Zhang put away her surprise, put on a smile again, and said to A'ruan affectionately: "You haven't been back for so many years, I couldn't recognize you when I saw you suddenly. Our A'ruan is getting more and more beautiful."
Ah Ruan lowered his eyes and said nothing. He put down the teacup in his hand and motioned Zhang to sit down.
Zhang smiled and sighed, not saying politely. After he sat down, he raised his hand to drink the tea on the small table beside him. After picking up the teacup, he found it was empty, so he put it down awkwardly.
"Aruan, how are you doing in the capital? I heard that Wei Min is now the vice prime minister. He is really promising."
Zhang seemed to have forgotten that he had said in front of A'ruan that Wei Min was a poor scholar. Now his words were full of praise for the two of them. "When that ice man proposed marriage to you, I thought that Wei Min would definitely have a bright future. You see, I was right."
Ah Ruan was still thinking about the chestnut cakes in his kitchen. He didn't want to argue with Zhang, so he took the initiative to "ask" him:
——Although I have changed a lot, I have not forgotten anything that I should remember. Just tell me what you have to say.
Zhang felt a little embarrassed by A'ruan's words. She smiled awkwardly on her face, but cursed in her heart, wondering why she hadn't realized that this little bitch who never fought back or talked back would be so difficult to deal with once she got married.
Zhang laughed dryly, "Isn't this your sister? She has taken a fancy to the son of the Chen family, but the Chen family insisted that she take the imperial examination first..."
Zhang looked at A'ruan's face while she was talking. Seeing that his eyelids were drooping and he showed no emotion, she continued, "Your sister didn't pass the provincial examination this year. Since Wei Min is the vice prime minister, I thought of asking her to find a position for your sister."
A Ruan frowned slightly and looked at Zhang with complicated eyes, thinking, how can you have the nerve to say this?
Zhang had been humble and submissive since she entered the mansion. Seeing Ah Ruan frowning, she suddenly felt impatient, but she endured it and said in a gentle voice, "Don't worry, I won't make it difficult for your wife to get a high position. I will just make your sister the magistrate of Qingping County."
When Erjiu heard this, he wanted to sneer at him. Seeing that Ah Ruan didn't get angry, Erjiu smiled and asked Zhang: "You are the magistrate of Qingping County just by talking nonsense. Do you know that this position is obtained through examination? It is obtained through the provincial examination, the imperial examination and the palace examination?"
When he was pronouncing this word, he emphasized the pronunciation particularly.
Zhang's face looked a little ugly. She squinted her eyelids and glanced at Erjiu fiercely. She glanced at Aruan with the corner of her eyes and hummed in a nasal voice, "Where did the servants come from who are so talkative?"
Ah Ruan raised his eyelids, his expression cold:
——I’m from the Wei Mansion.
Zhang's words just now were also a test. Now seeing A'ruan's protective attitude, she knew that he was probably unwilling to do so. "Tell me, do you not want to help your sister?"
Ah Ruan pursed her lips, and Zhang's temper immediately flared up. She couldn't help but raise her voice and said, "Your sister is already 20 years old, and now she doesn't even have a husband. Others her age already have children.
She failed the provincial examination and refused to work. Now she finally fell in love with Mr. Chen, but the Chen family was too picky and insisted on marrying her to an official...
She is your sister who grew up in front of you. Now you are the master in the capital, living in a big house with servants to take care of you and you have no worries about food and clothing. But she has nothing. Can't you just help her? Isn't this just a matter of words for Wei Min? ”
The implicit meaning of his words was that A'ruan should not forget his family once he became rich.
Ah Ruan found it ridiculous to hear Zhang calling her "sister" all the time.
A Ruan suddenly remembered the time when he could still speak. At that time, Zhang Youyao had just been born. He was small and soft. He was very curious and liked such an innocent and harmless child very much.
Ah Ruan lay down in front of the bed and called her sister. When Zhang heard it, she slapped him and shouted, "Who allowed you to call her sister? Don't let your worthless life affect my daughter!"
In Zhang's eyes, her daughter was very precious and fragile, as if being called "sister" by A'ruan would shorten her life.
From then on, A Ruan no longer dared to call Zhang Youyao "sister". Later, as she grew up, her personality became exactly the same as Zhang's, very bad, and she treated him as just a servant of the Zhang family.
A'ruan has had too many comfortable days in recent years, and those painful times seem like things from the past life, which he can hardly recall.
Now when he saw Zhang again and heard the word "sister" from his mouth, A Ruan felt it was very ironic. These two words only reminded him of the slap on his face.
Ah Ruan pursed his lips into a straight line, looked at Zhang with indifferent eyes, raised his hand and said to him:
——I don’t have a sister. Besides, it’s all because of you that Zhang Youyao behaved like this today, you can’t blame anyone else.
——I am telling you this today, my wife will not help Zhang Youyao get any official position, and I, A'ruan, don't owe your Zhang family anything.
——When I got married, you were afraid that Zhang Youyao would become successful in the future and I would marry into a rich family, so you cut off all ties with me. From that day on, I had no relationship with your Zhang family.
After watching his actions, Zhang felt her anger rising. She couldn't help but slap the handle of the chair and stood up, saying, "When you first came to my Zhang family, you could just walk. If I hadn't raised you with all my hard work over the years, you would have been taken away by stray dogs long ago.
Now that you are rich and your wife has become successful, do you want to wipe out this kindness? It’s a nice thought.
