The Zhu Family Lacks No Good Things

Who doesn't want the good life?

Wang Erzhu's brazenness left the others with little room to argue. The Village Head could only say, "Erzhu, you used to be such a hardworking, decent young man."

"That was only because if you didn't work, you didn't eat. In life I had no choice, but now I have one—surely I'm allowed to choose." Wang Erzhu blubbered.

Two lifetimes and never a ghost this plainspoken—Zhu Shian was learning something new today. Still: "Whether you get reincarnated isn't up to me, and it isn't up to you. Report to the underworld."

"Master! Spare this ghost's life!"

A ghost's wail startled Zhu Shian half out of her skin. She watched his ghostly eyes flush red and felt a chill. Obsession this heavy? Willing to become a vengeful spirit just for the good life?

"Stop! If you turn into a vengeful spirit, forget about reincarnation into a good life—you'll just scatter into nothing."

The Soul-Calming Bell in Zhu Shian's hand swayed lightly. The fierce red drained from the ghost's eyes, and his wits returned. Wang Erzhu gazed at Zhu Shian with pitiful hope.

A ghost with reason was one Zhu Shian was willing to grant a measure of mercy: "I can let you stay a few more years, but you must follow my commands."

Wang Erzhu nodded. So long as he could have the good life, he'd listen. He'd listen to anything.

Zhu Shian drew out a Seven Gate Prohibition Seal. With a light sweep of the Spirit Script, a ring of black-gold light bound Wang Erzhu fast. He couldn't move a muscle, and he panicked, calling for his father and mother.

"Erzhu!" Wang Dangniang was terrified.

"If you don't thrash about, you'll be fine." Zhu Shian pointed at the one direction beneath his feet where no light fell: "That's the eighth gate. Step that way and you're in the underworld. Want to reincarnate? You can leave anytime."

Wang Erzhu was so frightened he didn't dare twitch. He wanted the good life—he couldn't go reincarnate now.

Zhu Shian shook the Soul-Calming Bell: "Come!"

Wang Erzhu was drawn into the Soul-Calming Bell. On the ancient bell's surface, the Spirit Script patterns of the Seven Gate Prohibition Seal emerged—faint, shimmering with a black-gold glow, strange and ominous.

By the instinct of a ghost many years in the making, Wang Erzhu felt that whether his ghost-life ended in the underworld or scattered into nothing hung on a single thought of Master Zhu's.

He couldn't help trembling. Scared the ghost half to death.

With Wang Erzhu collected, the Village Head and his party exhaled a great sigh of relief. This matter was finally settled.

Wang Dangniang clutched her eldest grandson and cried herself faint. Wang Dashan hurried to lift his mother onto his back.

Wang Fugui stood helpless, unsure what to do. The Village Head quickly took his arm: "Uncle Wang, Erzhu will reincarnate into a good family from now on. Don't worry about him."

"That's right, his days ahead will be easier."

The young men chiming in were a touch envious of Wang Erzhu. They still had decades of slogging ahead like beasts of burden, and after death—who knew what the next life held? Whether it would be good or not, who could say?

Whatever the future, they all looked at this young heir of the Zhu Family—surely she'd live long enough to send them off, and then watch them become ghosts too.

Zhen Shan County had another formidable figure.

The Village Head fawned: "It's hard to cross the river after dark. Why not stay at my place for the night?"

Zhu Shian declined: "It's not far. Going back won't be a bother."

Zhu Shian hadn't come alone. Zhu Changfeng was there too, poling the boat to take her home.

The Zhu Family's lamps in Sanqing Alley were still lit. Guessing Zhu Shian would soon return, Zhu Fengqin went to the door every few moments to check, heedless of the cold. Only after several trips did she spot Zhu Shian and Zhu Changfeng at the alley's mouth.

Zhu Fengqin came down the steps and asked hurriedly: "Did it go smoothly?"

Zhu Changfeng laughed: "With our eldest young lady's abilities, what is there still to worry about?"

"I'm not worried she can't settle the matter—I'm worried you'll catch cold. The winter river wind could freeze a person to death."

Zhu Changfeng said: "The wind on the river at night is a bit fierce."

