210: Owe

After eating, the four elders moved to the living room. Wang Ziyu was sent by Mama Wang to wash the dishes. Wang Cheng wanted to go to the kitchen to help her, but Mother Zheng asked him to bring her the suitcase she brought.

The suitcase was not filled with clothing, but special gifts that Mother Zheng had brought specially to them. Except for some special products of the Imperial Capital, the ordinary gifts were pressed to the bottom of the box. For example, Mother Zheng gave Wang Ning'an a famous Swiss watch, while Wang Ziyu was gifted a crystal necklace. Papa Wang and Mama Wang were given precious ginseng supplements. Naturally, it went without saying that these gifts were so valuable that they didn’t dare to accept them.

"No, no, we can't accept it," Mama Wang quickly refused. She understood why Mother Zheng might give them these things, but it was too expensive, and they would feel uneasy in accepting them.

"This is only a little bit of our good intentions, just accept it. Seeing that Chengcheng has lived well in your house, I am also happy in my heart. If it weren't for you, my husband and I might not have been able to see Chengcheng in our lifetimes. For your great grace and great virtue, nothing in this life can repay you." Mother Zheng never thought of taking these things back again.

"Yes, honestly, Chengcheng’s father and I have always regarded Chengcheng as our own biological son. Giving us these gifts means you regard us too politely." Mama Wang said nothing.

Seeing her resolute attitude, Mother Zheng took a step back: "Let’s do this, I will take back the watch and the necklace. You must accept these medicinal herbs. These are all tonics for your health. You are also the parents of Chengcheng, so I hope that you can live a long and healthy life."

The mentioned Wang Cheng received a hint from Mother Zheng and bit the bullet to join the ranks of persuasion, "Yeah mom, I ... my mother is right. You should accept these medicines, it’s still good for your health - even if you and dad don’t need it, you can still give it to my grandparents, too. Isn’t grandpa's health not so good? This might help with his aging.” His mom couldn’t help but laugh when he said this.

However, Wang Cheng's words did speak to his mother's heart. His grandpa was getting older and older, and also getting more and more physical health problems, so they really needed to make up for it.

Papa Wang, who knew her well, also persuaded, and she finally accepted.

Although only half the gifts were received, the red envelopes had to be accepted. Of course, there was no shortage of red envelopes in Mother Zheng's bag. For a heavy red envelope, it seemed to be less than 50,000, but more than 10,000. Judging by the feel and weight, it was most likely a few tens of thousands.

Wang Ziyu felt that it was very hot in her hands. Her eldest brother was not too polite, so the red envelope he’d obtained from Mother Zheng was rolled into her hand in the blink of an eye, and he said that this was also the red envelope he was giving her. The elder brother gave his younger sister a red envelope, but as the youngest girl in the family, who should she give the red envelope to?

Wang Cheng came over with the red envelope Mother Zheng gave him.

Wang Ziyu looked at the thickness of his red envelope and said with envy and surprise: "Second brother, your red envelope is much thinner than mine, so good." Wang Cheng drew up a corner of his mouth.

Wang Ning'an glanced over the red envelope in his hand. His eyes revealed a hint of understanding, and he said, "Don't envy your second brother, his red envelope is most likely a check."

Wang Ziyu: "..."

When Wang Cheng got a pocket money check from Mother Zheng last time, in fact, he never used it. However, Mother Zheng was afraid that he didn't have enough to spend, and wanted to give him a check. Wang Cheng firmly refused, but Mother Zheng didn’t care. It happened to be the New Year, now, and an elder's red envelope to their junior was justified, so Wang Cheng couldn’t refuse this time.

"Second brother, have you looked at the check in it?" Wang Ziyu did not see the check and asked this curiously.

"Not yet ..." Wang Cheng was afraid the amount would be too large, so he didn't check it after getting it.

Wang Ziyu said immediately, "It's better to show it to me and our elder brother."

Wang Cheng hesitantly opened the red envelope, and slowly pulled out the check. A string of zeros passed by, and the last zero was over 100,000, which meant that the amount exceeded one million.

Seeing the last digit, Wang Ziyu covered her mouth to avoid exclaiming. She then said to him in an envious tone: "Second brother, your mother and father really treat you well. It’s my first time seeing such a large red envelope, no wonder they needed to use a check. If they paid with hundred-dollar bills, it would take several red envelopes to fill it up."

