Chapter 172

Wang Caixiang's presence in the house was clearly problematic, but Zhi Xia did not expect it was for this reason. It really made her want to curse.

"What did Old Master and Old Madam say?" Zhi Xia wondered. With the means Wang Caixiang used to enter the house, her days here would probably not go well.

"Old Master and Old Madam don't know yet. Don't say anything either. Old Master has always had a temper that can't tolerate others making trouble over his head. If he finds out that Wang Caixiang is using this method to control Second Brother, he would rather she go report it than be under someone's control." Although the Old Master looks quite kind now, he was also known for his stubborn temper when he was young. Otherwise, he would not have been able to abandon his family and follow Old Pei to go to war. It should be known that at that time, he was the only child of the family, and Old Master valued his descendants very much. So he could support the war with money, but did not want his own children and grandchildren to go to the battlefield.

People all have the mindset to protect their own. The battlefield was filled with nine deaths and one life, and the city walls built up with blood, tears and bones were where Old Master naturally could not escape the commonplace.

Returning to the yard, Zhi Xia could not help feeling a little sympathy for this usually gentle second brother.

Wang Caixiang was still humble and standing aside, not daring to speak. It was possibly because Old Madam did not know the truth that she was still relatively nice to her, occasionally saying a few words to her.

"What secret were you two talking about? And hiding it from me?" An Zhiren still had a gentle smile, with a scholarly temperament that seemed unfitting for his young age.

"If we didn't hide it from you, how could it be called a secret?" An ZhiXian said before going to snatch the kids from the other three adults, but unfortunately did not succeed.

The yard was filled with laughter and chatter, very lively. Wen Qing ran over to hug An Zhiren’s legs, "Second Uncle, lift me up high..."

"Lift up high? Second Uncle can't lift you up, you’re too heavy. Go find Third Uncle, he is stronger and can lift a little dumpling like you!" An Zhiren poked his nose and refused him, but it could be seen that he was very fond of Wen Qing.

Zhi Xia went over to tease him too, "Wen Qing, do you still remember Auntie?"

In half a year of not seeing him, the little guy had grown taller again, and had even gotten fatter, no wonder An Zhiren called him “little fatty.”

Only when he smiled, his front tooth was missing, which made him look a little funny.

"What happened to this tooth?" Zhi Xia wondered. Shouldn't a three-and-a-half-year-old kid be losing teeth yet?

Liu Ling walked over with a smile, "He got into a fight with another kid... He's not used to falling down yet."

The shy child immediately let go of his Second Uncle's legs and ran over to hug his mother, shouting, "Mommy, don't say it!"

"Okay, okay, I won't say." Liu Ling led him over to Zhi Xia saying, "This is your auntie. The sweater you're wearing is knitted by her last year." In fact, it was already small on him this year, but he stubbornly insisted on wearing it because he liked it so much.

Speaking of which, Liu Ling suddenly remembered, "Right, Zhi Xia, when you have time, teach me your knitting techniques for sweaters. This kid now likes flashy things, he keeps making a fuss about wearing that patterned sweater you knitted for him even though it’s small now and refuses to take it off."

"Sure. I have nothing to do anyway besides taking care of kids, Sister-in-law, just come find me anytime you are free." Zhi Xia said with a laugh.

Standing next to Old Madam, Wang Caixiang watched this scene, with envy surfacing in her eyes. But she also knew that she was unwelcome in this family, too humble to even take the initiative to talk to them.

"Dinner can be served now." Mrs. Zhou called from the kitchen door, "We got a lot of people today. Old Master, should I take out that big round table from the utility room?"

The “big round table” Mrs. Zhou mentioned was just a piece of table board. Because there were many people in the family, they always gathered together to celebrate every holiday, and as the children grew up and got married and gave birth to more kids, Old Master specially commissioned a carpenter to build this large table board that could be taken out and directly placed on the square table whenever needed.

"We'll need to use that big table." As soon as Old Master gave the order, An Zhiren and An ZhiXian hurried off to move the table.

Zhi Xia also returned to her room, seeing Pei Jing lying in bed with his eyes open, hands folded under his head.

She sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over to look at him, "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing much, is dinner ready?" He just couldn’t fall asleep because it was too noisy outside, but his body was a little tired and he didn't want to get up.

"Yeah, since you're awake let's get up. We can go back to rest early after the meal."

After Zhi Xia finished speaking, she was pulled by Pei Jing and stumbled onto his chest.

"Mm..." She was about to say something but he sealed her lips shut.

After a brief tangle, he finally let her go, whispering a few words in her ear.

Zhi Xia was surprised by his idea and asked, "Isn't it a little too early?"