Have I ever asked you for anything in return over the years? All I got from you was a few taels of betrothal gift when you got married. Is this little bit of money enough for you to eat, wear and live in my Zhang family for so many years? ”
Zhang rolled up her sleeves, crossed her arms, and glanced at Ah Ruan from a high position. "If you want to sever ties with my Zhang family, that's fine. Then make Zhang Youyao a county magistrate. Otherwise, you will be a member of my Zhang family until you die. I will come here every day to make trouble and let everyone know what an ungrateful person you are!"
Upon hearing this, A'ruan's face turned cold. He raised his hand to stop Erjiu who was about to speak, picked up the teacup on the table, and threw it hard in front of Zhang.
This was the first time that A'ruan lost her temper at someone, and it was also the first time in all these years that she confronted Zhang face to face.
His wife couldn't bear to yell at him, so who the hell did Zhang think she was, to yell at him like that? Do you still think he is a servant of the Zhang family?
After throwing the teacup away, A Ruan's hands hidden in his sleeves were shaking, and he felt the anger that had been held in his chest for many years was released.
In the past, he endured it because he was afraid that he would be driven out by Zhang after going against him. Then, as a man, he would have nowhere to go and could only live a humble and submissive life. But now, he is not afraid of anything, especially him.
Zhang was frightened by A-Ruan throwing the cup and screamed loudly. She immediately forgot everything and just thought that he was still the A-Ruan who let him beat and scold her. She rolled up her sleeves and shouted, "Little bitch, are you rebelling? Do you want to kill me?"
Erjiu caught a glimpse of Zhang's actions, quickly rolled up his sleeves and stood in front of Aruan. Although he was short, his aura was no less than Zhang's. He shouted at the door, "Eighteen, get someone to come in and take him out!"
When the servant held Zhang's arms, she came to her senses and twisted her body to struggle, saying, "How dare you! I'll tell people you're an ungrateful person when I get out. My Zhang family has raised you for so many years, but now that you've become rich, you're kicking us out. Let's see how you and Wei Min behave when the time comes!"
Erjiu chuckled when he heard this, pinched his waist and said, "My master is the husband of a second-rank official, you will go to jail for spreading rumors!
If you have the guts, go out and shout as loud as you can, and then you’ll see whose family will be thrown into jail and eat prison food!
And your precious daughter, she has been in prison, and with this record, she will not even be eligible to take the imperial examination in the future. ”
Zhang was frightened by Erjiu's last words. Her face turned pale with fear, but she said stubbornly, "You know whether I made up a rumor or not. No matter what, it is a fact that I raised him. Everyone in the village knows it!"
Ah Ruan came over, smiled slightly, raised his hand and asked Zhang:
——Do you think they help you or me?
Zhang's face darkened, and after a moment of silence, she said, "I won't let you work for You Yao. Give me three hundred taels of silver, and we'll write off our differences. We'll go our separate ways from now on and have nothing to do with each other."
A'ruan's cold expression represented his attitude. Erjiu said, "Our master won't give you a penny, so just give up on this idea!"
A Ruan raised his hand:
——When I got married, your Zhang family didn’t even bother to hang a red lantern. After receiving the betrothal gift, they treated me like they were selling me out and didn’t care about me for many years.
——Now that my wife can ask for my help, you, Zhang, start to talk about raising me and family affection with a hypocritical face. When you failed, your true colors were revealed and you even threatened and intimidated me.
——Do you think I will give you money?
Zhang gritted her teeth and was about to say something else when she heard a voice from behind her, "What's going on?"
The person who came in with the voice was Wei Min, who was wearing a bamboo green Yanju suit. She saw the chaos in the house and couldn't help but frown. She first looked at A Ruan, and when she saw that he was fine, she glanced at Zhang and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Wei Min looked at Erjiu without waiting for Zhang's answer, frowned and said disapprovingly: "Is the mansion hiring a cleaning servant? Don't use him." His tone sounded quite disdainful.
Zhang's face turned purple when she heard this. Wei Min was dignified and imposing, completely different from A'ruan, the "soft" persimmon. Zhang had been afraid of her since she dared to attack a man like her, and now she felt even more scared.
A'ruan and Erjiu were amused by Wei Min.
Erjiu glanced at A'ruan before telling Wei Min what had just happened.
Wei Min sneered as if he had heard a joke, "After getting married, one follows the wife's surname and takes the husband's name. From the day A'ruan married me, she is a member of my Wei family, Wei's A'ruan. No matter whether she is old or rich, she has nothing to do with your Zhang family."
Wei Min looked at Zhang and said coldly, "You will be beaten out if you come to the Wei Mansion to cause trouble and try to make friends with relatives. I think you are a man and I won't let the servants do anything to you. You'd better keep your mouth shut when you go out, don't let your mouth kill the whole family."
Wei Min put his hands behind his back and said, "Throw him out."
After dealing with Zhang's matter, Wei Min said to A Ruan, "There's no point in talking to this kind of person. Just kick him out."
A Ruan smiled and nodded, her heart still feeling sweet because of what Wei Min had just said.
Take my name and give it your surname.
Wei Aruan, this is the first time I heard these words from my wife's mouth.
Before going to bed at night, Ah Ruan put his arms around Wei Min's neck, raised his upper body and leaned over to kiss the corner of her mouth, then lay back on the bed, gesturing to her with a gentle look:
——My dear wife, let’s have a child. I want to give birth to a child for you.
It's not that I want a child, but that I want to give birth to a child for you.
Wei Min laughed softly and replied, "Okay, I'll listen to my husband."
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