Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 294

Seeing this, Zhao Da'e could only sigh and pat Zhao Yongbo on the shoulder, saying, "Don't worry, little brother, your mother will come back eventually. It's just a matter of time. Don't be too sad. Eat well and be a good boy at home and listen to your father. Then your mother will come back."

Zhao Yongbo's eyes lit up upon hearing this. He looked up at Zhao Dage and asked expectantly, "Sister, is what you said true? If I behave well, will Mom come back?"

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Da'e whispered to Zhao Yongbo, "Yongbo, do you know why your mother hasn't come back?"

Zhao Yongbo perked up his ears and asked in confusion, "Why, sister?"

Zhao Da'e was about to say that it was because of Wang Guixiang's problem that he wanted Zhao Yongbo to cause some trouble for Wang Guixiang, but he hesitated and thought it was better not to use a child to deal with Wang Guixiang.

So Zhao Da'e said, "That's because your mother went back to her parents' home to prepare a surprise for you, which is why she took so long."

Sure enough, Zhao Yongbo's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this, and he couldn't help but ask, "Really, sister? Is Mom going back to her parents' home to prepare a surprise gift for me?"

Zhao Da'e smiled and rubbed Zhao Yongbo's head. "That's right. You're so well-behaved and lovable. Isn't it normal for your mother to prepare some surprises for you? Just wait at home for your mother to come back. But before that, you have to eat well."

As she spoke, Zhao Da'e casually placed the greens from her bowl into Zhao Yongbo's bowl. Seeing that there were hardly any greens in her own bowl, Zhao Da'e couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Great, she didn't have to eat bitter greens anymore.

Zhao Tiegang, on the other hand, was drinking alone, feeling melancholy. He missed his wife, Cuilan.

When the engagement banquet ended, Ma Huaihua and Zhou Tianfu held hands, clearly reluctant to part. Zhao Da'e couldn't help but smile. In the words of city people, it was normal for the older cousin and his future sister-in-law to be so reluctant to part.

After the meal, Cheng Jinxi got up to see Lao Ma off. "In-law, the wedding date will be set for the second day of the second lunar month. It's an auspicious day for marriage. Before the wedding, I'll come to your house to discuss the details."

Old Ma chuckled, "Mother-in-law, I'm so sorry to have troubled you so much."

Cheng Jinxi smiled and said, "No trouble at all. I was more happy than anything when I found out that Huaihua was going to marry my son!"

Old Ma patted Zhou Yuren on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Old Cheng, your wife has basically been in charge of your son's marriage. You are so lucky to have such a good wife, but you should also help her out more. Look how busy your wife is."

Hearing Lao Ma say that, Cheng Jinxi, remembering her exhaustion over the past few days, felt a surge of anger. After all, Zhou Yuren hadn't come to help much. She nudged Zhou Yuren and said irritably, "Did you hear that? I cooked all the meals today. Chunwen and that girl Da'e helped me."

Zhou Yuren quickly came over to comfort Cheng Jinxi, saying, "Good wife, I know how hard it is for you. I'll clean up the dishes later, okay?"

Cheng Jinxi snorted coldly before saying with satisfaction, "That's more like it!"

Everyone couldn't help but laugh when they saw this.

Meanwhile, Zhao Tiegang was taking Zhao Yongbo home. He was drunk, his mind was a little muddled, his face was red, and his eyes were full of sorrow.

Just then, Zhao Yongbo was standing next to Zhao Da'e, who said to him, "Little brother, you have to be a good boy when you get home, okay?"

Zhao Yongbo nodded obediently and said, "I understand, sister."

Zhao Tiegang originally intended to lead Zhao Yongbo away, but upon seeing Zhao Da'e, he couldn't help but recall his second brother's words about how promising Zhao Da'e was, and he also thought of his wife who hadn't returned for many days. Zhao Tiegang couldn't help but say to Zhao Da'e, "Da'e, if you could, could you help your uncle persuade your third aunt to come back? Your third aunt has been away from home for many days, and no matter how I try to persuade her, she won't come back. For the sake of being your uncle, could you do your uncle this favor?"

Zhao Da'e said somewhat awkwardly, "Uncle, I'm just a kid too. I might not be able to persuade Auntie to come back."

Unexpectedly, Zhao Tiegang's eyes reddened. He was already drunk, and the thought of his wife made it difficult for him to control his emotions.

Zhao Da'e was a little at a loss, and she quickly said, "Third Uncle, don't be sad, I will try my best to persuade Third Aunt to come back."

Zhao Da'e was somewhat helpless. How old is he? He still gets red-eyed in front of her.

