Xu Minghan was surprised by this good thing and quickly nodded in agreement.
Before the old man returned, Granny Liu went back into the house, took out the money, and handed it to Xu Minghan, instructing him, "Don't tell anyone, not even your younger brother and sister."
In the end, I lent the money to the third brother without telling them, so it's better to avoid trouble and not say anything.
"I know, I know, Mom, I won't tell anyone." Xu Minghan gripped the bag of money tightly and continued talking to his mother.
Seeing that her third son hadn't gone home yet, Granny Liu got anxious. "Why aren't you going home yet? If your father comes back and sees this, he'll take it back again."
"It's alright, Dad's loud voice can be heard even before he enters the house. As soon as he arrives, I'll just head straight for the door." Xu Minghan pointed to the side door beside him. How convenient!
"By the way, Mom, I'm planning to take Xuemei to stay at the new house tomorrow. I don't feel safe at home. I'll need you to help take care of Panpan for a while."
Xu Minghan knew that his eldest and second sisters-in-law had objections to his mother only helping to take care of his children, but he really couldn't do anything about it. However, things would be better when the second child was born, and then he could take them all with him.
Granny Liu shoved him impatiently, "Hurry up and go, do you think I'll let your daughter go hungry?"
Xu Minghan grinned; he knew his mother was all bark and no bite.
When I got back to the house and saw that my wife was still asleep, I thought I should go and pay back the money while there were fewer people around. I didn't care that it was early morning, because I had a lot to do today!
When Zhang Xuemei woke up, it was already broad daylight. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she went straight to her mother-in-law's house to find food.
It was quite a coincidence that my eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law were both at the old house today making curtain clips.
"Xuemei, you're feeling comfortable here. You can sleep as long as you want, and you don't have to worry about where to eat. Mom has prepared everything for you."
When Xu's eldest sister-in-law, Zhou Nianmei, saw her sister-in-law slowly strolling out of the house with a boiled egg in her hand, she felt a little uncomfortable.
Why is it that even though they're all daughters-in-law, they have to take care of the kids and cook non-stop?
Zhang Xuemei was quite kind; she practically handed her the bowl.
Zhang Xuemei wasn't angry. "Sister-in-law, this is a special case for me. Besides, if you really want this kind of treatment, then just get pregnant again!"
"That's right, sister-in-law, Dingwen is already six years old, you can have another one," Xu's second sister-in-law, Chen Fengjuan, chimed in.
Looking at Zhang Xuemei's fair and tender face, Zhou Nianmei couldn't help but feel angry. "I wouldn't dare. What if I get pregnant with a money-losing child? Although it's not like some people who are pregnant with a belly full of girls."
As he spoke, he made a point of glancing at Zhang Xuemei to see her reaction.
If it were the old Zhang Xuemei, she would definitely have been so angry that she would have gone back to her room and cried.
But not now. She replied slowly, "It's okay, some people want to get pregnant but can't!"
"You..." Zhou Nianmei stood up angrily. Everyone in her family knew that they wanted a second child but hadn't been able to conceive. Wasn't this just hitting her sore spot?
"Alright, alright, stop talking. We're all family, don't be like this," Chen Fengjuan quickly said, trying to smooth things over when she saw her sister-in-law and third sister-in-law really getting into a fight.
However, she underestimated her third sister-in-law. In the past, she would have gone back to her room without saying a word. After all, she hadn't given birth to a son, so she didn't have much confidence.
Zhou Nianmei threw down the curtain clip she was holding, stood up and said, "I'm going home to lie down for a while, my chest doesn't feel well."
"Hey, sister-in-law," the person said, and walked away without being called back by Chen Fengjuan.
Then he turned to Zhang Xuemei and said, "Why did you have to hurt her feelings like that? We're all family."
Zhang Xuemei snorted coldly, "So she's allowed to hit a nerve, but I can't even say anything about her?"
Also, Second Sister-in-law, don't be so biased. We're all sisters-in-law. Just now, when Eldest Sister-in-law was criticizing me, why didn't you say anything bad about her?
Chen Fengjuan touched her nose, looking a little awkward. "She's the eldest sister-in-law, how can I, as her younger brother's wife, say anything to her!"
"Oh, so I deserve to be bullied by you guys, right!" They really thought she was the Zhang Xuemei from before.
Chen Fengjuan looked at Zhang Xuemei with a puzzled expression, "Xuemei, you seem to have changed a lot. Before..."
Zhang Xuemei waved her hand to interrupt her, "The past is the past, but I'm sober now! I'm going to make changes, otherwise anyone can step on me."
Zhang Xuemei realized that if she didn't stand up for herself, she deserved to be bullied.
"Look at what you're saying, making it sound like we're the bad guys."
Instead of going home to lie down as she had said, Zhou Nianmei went to chat at the threshing ground on the far west side of the village.
Before she even reached the threshing ground, she saw a large crowd gathered around watching the commotion, so she immediately joined them.
"Hey, what's wrong? Are they arguing inside?"
"Hey, Nianmei, you don't know? It's the family planning office inside! What good things could possibly come of it?" He then winked at her.
The older women nearby also noticed Zhou Nianmei and looked at her curiously. "Isn't your third sister-in-law pregnant too? Where has she been hiding?"
"Auntie, what nonsense are you talking about? She's not pregnant at all, that's not true," Zhou Nianmei retorted in a low voice.
The aunt who spoke shook her head dismissively, "You really think your family is keeping it a secret? Zhang Xuemei hasn't shown up for quite some time, don't you know what's going on?"
Zhou Nianmei waved her hand, "I'm not going to chat with you anymore. I'm going to find my son. I don't know where that kid has run off to."
"I haven't seen any children here; they must be over at your house!"
"I'll go take a look first, I'm leaving now!"
Zhou Nianmei turned around and walked back quickly, not daring to run, afraid of being recognized.
Chen Chunfeng watched Zhou Nianmei's retreating figure, stroked his chin, and then looked back at the family planning office over there, lost in thought.
"Hey, what are you doing? Don't do anything reckless." He Bixia nudged Chen Chunfeng. Her expression just now was quite frightening; could she be thinking of reporting him?
Chen Chunfeng pursed his lips, "What can I do? Why don't you go and check on him? I think I heard your little grandson crying. Is he awake?"
"Oh, it seems that's true. I need to go back now."
Chen Chunfeng waited at the intersection for the family planning office to come.
After Zhou Nianmei turned a corner and made sure no one was looking at her, she immediately started running, muttering to herself, "I really owe her something. Everyone says that, and I still went to tell her. I must have lost my mind."
He ran all the way to the old house and saw Zhang Xuemei still peeling and eating eggs. He was furious. "Eat, eat, all you do is eat! Hurry up, the family planning office is coming."
As he spoke, he snatched the egg from Zhang Xuemei's hand and stuffed it into his pocket.
Zhang Xuemei was initially angry that her eggs had been taken away, but when she heard her sister-in-law say that the family planning office had arrived, she stopped being angry and quickly stood up, pacing anxiously.
"Where are you hiding! Where are you hiding?!"
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