Chapter 279: Misunderstanding 2.0

"Aunt, I just knocked, and I saw your door wasn't closed, so I came right in. By the way, who is this Zhang Ping'an? Is he my uncle?" twelve-year-old Zhong Zhengguo asked with a curious look on his face.

"Go, go, go, you little rascal, what do you know?"

"So who is he exactly? If you don't tell me, I'm going to go ask my eldest aunt." Zhong Zhengguo pretended to be about to leave.

"Come back. At your age, where do you get so much curiosity? Speak, what do you want your aunt to buy for you this time?"

"Hehe, Aunt, I don't want anything, just give me fifty cents."

"Here, this is one yuan, take it."

"Thank you, Aunt." Just as Zhong Zhengguo reached out to take the one yuan, Zhong Mingzhu snatched it away.

"I understand, absolute secrecy, don't worry, Aunt." Zhong Zhengguo even gave a proper salute.

"Hmm, go on."

"Got it."

It wasn't that Zhong Mingzhu had fallen in love with Zhang Ping'an, but rather that it was something everyone knew about, yet she was completely in the dark; she was curious, and for now, at most, she had a vague favorable impression of Zhang Ping'an.

But if her nephew saw her studying a man's file incessantly and then blabbed about it to the family with a big mouth, she would truly be like a mute eating coptis—unable to voice her bitterness. However, Zhong Mingzhu did not know that Zhong Zhengguo had already sold her out.

Zhong Zhengguo was also curious; usually, it was a struggle to get even ten cents from his aunt, but today she not only gave him money, she doubled it. Thinking of this, Zhong Zhengguo didn't even buy his little firecracker and headed straight for the Xu Family.

"Zhengguo, why are you here? Are you by yourself?"

"Yes, Uncle-in-law, where is my eldest aunt?"

"Your eldest aunt is inside cooking. Since you're here, just eat at home at noon."

"Okay, Uncle-in-law, I'll go talk to my eldest aunt about something first."

"Haha, go ahead."

"Zhengguo, why are you here?"

"Eldest Aunt, who is Zhang Ping'an?" Zhong Zhengguo didn't answer, but instead pulled Zhong Yan out of the kitchen and asked in a low voice.

"Hmm? How do you know about Ping'an?"

"I saw it at my aunt's place, it seemed to be Zhang Ping'an's file."

"What? Are you sure, Zhengguo?"

"I'm sure. My aunt even gave me an extra fifty cents to keep it a secret."

"Fine, that hypocritical little brat."

Zhong Yan thought of her sister-in-law; if their conversation hadn't been overheard, none of this would have happened.

"Zhengguo, you did well with this. Eldest Aunt has one yuan here, take it and buy something to eat."

"Thank you, Eldest Aunt."

Zhong Zhengguo's eyes sparkled; he felt he had found a path to wealth. When he got home, he would tell his father and his eldest uncle; perhaps he could earn another two yuan.

After finishing lunch at the Xu Family, Zhong Zhengguo hurried home without stopping. He was slightly disappointed to see his father and eldest uncle weren't home, but his eyes lit up when he saw his grandparents were there.

"Grandpa, Grandma..." Zhong Zhengguo immediately recounted the matter again, then looked at them with a longing expression.

"Zhang Ping'an? Why does that name sound so familiar?" Zhong Dingbang asked in confusion.

"Old man, have you forgotten? The tea and Medicinal Wine that Yan'er and Baisheng sent over were concocted by that child."

"Ah, right." As soon as the tea was mentioned, Zhong Dingbang remembered.

"That's not right, isn't it? Doesn't that Zhang Ping'an have a wife and children?"

"How could this be allowed?"

The old couple looked at each other, thinking to themselves that something was wrong; their daughter was likely acting foolishly.

"Zhengguo, go quickly and have your father find your aunt."

"Oh, okay."

Not having received the money, Zhong Zhengguo felt a bit disappointed, but seeing his grandparents' serious expressions, he didn't dare delay.

After several phone calls, the members of the Zhong Family got busy, but they couldn't find Zhong Mingzhu all afternoon.

