After saying this, Grandma Zhou's mouth dropped open, and she looked shocked, angry, and ashamed. She was especially stunned when she heard about the 28 packages; she honestly didn't know. Old Man Zhou, on the other hand, was quite interesting and calm. He was completely indifferent to what I said, and he clearly knew what I was saying. I was watching his expression the entire time.
That shrew collapsed to the ground like a dead dog after hearing what I said. Her daughters-in-law and sons outside didn't even make a sound; they all stayed away. Even Mr. Zhou ignored her this time. He didn't say a word, just sat there quietly, not even looking at Grandma Zhou. After we finished, I thought about it. There was something strange about Mr. Zhou. Why were those letters completely empty, with no words in them? What was he trying to hide? Every letter he sent to me was empty, even the one from her aunt.
If the envelope was just the one written by Grandpa, and the other letters contained content, I wouldn't have speculated, thinking there might be a secret between the two elderly people. But even the letters from my aunt, second uncle, and eldest aunt were blank, which is interesting. Normally, when someone sends a letter, they'd just say a few words of concern, asking how things are going, expressing their longing, and then mentioning what they sent. Looking at the envelope, it's easy to guess that after reading it, Grandpa destroyed the contents because he wanted to hide it from Jiaojiao. He was afraid that if he kept it, she would see what her grandfather had written, what her aunt, second uncle, and eldest aunt had written, and that Grandpa Zhou didn't keep any of it, which would change Jiaojiao's view of her grandmother's family, the Lin family. As for why he left the address on the envelope, it was so he could contact them if anything happened.
Why did the old man hide this from Jiaojiao? Thinking about the farce just now, I guess he was reluctant to give up Jiaojiao. If Jiaojiao returned to the Lin family, who would send money and things to the Zhou family? The five families sent packages a few times a year, and my mother-in-law's regular monthly remittance was enough to support the entire Zhou family. In their family, only his uncle worked in the fields, and his eldest and second cousins had several children of their own. How could he bear to give up Jiaojiao? What should we do? Even a fool knows that as long as Jiaojiao doesn't like her grandmother's house and doesn't return to the capital, then Jiaojiao must stay in the Zhou family unless she gets married. So let Jiaojiao not return to the capital, let her feel that her mother and her grandfather's family don't love her and don't want her, then she won't ask to go back to the capital.
Jiaojiao had always felt the Lin family didn't want her. Who told her that? The Zhou family. They'd been abandoning her for 17 years, and it hadn't stopped. Then why was she still registered in Beijing? They'd even bought a large courtyard house and put it directly in her name. And the gifts they'd sent were all incredibly valuable. How could the Lin family, all of them smart people, be so foolish as to throw money at her when they didn't want her anymore?
I thought about it and tried to tease him again. I just wanted to see if the old man and her grandfather had an agreement, perhaps about some future plans for Zhou Jiao. I told him I hadn't planned to expose these things today. I planned to get the addresses of Jiaojiao's grandfather and her uncle and aunt, and send some local produce to announce the good news. Meanwhile, I told them not to send anything. Life is tough these days. No matter how high their official positions, they only have fixed salaries. Everyone has children to support. My aunt isn't my uncle. Would she have any problem with me sending things to her for 17 years? Besides, Jiaojiao is first a member of the Zhou family, and then a member of my Zhang family. The Lin family has no obligation to support her forever. Even if they don't send things, no one will gossip. Besides my mother-in-law raising her, the Lin family has provided more than enough for her. Besides, Jiaojiao is married and has children. If she still relies on the Lin family and my mother-in-law for support, I'm afraid I won't be able to stand up straight in front of them. After I said all this, the old man still didn't respond, as if he didn't hear me.
I then explained that I came here today to share the good news and had no intention of exposing the truth. I was just angry that my aunt still didn't know she'd made a mistake. They didn't send things so frequently before, but they've been mailing them non-stop all year. Their attitude towards Jiaojiao and this child is very different. Look, these are very valuable items. I don't know what the Lin family is thinking. You've been around them, so you should know them well, their personalities and their ways. Why are they suddenly sending so many more packages than before? We need to think about this carefully. Don't wait until the last minute to find a solution. I figured the Lin family would definitely come to visit Jiaojiao and my son next spring, so I wanted to find time to write and see what they think.
As soon as I finished speaking, the old man's face could no longer remain calm. His expression changed, as if he was putting on a show. He and Grandma Zhou looked at each other, probably wanting to hear what Grandma Zhou had to say. Unfortunately, Grandma Zhou looked confused and couldn't come up with anything no matter how hard she tried. The old man looked at her and didn't know anything either. He just kept silent, his face very serious, thinking about something, ignoring everyone. "Zhang Guoqing said this and drank a glass of boiled water. He also wanted to give them time to think.
Father Zhang looked at him with complicated eyes. He always knew that his son was smart and had a way of dealing with people. He didn't expect that he had a way of scaring people. He used words to stimulate the other party while secretly observing the other party and controlling the other party all the time. He knew that there was suspicion and he was very calm when he came home to eat. He stayed until the family members went to work. He didn't do anything unusual. No one knew unless he said anything. It was just a pity that the Zhou family was probably in trouble and was worried. He said these things and left, leaving a mess behind and went home directly. This time, Grandpa Zhou was reluctant to return the things to Jiaojiao. If he didn't return them, he would be too embarrassed when the Lin family came, and the old man would be worried to death.
"Good boy, after you scare me like this, those who have received the gifts will not be able to sleep for several days. They want to return them to Jiaojiao but they can't bear to do so. If they don't, they are afraid that you will write a letter to complain. You can see that someone will come to intercede tonight. No wonder I have to discuss it with your mother. This is because Mr. Zhou has entered the game and can't get out. When he comes to his senses, he will understand. As long as he admits that he was partial to the eldest son and gave the gifts, will the Lin family let him go to jail? He is Jiaojiao's grandfather. If he really meets the Lin family, he will apologize, lose some face, and return a few things as a pretense. The Lin family will then see Jiaojiao's attitude towards life. What's more, we don't know what the Lin family is like now. We will know what they are like when we meet them.
Jiaojiao, it depends on how you think about it. If you accept the gifts from your grandparents, it means you don't care about them. Relatives are still relatives. If you refuse these gifts, you're repaying them for all the years of raising you and the care you received from your uncle and aunt in the Zhou family. That would almost sever the ties. Others won't say the Lin family raised you or anything like that. They just see that your grandparents sent you back to the Zhou family before you were even a month old, and it was your grandmother and your aunt who cared for you and raised you to adulthood.
Living in this world, you have to compromise. If you want to break up, don't worry about material things. This will also avoid endless entanglements in the future. If they need your help, will you help? If you break up, you won't have so many concerns in the future. Even if they still come back, it depends on whether you are happy with it.
Zhou Jiao nodded. She understood what Zhang Dad meant. Using money to buy off the trouble would save them from future troubles. They were still young and it was hard to say what would happen in the future. They couldn't let themselves be exposed to public opinion.
"Mom and Dad, I understand. If those people come to plead for me, you can say that I'm in confinement after childbirth and that my family doesn't want me to worry about these things. We can talk about it later. Brother Wu told me that my father is still alive. The Lin family will be coming over in the next few days. When the Lin family really comes, let my mother talk herself. You can just refuse to do it to avoid offending them. We still live here, and they come to help and win us over with good intentions. We should always give them face, right? Who doesn't do good things~"
Zhang's father and mother turned to look at Zhang Guoqing, "Xiaowu, is your father-in-law really still alive? How did you know? You can't just say that. And how did you know the Lin family was coming?"
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