Chapter 173 "It's really delicious," Zhi Xia would certainly not misunderstand his meaning, very politely took a bite to praise, "You should also try it quickly, don't waste Zhou's cooking skills."
The atmosphere became lively again, and everyone tacitly glossed over what had just happened.
Anyone with eyes could see that although An Zhiren did not speak coldly to Wang Caixiang, he was ignoring her all the time.
School was on vacation, An Jingzhi and An Zhiren were also off work, but An ZhiXian's hospital was terribly busy, after eating he had to go back first, and Zhou Nan didn't know when they would stop drinking, so she got up and said she would go with him.
An Zhiren looked up at Wang Caixiang and said, "You should go back with San first."
Wang Caixiang didn't really want to, but under An Zhiren's seemingly calm gaze, she didn't dare to refute him and just murmured, "Come home early, too."
An Zhiren didn't reply anymore and had already turned his eyes away.
After the three of them left, Grandma also got up, and Liu Ling took the children up too, leaving only those still drinking at the table.
An Zhiren usually didn't drink much, and with the elderly he couldn't keep up drinking either, so he went to find Grandma too.
Zhi Xia nudged Pei Jing, who hadn't moved his chopsticks for a while, "You've eaten well, let's go back first too. I'll go tell Granny."
"Okay, you go ahead, I'll wait for you," Pei Jing said.
They were all admiring the child in the room. Zhi Xia had just walked to the door when she heard An Zhiren ask Grandma, "Granny, do we have any extra quilts at home? I'll stay for a few days too. You and Grandpa are getting on in years. If the child really kicks up a fuss at night, the two of you can't handle it. My sister-in-law still has Wen Qing, after all."
Grandma didn't answer right away, and bowed her head with obvious sadness in her mood, then said, "Yes, we do. The rooms you boys used to use are still there with the quilts still in the closets." When they were little they often came to stay on this side, sleeping together as brothers. They were naughty but even Grandpa had to step in to control them.
But when they grew up and had their own jobs, they didn't come as often. Number four came the most, but he hadn't been back for over a year since joining the army.
Old people look forward to family reunions. They'll see each other less and less as time goes by, so Grandma couldn't help but blame Grandpa for letting the child join the army.
But she understood in her heart that the child's future was important.
The political situation was getting worse and worse. It was under these circumstances that they dared not stand out even more.
"Then I'll go tidy up the room first," An Zhiren said as he got up.
Zhi Xia hurriedly pushed the door open and walked in, "Granny, sister-in-law, we'll go back to rest first. Please take care of the two kids tonight."
"Go, go. I see these two children are very obedient. Don't worry. If anything happens we're close by. Just call out," Grandma laughed.
After An Zhiren left, Zhi Xia hurried to her side and asked in a low voice, "Granny, didn't you just say it wasn't suitable for a newlywed couple to live separately? How come when Er Ge wants to live here you agreed?"
Grandma's smile froze and her expression turned somewhat helpless, "I'm old now. Back then following your grandfather handling family affairs of all sizes, I've seen all kinds of people. I can see the problems between your second brother and sister-in-law!"
"So why do you still..." seem to be trying to match them?
Grandma patted her forehead fondly, "It's the damned times now. No matter what reason brought them together, they did get married and have to live this life day after day. It's no good being so antagonistic all the time. It's not like the old days when you could bring back a concubine you liked to serve and attend..."
Grandma definitely didn't sympathize with Wang Caixiang, she felt bad for her grandson. This was why she was being so lenient towards An Zhiren.
The boy had been gentle since he was little, but very stubborn inside. You could tell from his attitude towards Wang Caixiang that he had been forced into the marriage, but he would never treat her well.
Living like this would hurt not only Wang Caixiang, but her grandson too! How could Grandma not feel bad for him?
Liu Ling also understood Grandma's meaning and asked, "Granny, should we try to lead Wang Caixiang?"
Wang Caixiang had already been married in for two months, but the family was still indifferent towards her, even hostile. She still hadn't been able to integrate into the family.
"There's no need for that. Unless he gets over it himself, we can't help with Zhiren's matters. He doesn't want Wang Caixiang to become part of the family right now. If you get too close with her, it will only make him more upset." Grandma didn't exactly like Wang Caixiang either, she just had a softer heart due to old age.
Anyway, her grandson didn't want his grandfather to know, so they would pretend not to know. She just simply wanted her grandson to be better off, but in the end, it still depended on the two of them. If this knot truly couldn't be undone, it would just prove Wang Caixiang had gone too far and driven him to desperation.
What surprised Zhi Xia was that when she walked out of the room, she actually saw An Zhiren leaning against the wall eavesdropping by the door.
Seeing her come out, he smiled and put his forefinger to his lips, signaling her not to speak first.
The bed in An Zhiren's room was quite big, obviously specially made, because at its fullest this bed had slept four people - such was the happiness of having a lot of brothers.
"Er Ge must really hate that Wang Caixiang, right? But are you planning to keep avoiding her like this and swallow this grievance?" Even though there wasn't much affection between them as siblings, Zhi Xia still sympathized with his plight.
An Zhiren smiled. He didn't hide anything from Zhi Xia anymore, and said somewhat self-deprecatingly, "I wouldn't say I hate her, I just feel like a bit of a failure."
She was a student he had taught who did this when she was about to graduate.
Sometimes he would feel a little lucky that he was the victim, yet he still felt very resentful that his life had been dragged into this.
His tone was clearly dispirited. Zhi Xia hesitated for a moment, but due to their height difference she could only pat his arm comfortingly.
In a moment of softheartedness, she gave him an idea, "Wang Caixiang succeeded in her plot because she herself has no moral baseline to begin with. For people like this, Er Ge doesn't need to talk to her about morals either. If you really want a divorce, there are many ways."
Otherwise just dragging things out like this, the two would only become more and more entangled, which would be harmful and useless to him.
An Zhiren looked at his little sister in surprise, only then suddenly realizing that perhaps their previous perceptions about Zhi Xia had been wrong.
Seeing such a gentle and kind little sister, it turns out she also had claws hidden.
But then again, children raised in that kind of environment were either completely crushed into cowardice and incompetence, or learned to hide their capabilities.
An Zhiren had never minded his sister being two-faced. He only minded whether the other party's blades were aimed at himself.
Clearly, Zhi Xia and Gao Meiyun were not the same.
An Zhiren's usually closed heart also began to soften a little.
"Little sister, I'm not a child. I'll deal with this matter myself, but still, thank you for your concern," An Zhiren naturally understood this reasoning, it just wasn't the right time for him yet.