Zhu Shian was sleepy, yawning. This was her usual bedtime. Zhu Fengqin asked her: "There's porridge left in the pot for you, still warm. Eat something to warm up before bed?"

Zhu Shian wasn't hungry: "You all eat. I'm going inside."

Zhu Shian wouldn't eat, but Zhu Changfeng had a fine appetite. His appetite was good, and his spirits were high. The moment the sounds of their return reached the neighbors, several families came out to look, and now they had become Zhu Changfeng's audience, listening to him tell of how their eldest young lady had subdued the little ghost.

"Our eldest young lady draws talismans so fast. That seal looked fierce—it pinned the little ghost so he couldn't move."

"Hey, our family's Soul-Calming Bell is a real treasure!"

The Zhu Family had its inheritance, after all—courage in these matters ran deeper than most. The few people from Wang Fugui's brigade who'd gotten an eyeful today went home saying ghosts aren't scary either; Wang Erzhu was about the same as when alive.

"That was because you met a kind ghost. Try meeting a vicious one? It'll drag you into the river to be its substitute, and then you'll know how fearsome they are."

"The old saying goes, the paths of the living and the dead don't cross. If a person catches ghost-qi, can anything good come of it?"

"The Wang family's business is done, so let it be done. From now on, don't bring it up again. Pretend it never happened."

The household elders gave the irreverent young people a thorough scolding, told them to get lost and go to sleep, and to get up tomorrow morning and take their dirty clothes to the river to wash.

Ever since the water ghost had been causing trouble at the riverside before the new year, women and children didn't dare go near the river on ordinary days, and the dirty clothes had nowhere to be washed. A normal household only had one change of clothes—if they didn't wash the dirty ones, there'd be nothing decent to be seen in.

The next morning, the familiar thick fog shrouded the entire Mountain Valley. Beyond ten paces, you couldn't see a soul. Such was winter in Zhen Shan County, year after year.

A rooster's crow woke the residents of Zhen Shan County. Each household opened its door to draw water from the well, cooked and washed, and the day's bustle began.

Although still in the first month, those with jobs had already started work today.

Zhu Changfang had no job, but she wasn't idle. She rose early to make breakfast for the family of four, and after her husband Xu Zhong left for the state-run restaurant, she still had to look after their twin daughters, tidy the house—plenty to do.

Zhu Changfang was making breakfast at home. Xu Zhong had drawn four or five buckets of water from the well in the small courtyard's corner to fill the kitchen's water vat, then swept the yard.

"Breakfast is ready!"

At Zhu Changfang's call, five-year-old Xu Tang and Xu Mei, hair a tangled mess, finally came running out.

"Mama, are we having eggs today?"

"Yes. The day before yesterday I went to the village and traded for two jin of eggs. We can still eat for a few days."

Zhu Changfang set out the bowls and chopsticks, wiped her wet hands on her apron, briskly combed her two daughters' hair, then said: "When we go to the Xu family today, don't tell them you're eating eggs."

"Got it."

Xu Zhong stayed silent.

Xu Zhong was one of three brothers—the middle one, least favored by his parents. His parents had given their jobs at the Canned Food Factory to the eldest and second brothers. When it came to his finding work and getting married—those two great events of a man's life—the family hadn't lifted a finger. It was all thanks to his wife's natal family pulling strings.

Even so, his parents had set their sights on his job, saying he'd only fathered two useless girls and should hand his position at the state-run restaurant to their nephew.

Because of this, last year his wife had led several formidable Zhu Family women to reason with them, and a fight had broken out. Eldest Sister-in-law Xu had a fistful of hair torn out, and Second Sister-in-law, who'd egged her on from behind, got a beating too.

From then on, their family of four had moved from the Xu family quarters at the Canned Food Factory to Sanqing Alley, where they occupied a small courtyard. The main house, the east wing, and the west wing together made six large rooms—more spacious than Xu Zhong had ever lived in his whole life.

They hadn't enjoyed the good life for a year yet, when on the twenty-ninth of the twelfth month, his mother sent a relative to track them down at Sanqing Alley, saying his parents knew they'd wronged him, but they were still family after all—cutting ties like that was unfilial, and what about his reputation in the future?

