Chapter 167: Chapter 167

"Alright! Let’s head out! It’s getting late, time to go home!" Lin Xue stood up, dusted off her pants with nothing on them, and picked up more than ten packs of seeds.

Because the seed rack was in a corner, when they entered the supermarket, she transferred them to the cashier area, intending to place the seeds near the checkout.

"Okay! I bought gifts for everyone! I’ll bring them back later!" Zhang Yuan said, lifting his bag.

"By the way! I haven’t told you, we have a new sister! I adopted her! Her name is Dong Sihan; she lost her parents, and her grandparents didn’t want her. When I found her, she was almost starving!" Lin Xue had been busy and forgot to mention this.

"Then the gifts I’ve prepared might not be enough!" Zhang Yuan remarked.

"It’s okay! Just pick a gift for her from here!" Lin Xue shrugged. "That child is sensible and makes your heart ache! She’s just like, well, like Xiao Yun and Xiao Xia used to be!" She almost said like the sisters she had when she first came here but caught herself.

"As long as you like her, that’s what matters! We’ll take care of her! I brought various special foods from the Capital City for the younger siblings! You also have those here, so just pack more! I originally wanted to make clothes for them, but I didn’t know the sizes, so buying delicious food seemed better. But I did buy Auntie a set of clothes! It’s a fashionable style in the Capital City! Auntie will definitely look good in it!" Zhang Yuan said.

While talking and walking, they added some snacks to Dong Sihan’s pile.

"Zhang Yuan, grandma is very kind! Not like Grandma Bai!" Lin Xue walked ahead, saying.

"I know! Don’t worry! I’ve thoughtfully prepared gifts for grandma! Although they’re not bought in the Capital City, grandma will surely like them!" He didn’t take a stance regarding Xiao Xue’s family; Xiao Xue’s stance was his stance. If Xiao Xue liked grandma, he would be filial alongside her. If Xiao Xue didn’t like them, he would maintain a neutral attitude, neither targeting nor trying to please them.

"Mmm! Good!" Lin Xue suddenly stopped, touching Zhang Yuan’s head before he could react, and said "Good."

"Little girl, who are you pretending to be the big sister to? Patting my head?" Zhang Yuan froze for a moment, then suddenly put down his bag and went forward.

Seeing this, Lin Xue dodged playfully.

The two of them played around for a while in the supermarket space before turning around to pack their things and head out of the space.

As soon as they stepped out, Zhang Yuan suddenly shivered. Inside, the supermarket space was perfectly comfortable; however, after playing for a while, their bodies were sweaty, making the outside feel chilly.

"Xiao Xue, we should tidy up around here too. I rented this place just to make it convenient for dealing goods with Li Qiang. But since you bought it, it’s only been used for dealing goods, and hasn’t been tidied up. It’s such a waste to leave it like that! Do you know it’s the best yard in Pingyang Town? Isn’t it a shame to leave it idle ? Maybe we should find another place to deal, and set this one up for the little ones to stay? They could eat better regularly! They’re all growing!" Zhang Yuan complained.

"Find another place to deal goods? But where? I’ve been thinking about it too! But I can’t find a place! Besides, I want to build up the village house; I might not be able to leave the chicken farm in the coming years, but that earthen house at home leaks when it rains, and it’s uninhabitable! We need a brick house! And a bigger one for when the siblings have vacations and dad’s off; everyone needs to fit together!" Lin Xue said.

"Okay! Good thing I’m back, leave it to me!" Zhang Yuan took on all the responsibilities.

"I heard it’s hard to buy bricks from the Xiangyang Commune’s transition field; we should go together then!" Lin Xue added.

"Find a place for dealing goods first, and tidy up here! So when you come to the town, you have a place to rest and eat, right? And the little ones can have a good place to live!" Zhang Yuan said.

"Alright! It’s all up to you! Hurry and find one before the spring planting starts!" Lin Xue nodded. "Let’s head home! Mom must’ve finished cooking; she knows you’re coming back today!" Lin Xue said as she pushed out the bicycle. Because Zhang Yuan left on her bicycle, there was only one bicycle here.

"I want to eat your dumplings, braised ribs, boiled meat slices, and dumplings..." Zhang Yuan started listing dishes.

"Alright! Surely not eating my cooking today; mom’s prepared plenty of ingredients! Eat what mom cooked first! You’ll have plenty of chances for me to cook for you in the future!" Lin Xue said.

"Okay!" Zhang Yuan immediately nodded happily.

They rode bicycles back to the village, and as soon as they entered, someone spotted them.

They stared without a blink, and privately began to whisper.

"Hey, Zhang Yuan, the educated youth is back, isn’t he? Then Zhao Hongmei can’t be trusted, can she? Didn’t she say Zhang Yuan went to the Capital City to get married and wouldn’t come back? But he’s back, let’s see what she says!"

A woman in her forties walking beside remarked, "You believe what Zhao Hongmei says? Making her apologize publicly is lenient, I tell you! Talking like that, she damages Xiao Xue’s reputation; she should be jailed!"

"Why is this young girl so vicious?" Another woman walking asked.

The woman in the middle whispered into her ear, "Isn’t it obvious? She likes Zhang Yuan, the educated youth! Zhang Yuan is engaged to Xiao Xue, and not getting Zhang Yuan made her hate Xiao Xue! She keeps stirring up trouble! I say, Xiao Xue is too kind! She should be jailed!"

"Is that so?" The two women beside nodded, looking gossip-hungry.

Lin Xue and Zhang Yuan completely ignored the conversation of the three women while riding. However, Zhang Yuan did take note internally, and his eyes flashed with anger.

Cunning against his little girl, that Zhao Hongmei woman really doesn’t want to live.

Just as they passed by the brigade office, they saw Wang Zhiyong in the yard washing a vehicle.

He polished a tractor to shine. He cherished it as much as a Ferrari sports car.

Seeing Lin Xue approaching, he immediately ran over.

Lin Xue made Zhang Yuan stop, fearing he had something important to tell her.

"I wasn’t mistaken, is Zhang Yuan back?" Wang Zhiyong’s expression was profound.

"Yes! He’s back today! Uncle Zhiyong, do you need anything?" Lin Xue asked. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel⸺fire.net

"Nothing important, just came over to say hi!" Wang Zhiyong waved.

He’s told her many times not to call him uncle, yet she just insists, what can he do?

She’s good friends with his sister, but she won’t call his sister aunt, instead, insists on calling him uncle.

Lin Xue didn’t really want to call him that, she just sensed something off about the way Wang Zhiyong looked at her, and Yang Xiaolian’s gaze followed suit.

She just wanted to nip any budding feelings in the bud.

She dislikes entanglements, branching out complications; she and Zhang Yuan have a good thing going and she doesn’t want anyone interfering unwelcome.

She hoped there’d be no misunderstandings, breakups, reconciliations, and emotional struggles happening with her.

"Alright then! We’ll be off; my mom has cooked and is waiting for us to eat!" Lin Xue said cheerfully.

Zhang Yuan just nodded and rode off.

He was always this way with others; Wang Zhiyong knew that, so he didn’t think too much. It just bothered him to see Lin Xue sitting on someone else’s bike, making him unhappy.