When Chen Sixi spoke these words so seriously, Old Madam Liu immediately felt a bit shaken.

Hearing this, Zhang Zirong, who was standing nearby, quickly added, “Mother, do you know what we saw when we returned just now?”

“What did you see?” Old Madam Liu murmured.

“Zhang Zixuan…”

“Isn’t it normal to see him? What’s there to be surprised about?”

“Mother, that’s exactly the strange part. We saw Zhang Zixuan walking on his own two legs! And from the way he walked, he seemed incredibly steady…”

“What… what did you say?” Old Madam Liu’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Mother, if you don’t believe it, we can go to the end of the village again and check,” Fang Miaojun suggested.

“Are you saying that wretched woman has been lying to us all along?”

At this moment, Old Madam Liu finally reacted and understood what the eldest branch of the family was implying.

“Mother, isn’t that obvious? If they hadn’t been deceiving us, how could he suddenly be able to walk after such a short time since the family split?” Fang Miaojun spoke confidently, as if her reasoning was airtight.

Hearing this, Old Madam Liu immediately put down her work and gritted her teeth.

“Then what are we waiting for? This time, I want to see what excuses they have left!”

With that, she hurried toward the door, only to bump directly into Old Man Zhang, who had just returned home.

“What are you doing? Watch where you’re walking!” Old Man Zhang grumbled.

“What’s there to watch? You’re back just in time—come with me!” Old Madam Liu grabbed Old Man Zhang.

“Go where?” he asked curiously.

So, Old Madam Liu explained everything they had just discussed in detail.

“Isn’t this infuriating? As a son and daughter-in-law, they dared to hide this from us? And they still want to build a house? Hah! This time, I want to see what they have to say!”

“Father, Mother, that’s not even all of it! In my opinion, when Fourth Brother worked as an escort back in the day, he must have secretly kept quite a bit of silver for himself.”

“This… are you sure? Back then, your mother even went to the security bureau to ask. She clearly remembered how much silver Old Fourth earned from each trip.”

“Father-in-law, look at you—just as stubborn as Zirong!” Fang Miaojun said with frustration.

Realizing she might have spoken too bluntly, she quickly patted her mouth lightly before continuing:

“If the security bureau wanted to show you records, they could easily provide a dozen different account books. They can just write whatever they want in them!”

“Fourth Brother has been working with them for years. For them, helping him hide his monthly earnings would be a piece of cake. Why wouldn’t they?”

One had to admit, Fang Miaojun was quite sharp.

This was something most people wouldn’t even think of.

Sure enough, after hearing her words, Old Man Zhang no longer tried to stop Old Madam Liu.

In fact, he even followed behind her, eager to uncover the truth.

..

Zhang Zixuan carefully packed up separate portions of food for Jian Xiu and the others before bringing the rest to the neighboring house.

Their new house was being built right next door.

Jian Xiu had indeed been farsighted.

When the family split, she had only asked for this piece of land.

What was once an unremarkable plot now belonged entirely to them.

The house itself occupied only a tiny corner of the land.

According to Jian Xiu, she had long had her eyes on this area.

To outsiders, this land might have seemed useless, but to her, it held great potential.

In the future, all of it would be hers.

Not only was it quiet and free from disturbances, but she could also do things here that others wouldn’t know about.

“Big Brother, you’ll have to take the food over to them,” Zhang Zixuan said to Jian Ming before carrying the food out.

“Alright, I’ll take it now. Going there and back will take at least half an hour, and by then, they should be hungry,” Jian Ming said with a grin.

Ever since the trouble with Scarface was resolved, Jian Ming felt like life had been getting better and better.

Worried about Zhang Zixuan’s injured leg, Zhang Zifu helped him carry the food out.

Seeing the meat slices on top, Zhang Zifu felt a pang of heartache.

He had heard what Jian Xiu said earlier. Though he understood her reasoning, he still couldn’t help but feel the pain of parting with the food.

As expected, when the workers saw the food, they were stunned.

Especially Zhang Zhiyong, who had recruited them—he suddenly felt like they were taking advantage of Zhang Zixuan’s generosity.

After all, Zhang Zixuan had even shared their knowledge about Smilax glabra (a medicinal plant), which only made Zhiyong feel even more guilty.

“Zixuan…”

“Don’t say anything. Just help me build this house properly. Besides, we’re eating this food too—it’s not just for you all!” Zhang Zixuan interrupted him.

Zhang Zhiyong was straightforward.

He immediately patted his bowl and said, “Alright! Even without this food, we would still be doing this job, wouldn’t we?”

When the others gathered and saw the food, their eyes widened in disbelief.

“Is this… meat?”

“What else could it be if not meat?”

Before they could react, Old Li pointed at the pot of rice and asked, “Is this for us too?”

Old Li’s family was poor, so he took any job he could find.

He never cared if the pay was a little less.

When Zhang Zhiyong offered him this job and said it paid fifteen copper coins a day, he had been shocked.

To him, normal jobs like this usually paid only thirteen, or even just twelve copper coins.

Here, they were getting fifteen and a free meal at noon.

It had seemed too good to be true.

But now, seeing the food in front of him—slices of fatty pork and a huge pot of rice…

Even in his wildest dreams, Old Li never expected to eat such a meal.

Back home, even during the New Year, his family couldn’t afford such food.

“Old Li, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and eat!”

Hearing Zhang Zhiyong call him, Old Li finally snapped out of his daze.

“Ah… ah! I’m coming, I’m coming!” he said eagerly.