Chapter 131: I’m Finally Going to Have a Son

Chapter 131: Chapter 131: I’m Finally Going to Have a Son

The news that the Zhang family was splitting up, and that Zhang Damei planned to adopt Zhang Wei Qiang’s second son as his heir, spread through Zhang Family Village, inevitably sparking a great deal of gossip.

The Zhang household was bustling for the next few days. First, the three brothers were all rushing to build temporary stoves so they could cook, which meant they couldn’t help each other. Each of them had to ask their good friends from the village to lend a hand. Then there were the neighbors, who couldn’t contain their curiosity about why the family had suddenly split up so quickly and without any hesitation. They showed up with all sorts of excuses, just to get the inside scoop. Finally, relatives from the maternal families of the three daughters-in-law also started arriving one after another...

However, none of this was within Gu Nuan Nuan’s sphere of concern. Her days continued in a regular rhythm. She went to school, and when she came home, her grandmother’s meal was already prepared for her and her mother to eat right away. With fewer people eating together after the split, they no longer needed the large table, so Zhang Dazhuang built them a small one.

Although meals for the four of them were less lively, the quality and flavor of the food improved significantly. Even her grandmother herself remarked more than once how much easier it was to cook for fewer people. Especially during the midday heat, she no longer had to spend at least an hour or two in the kitchen. She just had to cook a little extra rice in the morning, reheat it at noon, and then fix a simple side. She could just pick a tomato and toss it with sugar, or smash a cucumber, or stir-fry some greens, and lunch would be ready. Then, in the evening, she could prepare a more elaborate dinner for Zhang Minzhen and Gu Nuan Nuan’s return. She could even cater to their specific tastes without having to worry about the old problem of it being hard to please everyone in a large group.

Lin Qin felt much the same as Wen Xiu. After just two days of being in charge of her own household, she felt incredibly relieved and never wanted to go back to the days of a large family eating from the same big pot.

It was no wonder they both felt so relieved. In the past, the two of them had done most of the cooking for the Zhang family. The other two daughters-in-law always found excuses to slip away, only to return when the food was nearly ready. They would then put on a show of helping set the table, just in time to eat the ready-made meal.

Now that the family was split, in stark contrast to the other two’s relief, Fang Juxian and Guo Xiuying were complaining endlessly. It wasn’t just them wailing that they couldn’t handle it; their children, as well as Zhang Weihong and Zhang Weimin, were also becoming dissatisfied.

"What is this stuff you cooked? I don’t see a speck of meat, the rice is half-cooked, and you even managed to burn the greens! If you don’t know how to stir-fry, why not just serve them cold? Haven’t you been helping Mom cook all these years? How can you be this bad?" Holding his bowl, Zhang Weimin lost his appetite just looking at the rice. He then looked at the table, which held nothing but boiled squash slices and a plate of stir-fried water spinach. He reluctantly reached out with his chopsticks, picked up some of the spinach, and put it in his mouth. A strong burnt taste made him spit it all out immediately; he couldn’t swallow it at all.

"Mom and Sister-in-law are the skilled ones, so I’ve only been helping out all these years. I never got a chance to be the main cook, so I’ve forgotten how," Guo Xiuying said, her head bowed. "Just give me a couple more days to get used to it. And don’t complain about not having meat. Who eats meat every day? We’re lucky to see a drop of oil every few days. Don’t forget, we still have to build a house."

"..." Zhang Weimin was speechless for a moment. In the end, he could only silently shovel rice into his mouth with the boiled squash slices.

Seeing that her husband was clearly unhappy, Guo Xiuying bit her lower lip. She then turned to her daughter, who was standing off to the side as if she didn’t exist, and said sternly, "Laidi, stop just running off to play by yourself. Starting tomorrow, come home right after school and learn to cook from me. You’re already a teenage girl; you should know how to be considerate of your parents. Other girls your age are already a capable hand both at home and in the fields. Look at you—you’ve barely set foot in the kitchen your whole life, let alone the fields. How will this do? When you have a younger brother, you’ll be the big sister. A big sister needs to act like one and set an example for her brother, you hear me?"

"I know," Zhang Laodi replied in a voice as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz. She didn’t argue that she had actually been helping her mother with chores at home for the past two days, working nonstop from the moment she got home from school, to the point where she barely had time for her homework.

It was useless to argue; it would only earn her a vicious pinch. If things got really bad, her mother might even refuse to let her go to school anymore.

Zhang Laodi lowered her head sadly. Although she was her parents’ only child for now, she could never win their affection at home. Her father was tolerable; at worst, he just ignored her. But her mother looked at her as if she were a thorn in her side. Whenever her mother was in a bad mood, she would secretly hit and curse her, pinching her until she was covered in black and blue bruises, and then forbid her from telling her grandparents.

She knew her mother hated her. When her mother was pregnant with her, she had gone to a fortune-teller. The fortune-teller said the baby was supposed to have been a boy, but she had unfortunately stolen his chance to be born—

So, from then on, her mother despised her. The phrase most often on her lips was that it was all Laidi’s fault she hadn’t given birth to a boy, causing her to be unable to hold her head high in the Zhang family.

Zhang Weimin paid no mind to the first part of Guo Xiuying’s scolding, but the mention of the word "brother" stung him. Could his wife’s secret abuse of their daughter really be hidden from everyone else in the family? He lived in the same house; how could she hide it from him? He’d seen it so often he’d grown numb to it. He just couldn’t be bothered to intervene. To be honest, he also held a grudge, believing his daughter had stolen his son’s chance to be born.

Especially since so many years had passed and his wife’s belly had remained empty. The villagers would laugh behind his back that his family line was going to die out. This filled him with a bottled-up anger. The more he thought about it, the more upset he became. He quickly finished the food in his bowl, didn’t get a second helping, and simply tossed his bowl down before returning to his room.

Watching Zhang Weimin’s retreating back, Guo Xiuying shot her daughter a piercing glare. She quickly finished her own food, dropped her bowl and chopsticks, and ordered, "Go wash the dishes and clean up everywhere that needs it. Don’t be lazy." Then, without waiting for a reply, she also went into the room.

"Are you really upset? If you really want to eat meat, I’ll go buy some tomorrow." Inside the room, Guo Xiuying closed the door and saw Zhang Weimin lying on the bed fully clothed. She sidled up, sat on the edge of the bed, and said with an appeasing smile.

"Even if you buy meat, can you even cook it properly? Don’t just end up wasting it," Zhang Weimin replied listlessly, unable to muster any enthusiasm.

"If it’s not about the meat, then why are you suddenly acting like this?" Guo Xiuying asked, a little confused.

"You’re asking me? What did you have to go and mention?"

"Ah, so that’s what this is about?" Guo Xiuying froze for a second, then broke into a smile. She took Zhang Weimin’s hand and placed it on her lower abdomen, her face full of pride.

Zhang Weimin was confused at first, but then a flash of realization hit him. He scrambled up with an incredulous look on his face and exclaimed, "You’re... you’re pregnant?"

"I went to the fortune-teller. There’s no mistake this time. He said it’s a boy," Guo Xiuying said, her eyes crinkling into a confident smile.

"Really? I’m having a son?" Zhang Weimin touched Guo Xiuying’s stomach in disbelief. Then he suddenly threw himself back onto the bed, waving his arms and legs as he burst out laughing. "I’m finally going to have a son!"