After speaking, seeing the son-in-law listening carefully and pondering, Zhou Xiaozheng nodded secretly and continued, "Now that your mother isn’t here, let me talk to you about the Lin Family and why I married your mother. Besides having a good impression of your mother, I considered many things. The main thing was I found it suitable to have a simple and sincere woman who, when at home, focuses all her attention on me, one who wouldn’t complain or be rude, and your mother just fit all my requirements at the time. She came from a good background, had a satisfactory job and life; such a woman wouldn’t have a narrow perspective or be petty and troublesome like other family members, always gossiping around me. Most importantly, I couldn’t tolerate someone who made typos in every letter they wrote; having a higher education is beneficial for future children. It was only after planning to date your mother that I considered the Lin Family. To be honest, I didn’t care much about them. In Beijing, not many officials were really high-ranking. Besides, your grandpa wasn’t my boss, so he couldn’t control me. Twenty years ago, your grandpa wasn’t as well off as I am now; it was the grandma who went around visiting and socializing, even now I don’t take it personally. In the past, our relationship was naturally good, and it still is, but I can see deeply from Jiao Jiao. This time, your grandma told me that your grandpa refused to take Jiao Jiao back with them, fearing for Jiao Jiao’s safety. How could it be that when we were getting married, I said we didn’t need to live with our parents, just needed money, and was fortunate that my father-son relationship wasn’t good? How is it that their eldest granddaughter is safe at home, but my daughter isn’t safe? These words can only fool your mother. I can only keep them in my heart and can’t say them face to face. Even you can guess that their sudden enthusiasm has a reason, so wouldn’t I be aware? Your Uncle Guang visits Beijing all the time to see Jiao Jiao’s eldest cousin. Mistaken identity, is it difficult for the Lin Family to explain to your Uncle Guang, or do they intentionally act wrongly? Would your eldest cousin not know under your grandma’s nose? Wouldn’t there be any movement in ten years? I believe that your mother and grandpa are unaware of this matter. Your mother used to look for me every day while your grandpa only stayed at the Big Courtyard a few days a year, but would the other members of the Lin Family not know? After your little aunt pulled strings to get your eldest cousin into the hospital as a nurse and often stayed at the Big Courtyard, would she not know? Would your grandma not know? Would your eldest aunt not know when she saw her daughter receiving gifts? Even if there is mistrust in Zhao Chuan Guang, the Zhao Family is not ordinary people, Zhao Chuan Guang and I are so close that we wear the same pair of pants, would they not know? Even if it took five or ten years to leak some information, your Uncle Guang wouldn’t have been angry. Before that, when your Uncle Guang found out, he only scolded the Lin Family. You see, your Uncle Guang had to vent his anger; if it weren’t for your mother being stuck in the middle, he would have already run to Beijing. You saw a lot of parcels mailed over, I suspect that apart from what your mother and I sent, the others were sent by my brothers to the Lin Family. These things will be known later, now it’s not good to ask your Uncle Guang. As for the Lin Family, don’t trust anyone apart from your mother, not even your eldest uncle. At the end of the year, go to Beijing to settle our things, and in the future, just visit the elders during the holidays. Our Jiao Jiao doesn’t owe the Lin Family anything. Our family’s assets are all in the grandmother’s hands now, aside from your mother’s salary in your grandma’s hands, the family savings account has over nine thousand US Dollars. The interest of 17 years is enough for them to send you round-trip shipping every day. This time back, I was anxious to see Jiao Jiao and didn’t have time to deal with those matters. I wish the grandmother would eat up that money and not pay it back. Nowadays, we wouldn’t even miss that money, just with your dad’s monthly salary being almost 300 bucks and your mother earning 178 and often receiving bonuses, we really don’t lack money. So, this time when going to the Lin Family, accept if they give, and don’t want if not, don’t be anxious, as dad has secretly kept some savings for you apart from your mother." Zhang Guoqing nodded and said