She also said his father was turning fifty in the first month, and no matter what, he ought to go back once, admit his fault, and they'd be one family again.

Xu Zhong didn't feel he was in the wrong, but for the sake of his job and his reputation, he still had to make the trip.

Xu Zhong finished and set down his chopsticks: "If you don't want to go, don't go. I'll go by myself. I've only asked for half a day off—at most I'll eat lunch, and in the afternoon I'll go back to the restaurant for my shift."

Zhu Changfang naturally didn't want to go. She gave a cold snort: "If I don't go, won't that just hand them ammunition?"

If she didn't go, who knew how much gossip her husband would have to listen to from those Xu family women. She couldn't bear that.

Xu Zhong laughed: "I heard the brigades that supply fruit to the Canned Food Factory sold their tangerines to the Nanjian County Canned Food Factory last year. These past few months our county's Canned Food Factory hasn't been doing well—the workers didn't get much for the new year, just a few cans per family to tide them over. Eldest Brother and Second Brother aren't having an easy time of it now, their households have enough worries of their own. Probably won't have the energy to say sour things."

Zhu Changfang was sick to death of that whole Xu family lot. Normally she didn't pay attention to Xu family affairs, to avoid giving herself grief. Hearing Xu Zhong now, her face went cold: "That's not right. The excuse to call us over—could it be to ask you for money? Xu Zhong, I'm warning you—last time your mother threw a tantrum and rolled on the ground until she squeezed two hundred yuan out of you, we had it written down in a note. From then on, birth, sickness, death, old age—none of it is our business."

"The household money is all in your hands anyway. What are you thinking?"

"Hmph. Just giving you a heads-up."

Xu Tang and Xu Mei asked: "Mama, are we going?"

"Don't want to go?"

The two sisters shook their heads. Xu Tang said: "I want to go play at Eldest Young Lady's place. Aunt Feng said she's cleaning the Medical Pavilion today—we'll go help."

"Is 'Eldest Young Lady' any way for you to call her? From now on you call her Family Head, understand?"

"Okay."

Zhu Changfang sighed: "Ah, when will the Medical Pavilion open for consultations? Even though I didn't learn the real skills following Grandfather when I was little, I can still recognize all the Herbs. I could go to the Medical Pavilion and ask for a job sorting medicines. Our household could use another source of income."

Xu Zhong said: "Things will only get better. We're getting by now—don't look so far ahead."

Zhu Changfang ignored Xu Zhong and said to her two daughters: "In a bit, you two go to the Xu family too. Greet everyone and come back on your own. Have lunch at Aunt Feng's place at noon. I'll send your rations over in a bit."

Xu Tang and Xu Mei obediently nodded.

When Zhu Changfang went to Aunt Feng's to deliver her two daughters' rations, she mentioned the Xu family business in a few words. Aunt Feng frowned in distaste: "Is Xu Zhong really their biological son?"

"I'd give anything for Xu Zhong to be adopted. Unfortunately, he's not." Zhu Changfang had thought of that too.

Aunt Feng comforted her: "Now that you've torn into each other, if they want to disgust you in the future they'll need an excuse—it's not so easy. You only see them a few times a year. Don't take it to heart."

This was the trouble of living in a small place.

People saw each other constantly, and no matter how ugly the falling-out between children and parents, no matter whose fault it was, in the end it was the younger ones who suffered. For the sake of work, for the sake of reputation, they could only swallow their anger and bear it. Such was the way of society now.

Zhu Changfang was helpless too.

Xu Zhong and his wife took their two daughters to the Xu family for the birthday. The moment they stepped through the door, they saw the small room packed with people, the air inside thick and stale. Zhu Changfang stood at the door, unwilling to enter.

"Oh, the second son and his wife are back. Won't come in unless I invite you personally?"

Xu Zhong's mother let loose with her passive-aggressive tone. The relatives inside all stared at the couple.

Zhu Changfang laughed coldly: "Wasn't it you who begged us at our home? If I'd known you weren't sincerely inviting me, I wouldn't have come. Anyway, last year you cried and screamed until you'd emptied our savings and driven our family of four out. We agreed birth, sickness, death, old age had nothing to do with each other—black and white, written clear as day. We should have gone our separate ways forever."

