They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 189 Being a Guest
Bai's words made Zhang's heart skip a beat, and she blurted out angrily, "How dare she!"

"She's this arrogant now, what wouldn't she dare to do?"

"."

Zhang thought about it and agreed. Yes, that's arrogant enough; they might actually dare to do it.

"That depends on whether she has the ability! Mingxuan is still young. What do you mean by 'a bright future'? It's too early to say that. My Mingxiang is much more capable than him. He will definitely surpass him in the future. Hmph, we'll see who gets revenge on whom then."

Zhang became more and more gratified as she spoke, as if her own son had already achieved great success and she herself had benefited from it, stepping on Xu Zhichun's head.

Bai cursed inwardly, calling him an idiot, clueless, arrogant, and really good at thinking!

What time is it and they're still dreaming? They're still dreaming that their son will one day step on Mingxuan's head.

No matter how disdainful Bai felt, she knew how much hope her elder brother and sister-in-law had placed in Liang Mingxiang, so she didn't dare to pour cold water on him directly.

Otherwise, instead of being provoked into dealing with Xu Zhichun, this sister-in-law would have pounced on her and torn her apart.

"That would take many years. Does my sister-in-law really intend to tolerate Xu Shi for so many years? How can she live with herself watching Xu Shi flaunt her power every day?"

Zhang gritted her teeth, but of course she couldn't get past it.

"That Xu family is going too far! Mingxuan is the same; he's completely clueless. He's clearly a member of the Liang family and should be closer to both of our families, but he prefers to listen to the Xu family and has become distant from us. Now that he's in the county school, he's even more arrogant. In a few years, he'll probably look down on us even more!"

"In short, those two are a jinx. With them around, neither of our families will be happy."

Zhang's heart skipped a beat; that was it.

With them around, Mingxiang has already suffered enough, not to mention anything else.

If Xu Zhichun is gone, let's see if that brat Mingxuan can still be so arrogant, and let's see if he can still suppress Mingxiang in every way.

Seeing Zhang's eyes darting around and her face shifting between light and shadow, Bai knew she had taken her words to heart. Satisfied, Bai curled her lips and added a few more provocative remarks, making Zhang's face darken more and more before finally walking away contentedly.

After Xu Zhichun made noodles and enjoyed them with Liang Mingxuan and Chunfen, Chunfen diligently cleaned up the stove and washed the dishes and pots. Xu Zhichun then took the opportunity to ask his brother-in-law about his classmates coming to visit the next day.

Especially those concerning Dou Zhongli.

This person is a relative of the Zeng family, and just that alone made Xu Zhichun feel a bit disgusted.

With no outsiders present, Liang Mingxuan spoke without reservation.

Xu Zhichun frowned more and more as she listened.

"So, Dou Zhongli is always striving to be the best and wants to surpass you in everything, but he can never quite get his way?"

That's roughly it.

"So he really doesn't mind making things difficult for himself? Why bother? He still insists on coming to our house as a guest tomorrow. I'm afraid he'll be disappointed."

The thought that this person was a relative of the Zeng family made Xu Zhichun even more disgusted. If nothing happened, fine, but if something did, the Zeng family might start speculating about a conspiracy, and it might even implicate Xiao Yan.

Liang Mingxuan was also helpless, "I don't know what he's thinking, but I can't refuse him."

Xu Zhichun laughed and said, "They are all your classmates. It wouldn't be right to refuse Qin Gongzi and Xiaoyue alone since they can come. Well, since they're here, let's just deal with them as they come."

Liang Mingxuan thought his sister-in-law's choice of words was very appropriate, and couldn't help but smile. "Yes, I'll listen to my sister-in-law."

I need to deliver tomatoes to Manager Tang's place tomorrow, so I guess I can't stop doing business. I still need to make konjac tofu and konjac noodles today. After all, I've already gone there; I can't just come back after delivering the goods, can I?
The next morning, Liang Mingliang and Zeng Xiaoyan went into town to deliver and sell things, while Xu Zhichun and Aunt Zhu'er waited at home for Qin Ning'an and the others to come as guests.

This morning I killed two chickens, plucked and cleaned them, and set them aside. I also did some simple processing on the pork belly, planning to make braised pork. I chopped the ribs into pieces, marinated them, and made a steamed pork dish. I also prepared a tomato and egg dish and two stir-fried vegetables from my garden.

The first to arrive was Lu Xiaoyue, but unexpectedly, she was accompanied by Granny Ji, who was from Madam Lu's side.

"Sister Xu!"

"Hello, Madam Xu."

Xu Zhichun was overjoyed. "Xiaoyue—I'll call you Xiaoyue from now on. Granny Ji, it's been a long time."

Granny Ji nodded with a smile: "Our young master was coming, so I came along to join in the fun."

As she spoke, Granny Ji presented three or four gift boxes she had brought, saying, "Congratulations on your housewarming, Madam Xu."

"Thank you, mama."

Xu Zhichun took it and placed it on the Eight Immortals Table.

Lu Xiaoyue couldn't sit still and was very curious about their new home, so Xu Zhichun and Liang Mingxuan had no choice but to take them on a tour.

Many of the strawberry plants in the backyard have already borne fruit, but they haven't grown big yet. They hang down one by one, completely lacking the cute and tempting appearance of a ripe strawberry.

Lu Xiaoyue and Granny Ji were not people who knew much about crops, so they didn't think much of the strawberries, treating them as just an ordinary vegetable.

Lu Xiaoyue was only surprised: "Wow, there are so many of these planted! Is the fruit delicious?"

Xu Zhichun laughed and said, "I don't know if it will taste good or not. We'll know when it's ripe. We didn't originally plant this many, but who knew that smaller ones would grow on their own? So it seems like we have too many. If it tastes good, I'll pick some more and send them to the county school for you to try."

"That's great, thank you, Sister Xu!"

They were talking in the backyard when they heard someone else coming from the front, so they hurried over.

The carriage stopped outside the courtyard. Qin Ning'an was carrying a small basket lined with straw, and a small brown-black dog was lying pitifully inside.

Qin Ning'an jumped off the carriage, waved vigorously to Liang Mingxuan and the others, and ran over with a small basket in her arms: "Mingxuan, Sister Xu, look at the puppy I brought you!"

Xu Zhichun said he wanted to buy a puppy to guard the house, but there weren't any in the village, and he hadn't seen any for sale in the county town recently, so the matter was delayed. Unexpectedly, Qin Ning'an found out and brought one over.

No one can resist a delicate and adorable little animal. Looking at the puppy that had just been brought to her, Xu Zhichun's heart melted. "Ning An, thank you so much!"

Lu Xiaoyue squatted down beside the puppy, her eyes shining, and stroked its glossy fur. "So soft, so smooth, so cute!"

Liang Mingxuan: "Thank you."

He felt it was a bit too small, such a soft little bundle, with watery, delicate eyes. He figured his sister-in-law would have to take care of it for a long time, and he wondered when it would be able to guard the house. But puppies have their advantages; raised at home from a puppy, they're closer to the family.

"This puppy seems a bit different from the ones we usually see. Ning'an, where did you get it?"

Liang Mingxuan asked again, puzzled.

Qin Ning'an casually said, "I don't know either. A merchant from out of town gave it to my dad, and he kept it for me to play with. I thought, what a coincidence! I just heard Mingxuan say that Sister Xu wanted to keep one to guard the house, so I brought it over to give you a surprise, hehe!"

(End of this chapter)