seriously, "Dad, we’ve discussed what you said in private, Jiao Jiao said that just because my mother gave birth to her, it’s enough, the Lin Family has no responsibility to us, so we have fewer obligations. We all feel that as long as the money is enough, more is just numbers. You don’t need to give us money in the future, keep it for yourself to spend freely. We also have quite a bit of money in hand, and have secretly hidden a lot of gold, even my parents don’t know." Get full chapters from 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕥⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥 Zhou Xiaozheng amusingly looked at him with a face that said ’I don’t lack money either’, teasing, "You only rely on occasionally hunting wild chickens and rabbits, yet you’ve stashed quite a bit of gold, are you afraid of spending your father-in-law’s money and lacking confidence?" Zhang Guoqing chuckled and shook his head, "Not at all lacking in confidence, I’m like half your son, if I need to spend I’ll ask you, and won’t be polite. You know I have great strength, going up the mountain with my grandpa since I was a child, I have another advantage, when I go into the mountains, my hearing is exceptionally good, I can hear sounds from far away, haha, while others need to draw a bow, I just need to carry a stone, throw it casually, and mostly hit the target. When encountering wild boars or deer, I secretly go to the city to sell them, convert all into gold, now I have quite a bit. This morning, my cousins and I went out and took down six deer, three rams, and goats, tomorrow when we go up the mountain you’ll see how at ease your son-in-law is." Zhou Xiaozheng burst into laughter, he could imagine that even before the animals could run, he’d throw with such force, coupled with accuracy, it indeed would be faster than drawing a bow and arrow. "Haha, not bad. Dad heard that you’ve learned the full skills from your grandpa a long time ago; your grandpa was a well-known expert back in the day, he supported your dad and others with his hunting skills. How many people died back in those years, your grandpa pulled Old Zhang’s family through, for the whole family to survive intact. Apart from you, who in the younger generation from Old Zhang’s family learned skills from your grandpa?" Zhang Guoqing replied proudly, "Amongst the younger generation, just me, the others couldn’t make it, my grandpa wouldn’t take them, saying it was a waste of time. When he was alive, apart from my eldest cousin, he often took me, wherever he went, he took me. My grandpa took me up the mountain when I was three, when there was no one around he’d use mud to have me practice hand strength, letting me control the force. My grandpa said someone in his grandmother’s family had natural strength too, but didn’t learn to control the force, and had accidentally killed someone once. At first, he wanted to help find a master for me, later it was his partner Mr. Wang who said that I didn’t need to practice martial arts, it wasn’t good for the body, practicing martial arts made people irritable; coupled with strength, it was easy to cause trouble, better to study well, and keep a few skills for self-defense only. Then he abandoned the idea of having me practice martial arts." Zhou Xiaozheng fully agreed with this view, "People who practice martial arts are more aggressive than ordinary people, can’t withstand provocation. Cultivating oneself and reading more is good. The mind is faster than hands and feet, brute courage alone won’t achieve big things, your grandpa was a wise man." Finishing up, he stood up, "I can already smell the scent, your mother will call us once she gets back. Go visit your grandma first, and go check on Jiao Jiao by the way, come back early and wait for your Uncle Dashan to get off work for dinner." Zhang Guoqing followed behind him, "Driving is quick. Dad, buns aren’t ready so fast, I’ll take two cooked crabs to Jiao Jiao, eating only red roe and not the meat shouldn’t be a problem. Otherwise, when my mother cooks it done, the smell will reach her room and she’ll be anxious. She likes shellfish, she should be able to enjoy the big prawns. I’ll drop by Master Fatty’s on the way back, ask him, and return his food box. Last night, he didn’t want a deposit, returning it early gives him peace of mind." Zhou Xiaozheng whispered, "There are still three boxes of big prawns left in the cellar, the remaining three are big yellow croakers; ask Master Fatty how to handle them so they can be eaten. If it’s convenient, see if he’ll process them for money?"