Zhu Changfang, half-angry half-laughing, glared at Xu Zhong: "You still care about family ties. Now look—who here gives a damn about you?"

When she put it that way, the son had filial piety, but the mother didn't act like a mother. Who was in the right?

Zhu Changfang gave them a thorough dressing-down. At any rate, she'd said everything herself—her mouth was too sharp.

Eldest Sister-in-law Xu hurried out to smooth things over, laughing: "Oh my, Xiao Tang and Xiao Mei have grown so tall! It's been such a short time and they've shot up. Your fifth younger cousin is a few months older than you and isn't as tall."

Just now Old Lady Xu had been telling the relatives that the Zhu family mistreated her two granddaughters. Seeing these two little girls with plump, rosy cheeks, those words rang hollow.

Old Lady Xu looked at Xu Zhong with hatred: "You lavish such care on two useless girls, but I never see you treat your own father and mother half so well?"

Zhu Changfang's chin lifted, the curse on her lips not yet out when Eldest Sister-in-law Xu pulled her aside: "Oh, sister-in-law, come sit in my room a moment. I have something to say to you."

Zhu Changfang's eyes flickered—she understood. Given Old Lady Xu's gnashing hatred toward their family of four, the invitation to the Xu family had to be Eldest Sister-in-law Xu's idea.

Before leaving, Zhu Changfang gave Xu Zhong a meaningful look. Xu Zhong took his two daughters inside to greet everyone in turn. Xu Tang and Xu Mei turned and bolted.

The two little girls ran fast. By the time they got back to Sanqing Alley, Zhu Shian had just finished breakfast.

"Didn't you two go to the Xu family?"

Xu Tang, exhausted from running, plopped down: "The people over there don't like us."

Xu Mei added: "Their family doesn't like little girls. They like boys."

Zhu Shian said lightly: "Oh, what are they, anyway? Who they like doesn't matter."

Xu Tang and Xu Mei giggled. Their mama said the same thing—Mama often cursed the Xu family side, saying what were they, anyway.

Zhu Shian asked them: "I'm going to the Rear Garden. Want to come with me?"

"No no, we're going with Aunt Feng to help at the Medical Pavilion. We can work, you know."

Zhu Shian stroked their little braids: "Alright, off you go."

Zhu Fengqin waved to the sisters from the main gate: "We're off."

"Coming, coming!" The sisters trotted after the adults happily.

The Zhu Family residence was a three-courtyard house. The courtyard in the Rear Garden had a gate on the left leading to the Rear Garden, and on the left side of the Rear Garden was another gate, which connected to the Medical Pavilion's rear courtyard.

Now, the gate connecting the Rear Garden to the Medical Pavilion on the left was closed. Zhu Fengqin and the others didn't go through the Rear Garden—they went directly through the front courtyard to open the Medical Pavilion's main gate.

Zhu Shian walked to the Rear Garden. She circled the modest garden. Calling it a garden, most of what grew inside were various medicinal herbs.

"Ah, found it."

Against the wall, Zhu Shian found a water vat with sleeping lotuses growing in it. She pulled Wang Erzhu out of the Soul-Calming Bell and tossed him into the vat.

"From now on you'll live here. Be sensible. Don't come out in the middle of the night to scare people. If I hear anyone complaining, off you go to the underworld to reincarnate."

Wang Erzhu poked his head out from beneath the lotus leaves, fawning: "Don't worry, Master. I'm the most well-behaved ghost there is. I won't wander around. I'll stay here obediently."

Zhu Shian hummed an acknowledgment and turned to leave.

Zhu Shian didn't go to the front courtyard. She walked to the gate connecting to the Medical Pavilion. There was no Key on the door—it looked as if a push would open it, but in fact it was sealed with a Formation. Even if an ordinary person broke into the Medical Pavilion, they couldn't get through to the garden.

Standing at the gate of the connecting courtyard, Zhu Shian could already hear the women's laughter and chatter from the Medical Pavilion on the other side. Aunt Feng laughed the loudest.

