Chapter 416: The 90s Contrast System (19)

"Yang Yang has become such a big girl! If you were walking on the road, your eldest aunt wouldn't even recognize you."

Zhou Anguo's wife, Lin Cuiping, smiled as she welcomed Xie Yang inside:

"Sit, sit quickly, and have a good chat with your grandmother; your grandmother has been missing you so much. The last time we saw you was on the second day of the Lunar New Year. What have you been busy with this year? Why is your little face so sallow?"

Since the conversation had reached this point, Xie Yang would be doing a disservice to the original owner if she didn't stir up some trouble for Zhou Ru:

"My mom made me go to Shencheng to work with some girls from the village; I just came back a few days ago."

"What? Your mom made you go out to work? And you went all the way to Shencheng? That's so far, how could she be at ease?"

Grandmother Zhou was peeling a hard-boiled egg for her granddaughter.

Today, a family in the village was holding a wedding, and these were the red wedding eggs that had just been distributed. Hearing Xie Yang say this out of the blue, she almost crushed the eggshell.

The three aunts couldn't help but complain about their oblivious sister-in-law in front of their mother-in-law—

Eldest Aunt: "Your mom is really something. She actually let you go out to work, but let that daughter from her previous marriage go to high school. I really don't know how she could do such a thing."

Second Aunt: "What is our sister-in-law thinking? Yang Yang is her own flesh and blood. She doesn't cherish her own child, but cherishes one that isn't hers?"

Third Aunt: "And she even made our Yang Yang work to support that daughter from her previous marriage through high school. Most people wouldn't be able to do something like that."

Actually, the Third Aunt wanted to say "was her head kicked by a donkey," but because her mother-in-law was present, she switched to a more tactful phrasing.

At this point, Xie Yang finally understood why Zhou Ru always said she didn't get along with the three sisters-in-law; it was because they had normal values, and it would be strange if they got along with someone whose brain had problems.

Just then, someone outside was calling for Grandmother Zhou, seemingly inviting her to a banquet at noon, so Grandmother Zhou chatted with the person through the fence for a few sentences.

Xie Yang took the opportunity to take out the hospital medical report:

"Eldest Aunt, Second Aunt, Third Aunt, on the train back, I don't know why, but I suddenly fainted. There was an old doctor on the train who advised me to go to the hospital for a check-up. After I got off the train, I went to the county hospital, and I didn't expect..."

"Let me see!"

The Third Aunt was literate, so she reached out and took the medical report to look at it.

Seeing the diagnostic conclusion in the last paragraph, her pupils shrank slightly: "Wh-what! Risk of stomach cancer?"

"What!"

"What!"

The other two aunts spoke in unison.

Xie Yang put her middle finger to her lips, making a "hush" gesture toward them:

"I don't want to tell my grandparents about this, so as not to worry the old folks. But I also don't want to hide it from you and my uncles, because I don't plan on going out to work in the short term, but my mom thinks I only eat and don't work, and she doesn't want to keep me at the Zhu Family anymore."

"Your mom is really..."

"I've never seen a person like her! Yang Yang, you don't need to worry too much. I read it carefully; this illness of yours is a bit serious, but it's not so serious that it's too late. As long as you rest well, don't overwork, and pay attention to your food, I believe it can be cured. Let's not scare ourselves."

"Yang Yang, set your mind at ease and stay here. The old house is too dilapidated and dirty; don't bother cleaning it, just stay at your Eldest Aunt's house. Your two cousins, one rarely comes back after getting married, and the other works in town and stays in a dormitory, so they don't come back every week. Their rooms face the sun, and I air out the quilts again and again, so they can be used at any time."

"Or just stay at my place. My two boys are still young; I'll let them share a room and clear out the sunny room for Yang Yang to stay in."

"Don't fight with me. My Side Room still has an empty space. I'll go back and clean it up right now, and Yang Yang can move in after lunch."

The three aunts scrambled to have her stay at their homes.

Xie Yang thanked them, but stated that she preferred living alone in the old house.

"That is my home after all, and I plan to live there for a long time since I've returned this time."