The limit for red envelopes was around ten thousand..

After Wang Ziyu said this, she did a quick mental calculation. In two seconds, she couldn't help but laugh.

Wang Cheng gave her a blank look.

The guests in Wang Cheng’s household were not hidden from the neighbors nearby. In the previous years, their family had usually gone out with relatives. However, they stayed at home today. Some paid subconscious attention to it, and as a result, saw Father and Mother Zheng. At first glance, they were not ordinary people. Everyone thought of Wang Cheng's biological parents, and the news spread. So this afternoon, a few uninvited guests came to their house.

Zhang cheekily came with her family. This was the first time their family had come to Wang Cheng's household for the New Year. They had always waited for them to come to their house. This time she came in the name of congratulating Wang Cheng, but it was actually to see Wang Cheng’s parents. Many people in the village were gossiping that Wang Cheng's biological parents were from a big family that was super rich and powerful.

"You two look like Wang Cheng's biological parents at first sight. Looking at your faces, you really look alike. At first glance, you are all not ordinary people. In the beginning, I said that Wang Cheng must be a difficult person in the future. That's right." As soon as Zhang entered the door, she praised Father and Mother Zheng. However, that was just her front; in the back, she was definitely open-eyed and slanderous.

Father Zheng and Mother Zheng only knew that the three brothers of the Wang family didn't come and go often, but they didn’t know the specific situation. Now when they saw that Mama Wang had no expression when Zhang and her family entered the door, they knew what attitude to put on. They saw too many people like Zhang. So, neither responded.

The atmosphere suddenly froze.

Zhang’s face was stiff because of the silence. Fortunately, Wang Hongwen responded quickly, and immediately shifted the topic. It was customary to send red envelopes in the New Year, so Wang Cheng and his siblings received a thin red envelope each. In comparison to the red envelope given by Mother Zheng, it felt shabby to get such a one-hundred-yuan red envelope. However, in the case of his second uncle's stinginess, it was good enough that the red envelope was not a fifty yuan bill.

Since his second uncle gave red envelopes, their family should also be courteous. Zhang brought her son and daughter so they received two red envelopes. Mama Wang was not stingy like Zhang, and each red envelope contained 288, which meant getting rich. In fact, it was just being lucky. However, in the eyes of Zhang and her family, they thought that Mama Wang was acting stingy.

Wang Cheng’s family had now opened a jam factory. Their family was not only better off than them, but also better off than Wang Ningkai’s family. Last year, Li gave them a five hundred red envelope. Although Li was also stingy, she was definitely not stingy when it came to these kinds of face-related things.

Wang Cheng was not interested in staying in the living room and seeing Zhang’s face, and Wang Ziyu also didn’t want to stay there. So, the brother and sister went to the courtyard, and only Wang Ning'an stayed in there. With his current status, he had seen even worse people than Zhang. He had no difficulty in dealing with Zhang.

The two walked forward, and Wang Ningshan and Wang Ningxiang also came back.

Both now knew that Wang Cheng was different from the past. Wang Ningshan was okay with it. He had watched Wang Cheng climb step by step to this day. However, Wang Ningxiang was different. After she went to college, she came back only to learn the rough idea of Wang Cheng’s affairs. At that time, she learned that Wang Cheng was being raised by a man and was still gloating. As a result, he became a rich man's son. She was jealous and envious in her heart. Sometimes she wondered how such a good kind of thing could happen to her, or her to fly on a branch and become a phoenix. Then she would no longer have to face this kind of hard life; she could still live in her hometown, but wouldn’t be looked down on by others when she went outside.

Wang Ningxiang's expression was not concealed, and Wang Cheng could see through her at a glance. She really hadn’t grown at all.

"Wang Cheng, Happy New Year. I haven’t seen you for awhile, and you look more and more good," Wang Ningshan said with a smile. Although he was lazy, his personality was not as annoying as Zhang’s and Wang Ningxiang’s. He was more or less like the weaker second uncle.

"You’re looking good as well."

Wang Cheng was right - Wang Ningshan's face looked healthy, and at a glance, he knew that he had been very comfortable recently.