Zhao Tiegang nodded, then couldn't help but complain, "Big Goose, you don't know, I went to your third aunt's house to persuade her to come back, but she just wouldn't listen. I had no choice but to come to you. Yongbo keeps nagging me about when your third aunt will come back. I miss your third aunt too, but she's just stubborn and doesn't want to come back. I talked to your grandma, but she doesn't want to get involved in these things."

Zhao Tiegang became more and more upset as he spoke. His second sister-in-law and second brother had a fight, and his second sister-in-law went back to her parents' home. Why did she have to drag his wife into it? Zhao Tiegang was truly at his wit's end.

What Zhao Tiegang didn't mention was that the reason Zhang Cuilan went back to her parents' home was because she wanted her parents-in-law to build them a new house, which is why she kept refusing to go back.

Zhao Tiegang thought that if he didn't say anything, Zhao Da'e wouldn't know the reason. In fact, Zhao Da'e already knew why Zhang Cuilan was unwilling to return to the Zhao family.

Zhao Da'e remembered that her grandmother had embezzled tens of thousands of yuan from her family. She had used all of that money to buy a house for her aunt. She had no hope of getting the money back, but she wouldn't let it go. Since no one knew where the money had gone, she decided to make a scene so that everyone would know and Wang Guixiang would have a hard time.

So Zhao Da'e rolled his eyes and agreed to Zhao Tiegang's request, "Third Uncle, don't worry, I will definitely help you persuade Third Aunt to come back."

After hearing what Zhao Da'e said, Zhao Tiegang felt somewhat comforted and then left the Zhou family.

The next day, Zhao Da'e greeted Cheng Jinxi and went to Zhang Cuilan's parents' home. They were in a nearby village, so it wouldn't take long to get there.

"Third Aunt, it's me, Big Goose. I've come to find you."

Hearing the knocking and shouting from inside, Zhang Cuilan opened the door with a puzzled look. "Big Goose? What are you doing here?"

Zhao Da'e said with a smile, "I've come to see you, Third Aunt."

After saying that, in order to prevent Zhang Cuilan from closing the door and ignoring him, Zhao Da'e stepped into the room first and said, "Third Aunt, you haven't been back to the Zhao family for a long time. Third Uncle and Brother Zhao miss you very much. Why don't you go back?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cuilan immediately understood that Zhao Da'e must have come to persuade her to go back after listening to Zhao Tiegang's words. However, speaking of Zhao Yongbo, Zhang Cuilan did miss him quite a bit, after all, he was her own son. When she went back to her parents' home, she had thought about bringing Zhao Yongbo back, but in the end she did not do it.

Firstly, she wanted Wang Guixiang to build a new house for her branch of the family when she went back to her parents' home. Otherwise, if her second brother and his family made a fuss and Wang Guixiang built a new house for their branch, what would happen to her family?

There's always a reason to make a scene.

Moreover, she had given birth to Zhao's grandson, and Wang Guixiang doted on Zhao Yongbo, her grandson. She left the child in Zhao's family in the hopes that Wang Guixiang would soften her heart and build a new house for her family.

In any case, Zhang Cuilan will not return to the Zhao family easily.

“Big Goose, you should go back. It’s not impossible for me to return to the Zhao family. Go back and tell Zhao Tiegang that unless Mom builds a new house for our branch of the family, I will not go back.”

Zhao Tiegang had come to see her many times before, but Zhang Cuilan had always sent him away with this excuse. She originally thought Wang Guixiang would soften her heart, but unexpectedly, Wang Guixiang bluntly said that she didn't care whether she came back or not. Zhao Tiegang had no choice but to come and tell her that Wang Guixiang was unwilling. Zhang Cuilan also had a temper. Wang Guixiang had money. If she didn't build a new house for their branch of the family, then she would have to build a new house for her second brother's branch of the family. How could Zhang Cuilan just watch such a thing happen? They were all sons of the Zhao family. Why couldn't her branch of the family build a new house? So Zhang Cuilan also threw a tantrum and refused to go back to the Zhao family.

Moreover, she had heard that her second brother's family was planning to build a new house, and her second sister-in-law had even started asking the construction workers if they could come to her house to help build the house. It must be that Wang Guixiang was going to pay for the construction of her second brother's family's house. Thinking of this, Zhang Cuilan also began to dislike Zhao D'e.

He shooed Zhao Da'e away, saying, "Go on, don't say so much. I'm not going back to the Zhao family anyway. You little brat, aren't you so smug? Your grandma is going to pay for your family to build a house, so you deliberately came here to show off to me, right?"

Zhang Cuilan had never treated Zhao Da'e well before, so she thought Zhao Da'e wouldn't be so kind as to come and persuade her to return to the Zhao family.

