Boss Zhou and Second Zhou stood aside, and Li Shi came in with noodles, “Mom, I made the noodles with gravy that you and Dad like to eat, and I also made vegetable soup.”

Zhulan’s stomach growled. She hadn’t eaten Li Shi’s cooking for a long time and missed it very much. She stood up and sat down at the round table in the room.

The food cooked by Li Shi was delicious, and it made you hungry just by looking at it.

Li Shi served noodles to her parents and handed them the chopsticks, then stood next to the head of the household. She saw that everyone in the room was standing except for a few little kids. There was no change in her parents’ faces, but her intuition told her that they were very angry.

Zhulan looked at Li Shi a few more times. She and Zhou Shuren didn’t say anything either. They lowered their heads and ate noodles. They didn’t speak, and no one in the room dared to speak.

Zhulan ate a bowl of rice and said to Li Shi and Zhao Shi, “Take the children back to their respective rooms first.”

Zhou Shuren interrupted, “Mingyun stays.”

The two agreed and took the four children back to the house. Mingteng in the first room was looked after by Yu Lu, Yu Shuang in the second room looked after Ming Rui, and Li Shi and Zhao Shi came back soon.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren finished their meal. Zhao Shi took the initiative to clean up the dishes, and Xue Han followed to help clean up.

Zhulan returned to sit on the kang. The kang was already heated. Zhulan was full and didn’t want to say much. She had time tomorrow, so she was not in a hurry.

Zhulan instructed Li Shi, “There is a new box near the cabinet. There are clothes and some rouge in the box. Take them out. When Zhao Shi comes back, you two can divide them among the rooms.”

Li Shi had a lot of things she wanted to say to her mother-in-law, but now that her mother-in-law was back, she felt relieved and all the things she wanted to say disappeared. She liked being ordered around by her mother-in-law and felt relieved. “Ok.”

Listening to his wife’s tone, Boss Zhou knew that she was very happy. He felt sorry for her these days. She was his wife, he felt sorry for her. Although Li Shi was not as pretty as Zhao Shi, and not as well-educated as Dong Shi, he liked Li Shi!

Zhao Shi came back. Zhulan and the others divided the cloth and rouge, took out the jewelry box, and divided the jewelry they brought back to Li Shi and Zhao Shi. “This is for the two of you. There are also two pairs of pearl earrings for the two girls. You keep them. Okay, take the gifts from each room and go back!”

Zhao Shi was stunned for a moment and looked at her sister-in-law. She saw her sister-in-law happily holding the hairpin and putting it on her head. Why didn’t she complain?

When Li Shi saw Zhao Shi looking at her, she curled her lips inwardly. She had grown a lot since her mother-in-law was not at home. She held the cloth and rouge and said, “Mom, I’m going back first. Mom, I have boiled two large pots of hot water in the pot for Dad and Mom to take a bath.”

Zhao Shi held the cloth and said, “Mom, I’ll return to my room.”

After her daughters-in-law left, Zhulan gave the things to Xue Han to her, and she also went out.

Zhulan went out to clean the bathtub, leaving the space to Zhou Shuren. Zhou Shuren remained silent, suppressing his anger.

Boss Zhou and Second Zhou didn’t want their mother to go out. When their mother was not in the room, their father’s expression changed immediately. Woohoo, they felt like they were in trouble.

Zhou Shuren first asked Mingyun and Rong Chuan, “How are you two doing in the academy?”

Rong Chuan spoke first, “Everything is fine.”

Mingyun said in a very light voice: “I didn’t do very well in the test a few days ago.”

As the eldest grandson, he knew his responsibilities. However, Pingzhou City was not the clan school, so there were many talented people there. He was also always distracted recently and did not do well in the exams.

Zhou Shuren believed that for the two children, Rong Chuan was more talented than Mingyun. Plus, Rong Chuan was older than Mingyun, so his comprehension ability was naturally better than Mingyun’s.

Zhou Shuren waved his hand to signal Mingyun to come over.

Boss Zhou was worried. Dad wouldn’t be angry and want to beat Mingyun. “Dad, if you want to beat someone, just beat me. It’s all because of me who failed Dad’s expectations. It’s because I didn’t take good care of the family that Mingyun had to worry about it. He was distracted because he was thinking about me and Li Shi.”

Zhou Shuren’s face darkened, “Which eye of yours saw that I was going to hit someone?”

He clearly just wanted to comfort his eldest grandson. He knew his grandson was distracted, and knowing this made him realize even more how hard it was for him. How did it turn into him wanting to hit someone when the eldest son spoke?

Boss Zhou shut up. Dad probably wanted to hit him now!

Mingyun saw that his grandfather was looking at his father unkindly, and he wanted to cry but had no tears in his heart, “Grandpa.”