Zhu Shian looked to the left. To the left was the back garden wall of the garden. There was a gate in the wall, also sealed with a Formation.

Driven by curiosity, Zhu Shian opened the gate in the back garden wall and walked out. What faced her was a sheer rock face.

On the right side of the rock face, a flight of stone steps had been carved out, leading up the mountain. This must be the path to Yuntai Temple on the mountain.

On the right side of the rock face, a Water Cistern had been carved out. The entrance to the cistern was overgrown with various weeds taller than a person, the weeds almost completely concealing the cistern.

It seemed to be just an ordinary cistern carved out beneath the cliff, unremarkable to look at. But with Zhu Shian's experience, she could tell the water in this cistern was no ordinary water—otherwise it wouldn't have been sealed with a Formation.

Undoing the Formation, Zhu Shian stepped into the Water Cistern. She touched the water with her fingertip, tasted it, and was surprised—the water had a faint soul-nourishing effect. This Yuntai Mountain truly was a treasure of feng shui.

For Xuan Sect practitioners, this faint soul-nourishing effect was trivial. But for ordinary people, this water had great use.

Take decocting medicine, for instance. The patient's body was already weaker than a normal person's to begin with—using this Soul Nourishing Water to decoct medicine would certainly yield better results than ordinary water.

Even if the Zhu Family descendants couldn't pursue Dao Cultivation, relying on their unique Soul Nourishing Water to practice medicine well, the Zhu Family wouldn't decline.

Zhu Shian looked back at the back gate that had been deliberately sealed with a Formation. This Water Cistern was too important to the Zhu Family—no amount of caution could be excessive.

Zhu Shian thought of the handwritten notes she'd once seen her grandfather write. She'd always felt the doses Grandfather prescribed for patients were too light. Back then Grandfather would always smile and say: The Zhu Family knows how to decoct medicine. As long as the medicine is decocted well, you don't need such large doses to cure the illness. You'll understand in the future.

Now Zhu Shian understood. This was how the Zhu Family had survived generation after generation, all thanks to a single Water Cistern.

Zhu Shian looked down into the Water Cistern. It wasn't large—four or five steps led down, and inside it could hold at most seven or eight people. The water in the cistern seeped out from cracks in the rock. Half a cistern of water probably could only fill three or four water vats.

With this Water Cistern here, it would be a waste for the Zhu Family not to practice medicine.

Still, even without practicing medicine, this Soul Nourishing Water had other uses.

Zhu Shian scooped up half a ladleful with a gourd dipper and poured it all into the water vat. Wang Erzhu, hiding at the bottom of the vat, immediately floated up, his eyes shining: "Master Zhu, what wonderful thing is this? Why do I feel so comfortable all over?"

Zhu Shian didn't explain, only said it was something good: "I'm giving you a task."

"Master Zhu, just command me. As long as you give me a bit more of that water from before."

Zhu Shian pointed at the great gate in the back garden wall: "From now on, you watch this gate. Don't let anyone pass through."

"Understood, understood! If anyone dares go out that way, I'll scare them to death." Wang Erzhu thumped his chest in assurance. He'd complete the task well.

Zhu Shian, satisfied, went to lie down in the courtyard. The Zhu Family had operated here for dozens of generations—they really had hidden away quite a few treasures. She'd explore them slowly in the future.

Inside the Medical Pavilion.

It was Xu Tang and Xu Mei's first time in the Medical Pavilion. The two little girls shrieked with wonder—so many, many cabinets!

Some young wives who had married into the Zhu Family in recent years were also seeing the inside of the Zhu Family's Medical Pavilion for the first time, and were astonished. These medicine cabinets were even more numerous than those at the County Hospital.

Zhu Fengqin sighed: "Don't just look at how many cabinets there are—look at the wood they're made of. They're all made of huanghuali wood. Very valuable."

Jinxiu, Zhu Changfeng's birth mother, said: "Precisely because they're valuable. Back in the day, plenty of people rammed tables against the Medical Pavilion's doors, trying to carry these medicine cabinets off."

"It's not like just anyone could carry them off. These cabinets aren't individual pieces—one whole wall is a single set of cabinets. To carry off a wall's worth of cabinets intact, they'd have to tear down the whole Medical Pavilion."

