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

Fang Zhiyuan led his son ahead, his steps light and quick, humming a tuneless Huangmei Opera.

The child stumbled as he was pulled, and the toy car with the missing wheel fell to the ground with a thud. He bent down to pick it up, muttered a few words, and continued walking.

Zhang Rongshan walked behind, deliberately slowing his pace to walk alongside Zhang Yifan.

He glanced at Fang Zhiyuan's retreating figure, lowered his voice, and spoke with a tone full of incomprehension and resentment:

"What's wrong with you today? Aren't you usually the one who hates your cousin the most? Why are you inviting him to dinner today?"

Zhang Yifan couldn't tell him the truth.

I can't exactly say, "Dad, I have a system in my head that tells me our old, dilapidated house is about to be demolished, and my cousin plans to swindle us out of our house with 200,000 yuan, then pocket our 1 million yuan demolition compensation and a resettlement house."

Let alone whether his dad would believe it, just the fact that he uttered the word "system" would make him seem like he had mental problems due to excessive academic pressure.

He didn't want to be sent to the hospital for a bunch of tests, and he certainly didn't want to be targeted by any research institution for biopsy studies.

But since Dad asked, I can't just stay silent.

Zhang Yifan thought for a moment and then changed his approach: "Dad, don't you think Fang Zhiyuan is being a little too enthusiastic today? He used to be too lazy to even send a text message during the New Year, but suddenly he shows up with a bag of rotten bananas, calling me 'cousin' and 'cousin's husband.' Don't you think that's a bit odd?"

Zhang Rongshan frowned but didn't reply.

"He must have heard something before he came. If we don't find out his background over this meal, who knows what kind of trouble he might cause behind our backs."

If he does anything underhanded behind our backs, we won't even know what he's up to.

Instead of doing that, it's better to talk things out face-to-face.

Zhang Rongshan was silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

He had to admit that his son was right. If a relative like Fang Zhiyuan, who usually wouldn't even give you a second glance, suddenly became so attentive, he definitely wasn't up to anything.

But what exactly was Fang Zhiyuan planning?

They simply heard that his family had rented a shop and opened a small restaurant, and assumed that his family was now wealthy, so they wanted to borrow money.

When Fang Zhiyuan finally spoke, he immediately refused, and that was the end of it.

He's had experience with borrowing money before.

When I used to work in a factory, some distant relatives would suddenly appear, say all sorts of nice things, take the money, and then disappear.

He's learned his lesson and won't fall for that trick again.

Thinking of this, he patted Zhang Yifan on the shoulder and quickened his pace to catch up with Fang Zhiyuan ahead.

Upon arriving at the Sichuan restaurant, Fang Zhiyuan took the lead, pushed open the door, and found a round table by the window to sit down.

He lifted his son onto the chair next to him, picked up the menu, and flipped through a couple of pages.

The waiter handed him a hot towel, which he took to wipe his hands. He flipped through the menu very quickly, his eyes scanning only the page with the signature dishes, and his fingers tapping the menu a few times.

"One serving of boiled fish, one serving of spicy chicken, one serving of spicy blood curd, and one serving of twice-cooked pork... Oh, and one serving of pine nut corn for the kids, it's sweet, kids love it."

And drinks, what kind of juice do you have here? Do you have watermelon juice? I'd like a pitcher.

Okay, that's all for now, let's serve the food.

After saying that, he closed the menu, slapped it on the table, and waved to the waiter without looking up, indicating that they could leave.

The whole process was smooth and seamless, without even asking Zhang Yifan and his family what they wanted to eat.

He didn't even glance in their direction, as if the person sitting across the table wasn't the host who invited him to dinner, but a casual guest.

Liu Guilan's face turned pale on the spot.

She slammed her hand down on the chopstick holder on the table, the veins on the back of her hand throbbed twice, and her lips moved as if she was about to explode.

Zhang Rongshan pressed her hand down under the table, shook his head slightly at her, and gestured with his eyes for her to bear with it.

Then he turned his head, about to say something to Fang Zhiyuan.

Fang Zhiyuan had already picked up the free tea on the table, poured himself a cup, took a sip to moisten his throat, and finally noticed Liu Guilan's pale face. He pretended to be surprised and put down his teacup.

"Oh dear! I was so busy ordering food for the kids that I forgot to show the menu to my cousin."

"What would you like to eat, cousin? Come on, order whatever you like, it's on me! We're family, no need to stand on ceremony, don't be shy!"

Liu Guilan stared at the menu in his hand that he hadn't actually handed over, her lips twitching slightly, but she didn't say anything.

Zhang Rongshan waved his hand, his tone neither warm nor cold: "Alright, you've already ordered the food, why are you being so polite?"

It's agreed that my family will treat us to this meal, so don't argue.

Since we've already ordered, let's leave it at that. I invited you to come along today not just for the meal.

Tell me why you've come.

Fang Zhiyuan was holding the teacup to his lips when he heard this, and his wrist trembled almost imperceptibly.

The tea sloshed around the rim of the cup twice, almost spilling out.

The smile on his face gradually stiffened.

He put down his teacup, rubbed his hands together, and his tone became awkward.

"Oh dear, brother-in-law, look at what you're saying. Can't you come to see me if there's nothing wrong? But speaking of which, there is indeed a small matter I'd like to trouble you with."

"Jiahao is going to kindergarten soon. The kindergartens around our neighborhood have poor teachers and facilities."

I'm a civil servant, after all; my son can't just settle for a place like that.

Moreover, our house isn't in a good school district, so it will be even more difficult for our child to get into elementary school later.

So, your brother and sister-in-law and I discussed it and decided to buy a house in a better school district, just once and for all.

When he mentioned "school district housing," his tone finally came back to normal, as if he had rehearsed this excuse in his mind many times.

"I heard my cousin and her husband recently opened a shop, and I'm so happy for you two. I was just thinking... if you have some extra money, could you lend us some to tide us over?"

After he finished speaking, his sincere smile returned to his face.

Zhang Yifan leaned back in his chair, squinting at his cousin.

Borrowing a school district property? That sounds plausible enough.

But he didn't believe a word of it.

The system clearly stated that Fang Zhiyuan was after their house, which was about to be demolished, and that borrowing money was just a pretext.

Either test his finances to see if he's short of money, or bring up the matter of borrowing money first, and then, after being refused, naturally bring up buying a house.

See? I originally wanted to borrow money to solve the problem myself, but you wouldn't lend me any, so I had no choice but to buy your house. You forced me into this situation.

After hearing these words, Zhang Rongshan's face remained expressionless, but he secretly thought to himself, "Just as I expected."

Just as he suspected, they came to borrow money.

Fang Zhiyuan is a man who never shows up at his doorstep for no reason. There is only one thing that can make him come to his door on his own initiative—money.