"It is early, but it happens to take this opportunity while there are many people at home who can help take care of the kids. Otherwise when we go back to the troops, if Mengmeng has a baby she will have to take care of it herself. It will be too late if there is no one to help care for the children then."

What Pei Jing meant was to take this opportunity to wean the kids from milk, otherwise when they returned with no one to help take care, the two children would stick to Zhi Xia all day. It would be difficult to wean them off milk then.

After considering for a while, Zhi Xia agreed.

The eight-and-a-half-month-old children could already eat some supplementary food in addition to milk. Moreover, her milk supply was low now to feed two children. They were already drinking formula mixed with breast milk, so weaning should not be too difficult.

When they arrived at the dining room, the table had been set up. Sister-in-law and Wang Caixiang were busy serving dishes. Zhi Xia also went to help, but didn't do much.

There were not many vegetable dishes in winter, but Mrs. Zhou had cooked them skillfully into various flavors. Eating the same dishes in different flavors was also a way of eating. There was also chicken and fish. Jokingly, Old Pei said to Old Master, "The dishes prepared are so abundant. You old chap didn't take out all the New Year dishes to eat up now, did you? Wouldn’t that mean we’d have to drink the northwest wind when New Year comes?" "You don't need to worry about that." Old Master glared at him arrogantly, "If there really is nothing to eat, I will just have to go to your house to eat then."

After all the dishes were served, Mrs. Zhou packed some dishes and rice into her own lunch box and said, "Old Master, Old Madam, and everyone please eat and drink enough. I'll go back first and leave this table here. Just wait for me to come back and clean up tomorrow morning."

Old Madam responded with a word and let her take home a smoked pork belly from the kitchen, to add a dish for her children at home. Mrs Zhou thanked them profusely again.

Pei Jing looked around and asked, "How come JianGuo didn't come?"

The two families had a very close relationship. Pei JianGuo was also considered to have been raised by Old Master and Old Madam. So it was not rude for him to ask this.

Moreover, now it was just him and Old Pei living there. Old Pei was here, so JianGuo would have to cook for himself at home alone.

"He went out as soon as you guys left. He's not that young anymore. His mom has been trying to find him a wife recently, just leave him be. He's a grown man, he won't starve to death." Old Pei said casually.

Old Madam immediately followed up saying that she knew several younger relatives that she could introduce to Pei JianGuo.

The two little ones were quite sensible, sleeping now and not disturbing their meal at all.

Wen Qing sat right next to Zhi Xia. Pei Jing picked up a chicken leg for him, and at the same time handed another to Zhi Xia.

The two smiled at each other, the atmosphere of happiness self-evident.

An Zhiren got up to pour wine. When it was Pei Jing’s turn, Pei Jing said, "I won't drink with you today. I didn't rest well on the train and have a bit of headache."

"Then just pour him a drink. Let them go back to rest after eating." Old Madam quickly said, "The children can drink formula right? I saw you brought formula. If not, just let the kids stay here for the night. Wen Qing has been dying to see his little brother and sister. It just so happens that he is on holiday. Let your sister-in-law stay here with Wen Qing to help look after the kids a bit, so you two can relax for a few days."

Taking the opportunity, Zhi Xia talked about weaning the children from milk. The two kids could eat now, and Zhi Xia didn’t look fat either, so weaning should be fine. After all, they still had formula to supplement.

As people of some status, it was not a problem for them three old folks to buy some formula powder. They could also provide some monetary support. So there was absolutely no need to worry.

Wang Caixiang saw them chatting about this matter, eager to curry favor, and worked up the courage to open her mouth, "Granny, it's still not very convenient for sister-in-law to bring along Wen Qing. Why don't I stay behind instead? I've taken care of younger siblings at home before and know how to look after children too."

"Let sister-in-law bring Wen Qing along to stay behind instead. It's not convenient for you." An Zhiren suddenly spoke up, catching everyone by surprise.

Wang Caixiang's eyes instantly turned red. Old Madam quickly smoothed things over, "You've only just entered the family not long ago, it is indeed not suitable for husband and wife to live apart."

Wang Caixiang understood he simply did not want her to get too close with the family, and had no intention of accepting her at all.

There was a momentary tense silence before An Zhiren nonchalantly scooped some braised pork for Zhi Xia, joking, "I heard that ever since you showed off your cooking skills last time, Mrs. Zhou has been practicing making braised pork. She's probably afraid you'll steal her job. Try it and see if she has improved."

He was never an overly warm person to begin with. Making this effort to serve his sister food now was also because he was afraid his previous words might have made Zhi Xia misunderstand, making her think he was unwilling to help her.

Although he had also guessed Zhi Xia definitely learned about the situation between him and Wang Caixiang from Third Uncle.