Zhao Da'e knew that Zhang Cuilan harbored resentment towards her, but she didn't care. Who wanted Zhang Cuilan to change her opinion of her? All she wanted was to persuade Zhang Cuilan to return to the Zhao family and then cause trouble for Wang Guixiang.

Faced with Zhang Cuilan's predicament, Zhao Da'e pretended to be clueless and said, "Third Aunt, what are you talking about? Grandma didn't give my mother any money to build a new house. My mother did plan to build a new house, but it was all money she had saved up and money she borrowed from my uncles, aunts, and cousins. My older cousin is getting married soon, and my aunt's new house only has two rooms. My aunt and uncle will share one room, and my older cousin and his future sister-in-law will share another. That means there won't be a room for my older cousin and her sister-in-law. So my aunt lent some money to my mother so that she could build a new house quickly and my older cousin could live with me. My maternal grandmother also gave a lot of money because she also wanted my younger aunt to live in our new house. So, with more money borrowed, my mother had the money to build the house."

"But these are all loans, and they have to be paid back later. My grandmother didn't contribute a single penny. My mother asked her grandmother for money to build a new house, but she hesitated and refused to give it to her. My mother had no choice but to borrow some money from her siblings to build the new house."

Zhang Cuilan's eyes lit up after hearing this, but she was still skeptical and asked, "Is everything you're saying true? Your grandmother didn't contribute money to build your mother's house; instead, it was your aunt's family who lent your mother money to build it?"

Zhao Da'e nodded. The child's innocence convinced Zhang Cuilan. Zhao Da'e couldn't help but complain, "Grandma is really something. My mother said that she has been giving all her money to Grandma for safekeeping all these years. This was because Grandma and Grandpa asked for the money. Now that my mother needs money, Grandma and Grandpa are unwilling to give it to her. Maybe this money has already been spent."

Zhang Cuilan felt a little pleased after hearing this. If Wang Guixiang didn't contribute money to her second brother's family to build a new house, then the money would definitely still be with Wang Guixiang. When her own family needed to build a new house, Wang Guixiang, as the mother-in-law, would surely provide some financial assistance.

After all, Wang Guixiang favors her husband more, and she also gave birth to Zhao's grandson. Wang Guixiang will definitely support her family and help with the construction of their new house.

As the ultimate beneficiary, Zhang Cuilan even found Zhao Dage more agreeable. Thinking that the money might be spent on her in the future, Zhang Cuilan couldn't help but say some good things about Wang Guixiang.

“Big Goose, you can’t think of your grandma like that. Think about it, your whole family lives in the Zhao family’s house. Every day, food and other necessities are expenses. Your grandma has to take care of everyone’s food, drink, and daily necessities. The money might have been spent long ago. After all, the money is spent on your family. If your mother asks your grandma for money again, your grandma definitely won’t be able to give it to her.” Zhang Cuilan thought what she said made a lot of sense.

But Zhao Da'e retorted, "But all the food and drink at home is made and bought by my mother. Grandma has never contributed anything. Besides, you, Third Aunt, also eat my mother's cooking, but I've never seen you help my mother with anything."

These words instantly froze Zhang Cuilan's smile, and her outward kindness crumbled. She was immediately annoyed and wanted to grab Zhao Da'e by the ear to teach her a lesson, but then she heard Zhao Da'e say, "Third Aunt, I'll secretly tell you a secret about Grandma."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cuilan's anger dissipated by more than half. She was captivated by Zhao Da'e's mysterious demeanor. What secrets could Wang Guixiang possibly have?

Zhang Cuilan thought to herself that Zhao Da'e was lying to her, but she wanted to hear what Zhao Da'e had to say. If he couldn't give her a straight answer, she was determined to teach this loose-tongued brat a lesson today.

Zhao Da'e looked around and, seeing no one, pretended to be relieved. Then, he lowered his voice and said to Zhang Cuilan, "Third Aunt, let me tell you, Grandma hasn't paid back the money to our family because she plans to use it for something else."

Seeing Zhao Dage's serious expression, Zhang Cuilan pressed, "What do you mean? Are you just making this up?"

Zhao Da'e said with a straight face, "I'm not making this up. I saw it with my own eyes. One evening, it was just me and my grandma at home. I was sleeping in my room when I heard my grandma quietly bring someone into the room. The way she was being so careful definitely meant she was doing something wrong."

Zhao Da'e was indeed talking nonsense, but she was just imitating others. It's okay for others to talk nonsense, but she spread a rumor about Wang Guixiang, and Wang Guixiang can clear her name later.