"Dad, I really didn't make it up, I saw it with my own eyes."

Zhong Zhengguo was on the verge of tears; he just wanted to save up a little pocket money, how did it blow up so big? His grandparents, his eldest uncle Zhong Zhennan, and his father Zhong Zhenbei were all looking at him with serious expressions.

"What's going on here?"

"Eldest Aunt, come and tell them."

"Tell them what?"

"About Zhang Ping'an."

"Yan'er, tell us, what's going on? Doesn't Zhang Ping'an have a wife and children? Why is Mingzhu still..."

"Dad, Mom, don't worry. Ping'an doesn't have a wife or children anymore..." Zhong Yan then recounted what had happened to Zhang Ping'an some time ago.

"Lou Bancheng? The one who ran away a while ago? Hmph, fitting for a Capitalist. Then how did Mingzhu get involved with Zhang Ping'an?"

"This, it was my sister-in-law..." Zhong Yan had no choice but to tell the whole story.

"Is that so? Yan'er, what is Mingzhu's intention?"

"I don't know either."

Everyone was silent for a moment, and finally, Zhong Dingbang spoke.

"Yan'er, you keep an eye on Mingzhu at work. Don't mention this to anyone at home, especially you, Zhengguo. Everyone, disperse."

"Okay, Dad."

"Okay, Grandpa."

Zhong Zhengguo had been happy for nothing; he thought he could earn more extra money, but it ended up being only two yuan, and he had wasted an entire afternoon.

Meanwhile, Zhong Mingzhu was at the Library waiting for a rabbit to hit the tree. She was too embarrassed to go to the Siheyuan to find Zhang Ping'an, so she could only use the clumsiest method: coming to the Library that Zhang Ping'an mentioned in the meeting room to have a "chance encounter."

Zhang Ping'an certainly didn't mention it out of thin air; he came three or five times a month, as there were still quite a few genuine treasures in the libraries of this era.

As for Western medicine, Zhang Ping'an had also flipped through it briefly, but he mainly studied various foreign languages; in his past life, his English had only passed the Band 4 exam, his spoken communication was very stuttery, and he had also studied Japanese when taking credits in university, but he had long since forgotten it all.

But now that he had a good brain, he learned everything quickly, and he could master many things without a teacher, but he did not understand French at all.

Today, Zhang Ping'an happened to come to return books as well, but he did not notice Zhong Mingzhu and left right after returning the books.

Zhong Mingzhu opened her mouth to the side, but for a long time, she could not muster the courage to say hello, just watching Zhang Ping'an leave with her own eyes.

Feeling somewhat depressed, Zhong Mingzhu returned home only to find that the atmosphere was a bit off, especially the way her parents were looking at her.

"Daughter, why the long face? Who made you angry?"

"No, Mother, I haven't eaten lunch yet, I'm starving to death."

"Alright, alright, alright, we'll eat right now," Old Madam Zhong said, dotingly patting Zhong Mingzhu's head.

"Mother~ how old am I now? Stop patting my head."

"No matter how old you get, you're still my daughter."

"..."

At dinner, under the strange gazes of her whole family, Zhong Mingzhu wolfed down three Steamed Buns, let out a burp, and went back to her room on her own.

After listening to everyone's analysis in the afternoon, Zhong Zhengguo had also understood a bit, and he felt a little guilty toward his aunt in his heart, thinking he should have kept the secret for her.

Feeling that the one yuan was a bit too hot to handle, Zhong Zhengguo hesitated for a long while before sneaking over to knock on Zhong Mingzhu's door.

"Aunt, open the door quickly, it's me," Zhong Zhengguo said in a low voice.

"What is it, Zhengguo?"

"Aunt, I don't want this one yuan anymore."

"Oh? Why don't you want it?"

"Nothing, I just feel that I've grown up and shouldn't take my aunt's money. Alright, Aunt, I'm going back to sleep."

"Phew... sure enough, my sense of guilt has lightened a lot. I didn't take my aunt's money, so that means the matter of keeping the secret no longer exists, hehe."