child?
This combination is quite rare.
Pushing open the gate to her courtyard, Wang Xiulan was hanging clothes to dry in the yard. When she saw her husband return, she quickly went to greet him.
"Honey, you're finally back! How's Mingde doing?"
"It's resolved, no major issue."
Su Jianguo gave a brief answer, without telling his wife anything.
After parking the bicycle against the wall, Su Jianguo asked directly.
"What happened next door? Did Old Zhang's family move away?"
Wang Xiulan was relieved to hear that her second son was alright. Then, when her husband asked her a question, she suddenly whispered mysteriously.
"That's right! We moved in yesterday, and the new neighbors arrived the same day. I heard that the old lady is a widow; her son died in a work accident two years ago, and the factory gave her some compensation. Her daughter-in-law refuses to remarry and lives with her mother-in-law with her child. So, she rented Old Zhang's house."
Su Jianguo frowned.
"Two widows with a baby? This..."
"How unlucky!"
Wang Xiulan pouted.
"This morning I specifically went to see Granny Wang to draw some talismans, and I pasted them on the walls next to our two houses. You should stay away from them; those kinds of houses have a lot of yin energy and are prone to attracting misfortune."
Su Jianguo nodded in deep agreement.
During lunchtime.
It was a rare occasion for the entire Su family to gather at the dinner table.
Wang Xiulan specially cooked two extra dishes for this occasion: a plate of stir-fried eggs with chives and a steaming pot of stewed cabbage and tofu.
Su Jianguo sat in the main seat, holding a half-full glass of baijiu in his hand, his gaze sweeping over his family members sitting around the table.
"Third brother, what brings you home for dinner today?"
Su Jianguo took a sip of wine and looked at his youngest son, Su Mingfu.
Recently, there have been many classes at school, so Su Mingfu usually eats and lives at school.
Su Mingfu was wolfing down his rice when he heard this. He looked up, rice grains still stuck to the corners of his mouth.
"Dad, we have a few days off, so I'm coming back to stay for a couple of days."
Wang Xiulan picked up a piece of egg for her son and said with heartache.
"Look how skinny you are, you probably don't get enough to eat at the school cafeteria, do you?"
"Mom, the school food can't compare to home-cooked meals."
Su Mingfu ate his egg with a grin, but his eyes kept glancing out the window.
Su Yuzhen pouted.
"Third Brother, what are you looking out for?"
Su Mingfu immediately said mysteriously.
"I just got back. I heard they moved in next door? And they're two widows?"
His eyes lit up.
"That young wife is quite pretty!"
The dinner table fell silent immediately.
Su Jianguo's face instantly darkened.
Who do you think is prettier?
Su Jianguo's voice was very serious.
Su Mingfu then realized he had misspoke and shrank back.
"I was just... just saying..."
"Smack!"
Su Jianguo slammed his fist on the table.
"What's the point of all your education? Instead of focusing on your studies, you're always asking about this nonsense!"
Su Jianguo never imagined that his third son would have the same hobby as Sha Zhu from the TV series.
Wang Xiulan quickly tried to smooth things over.
"Honey, kids are just curious..."
"curious?"
Su Jianguo sneered.
"He's almost twenty, and he can't even walk past a woman. What kind of behavior is that!"
He pointed at Su Mingfu's nose.
"I'm telling you, focus all your energy on your studies! If I hear you spouting this nonsense again, I'll break your legs!"
Su Mingfu's face flushed red and then turned pale, and he lowered his head, not daring to utter a sound.
Su Yuzhen chuckled smugly, only stopping after being glared at by Wang Xiulan.
Su Yufen silently fed her two children. Her current situation wasn't much better, but fortunately, her family was there to support her, so she wasn't in a terrible state.
For a moment, only the clattering of bowls and chopsticks and the smacking of the two children's lips filled the dining table.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