"I heard the elders in the clan tell the old stories. Back then the Zhu Family bought the wood and hired carpenters to build the cabinets on-site inside the Medical Pavilion. They weren't bought ready-made from outside."

Zhu Fengqin patted a cabinet: "Listen to that sound—solid wood. Heavy! Can't be moved."

Xu Tang and Xu Mei ran over to pat the medicine cabinets too. The sound was deep and solid—thump thump thump.

A young wife pointed at the counter, the consultation desk and chairs, and asked: "All huanghuali?"

"Not all of them. These are camphor wood. I heard that when the Medical Pavilion was rebuilt, the Family Head of that era liked camphor wood. Not only are many of the furnishings in the Medical Pavilion camphor wood, there's also a row of camphor trees planted in the Rear Garden. The smell is lovely."

Everyone chatted as they wiped down the tables, benches, and cabinets. Xu Tang and Xu Mei, the two little ones who couldn't move the furniture, ran back and forth bringing cloths to the adults.

Just as they were busy at work, Wang Fugui arrived carrying two dried fish, a slab of Cured Meat, and five jin of rice. He hesitated, unsure which door to knock on. Seeing the Zhu Family Medical Pavilion actually open, he hurried over: "Excuse me, I've come to bring Master Zhu a thank-you gift. Which door should I knock on?"

"Aunt Feng, someone's here to see the eldest young lady."

Zhu Fengqin came out from the rear courtyard. Seeing Wang Fugui's appearance, she stood on the Medical Pavilion's steps and said: "You're Wang Fugui, aren't you?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Your family's matter is settled, isn't it? What do you need the eldest young lady for?"

Wang Fugui bowed and nodded: "Yes, it's settled. Our family's matter is settled. Today I came specially to give thanks."

Zhu Fengqin, taking pity on his father's heart, took charge and accepted his thank-you gift, saying: "I know about your family's situation. Our household doesn't usually receive outsiders. But if your son is still here at the Mid-Autumn Festival, come by then. You might be able to see him."

Wang Fugui hurriedly thanked her: "Thank you so much for the guidance, big sister."

Aunt Feng's face darkened slightly: "Who's your big sister? Do I look older than you? What kind of eyes are those?"

Zhu Fengqin had a square-shaped face. Unlike the fashionable young people of today who cut their hair in neat ear-length bobs, she combed hers neatly, a single hairpin pinning it at the back of her head. At first glance, she looked like someone from an older generation.

In fact, Zhu Fengqin had been widowed very young. Later, she came to the Zhu Family in Sanqing Alley to care for Zhu Shian. Even now, she wasn't yet forty—she just dressed in an old-fashioned way.

Wang Fugui realized he'd misspoken and offended her, and hurried to apologize: "Little sister, I'm truly sorry."

Wang Fugui looked like an honest man. Zhu Fengqin didn't make things difficult for him and sent him on his way.

Once he'd gone, the women inside the Medical Pavilion burst out laughing. Jinxiu even said: "Times have changed, and there's no rule that widows can't dress nicely. Why don't you cut your hair? Braids would work too. You'd look younger."

"I don't like it. I think pinning it up is neat and clean."

"Fengqin, I think you're still young. Now that the eldest young lady is grown and doesn't need you watching her every moment, why not find someone else?"

"I think that works too. Find someone local from the County Town. Then they'd live in Sanqing Alley too. How nice."

"Besides our family, which household doesn't need more room to live? With your conditions, finding a man would be easy."

Zhu Fengqin wouldn't hear of it. Find a man, and behind him wouldn't be a whole in-law family? All trouble. Better to live freely as she did now.

Zhu Fengqin laughed: "The eldest young lady said she'd provide for me in my old age. My days are carefree. Why would I find a man to be his beast of burden? I've suffered enough of that bitterness."

Hearing this, the women couldn't help sighing.

Women's lives are bitter. Not to look far—just look at Zhu Fengqin and Zhu Changfang. One had nearly been devoured and crushed to death by her in-laws back in the day. The other, because she couldn't bear a son, found her husband out of favor with his parents—doubly hard to bear.