"It’s thanks to the blessings of my third aunt, hehe." Wang Ningshan knew that his current job came from Wang Cheng and the others and he cherished it. He himself was lazy and had no ambition, but he was a little smart. So, his ultimate goal was to keep a job and afford to pay for himself with his own salary, and then eat and wait for death. His weakness was that he was unmotivated, and Zhang had often scolded him for this. Unfortunately, it went in one ear and right out the other. When she heard that her brother had pleased Wang Cheng, Wang Ningxiang felt a bit resentful. She knew that her brother's job was helped found by Wang Cheng's parents, but it was said that it was a leisure job and there was no room for improvement. So, she felt that Wang Cheng's parents maybe wanted to raise her elder brother. Zhang also felt that it was unreasonable, and after arguing for a while, almost went to find Mama Wang to settle the bill. Fortunately, Wang Hongwen pulled Zhang away and told her that if it wasn't for them putting aside some time, their son would still be at home just eating and sleeping and waiting to die. So, Zhang stopped.

Wang Cheng noticed Wang Ningxiang's expression and chuckled. "Cousin Ningxiang, I heard that you are studying at a third-rate university. How are you studying? Are you skipping class every day, not going home at night, and hanging out with your dog friends?”

This kind of behavior was often performed by Wang Ningxiang in high school. Now that she was in a community college or third-rate university, with her character, how could she be a good girl? Not to mention, when left alone, Wang Ningxiang would always get into trouble. If nothing happened serious enough that they needed to call her parents, Zhang and the second uncle would never know..

Wang Ningxiang's facial features twisted for a moment and she said maliciously: "How does this have anything to do with you? I heard that you are gay?"

"Ningxiang, what are you talking about? I didn't tell you about this, but Wang Cheng is not homosexual. The photo was fake." Wang Ningshan didn't know what she was thinking. He was afraid that she would offend Wang Cheng; he was very satisfied with his job and didn’t want to go back to the days when Zhang had been chanting at him.

"You shut up," Wang Ningxiang said almost frantically. She had never seen such a stupid brother, who even demolished her stage. "Just because he said it was fake, it was fake? He was so close to that man. He may not look it on the surface, but who knows if in private, he is homosexual underneath. Besides, our cousin Wang Cheng has never had a girlfriend. Who knows if he is homosexual? You see, he looks handsome now..."

"You shut up!"

A majestic voice suddenly rang out from behind Wang Ningxiang, startling her. She turned around to see Wang Cheng's mother standing behind her. She didn't know how much she had heard. Her charming face was completely unsmiling, and she exuded a terrifying atmosphere. That noble feeling seemed to increase from her.

"Will my, Zhou Hui’s, son be able to be bullied by you casually? Apologize immediately!"

Wang Ningxiang was so frightened that her legs went soft, and she couldn't say a word under the other's gaze.

The others immediately came out when they heard the noise from outside, and asked what happened. As soon as Zhang saw her daughter's guilty face, she knew that it must be something related to her, and immediately jumped out to round the field.

"My child spoke without a brain, she was wrong. Madam Zheng, ignore this bad character, and I will definitely teach this girl when we’re back."

Mother Zheng's eyes were cold and indifferent, and Zhang's expression froze from the condescending glance. She ignored Zhang and focused on Wang Ningxiang, whose shoulders were scrunched. "Apologize to my son immediately."

Seeing that Wang Ningxiang was dazed, Zhang immediately patted her head vigorously and cursed: "Stinky girl, apologize quickly!"

Wang Ningxiang, who had never met someone like Mother Zheng, was very frightened. She didn’t react until Zhang hit her. She was a little scared and she bowed her head towards Wang Cheng: "Sorry, I was wrong."

Wang Cheng was too lazy to talk to her. Wang Ningxiang was purely unbalanced, but he was not the kind of person who scolded those who were unbalanced. He said to Wang Ningxiang straightforwardly: "Cousin Ningxiang, if you are in a bad mood, please find the right person to take it out on. I can tolerate this once, but there won't be a second time, understand?"

Both Wang Ningxiang and Zhang's faces were unsightly. Zhang originally wanted to linger for a while and form a relationship with Father and Mother Zheng for the future, but had to now leave.

***

Back    ToC    Next