The Farm Girl’s Charismatic Fortune
Chapter 144 - 140 Aunt and Her Family

Chapter 144: Chapter 140 Aunt and Her Family

The store was too crowded with people buying dried goods and sweets for the New Year, and Liu Wenyao was busy weighing items for the customers.

Hearing her husband’s call, she poked her head out and saw her brother-in-law had arrived, hurriedly saying, "Brother-in-law, wait a moment, let me finish weighing these items for the customers, then I’ll come over."

Ruo Shui quickly replied, "No rush, no rush. Sister, you go ahead with your work."

After speaking, Liu Wenyao busied herself with the abacus and didn’t hear any further, so she didn’t respond.

Ruo Shui put down two bags and said to Zhang Chengye, "Brother-in-law, these are New Year’s gifts. There’s more on the cart; I’ll go and get them."

Xuanbao, already cradled in Zhang Chengye’s arms, lifted the basket in her hands, "Great uncle, these are wild pigeon eggs and wild duck eggs that I collected, along with some turtle eggs, for mother-in-law to eat, for you and aunt to eat, and for my female cousins too!"

Zhang Chengye, seeing so many items, hurriedly said, "Oh my, why bring so many things over? You know our store doesn’t lack for anything. Don’t bother bringing the rest from the cart; I don’t need them. Take them to your father instead!"

Then he turned to Xuanbao, "Pigeon eggs are indeed fine delicacies, but the eggs Xuanbao has gathered should be for Xuanbao to eat herself, not for her cousins!"

Having said that, he quickly called out to a certain direction inside the store, "Rui Sister, Lei Sister, Mei Sister, Cousin Xuanbao is here, come and take your little cousin to play in the backyard."

Zhang Chengye and Liu Wenyao, the married couple, had given birth to three daughters and had no sons.

At that moment, three little girls with twin buns in their hair ran over from two corners of the store.

The store was too crowded with people shopping, and their parents had assigned them to keep watch in the corners, making sure the customers weren’t stealing anything.

As the end of the year approached, the number of petty thieves increased, and there were daily thefts at the grocery store.

"Cousin Xuanbao, Grandfather mentioned you started talking, didn’t he?!"

"Cousin Xuanbao, call me ’second cousin’ to let me listen, and I’ll give you some sweets to eat!"

"Cousin Xuanbao, call out for me! Call out for me!"

The little girls quickly gathered around Zhang Chengye, who was holding Xuanbao.

Ruo Xuan sweetly greeted her elder cousins, "Eldest cousin, second cousin, youngest cousin."

Zhang Chengye placed Xuanbao down, then told his three daughters, "Take Xuanbao to play in the backyard."

The sisters immediately took Xuanbao’s little hand and surrounded her as they entered the backyard.

"Xuanbao, what kind of sweets do you like? Do you eat nuts, seeds? I can get some for you."

"Xuanbao, what kind of fruit do you like? I can get some for you!"

"Xuanbao, do you eat cookies? I can get some for you."

The sisters asked warmly as they led their little cousin towards the backyard.

The Zhang family’s household was quite wealthy. Zhang Chengye and his father conducted their business honorably, resulting in many regular customers. Clients who had shopped at their store tended to return for further purchases.

Good business meant more silver, and over two generations, the accumulated wealth had allowed the Zhang family to expand their store from one storefront to three.

The Zhang family’s backyard had also grown from a small yard to a large one.

In the backyard, there were two pomegranate trees, which apparently weren’t the best variety because the trees bore fruit only the size of walnuts.

Such small pomegranates lacked seeds and were inedible.

At the moment, three mothers and sons and an old woman were sitting under the pomegranate tree, with a stone table laid out with various nuts, candies, and pastries.

The ground was littered with shells from melon seeds and nuts.

Upon hearing the enthusiastic conversation among the three sisters, Zhang Xiaoli turned her head and glanced over. Seeing Ruo Xuan and hearing the sisters calling her Xuanbao, she knew this was the Ruo Family’s famously dim-witted child, and couldn’t help but sneer sarcastically, "Oh, look who’s here to scrounge? I say, Ruijie and your sisters, are you all a bit daft? Your own cousins are here, and you’re unwilling to offer them so much as candies and pastries!"

The two boys beside her reached out to guard the treats on the table. "These are ours, you can’t give any to her!" they said.

Seeing them seated there, the sisters’ faces turned uneasy, and they greeted in hushed voices, "Grandma, aunt, cousins."

Ruo Xuan had intended to call out, but seeing this, she remained silent.

Master Han said that one must first respect oneself before others will respect them, and the same goes for manners.

If they were so rude, why should she show them any courtesy?

Old Lady Zhang glanced at the three sisters, bursting with disdain inside, which showed in both her tone and expression, "The three of you sisters don’t even have a brother; in the future, your parents will have to rely on your two cousins for support. You better know who’s close and who’s not!"

After saying this, she didn’t spare another glance at Ruo Xuan and stood up to walk outside, "I’m going to see that waste of a woman who keeps bringing things to support her own family from the store, as if she’d empty half the shop if she could!"

Old Lady Zhang felt that Liu Wenyao’s bearing of three daughters had caused the Zhang Family to lose their lineage, and by association, she had grown to dislike the entire Liu Family and old man Liu.

In the first couple of years when she had just gotten married, she would still show them a pleasant face and treat them with due courtesy. But ever since Liu Wenyao bore three daughters, and after several years had still not become pregnant again, her attitude had gone from bad to worse each year.

Her son was the only male descendant of three generations, and to her dismay, after marrying Madam Liu, he had fathered three daughters and not a single son.

If she had known this would happen, she would never have allowed her son to marry into that family!

Just like the Liu Family, they had hit a dead end!

She decided that if Madam Liu didn’t bear her a grandson by the following year, she would take matters into her own hands, regardless of whether her son agreed, and make sure he took a concubine.

The Zhang Family’s lineage could not end!

Madam Liu had already borne three daughters, clearly inheriting her mother’s physique, which was not meant for bearing sons!

She truly regretted it; had she known, she would never have sent her son to the Academy to study, to become Master Liu’s student, to meet Liu Wenyao, and to insist on marrying her no matter what.

Zhang Xiaoli’s two sons, Jia Zhiyong and Jia Zhiwen, now began shouting along.

Jia Zhiwen yelled, "Go away! You’re here to leech off my maternal family. You’re not welcome here! This candy is for me and my brother!"

Jia Zhiyong added, "Cousin, if you don’t get out with this idiot, don’t even think about eating anything from the grocery store!"

Their father had told them, since their uncle had no sons, the grocery would eventually belong to them, and they couldn’t share their belongings with anyone else!

The three sisters felt exceedingly awkward; they were afraid of upsetting their cousin Xuanbao, but they feared their grandmother even more. Their grandmother often hit and scolded them, calling them a loss and a dead end. In that moment, the sisters, along with Ruo Xuan, stood there, not knowing whether to advance or retreat, clueless on what to do.

Ruo Shui then entered, wrapping his arms around four bolts of cloth and carrying a cage of wild rabbits and another filled with wild pigeons.

Zhang Chengye and his wife also carried in the two sacks that Ruo Shui had set down earlier.

They arrived just in time to hear the children’s remarks.

Ruo Shui frowned.

Zhang Chengye scowled.

Liu Wenyao trailed behind them, feeling extremely embarrassed.

Old Lady Zhang looked at the things they carried in with a moment of surprise.