Don't underestimate the poor and elderly; I was thrilled to refuse the class beauty's adva

The sound of a key turning in the lock came from the doorway.

The door opened, and Zhang Rongshan and Liu Guilan walked in one after the other.

Both of them looked visibly tired, but their eyes were bright.

That kind of brightness is like the brightness of someone who has stood on a factory assembly line for more than ten years, was laid off and thought that this was the end of their life, but suddenly had hope again.

"Yifan? Why are you back?"

When Liu Guilan looked up and saw her son sitting on the sofa, she was first taken aback, and then subconsciously glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Isn't it Saturday? Did you ask for leave?"

"Yes, I told Teacher Fu. How's the shop renovation going?"

"Don't even mention it. The tile installer today was skilled, but he was so careless. I told him several times to align the seams, and he agreed verbally, but then he laid the tiles crookedly. I was so angry that I made him pry them up and redo them on the spot."

Liu Guilan gets all excited when the topic of home renovation comes up; she stands in the entryway gesturing before even putting on her slippers properly.

"Your dad, on the other hand, just stood there handing me a shovel, not saying a word in my defense."

"I was just respecting their professional judgment."

Zhang Rongshan put the tool bag on the shoe cabinet.

"Besides, didn't we re-paste it according to your request in the end? Your mother is quite famous now; even the small business owners at the building materials market avoid her."

"Get lost, stop talking nonsense."

Liu Guilan laughed and cursed, then walked to the sofa and sat down, rubbing her lower back before realizing what had happened.

"You still haven't told me why you're back. Did something happen at school?"

"It's nothing, I just felt a little tired and wanted to come back and rest for a bit."

"Have you eaten? Are you hungry? Mom will go make you something right away..."

As Liu Guilan spoke, she got up and walked towards the kitchen, taking her apron off the hook.

"Mom, stop busy, let's go out to eat. It's a rare weekend, and the family hasn't eaten out in a long time."

Liu Guilan paused for a moment, then turned to look at Zhang Rongshan.

If it were just the two of them normally, they would absolutely not want to go out to eat.

A lot of money has already been spent on renovations, so every penny must be spent sparingly.

The rent for the shop, the tiles, the stove, the exhaust pipes—none of these are free.

But when her son spoke up, she hesitated for only a second before agreeing.

"Alright, I've been to the building materials market all day and I don't feel like doing anything. Old Zhang, stop fiddling with those angle valves and change your shoes before you go."

Zhang Rongshan placed the angle valve on the shoe cabinet, unusually refraining from objection: "Alright, we'll listen to our son. What are we going to eat?"

"Let's have Sichuan cuisine, Yifan loves spicy food."

Zhang Yifan stood up and was about to walk towards the door when he suddenly stopped.

Almost at the same time.

Boom boom boom!

There was a knock on the door.

It wasn't the polite way of knocking twice; it was a loud, enthusiastic knocking with clenched fists and knuckles, as if the whole building wanted to know that someone was waiting at the door.

Zhang Rongshan frowned, muttered to himself, "Who could it be at this hour?", and turned to open the door.

Liu Guilan also stopped tidying her clothes and glanced towards the door.

Zhang Yifan leaned back on the sofa armrest, his gaze passing over the entryway and landing in the direction of the door.

The door opened.

A man in his forties was standing outside, wearing a dark blue executive jacket with the zipper open, revealing a white shirt underneath.

It was none other than Zhang Yifan's maternal uncle, Fang Zhiyuan.

His hair was neatly combed, and he wore an overly enthusiastic smile, but it looked rather unnatural.

He was carrying a bag of bananas in his right hand. Through the semi-transparent plastic bag, you could see that the peel of the top banana had turned black and soft, and the bottom bananas also had brown spots to varying degrees.

She was also holding the hand of a three- or four-year-old boy.

"Cousin! Cousin's husband!"

Fang Zhiyuan's smile widened, and his loud voice echoed through the hallway.

"Long time no see! How have you been lately?"

"Oh, I heard you recently rented a shop and are opening a business. My brother-in-law's culinary skills finally have a place to shine, so I came here specifically to congratulate him!"

As he spoke, he handed the bag of bananas forward, then bent down and patted his son on the back of the head: "Quick, greet your aunt and uncle!"

The child stumbled forward after being slapped, looked at Liu Guilan with blank eyes, mumbled "Auntie" and then fell silent.

Zhang Rongshan glanced down at the bag of rotten bananas and his lips twitched.

He was about to say something when Liu Guilan spoke first.

"Oh, who is this? Isn't this a high-ranking official from the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau? What brings you here to visit us poor relatives today?"

Fang Zhiyuan's smile remained unchanged. Just as he was about to reply, Liu Guilan didn't give him a chance to speak.

"Take this bag of rotten bananas back with you. My family can't afford to be associated with you."

Last year, when Yifan delivered New Year's goods to your house, you didn't even let him in. You took the goods at the door and closed the door behind him.

"What, aren't you afraid of being bothered by the smell of us poor relatives today?"

Most people would have lost face after being subjected to such sarcastic and sarcastic remarks.

But Fang Zhiyuan was no ordinary person.

He laughed even harder, put the bag of bananas on the ground, rubbed them together, and spoke with a tone full of sincere self-reflection.

"Cousin, what are you saying? What kind of big leader is he? He's just a worker."

I used to look down on people; I was wrong, and I admit my mistake.

We're family after all, don't hold it against your younger brother.

When he said this, his eyes were so sincere that it seemed he wanted to lay his heart out and show it to Liu Guilan.

Fang Zhiyuan glanced at the bag in Liu Guilan's hand and the keys in Zhang Rongshan's hand, then changed the subject with a hint of regret in his tone: "Are you planning to go out? Well, I've come at an inopportune time. I'll leave now and come see you another day."

Liu Guilan and Zhang Rongshan exchanged a glance, their expressions clearly saying, "Tell him to leave quickly."

Just as Liu Guilan was about to say "No need to see me off," a voice came from the living room.

"Dad, Mom, since it's my cousin who's here, and we're going out for dinner anyway, why don't we come along?"

Zhang Yifan walked to the entrance, looked into Fang Zhiyuan's eyes, and had a faint smile on his face.

"Uncle, haven't you eaten yet? Bring your little cousin along."

Fang Zhiyuan's smile faltered for a moment.

He glanced at Zhang Yifan, his nephew, who was wearing a school uniform and standing under the light in the entryway, with a calmness on his face that he couldn't quite decipher.

He was only there to test the waters, offering a bag of rotten bananas to get closer to the person before formally speaking up another day.

Unexpectedly, this kid directly invited him to dinner, which accelerated the pace of things.

That's fine, at least it saves him from having to come back with another excuse.

"Oh, that's so embarrassing!"

He declined verbally, but his feet had already crossed the threshold, and he casually pushed the bag of rotten bananas onto the ground.

"I'm so sorry to have troubled your family. Next time, your cousin will definitely treat you."

Zhang Rongshan glanced at his son.

He didn't know why his son was suddenly so enthusiastic today, but he knew his son had changed.

He sensed it the night his son slapped a 300,000 yuan scratch-off lottery ticket on the coffee table.

This child has a reason for everything he does now.

He put the keys in his pocket and nodded to Fang Zhiyuan: "Let's go, to the Sichuan restaurant downstairs."

Liu Guilan walked to the end, glanced at the bag of rotten bananas on the shoe cabinet, and then at the bewildered child Fang Zhiyuan was holding hands with.

Her lips twitched, but she didn't say anything more hurtful. She just picked up her bag and muttered before closing the door, "Lock the door properly."

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