"Hua Bao is just a girl, destined to be someone else's eventually. Da Tou, however, is your nephew."
"Who says Hua Bao belongs to someone else? She will always be my Zhang Liunian's most cherished daughter. No one can bully her."
Before Zhang Wenjun could finish his sentence, Zhang Liunian interrupted him. With that, he turned and went back into the house, having no desire to deal with his uncle and aunt.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Wenjun immediately started cursing, saying that Zhang Liunian doted on his daughter too much and would regret it sooner or later.
However, Zhang Liunian paid no attention. Holding Hua Bao, he intended to bury the little yellow chick.
"Dad, I don't want Little Yellow Chick to leave me." These little chicks were all gifts from Zhang Liunian, and Hua Bao cherished them dearly. She didn't want to bury the little yellow chick too far away.
Hearing this, Zhang Liunian stroked her head. "Then let's bury the chick behind the house!"
Even though the mud house was dilapidated, it still had a back door.
"Mhm, okay." Hua Bao thought this was a good idea. She looked up with her reddened eyes, indicating her approval.
Seeing his daughter's bright red eyes, Zhang Liunian made another mental note about Zhang Da Tou.
That kid was detestable for making his Hua Bao so sad. He'd make sure to spank him if he found the opportunity.
Picking up his daughter with one arm and holding the deceased little yellow chick with the other, Zhang Liunian gently said to his daughter, "Then let's go bury the chick. You can come visit it later."
"Mhm."
Considering that the mud house was about to be demolished and rebuilt, Zhang Liunian specifically found a spot unlikely to be dug up, dug a hole, and buried the little yellow chick, marking the spot.
"Be good, Little Yellow Chick. Hua Bao will visit you every day." Hua Bao looked at the small mound of earth, pouted her lips, and felt like crying again.
Zhang Liunian held his daughter and comforted her, "Hua Bao, don't be sad. If you come to talk to it, it won't be lonely anymore."
"I will."
Meanwhile, Zhang Wenjun and his wife, after realizing Zhang Liunian was completely ignoring them, finally got up and left.
After all the fuss, they were hungry.
Returning home, they didn't need to cook. They simply had the unsold lobsters for dinner.
Wu Shuicao looked at the several large bowls of lobsters and felt distressed. She said to her eldest son, "Liu Huo, your dad isn't selling well there. Why don't you let them try a different location? I heard Wang Xiao'e is doing pretty well at the market." She didn't know exactly how much they earned, but it was definitely more than them. Moreover, she heard they only steamed them with the shells on and didn't need to peel them. If that was the case, they could do it too!
Upon hearing this, Zhang Liu Huo slapped his chopsticks onto the small dining table. "No, we want to earn money from Zhang Liunian, not from others. We'll continue selling tomorrow." Seeing his son's determined look, Zhang Liu Huo's hatred for Zhang Liunian deepened. If his leg weren't still injured, he would have rushed forward and gotten into a fight with Zhang Liunian.
"But your dad and the others aren't making money from him!" Wu Shuicao said weakly, then lowered her head to eat the lobsters. The cooled lobsters weren't very tasty. After a few bites, Wu Shuicao found the taste mediocre.
"Everyone, try this. These are lobsters made by Liu Nian. I specifically asked someone to buy a portion for me." Zhang Wenjun suddenly remembered that he had bought a portion of Zhang Liunian's lobsters when he returned in the afternoon and quickly took them out and placed them on the table.
Zhang Liu Yu immediately reached out to take one. After one bite, he couldn't stop. Seeing him like this, the others, no matter how resistant they felt internally, eventually reached out with their chopsticks to taste them. To know your enemy is to defeat them. But the moment it touched their tongues, they knew where they had failed. The taste was truly leagues better than theirs, no wonder no one came to buy theirs even though they knew the portions were larger.
"How did he make it? This tastes too delicious!" Wu Shuicao murmured involuntarily. Seeing her eldest son's gloomy expression, she immediately shut her mouth.
"Liu Huo, if we make the same kind of lobsters tomorrow, we'll still be unable to sell them like this afternoon. I think we need to find another way to take money from Zhang Liunian." Zhang Wenjun looked at his family's expressions after tasting Zhang Liunian's lobsters, similar to his own initial reaction, with complex emotions.
"We can't possibly replicate this taste. If we want to steal his business, we have to solve the problem at its root." After tasting Zhang Liunian's lobsters, Zhang Liu Huo knew he had underestimated Zhang Liunian. He had thought his lobsters wouldn't be anything special, but unexpectedly, they were far superior to theirs. Since they couldn't compete in taste, they had to prevent him from doing business with lobsters.
"How do we solve it?" Zhang Wenjun didn't quite understand his son's meaning. Zhang Liu Huo, however, wore a very sinister smile.
Meanwhile, Zhang Liunian's family also sat down for dinner. At the table, Jiang Qingqing looked at the table full of delicious dishes and hesitated to speak. Seeing this, Zhang Liunian gave her two bites of meat and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Liu Nian, Mom and Dad are back. Should we send them some food? Like this bowl of braised meat?" Jiang Qingqing had been targeted by her mother-in-law in the afternoon, but she still wanted to show filial respect.
Zhang Liunian sighed and reached out his left hand to hold Jiang Qingqing's right hand. "I'll call Mom and Dad over for a meal tomorrow. There's no need to send anything today." Actually, he didn't want to call his parents over, but what could he do? He was their son. Now that life was better, he naturally had to invite them for a meal or two; otherwise, it wouldn't make sense. Jiang Qingqing nodded upon hearing this.
After dinner, Zhang Liunian took out two plum blossom watches, giving one to Zhang Xiaomei and the other to Jiang Qingqing. "I went to the South City Department Store today and bought watches. I also brought one for each of you. See if you like them," Zhang Liunian said, focusing his gaze on Jiang Qingqing.
Jiang Qingqing and Zhang Xiaomei were delighted by the unexpected gifts and looked at Zhang Liunian with surprise. They also noticed his new watch under his sleeve.
"Third Brother, watches are too valuable. I can't accept this." Zhang Xiaomei looked at the blue box in front of her. She really wanted it, but thinking about the price of a watch, she still pushed the box away.
Zhang Liunian turned to his younger sister and placed the box in her hand. "You're being too polite with your third brother. Consider this watch an advance dowry from me. Keep it. When you get married, your third brother will make sure it's a grand affair."
"Third Brother, stop teasing me." Zhang Xiaomei lowered her head, her face instantly turning red.
"Little sister, what's wrong?" Jiang Qingqing looked at her sister-in-law's shy expression, somewhat confused about what had happened. Zhang Liunian looked at her and smiled, "Little sister says she has someone she wants to marry."
"Really? That's wonderful!" Jiang Qingqing's smile bloomed instantly.
"Third Brother, Third Sister-in-law, please don't tease me." Zhang Xiaomei heard her sister-in-law's genuine happiness for her, but she still felt a bit uneasy. This was because she hadn't confirmed whether the mute also wanted to be with her. She had gone to the educated youth dormitory that afternoon but hadn't encountered the mute.