Zhou Zhengye looked around and saw that everything in the house was the same as before. He asked, "Did my dad go to work? He should be home soon, right?"
Zhou's mother nodded and said, "You'll be back soon. Your father often talks about you, and he misses you too. He'll be overjoyed to see you come back."
Just then, Zhou Zhengye's father, Zhou Xingshan, came home from get off work. He was pleasantly surprised to see his eldest son when he entered the house. "Zhengye, you're back!"
Zhou Zhengye quickly stood up and said, "Dad, you're back."
As she spoke, she walked up to her father and took his briefcase.
Zhou Xingshan looked at his eldest son, who seemed quite energetic, and said, "You must be tired from the journey. Have your mother make you something nice to eat, and then you can get some rest."
Zhou Zhengye said, "The train journey was a sleeper train, so it wasn't too tiring."
Zhou Xingshan patted his eldest son on the shoulder and said, "Come on, let's sit down and have a good talk."
Zhou's mother said, "You two chat, I'll go cook."
Zhou Zhengye quickly said, "Mom, I brought back some things. Yi Xian and the others asked me to bring you a lot of cured meat and other food. Uncle Han also asked me to bring you some things."
As he spoke, Zhou Zhengye opened his large suitcase and took out all the contents. There was cured wild boar meat, cured wild rabbit, pheasant, and dried mushrooms and wood ear fungus picked from the mountain—all rare wild game.
He Zhenhua also knew about the gifts Zhou Zhengye bought for the Zhou family when he returned to Kyoto, as well as the gifts Zhou Zhengye bought himself, and he took them out and laid them out on the ground in a large pile.
Zhou's mother asked in surprise, "Why are there so many things?"
Zhou Zhengye said, "Most of it was given to me by Yixian and Yuhan, and some was bought by He Zhenhua and myself. That's all there is. You can find what you want to do tonight from here."
Zhou Xingshan said, "Then let's stir-fry some cured pork. It's been many years since I've had wild boar meat."
Zhou's mother nodded and said, "Alright, I'll stir-fry some cured pork. I bought a fish and a piece of tofu today, so I'll stew the fish and make a fish head tofu soup, and stir-fry two green vegetables. You two can also have a good drink."
After saying that, Zhou's mother went to the kitchen to cook.
When Zhou Xingshan saw his wife go to the kitchen, he asked, "Why did you come back so suddenly? You didn't even call home beforehand?"
Zhou Xingshan had a gut feeling that his eldest son's return this time was anything but simple.
Zhou Zhengye said, "Actually, I've wanted to come back for a long time, but the factory has been very busy launching new products recently, and I also have things to take care of, so I haven't been able to come back. Now that things have been resolved, I'm back to tell you all the details, so you won't be at a loss later."
Zhou Xingshan frowned and asked, "What happened?"
Zhou Zhengye got straight to the point: "Wang Guixiang and I are divorced."
Zhou's mother, who had been listening to Zhou Xingshan and his son's conversation in the kitchen, rushed out anxiously when her eldest son said he had divorced Wang Guixiang. She asked, "Zhengye, why did you two suddenly get divorced? What happened?"
Zhou Zhengye said, "Wang Guixiang had an affair in Kyoto. She was eager to elope with the other person, so she wrote me two letters saying she wanted a divorce. When I didn't reply, she went to Qianyuan County to find me and insisted on getting a divorce. I agreed, and we went through the divorce procedures in Qianyuan County."
Zhou's mother said angrily, "How could Wang Guixiang do this? We've already forgiven the Wang family for deceiving us, and she still cheated on you. It's outrageous!"
Zhou Zhengye said, "She's more than just outrageous; she's vicious and has the heart of a snake."
Zhou Zhengye then recounted all the things Wang Guixiang had done.
Zhou Xingshan was a very upright man, and he was already annoyed by the marriage to a family like the Wang family. Now, after hearing about Wang Guixiang's actions, he was furious. How could the Zhou family have married such a daughter-in-law? She was simply a viper.
Fortunately, her son had already divorced her.
Still somewhat incredulous, Zhou's mother asked, "Was all of this done by Wang Guixiang?"
Zhou Zhengye said, "We have investigated everything thoroughly, and it is absolutely true. Yi Xian was the one who sent people to investigate many of these matters."
Zhou Xingshan looked at his eldest son and said, "You must have some backup plans, right? With Wang Guixiang's way of doing things, the Wang family must have done a lot of bad things behind the scenes, right?"
Zhou Zhengye laughed sarcastically, "Compared to the Wang family, Wang Guixiang is nothing but a small fry."
Now Zhou's mother is completely on her eldest son's side, saying, "Zhengye, it's fortunate that you divorced Wang Guixiang, otherwise Wang Guixiang's shameful deeds would have been exposed sooner or later, and our family would have been greatly disgraced."
"Hmph, I really don't know how the Wang family raised their daughter, to produce such a fickle and vicious girl."
Zhou Zhengye said, "That's because the Wang family itself is not a respectable family. The bad things they've done are too numerous to count. Over the years, they have directly and indirectly harmed many people, and they will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Wang Guixiang learned this from her family."
Zhou Xingshan said, "Since you dared to agree to divorce Wang Guixiang, you should have already thought of a way to deal with the Wang family, right?"
Zhou Zhengye said, "The Wang family doesn't know that Wang Guixiang and I have divorced yet, and Wang Guixiang won't tell her family on her own initiative. She still needs to buy time for her 'lover.' Unfortunately, she will never see her 'lover' again."
Moreover, the Wang family is about to collapse, and by then, even if they know that Wang Guixiang and I are divorced, they won't have the energy to care anymore.
And Wang Guixiang shouldn't even think about using the Wang family's power to act recklessly anymore. If she comes to you for help, don't interfere, and try to stay away from her as much as possible.
Zhou's mother snorted and said, "She still has the nerve to come asking for help. If she dares to come, I'll kick her out. Good riddance to the Wang family, let's see how arrogant they can be now."
You have no idea how much we've been putting up with these past few years, just in case we offend the Wang family and they try to trip us up. I know you've suffered because of Wang Guixiang, but I don't dare let you discipline her. I'm afraid the Wang family will try to do something to you too.
"It was all my fault for being blind and trusting that matchmaker and the Wang family. Now you're stigmatized as divorced. I'm so sorry!"
As she spoke, Zhou's mother burst into tears; she truly regretted her actions.
Zhou Xingshan knew that his wife had felt guilty for the past two years, and he felt the same way. He advised, "Alright, old woman, our son is already divorced, so that counts as making amends for his mistakes. We'll just interfere less with Zheng Ye from now on."
Zhou Zhengye quickly put his arm around his mother's shoulder and comforted her, "Mom, it's all in the past now, things will get better in the future. I will definitely find you a daughter-in-law that you are satisfied with, and give you a bunch of grandsons."
Hearing her eldest son's words, Zhou's mother smiled through her tears and patted him, saying, "Mom doesn't ask for a daughter-in-law who satisfies me, as long as you like her. Mom won't make decisions for you anymore. After all, it's your life from now on, so finding a girl who suits your heart is the only way to make it last."
"Whether you look for someone in Kyoto or in Chigen Prefecture, as long as you like it, Mom has no objection."
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