Zhou Shuren retracted his gaze and touched Mingyun’s hair. He was the one who caused the little guy’s pressure. “Grandpa is back. Your uncle Rong Chuan will ask for a leave for you tomorrow. Grandpa will take you to learn horse riding.”

Boss Zhou, “.”

From childhood to adulthood, his father had never been gentle to him. It was said that grandparents were closer to their grandchildren. He was jealous of his son. Now that he was an adult, he also wanted to learn how to ride a horse.

Second Zhou pursed his lips. The first room had Mingyun, and his father was always thinking about him. What about the second room?

Mingyun opened his eyes wide, “Really?”

“Of course it’s true.”

Boss Zhou, “.”

It was so heartbreaking, the father was not as good as the son!

Zhou Shuren wanted to take Mingyun to learn horse riding only to let the little guy relax. The child was still too young, and it was not good for him to be under too much pressure.

Zhou Shuren motioned for Rong Chuan and Mingyun to go back and rest. After the two children left, he looked at Boss Zhou and Second Zhou with a dark face, “I am very disappointed.”

Boss Zhou and Second Zhou felt a pang in their hearts and lowered their heads to admit their mistakes.

Zhou Shuren was really disappointed. He knew that his eldest son couldn’t control his younger brothers, but he didn’t expect that the eldest brother Zhou was treated as the housekeeper. “Boss, are you the housekeeper of the family?”

Boss Zhou lowered his head and said, “No.”

“Very good, since you know you are not, why don’t you act like a big brother? When I am not at home, you are the head of the family, how do you manage the family? Why hasn’t Chang Lian come back at night? Why did Dong Shi follow him out?”

Boss Zhou wanted to say that Chang Lian often went to Jiang’s house, but he felt that it was wrong. Even if he went to Jiang’s house, he would not stay until dark. He knelt down all of a sudden, “Dad, it’s my fault. I didn’t act as a good brother.”

It was indeed because he indulged Chang Lian too much that Chang Lian came back later and later.

Zhou Shuren snorted, “I know you don’t have enough confidence. Did I not give you enough confidence? As the eldest brother, you don’t even know how to set the rules. Instead, you wait for Chang Lian to come home and open the door. You are the eldest brother, not the housekeeper. You spoil them.”

If he was at home, he would not open the door if Chang Lian dared to come home late again and again. Lord Jiang would not stay with Chang Lian until dark. It was obvious that this kid Chang Lian had made friends!

Based on his understanding of Chang Lian, this kid must have tested the Boss’s attitude more than once, and when he saw that his eldest brother didn’t say anything, he became bolder.

Boss Zhou lowered his head even more. His father had indeed given him a lot of confidence. Before he left, he warned his younger brothers and even left him a hundred taels of silver. It was because of his step-by-step concessions that he retreated and became the housekeeper.

Zhou Shuren looked at Second Zhou and was very disappointed. “You have too many thoughts on your mind. You are trying to please both sides and don’t want to confront Chang Lian. You have long forgotten that I told you to help your eldest brother more. I don’t believe you can’t see Chang Lian’s temptation, but you didn’t say anything and didn’t remind your eldest brother. You are avoiding it, huh?”

Second Zhou, “Dad, I didn’t have enough confidence.”

Zhou Shuren raised his eyebrows. This guy dared to say, “First, I didn’t split up the family, and second, I didn’t drive you out. Your mother and I are the masters of the whole family. No matter how weak you are, you should have a limit to your weakness. You should know that if you give in too much, it will become a habit. You don’t have to fight or be strong. It’s unrealistic to expect your mother and I to protect you. Now our family is simple. When we have more children, your mother and I won’t have that much energy. Think about it yourself!”

Second Zhou felt that he was being too clever for his own good. Thinking back carefully, the second room did seem to have a very low sense of existence. He felt a little uneasy and said, “Dad, I will think about it carefully.”

Zhou Shuren left to test the waters, but the result was worse than he expected. He waved his hand and said, “Okay, both of you go back and think about it carefully!”

As he said that, Zhou Shuren walked out first. He wanted to help Zhulan carry the bathtub.

Boss Zhou and Second Zhou looked at each other, and the two helped each other to stand up. Second Zhou bowed and apologized, “As a younger brother, I did not do well, here I apologize to you, big brother.”

Boss Zhou waved his hands, “I didn’t do well either.”

In the kitchen, Zhulan finished cleaning the bathtub and saw Zhou Shuren coming over. “Are you done talking?”

Zhou Shuren, “Yes.”

Zhulan said to Zhou Shuren: “I just asked Rong Chuan to lock the door.”

Zhou Shuren was amused. Zhulan was much more ruthless than him. “Have you found out?”

Zhulan nodded, “Just now, Xue Han came over and told me everything that happened at home. Today, it’s the first time Mrs. Dong and Changlian went out for a social event together. I estimate that the two of them should be back by now.”

(End of this chapter)

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