If not for the fact that they bore the Zhu surname, with Zhu clan members standing up for them and helping out, their days would have been so bitter you could wring juice from them.

Just as they were talking, Zhu Changfang came storming back, mouth already open in curses: "A pack of shameless dogs! When their parents bore them, did they throw their brains out with the placenta? Greedy beyond measure, stinking dog shit—throw it on the ground and even the soil won't sprout, useless trash!"

Everyone was shocked. What had happened?

Xu Zhong, who had chased after Zhu Changfang, hurriedly tried to soothe her: "Don't be angry. Let them say what they want. Why do you care?"

Zhu Changfang, fury at its peak, shoved Xu Zhong hard: "Not a single one of you Xu family is any good! The moment they get a toehold, they dare lay claim to my Zhu Family's residence. They've got nerve! Let them come if they're not afraid of death. Let me see how tough their lives are."

Zhu Fengqin pulled Zhu Changfang back: "If you're going to talk about the matter, then talk about the matter. Why are you cursing Xu Zhong?"

Zhu Changfang pointed at Xu Zhong: "I'm too embarrassed to say it. You say it yourself."

Xu Zhong, his heart also uneasy after the trip to the Xu family, said: "The new publicity officer at the Canned Food Factory is the county magistrate's brother-in-law. Before the new year, he heard from someone that there were empty residences in Sanqing Alley. He also said the residences in Sanqing Alley were the most complete, that there was one particularly fine three-courtyard residence with a garden, and he wanted to buy it to live in."

The twenty-odd residences in Sanqing Alley all followed the pattern of shop in front, residence in back. Such residences couldn't be built too large—generally only one-courtyard or two-courtyard layouts. The only three-courtyard residence in Sanqing Alley with a Rear Garden was the Main Residence where each generation's Zhu Family Head lived.

The Zhu family members hearing this were all furious: "What? This is too unreasonable."

Zhu Fengqin gritted her teeth: "He says 'buy it to live in,' but the way he said it, he was telling us to give it to him to live in. Pah! County magistrate's brother-in-law or sister-in-law, I don't care. The Zhu Family's residence isn't for sale. Tell him to get lost."

"When has the Zhu Family ever sold a residence? Not to mention selling—even at our lowest, the Zhu Family never rented out a residence."

Zhu Changfang fumed: "My eldest sister-in-law said it so prettily—something about doing the county magistrate a favor. I think it's she who wants the county magistrate's favor! So many people at the Canned Food Factory—only the Xu family knows about the Zhu Family? Why is it that when everyone else heard the county magistrate's brother-in-law wants the Zhu Family's residence, not a single one of them spoke up? A fool!"

"I told you so. Someone like her, who never does anything without profit, suddenly takes the initiative to come apologize and invite us back—sure enough, it's a weasel paying New Year's respects to the chicken!"

Jinxiu said: "After all, he's the county magistrate. Whatever the case, we should mention this to the eldest young lady, and tell the clan side too. Everyone should be aware."

"Right, we should say something."

They didn't have to wait to say it. Zhu Shian, hearing Zhu Changfang's raised voice this side, had already come over. After hearing everything, Zhu Shian told them not to worry: "Times are different now. Everyone talks about law these days. They can't cover the sky with one hand, and our Zhu Family isn't some local tyrant either. Forced buying and selling won't work."

That side probably wasn't fools—otherwise they wouldn't have gone through roundabout channels and connections to come say they wanted to 'buy' the residence. But they probably weren't too smart either. If they were truly smart, they'd have gone and inquired what sort of family the Zhu Family was first.

Not foolish enough, not clever enough—afraid to throw wild punches at the old master, yet unable to plot step by step. Such people, who look neither forward nor back, won't amount to much.

Times have changed. In this era, a person's life is worth more than before. One can't act too roughly. Everyone should tacitly keep their hands in check.

If they can't hold back their hands, and someone gets killed, then so be it. That's called getting what they deserve.

A cold sweat broke out on Xu Zhong's back. This approachable-looking Zhu Family Head was someone who feared no trouble—and feared no dead either.

Who would be so foolhardy? To try and take something from a household like this?