Seeing they couldn't sway her, the three aunts had no choice but to say:

"Then after we eat, we'll have your three uncles repair the old house. It hasn't been lived in for so many years; the roof might leak, and the wall plaster has peeled off, so it needs to be repainted."

"Take the quilts from my house. I've saved two new cotton quilts. Anyway, your little cousin doesn't even have a boyfriend yet, and she's far from getting married, so you take them and use them first."

"The old pots and pans from before are too broken and dirty, just use them for Planting green onions. Take the ones for eating from my house."

Xie Yang agreed to everything, and finally said: "Don't worry, if I'm missing anything, I'll definitely tell you; I won't stand on ceremony."

"What standing on ceremony?"

Just as they were talking, Zhou Tiehan returned from the brigade headquarters.

Xie Yang glanced behind him, but there was no sign of Zhou Ru.

The next second, she heard Zhou Tiehan say: "Xiao Ru had something to do regarding transferring her household registration, so she went back after finishing the procedures."

Xie Yang feigned ignorance: "It seems like the village where Zhu Shushu lives is going to be demolished, so she asked my mom to transfer the household registration there."

"Demolition?" Everyone looked at each other, "Is that true or false?"

Xie Yang shook her head: "I don't know if it's true or false. I only found out because I accidentally heard my mom and Zhu Shushu discussing this quietly in the room last night."

The Eldest Aunt was quick-spoken: "Tsk! They even hid this from you? It shows they never considered you part of the family at all."

The Second Aunt was puzzled: "Logically speaking, if there really is a relocation, isn't it a good thing to have one more person on the household register? Why not transfer Yang Yang's registration over too? They even hid it from Yang Yang during the family meeting; what are they guarding against?"

The Third Aunt curled her lips in disdain: "Guarding against Yang Yang, and also guarding against us, her maternal relatives! They're afraid we'll fight to get on the Zhu Family's register and compete for property with that daughter from her previous marriage."

Pfft—

Xie Yang was amused; the three aunts were truly her mouthpieces.

And Zhou Tiehan, from the complaints of his three daughters-in-law, completely understood the truth about his youngest daughter transferring her household registration and his granddaughter moving back to the old house.

With a dark face, he instructed his three sons: "After eating, call more people to tear down the old house and rebuild it. Remember to leave a bathroom in the back half of the bedroom. From now on, Yang Yang will live in Zhou Family Village, so make the room for her comfortable."

After finishing, he looked at Xie Yang: "Stay at your grandfather's house for this period, and move over after the house is repaired."

Xie Yang: "..."

She wanted to stir up some trouble for Zhou Ru, but she didn't intend to cause such a big commotion.

Besides, the demolition would happen after the new year, and since it was almost the New Year now, tearing it down and rebuilding it was too late and unnecessary. It would be better to get some fruit tree saplings suitable for planting in this season and fill the empty space in front of and behind the house.

"Grandfather, I don't know if there are any fruit tree saplings that can be planted this season. The front and back yards of the old house are empty, and I'm not very good at growing vegetables, so it would be better to plant some fruit trees so I can have fruit to eat next year."

"Planting fruit trees is simple." Before Zhou Tiehan could speak, the Eldest Aunt snatched the words: "My younger brother's wife's family contracted a small hill to grow orange trees, and orange trees seem to be planted in this season. Wait, I'll go to my brother's house this afternoon and ask his wife for a few saplings."

"Don't just plant orange trees; you can also plant some persimmon trees." The Second Aunt helped with ideas: "Zhou Laoq at the end of the village has planted many persimmon trees. He thinks they are planted too densely and block the light. I met his wife at the market a few days ago, and she said she wanted to thin out a few. I'll have your uncle go to his house to ask for a few in a while."

Without Xie Yang needing to worry at all, the entire Zhou family helped her repair the old house and plant the fruit trees before the New Year.

She even built a goat pen for the nanny goat, and the open space outside the pen was all cleared into a vegetable garden.

Fearing that someone's free-range chickens might come over to peck at it, she also put a fence around the vegetable patch, just waiting for spring to sow some vegetable seeds.

Of course, under the persuasion of Xie Yang, their families also followed suit and planted quite a few fruit trees.