CHAPTER 1324: CHAPTER 1324: LIFE IN THE WANG FAMILY

Wang Yongfu and his brothers exchanged glances, and only then did Wang Yonggui smile awkwardly and say, "Mother, wasn’t it Grandma who initially said that you’ve severed ties with your maternal family? Besides, since we can remember, you’ve never returned to your maternal home, so we can’t be blamed, right?"

Old Granny Zhang sneered, "Your grandma said I cut ties, and none of you ever asked why I did it? What did she say? She said I was an ungrateful wretch, an unwanted dead maid, and it’s already fortunate enough that someone picked me up to be a child bride, raised by the Zhang Family, and I should be grateful by being a beast of burden for them all my life, right?"

"She even said I was scheming, shameless, clung to marrying into your Wang Family, and how could a wild maid like me deserve to be with your father? If it weren’t for the fact that I bore a few sons, I would have been divorced long ago, right?"

Both Wang Yongfu and Wang Yonggui lowered their heads. They had heard such murmurings from their grandmother many times before.

Only Wang Yongping, who, when he was born, Old Granny Lin was already too old to manage, was mostly brought up casually by Wang Yongfu, Wang Yonggui, and Old Granny Zhang, so naturally he didn’t know.

Seeing his two elder brothers lower their heads, he realized that Old Granny Zhang was telling the truth.

He could only apologize: "Mother, it’s our fault. Please don’t be angry, be careful not to hurt your health—"

Old Granny Zhang laughed derisively: "If I got angry about this every day, I would have died from anger eight hundred times already; how could I have given birth to the five of you? All right, it’s getting late, and I don’t feel like talking to you anymore; everyone just go back to your own rooms."

With a wave of her hand, she dismissed everyone.

The brothers exchanged looks, but not wanting to persist any further, they only lowered their heads and called their family members, then returned to their respective rooms.

Once the people from the third room left, the two guards quickly closed and bolted the door to the front courtyard.

Everyone was exhausted from the day’s events and couldn’t hold on any longer.

Old Granny Zhang went back to her room to rest first, and Wang Yongzhu and Song Chongjin also returned to their side of the courtyard. Everyone else finished up their tasks, leaving only two people on night duty, while the rest went to rest.

The lights in the three courtyards in front remained lit.

In the big room.

Wang Yongfu looked at the three brothers of Jindou, especially giving Jinhoo an extra glance. This child had been gone for almost a year, and having him return safely was all he wished for now.

At his age, all he desired was for the family to be safe and sound together.

The father and sons sat together, asking Jinhoo what he had been up to in the past year.

As Jinhoo recounted the thrilling parts of his experiences, even though they knew he was safe in front of them, they couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Seeing Jinhoo acting as if nothing had happened, he opened the package he brought back and spread the contents before them like treasures, saying, "Look, this is the money I earned during my travels, gifts I bought for the family."

He began distributing the gifts one by one.

Wang Yongfu looked at the items Jinhoo laid on the table, then at Jinhoo’s cheerful face and Jinhua sticking close to Jinhoo, asking and answering with smiles, and swallowed back the words he intended to say about forbidding Jinhoo from leaving again.

After a moment’s thought, he turned to glance at Jindou, knocking his pipe on the sole of his shoe, and asked, "Today, did you have any trouble when you went to see Xiu Niang? Since your grandma, aunt, and uncle have returned, and you’re no longer going to the county town, go pass a message to Xiu Niang in the next couple of days, so she doesn’t worry unnecessarily."

Jindou quickly nodded.

Jinhoo had heard that his elder brother Jindou had arranged a marriage but hadn’t brought the bride over due to mourning constraints.

From the bottom of his heart, he was happy for Jindou, and among the silver jewelry he brought back, he picked out a silver hairpin: "Brother, here, take this for your wife. Just say it’s from you to make her happy."

Jindou looked at the silver hairpin, which didn’t seem like it was made by the local craftsmen and appeared quite exquisite.

Since they were brothers, he didn’t think much about it, accepting it and saying, "Where is this from? It’s different from our local style and quite unique."

Jinhoo waved his hand: "I bought it while traveling with the merchant caravan, from the western regions. Such items aren’t worth much there; they look odd but are quite attractive once you’re used to them."

The two brothers spoke warmly.

Wang Yongfu coughed: "Nonsense! This is something your brother risked his life to earn, and you, as the elder brother, just casually accepted it, planning to give it to your pending wife? What if people find out and gossip?"

Jindou came to realize, scratched his head, looked at the silver hairpin in his hand, and thought of how nice it would look on Xiu Niang’s head, but he couldn’t bring himself to return it.

After feeling around in his pocket for a while, he took out half a piece of silver: "Father is right, I should buy my wife’s things myself! This is everything I have on me; I’ll buy this hairpin from you. If it’s not enough, I’ll make it up to you later!"

Jinhoo laughed and accepted the silver, then handed over some hairpins and ribbons intended for Jinhua from Jing County to Jindou.

Jinhua watched with envy: "Second Brother, why did you only bring hairpins and ribbons for girls? Didn’t you bring anything else?"

Jinhoo took out a package of snacks from his bag, dividing them in two, giving half to Jinhua, and sharing the rest with Wang Yongfu and Jindou.

As they ate, Jinhoo also inquired about how the family had been over the past year.

Wang Yongfu, talking about the family’s affairs, wore a smile. Over the past year, Wang Yongzhu and Old Granny Zhang had withdrawn from the business of trading mountain goods.

The three brothers each took a share, and with the Graduate Song Chongjin backing them, business had become increasingly better.

Virtually all mountain goods known in the vicinity were sold to their family.

No one dared to compete, and they basically had a monopoly.

The merchants in town who bought mountain goods were displeased, but when they considered that a graduate like Song Chongjin was involved, they hesitated to act.

At most, they grumbled in private.

However, the Wang brothers were not greedy, and they didn’t attempt to dominate all the mountain goods acquisitions in town, leaving room for others, so things were peaceful for a while.

With large acquisitions and quick reselling, it meant a significant amount of silver coin went into the accounts.

Over the course of the three seasons in spring and autumn, besides giving monthly wages to every working family member, each household received several hundred silver coins.

Wang Yongfu was greatly satisfied now. Considering his health, if he persisted for a few more years, the money saved would be enough to marry all three sons.

By then, Jindou and the others would have learned enough from following him and could take over, so there would be no worries for the family.

He simply awaited the joy of becoming a grandfather at home.

Hearing this, Jinhoo felt at ease, knowing that the family’s business was booming, his father looked well, one brother’s marriage was arranged, and although Jinhua was still young, with this family business, they would never have a hard life.

This meant he could be at ease away from home.

In the big room ahead, the four of them were harmonious and joyful.

Meanwhile, back at the courtyard of the third room, Wang Yonggui and Lady Jiang sent the children to bed first.

The couple washed up and climbed into bed, but couldn’t fall asleep, tossing and turning.