Chapter 774

"Sister!" Yuan Hongbiao said with a helpless look, "I'm a Deputy Town Mayor!"

Yuan Liying laughed heartily: "In my eyes, whether you're the mayor or the deputy, it's all the same—you're both very impressive."

Yuan Hongbiao took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket; it was also Zhongnanhai: "Brother-in-law, have one!"

Zhou Xiao waved his hand: "I've quit. I don't smoke anymore."

Yuan Hongbiao nodded: "Quitting is good. These cigarettes aren't anything good. I've wanted to quit too, but I don't have your willpower, brother-in-law. I just can't kick the habit."

"Especially when I'm working; if I don't have a cigarette, it drives me crazy. I've tried to quit several times, but the longest I lasted was three days, and the shortest wasn't even half a day."

As he spoke, he let out a self-deprecating laugh, then asked with great concern: "Brother-in-law, what happened to your legs?"

Zhou Xiao said: "An accident. I had surgery in the capital before the New Year. The recovery results have been pretty good, and the doctor said there's a very good chance I'll be able to stand up."

"That's good, that's good!" Yuan Hongbiao deliberately scanned the room, "Where's my nephew? He's not in the yard, and he's not in the house. Where did he go?"

Yuan Liying said: "He might be in the backyard. I'll go call him for you."

"Big Sister!" Yuan Hongbiao hurriedly stopped her, "Let me go to the backyard and see him myself."

"That won't do!" Yuan Liying stepped out, "You're the uncle, and he's the nephew. How can I let you go see him?"

Yuan Hongbiao shifted his weight and took the opportunity to sit back down. No matter how impressive you think you are, Zhou Andong, I am still your uncle. Even if we aren't blood-related, we are still within the five degrees of kinship. As the younger generation, you naturally should come to pay your respects to me.

Yuan Liying didn't think that much. After exiting the back door, she saw Zhou Andong squatting next to the cucumber trellis, holding a tender cucumber in his hand and crunching away at it.

Yuan Tao and several young men were squatting beside him, listening to Yuan Ying saying something.

"Dongzi!" Yuan Liying called out.

Zhou Andong turned his head: "What's up?"

Yuan Liying walked over: "Your uncle from your second grandfather's side in the west end has come over. You should go inside to meet him and get to know him."

"Big Aunt!" Yuan Ying wanted to say something, but Zhou Andong patted her shoulder and stood up, "Let's go!"

Watching his Big Aunt and Zhou Andong enter the house, Yuan Ying felt uneasy: "I'm going to find Sister-in-law!"

Yuan Ying went to the front yard, where Yuan Tao was squatting, smoking a cigarette with his head down, not knowing what he was thinking.

A young man took a fierce drag of his cigarette: "Brother Tao, if Yuan Hongbiao dares to cause trouble for Brother Dongzi, just say the word, and we'll take him down."

The others chimed in. Yuan Tao looked up and said with a smile: "Thanks, brothers."

Zhou Andong entered the house, and Yuan Liying introduced him: "Dongzi, this is your uncle. He's the mayor of our town now."

Zhou Andong hurriedly reached out his hand, his face full of smiles as he said: "I didn't know you were coming, Uncle. I didn't come to welcome you; as your nephew, I really shouldn't have."

"Look at what you're saying." Yuan Hongbiao was very satisfied with Zhou Andong's attitude, "We're all family; there's no need for such formalities."

"Exactly, exactly!" Yuan Hongjun walked in, "We're all family. Being too polite makes us distant. Besides, your Uncle Dabiao isn't a petty person."

Zhou Andong took out a cigarette: "Uncle, have one!"

"Good!" Yuan Hongbiao took the cigarette and lit it with the half-finished one he was smoking, "You might not know, but when I was a kid, I was so close to your mother."

This guy started playing the emotional card again. Zhou Andong didn't react much, but Yuan Liying, listening from the side, was teary-eyed, and even Zhou Xiao let out a sigh of emotion.

"So many years have passed, and we've all grown old."

Yuan Hongbiao flicked the ash from his cigarette, "I'll say something I probably shouldn't. Your uncles and aunts have other siblings. Although they don't go hungry, life hasn't been that easy. Now that you've made something of yourself, if you can reach out and help, you should."

Zhou Andong nodded in agreement: "A few years ago, my father had an accident and became bedridden. From the time I started college until I graduated and started working at the factory, for all these years, both inside and outside the house, it was all supported by my mother alone."

"Sometimes I think, when I have the ability, I must repay my grandparents well, because it was they who gave me such a great mother."

Hearing this, the old lady sitting at the head of the kang had tears streaming down her face.

Yuan Hongjun's eyes also turned red, and he secretly wiped away his tears.

The two women looked with envy at Yuan Liying, who had been a good sister to them in their youth.

Yuan Liying looked at her son, the pride on her face impossible to hide no matter how she tried.

Zhou Andong took a puff of his cigarette and continued: "And Zhenxing Village is my mother's hometown, the place that gave birth to her and raised her. Her parents, brothers, and sisters are here, and she has family ties she cannot let go of."

"I am her son, and half of her blood flows in my body. Naturally, I must do something for her hometown, let her relatives and friends, and the elders of her hometown live a good life, and let her become the pride of her hometown people."

"Good!" Yuan Hongbiao patted Zhou Andong on the shoulder and laughed heartily: "Dongzi, I thank you on behalf of the elders of our hometown."

"There's nothing to thank me for." Zhou Andong waved his hand with a smile, "I'm just doing it for my mother, to repay my grandparents."

The smile on Yuan Hongbiao's face never faded. He was truly happy, and his confidence in being able to get money out of Zhou Andong's pocket increased greatly.

Yuan Ying was whispering something to Seeing Jian Qiu. Hearing Yuan Hongbiao's laughter from the house, she looked back and let out a cold snort.

"Sister-in-law, I told my brother, but he won't listen. You must persuade him. If Yuan Hongbiao asks him to invest, he must not agree. That guy has bad intentions."

Seeing Jian Qiu had a very good impression of this sister-in-law. She had a generous personality, and she was straightforward in her words and actions, not at all coy.

Although she only had a technical secondary school diploma, if she were properly cultivated, she would definitely be able to accomplish something.

"Don't worry, your brother isn't that easy to fool."

Yuan Ying stomped her foot in anxiety: "Sister-in-law, why are you like this too? Yuan Hongbiao is not a good person."

Seeing Jian Qiu laughed and comforted her: "Do you have so little confidence in your brother?"

Yuan Ying was stunned, then shook her head: "It's not that I don't have confidence in my brother, it's just that Yuan Hongbiao is too evil; he's capable of doing anything."

"Don't worry!" Seeing Jian Qiu squinted her eyes and glanced at the window, "It's always been your brother tricking others. Whoever wants to trick him must be prepared to be tricked."

"That Yuan Hongbiao, if he does business honestly and asks your brother to invest, he can count it as his ancestors accumulating virtue. If he has any sinister thoughts, your brother will make him die without even knowing how he died."

Yuan Ying blinked. She didn't doubt Seeing Jian Qiu's words at all. While feeling relieved, she also felt curious about this cousin, Zhou Andong.

"Sister-in-law, I know my brother is very impressive. Can you tell me some things about him? Also, how did you two meet?"