"And remember, nothing in this world has an owner. What's yours today might belong to someone else tomorrow. The only thing that's yours is the skill you've learned, and no one can take it away from you."
Ping'an tilted his head and looked at her thoughtfully with a look on his face.
"For example: you learn martial arts. Can others take it away? No, right? But a weapon for self-defense is ownerless. Anyone can be its owner."
"Let me give you another analogy: your mother gives you a lot of money, but you just eat and do nothing every day. Doesn't that mean it gets less and less every day? But once you can earn money, these concerns won't exist anymore."
Zhou Jiao spoke slowly and gently. She had to instill in her child a correct outlook on life: a gentleman should earn money in a proper way.
There are no unsuccessful children, only incompetent parents. She has made her way here on her own, taking many wrong turns, hoping to provide some helpful advice for her children.
Zhang Guoqing smiled but said nothing, listening quietly to the conversation between the mother and daughter.
"Okay, Mom is going to report this trip to the south to Grandpa. Your dad loves you more than anything else, so you two should have a good talk."
Throwing down the big package, Zhou Jiao ran away.
"Dad, I love you more than anything, too."
Zhang Guoqing laughed heartily when he heard this: "Your mother asks too much of you, but Dad only asks for one thing - your safety. As long as you are happy, that's all that matters."
"I'm very happy now."
Zhang Guoqing picked up his son and sat him on his lap, resting his chin on the child's head, and murmured to himself: "Even if we have another child in the future, no one can replace you."
Ping An hugged him tightly, a bright smile on his face. Other families had strict fathers and kind mothers, but his father doted on him the most. If he wanted something, he could ask his father for it!
Zhou Jiao pushed open the study door with a smile on her face and walked in. When she saw her father's red eyes, her face suddenly tensed and she ran to him nervously.
Zhou Xiaozheng looked at her worried expression and said, "Dad is fine."
Zhou Jiao's eyes moved to the letters and the spread-out family tree on the desk. She glanced at her father thoughtfully, then squatted down and hugged her father's neck.
"Dad, you still have me."
Zhou Xiaozheng smiled and patted her arm: "Yes, Daddy has you."
Zhou Jiao glanced at the names above and immediately understood why he was so depressed. "This should be written by my grandfather himself. Should I make another copy?"
"No need. Just find a good day and add our names, father and daughter's."
"Okay, we have to add my mom and brother." Zhou Jiao's eyes moved to the distance, "Dad, can you add Ping An as well?"
Zhou Xiaozheng shook his head and patted her, "Please move a stool over here. I've already discussed some things with your father-in-law, and Xiaowu should also know about them. It's a good opportunity to talk to you about them now."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiao ran over, moved a stool, sat down, and waited for him to continue.
"You should be able to guess it, right?"
Zhou Jiao nodded slightly. During her trip back home, her mother-in-law mentioned Ping'an's five-year-old age and asked if it was too late to have children while he was in school. She urged her to have a son soon to carry on the Zhou family line.
"Your father-in-law is a good man!"
Zhou Jiao couldn't help but chuckle. Her parents-in-law deserved this "good guy" card. Otherwise, she wouldn't have sent packages back to the Northeast from the South.
Zhou Xiaozheng also smiled and continued, "When I first returned to the Northeast to look for you, Second Brother Zhang said that your children should all have the surname Zhou, just like me. If they are all girls, then Ping An will inherit the family lineage."
Zhou Jiao was really surprised. In her mind, Father Zhang was already an open-minded old man, but she didn't expect that he would even give up half of his money to his eldest grandson. That was not an open-minded person.
Zhou Xiaozheng rubbed her head with a smile: "Since he has feelings for us, we can't be unfair. We can talk about this later. Dad doesn't want you to try to have children just to continue the family line. Women are always in danger when giving birth. Just let nature take its course. Even if it means having a safe child, so what?"
Zhou Jiao looked at him seriously: "Dad, if you have another grandson, do you want Ping An to inherit the family lineage, or do you want the younger one to have the surname Zhou?"
"Let's talk about it later and let them choose for themselves. They are all my grandsons anyway. If they don't have the surname Zhou, then they are outsiders. What do you think?"
Zhou Jiao nodded. "The child who will shoulder the heavy responsibility of the Zhou family must be outstanding. We haven't figured out how the future children will perform, but it doesn't prevent us from making a hypothesis. If he or they can't compare to Ping'an, should we just let Ping'an inherit both surnames?"
Zhou Xiaozheng shook his head when he heard this: "Whether your future child is like you or Xiaowu, he will not be too mediocre. In addition, with the child's acquired training, there is nothing that cannot be compared. Even if he is really mediocre, can you still look down on your own child? We have a small family, even fools are treasures."
Zhou Jiao also smiled when she heard this. Yes, worrying too much can lead to confusion. Why bother thinking about future problems so early? In another twenty years, who wouldn't be an only child?
Seeing his daughter put it down, Zhou Xiaozheng smiled and said, "Actually, things like incense and offerings vary from person to person. Look, your grandmother is the only one in the Gu family. If she values incense so much, wouldn't she be sitting on the mountain looking for a husband?"
Zhou Jiao didn't refute.
These things do vary from person to person, but the Zhou and Gu families' lineage cannot be cut off in her generation. Whether it will be cut off by future generations is their business. She is no longer in this world, so how can she care?
"Is Xiaowu accompanying the child?"
Zhou Jiao smiled and nodded: "He is worrying about nothing."
"oh?"
Seeing his interest, Zhou Jiao continued the conversation, "He's worried that if he has children in the future, it will be difficult to divide the property, which may lead to fratricide among his brothers and sisters."
After saying that, she laughed.
Zhou Xiaozheng laughed and scolded, "This silly boy! It seems he is still too idle. I have decided to find an opportunity to throw him into the army."
The father and daughter continued chatting about some irrelevant topics. As for the issue of the successor, they both made a decision in their minds and did not bring it up again.
When Zhang Guoqing came in carrying his son, he saw the father and daughter laughing and talking happily, and he felt relieved. If he hadn't misunderstood, his father-in-law would have been breathing rapidly and seemed emotionally unstable.
Seeing that his daughter had already collected her things, Zhou Xiaozheng turned to look at the father and son. "Where's your mom? Why hasn't she been around for so long?"
"Auntie Wen next door came to see her. I saw she was holding something and trying to give it to my mom. After my mom rejected her, the two of them were still at the door."
Ping An immediately raised his hand: "I know, my grandma told me that she introduced an aunt from the group to officiate the wedding for Uncle Xiao Wei."
The Uncle Xiao Wei the child was talking about was the eldest son of Aunt Wen next door. After hearing this, everyone understood that he must be a matchmaker.
Sure enough, not long after, Lin Lishan came in with a smile on her face and said, "There are many happy events at the end of the year, and our family will have to give out several gifts this month."
"That's how relationships work." Zhou Jiao just remembered she had something else to do. She stood up and said, "I have to go to the Fang family."
Lin Lishan nodded: "Yes, we have to go, wear more clothes."
Zhang Guoqing glanced at his son and said, "You stay with grandpa and grandma. Your mom and I will be back soon."
Zhou Xiaozheng took the child and said, "Go early and come back early. It will be too cold if you go late."
"Well, I'll just go take a look. This time when we went south, Xiaomin's brother treated us to a meal and gave him a package, so I gave him some gifts in return."
Zhang Guoqing felt heartbroken whenever he thought of Yi Zhe, especially his letters.
Bullshit in-laws! He doesn't even know if the baby in his wife's belly is going to grow or not, yet he still wants to have a gentleman's agreement. He's not a gentleman!
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