"It seems to be him."
"And his wife."
"It's truly rare for the couple not to come back for the New Year."
"They might not even come back for the New Year; they didn't come last year."
"I wonder why they suddenly returned."
"Who cares? As long as we have Liu Nian, we have something to strive for."
"Who says otherwise? With Liu Nian around, what's there to fear about not having a good life?"
"..."
Zhang Liuxing and his wife naturally didn't overhear these conversations.
At this moment, they had already returned to Zhang Liushui's home, met their parents, and their three nephews.
Fang Ru looked at the three nephews, her eyes flickering. She instinctively touched her stomach. She hadn't gotten pregnant after several years of marriage and didn't know what the problem was.
Fortunately, her in-laws hadn't said anything.
"Second son, why have you returned?" Zhang Wenxue poured a cup of tea for his second son and his wife, then sat down to inquire.
Yu Xiaohua also sat in the room, her ankle wrapped in a bandage.
Zhang Liuxing naturally saw it and asked, "Mom, what happened to your leg?"
Seeing her second son's concern, Yu Xiaohua beamed, "It's nothing. I just fell yesterday and sprained it."
Hearing this, Zhang Liuxing didn't ask for further details, only inquired about his third brother's situation.
"Dad, I heard the villagers talking about my third brother when I got back. What happened to him?" This was the first time Zhang Liuxing had asked about Zhang Liunian since he got into university.
Zhang Wenxue was slow to react but still answered honestly, "The house of the third son collapsed, and he almost had an accident. Fortunately, he's lucky and is fine now.
Since you're back, you should go and see him later!"
After all, they were brothers. With his younger son in this situation and his older son back, it would be improper not to visit.
Otherwise, the villagers' opinion of Zhang Liuxing might become even worse.
Zhang Liuxing nodded, "I'll go later."
Zhang Liuxing's mood was complex at this moment, as was Fang Ru's. However, her return wasn't just to prevent her husband from secretly seeing Jiang Qingqing; it was also about the formula.
She reached out and tugged at Zhang Liuxing, signaling him to ask about the formula, but he was still immersed in what he had just heard and didn't pay attention to her gesture.
Seeing her husband uncooperative, Fang Ru had no choice but to speak up herself, "Mom and Dad, didn't you promise last time to help us get the formula from your younger son?"
Fang Ru's bringing up the past made Zhang Wenxue slightly stunned. He looked at his second son strangely, thinking that he had already discussed this matter with his second son over the phone.
Why did it seem like the second son's wife wasn't aware of it?
Zhang Liuxing came back to his senses and heard Fang Ru's words. He opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.
Seeing this, Zhang Wenxue looked at his second son's wife and said, "That formula belongs to the third son. We've already asked him for it, but he refused. Later, I even offered to pay a high price, but he didn't agree.
Afterward, I told the second son that we wouldn't get involved in this matter anymore and would leave it to you to handle."
As soon as he said this, Fang Ru's expression immediately soured. Leave it to them to handle? Could they handle it better than their own biological parents?
They were only an elder brother and sister-in-law, and their relationship hadn't been deep before. How could Zhang Liunian possibly give that formula to them?
It was precisely because she knew this that Fang Ru had agreed with her husband to have her in-laws personally ask for it.
She thought that with their intervention, she would earn tens of thousands of yuan. To her disappointment, they were so useless.
If she had known, she shouldn't have placed so much hope in her in-laws. The more she had expected, the more disappointed she was now.
"Mom and Dad, it's better for us to ask, but wouldn't it be better for you to go? Besides, you are his biological parents, so he would at least give you some face, wouldn't he?" Fang Ru secretly resented her in-laws for being useless, but she still spoke kindly, trying to persuade them to go and get the formula from her younger brother-in-law.
However, Zhang Wenxue had experienced many things since returning to the village, especially the major incident last night that almost cost him his youngest son. He had truly let go of some things.
His sons were all married and established. There was no need for them to consider everything for them.
Moreover, his second son was also capable. As long as he worked hard, he wouldn't fall behind in the future.
The ones they truly cared about now were the eldest and youngest sons.
His youngest son had almost died, which made him very self-blaming and eager to compensate him in some way.
Now, hearing the second son's wife bring up the formula again, Zhang Wenxue was resolute in his refusal, "You two discuss this yourselves. I won't go and ask again."
"..." Fang Ru was so angry she almost flipped the table. Helplessly, she turned her hope to Zhang Liuxing, "Liuxing, what do you say?"
Seeing Fang Ru shift the focus to him, Zhang Liuxing looked up and met his father's gaze.
Zhang Wenxue felt a bit uncomfortable being looked at by his second son, but thinking of his youngest son who had almost been lost, he suppressed the urge to help him.
"Dad, are you really not going to look out for me anymore?" Zhang Liuxing looked at his evasive father, feeling that a certain favoritism was slowly disappearing.
This made him feel very distressed, as it was difficult to go from luxury to frugality.
"Second son, I've told you, all three of you brothers are married and are capable of earning a living. You don't need us old folks to interfere. From now on, we'll live out our retirement peacefully and won't meddle in your brothers' affairs."
As soon as Zhang Wenxue finished speaking, Yu Xiaohua also chimed in, "Second son, your third brother almost died. You shouldn't have designs on him. You have a stable job, and it's not like you don't have the opportunity to repay your elder sister's favor. When you reach a high position in the future, you will eventually be able to help her and repay her favor."
Yu Xiaohua and her husband thought that their second son wanted the formula just to repay a favor, so their words were not unreasonable. However, Zhang Liuxing and his wife knew that wasn't the case, so they felt a bit guilty upon hearing it.
But they had always been thick-skinned; otherwise, they wouldn't have come back to bring up this matter again.
"Dad, do you really want to be a hands-off manager? You know that my advancement in the company relies on Ruru's family. It so happens that her elder sister wants something, and I've promised her. Now you're washing your hands of it; how am I supposed to respond?"
Zhang Liuxing didn't think he was forcing his parents at all.
Because in his opinion, if his parents didn't help him now, they would go and help other brothers later.
He could never accept that.
Zhang Wenxue was stunned. "When I called you last time, you didn't say anything, did you?"
Why was his second son blaming him after just a short turn of events?
Zhang Wenxue didn't quite understand his second son's thoughts and found it difficult to express his own.
Zhang Liuxing fell silent. He hadn't said anything during the last phone call because he was in the office and couldn't show any emotion.
Now that he was at home, he could naturally voice his dissatisfaction.