Picking up a bowl from the side, he carefully scooped a small portion of rice and placed it gently to the side.

Seeing this, Zhang Zixuan couldn’t stand it anymore.

He stepped forward, grabbed the bowl from his hand, filled it to the brim, and then handed it back.

“Just eat. You need to be full to have the energy to work, right?”

“Zixuan… but we…”

“What about it? Isn’t this what you deserve? Besides, you’re working here, you can’t do it on an empty stomach!”

Zhang Zixuan said with a smile.

Just then, people from the old house arrived and saw this scene.

The foundation had already been dug.

As soon as she stepped in, Old Madam Liu counted and found there were seven courtyards in total.

In the entire Zhangjia Village, there was no house this large—not even the village chief’s house, which only had five courtyards.

The Zhang family scholar’s house was even smaller, only three courtyards.

And even those three courtyards had many mud houses.

Yet this disgraceful person was building seven courtyards entirely with blue bricks.

Setting aside everything else, just the blue bricks alone must have cost around thirty taels of silver.

And beyond that?

The labor costs, the roofing…

Adding it all up, it must have cost at least dozens of taels.

And then there was the furniture…

In total, this house couldn’t have been built for anything less than fifty taels of silver.

When Zhang Zixuan saw Old Madam Liu, he merely glanced at her coldly and ignored her.

Instead, he turned to the workers and said, “If everyone feels tired after eating, take a break for a while…”

“What? There’s meat?” Before Zhang Zixuan could finish speaking, Chen Sixi exclaimed loudly.

She sounded as if the food belonged to her.

Hearing this, the workers exchanged awkward glances.

Fortunately, Zhang Zhiyong was already accustomed to such antics from the old house.

He raised his hand to the workers and said, “Is everyone full? If so, let’s get back to work!”

In reality, for such laborious tasks, they were supposed to rest for half an hour after lunch.

But after eating such good food, how could they feel comfortable taking a break?

So, they threw themselves back into their work with even more enthusiasm.

“Zhang Zixuan, what do you mean by this? There’s meat at home, and instead of giving it to your own mother, you’d rather feed outsiders? And you even reported me to the authorities?”

“We have no connection anymore. Surely, I don’t need to remind you of this, Old Madam Liu?” Zhang Zixuan said coldly.

For some reason, everyone felt that when Zhang Zixuan said “Old Madam Liu,” his pronunciation was particularly sharp.

Jian Xiu was right—there was no need to be polite to people like her.

“Zhang Zixuan, how dare you speak like that? No matter what, she is still your mother!” Zhang Laotou scolded angrily, acting as if he was being righteous.

Seeing this, Zhang Zixuan’s smile widened.

Right, these were the so-called family members he had tolerated for so many years.

If not for Jian Xiu, even now, he would still be the worthless fool in their eyes.

“Mother? What mother? Didn’t we sever our ties long ago? Zhang Laotou, you were the one who said that,” Zhang Zixuan said indifferently.

Looking at the elderly man in front of him, he only felt disgusted by his hypocrisy.

“You… you…” Old Man Zhang pointed at Zhang Zixuan, speechless with anger.

Seeing this, Old Madam Liu became worried that Zhang Laotou would collapse from anger, so she stepped forward with a questioning look.

“Zhang Zixuan, let me ask you, is this house yours?”

“Yes.”

“Where did you get the silver?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“You… you unfilial son! You unfilial son!” Old Madam Liu trembled as she pointed at Zhang Zixuan.

Looking at the furious old woman, Zhang Zixuan felt nothing but irony.

They saw him standing here, alive and well, yet they showed no surprise or concern.

Instead, every word out of their mouths was about the house.

It was clear that in their eyes, only silver mattered—his life or death was irrelevant.

Of course, if she had truly cared for him, she wouldn’t have allowed her third son to attack him so ruthlessly.

If not for Jian Xiu’s medicine, he would have been long dead.

He wouldn’t even be standing here today.

So why should he show them any mercy?

Jian Xiu had told him: fight fire with fire.

Let alone just arguing with them—if they dared to lay a hand on him, he wouldn’t hesitate to make them bleed.

Seeing that reasoning with Zhang Zixuan was pointless, Old Madam Liu immediately ordered,

“No! We can’t let this continue. Take all this meat and food away!”

Zhang Zirong and Fang Miaojun, who had remained silent, were waiting for these words.

Chen Sixi was even more impatient. The moment Old Madam Liu spoke, she rushed forward.

“Mother, should we take all of it?” Chen Sixi pointed at the leftover food in the wooden basin.

Even leftovers were a luxury to them.

At least there was meat.

She had been craving it for a long time.

If it weren’t for the inconvenient setting, she would have started eating right then and there.

“Why leave it here?” Old Madam Liu said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Then, turning to Zhang Zirong and Fang Miaojun, she snapped,

“What are you waiting for? Take all the rice too!”

Her tone was as if everything here belonged to her.

Zhang Zixuan chuckled coldly, glancing at his legs.

Then he looked at the stick in his hand.

It seemed like it was time for a test.

As Chen Sixi crouched down, reaching for the wooden basin, Zhang Zixuan suddenly stepped forward and kicked her hard in the back.

“Thud…”

Chen Sixi was instantly sent flying, landing flat on her back.

“Ahhh!”

Luckily, she was quick to react. She scrambled up and pointed at Zhang Zixuan, her voice trembling with anger.

“Zhang Zixuan, how dare you touch me? Do you know who I am? I’m your second sister-in-law! Your second sister-in-law!”

“I don’t know. I’ll count to three. If you’re still here, don’t blame me for what happens next.”

“One…”

“Two…”

Seeing Zhang Zixuan’s expression, Old Madam Liu shuddered.

She suddenly remembered Jian Xiu.

Back then, she had the exact same look.

At that moment, Old Madam Liu hesitated.

She glanced around but didn’t see Jian Xiu anywhere.