People in the alley: A woman dressed as a man shouldn't be foolishly filial, Zhuang Chaoying

Chapter 171 Brother Tunan, I left the door open for you.

Zhuang Chaoying heard the noise and came over. "Is the person alright?"

"Uncle, I'm fine. I just burned my hand and couldn't hold the bowl properly."

Zhuang Chaoying looked at the glutinous rice balls on the ground. "It's good that everyone is alright. It's a good omen that everything is safe and sound."

Mrs. Zhuang pouted, her face full of heartache. "What a pity for these glutinous rice balls, Pengfei, why didn't you know to be more careful?"

Pengfei said loudly, "Grandma, I didn't mean to. My aunt's soup bowl was too full, and I couldn't carry it. Zhendong and Zhenbei, you two need to come and help! I can't do the work my aunt assigned me."

When Zhendong and Zhenbei heard Pengfei calling them, they came over. "Mom, what can I do for you?"

Ganmei's wife waved her hand, explaining that she had deliberately filled the room so much earlier. She couldn't order her older brother and Tu Nan around, but she could order Xiaoting around, right? Who knew that Xiaoting didn't come, but Pengfei came instead.

Seeing his sons approach, he changed his tune. "Zhendong, Zhenbei, you don't need to help here. Come inside and watch TV."

Xiaoting pulled Pengfei along. "Brother Pengfei, Auntie and Grandma are very efficient at their work, so let's not get in the way."

Pengfei followed behind Xiaoting with a smirk. He did it on purpose. He knew his aunt didn't like them the first time he came. She had no good intentions and wanted him to serve her such hot glutinous rice balls. Dream on.

,,,,,,,

In no time, the meal was ready, amidst all the hustle and bustle.

Zhuang Chaoying spat the sunflower seed shells out of her mouth onto the ground and went into the house. "Ah Ling, dinner's ready, let's eat."

Huang Ling opened her eyes, sat up, stretched, and then reached out her hand.

Zhuang Chaoying understood immediately and pulled Ah Ling up by the hand. "Alright, let's go eat."

Huang Ling went outside and sat down in a chair.

The beautiful daughter-in-law carried the dishes. "The food is ready, move aside." Then, looking at her sister-in-law, she was furious. She had been cooking all afternoon. "Sister-in-law, you must be exhausted. You're so tired you only have the energy to eat!"

Tu Nan looked at his aunt and frowned. "Auntie, my mom is tired. She worked the night shift yesterday and didn't get much rest when she got back. She should catch up on her sleep."

The beautiful wife pouted and didn't say anything more.

The family sat around the table and began to eat their New Year's Eve dinner. Despite a few minor hiccups, the joy of celebrating the New Year was evident on everyone's faces.

There were only two meat dishes on the table: a bowl of chicken and a serving of steamed pork with rice flour.

Zhuang Chaoying picked up two slices of meat with her chopsticks and put them in A Ling's bowl. "Eat more, then we won't need to eat dinner when we get back tonight."

Huang Ling and the children didn't stand on ceremony and started serving the meat.

Looking at Tu Nan, Zhuang's father thought that no matter what, he was the eldest grandson of the Zhuang family. He had been admitted to Tongji University. In the past six months, everyone who had gone out praised their grandson, who always stood up straight.

“Tu Nan, you are a good student. Now that you are on vacation, you can stay at Grandpa’s for a few days and help Zhen Dong and Zhen Bei catch up on their studies and do their homework.”

Zhendong and Zhenbei sat at the small table, chewing their food. "Grandpa, we've finished our homework, so we don't need Tu Nan to come over."

Zhuang Chaoying picked up a piece of chicken, put it in her mouth, and said while chewing, "Dad, Tu Nan is busy with his studies at university, making models, doing homework, and going on field trips. He finally got a holiday, but he won't be able to rest for more than a few days before he has to go back. Since Zhen Dong and Zhen Bei have finished their homework, why bother with all this?"

Zhuang's father pursed his lips and continued to ask, "Did Tu Nan make any friends at school?"

"Grandpa, no!"

Looking at his brother's two children and then at his own two sons, Ganmei wondered why they were so disappointing. They hadn't even gotten into the first and second middle schools and were still studying at the affiliated middle school of the machinery factory. This time, they were both at the bottom of their class in the final exams, and it would be difficult for them to even get into a vocational school.

Gan Mei's words seemed concerned, but were actually somewhat perfunctory. "Brother, Tu Nan, you're not young anymore, you should start thinking about your personal life."

Zhuang Chaoying smiled. "That depends on the child himself. We adults don't interfere. He can look for it if he wants to, or he can not look for it if he doesn't want to."

After finishing her meal, Huang Ling stood up, looking tired. "Mom and Dad, our family is going back now. We're so sleepy, we need to get some rest."

Upon hearing his aunt say she was going home, Pengfei quickly grabbed his coat, put it on, and followed behind her, eager to leave.

After the family left, Zhuang's father sighed. "How did this eldest son's family become like this with us? If only they could still be like they were together, a harmonious family, and we didn't ask for much."

His mother sat down beside him and gently patted his shoulder. "Alright, don't think about it during the New Year. Go out and watch TV."

Ganmei was eating sunflower seeds, spitting the shells all over the floor. "Dad, we need to think of a way to help Zhendong and Zhenbei with their studies. They can't both fail to get into vocational school. It'll be embarrassing if people say that Tunan from our eldest brother's family got into university while Zhendong and Zhenbei didn't even get into vocational school. You and Mom won't be able to hold your heads up when you go out."

Looking at her youngest son's expression, Mrs. Zhuang instinctively clutched her pocket. "What are you doing? It's the New Year!"

Gan Mei rubbed her hands together, a smile plastered on her face. "Mom, I'd like to find someone to tutor Zhen Dong and Zhen Bei to help improve their grades. You and Dad, what do you think?"

Mrs. Zhuang was starting to regret it; how come she couldn't even catch up to her eldest son's edge? "Wait until next month; your father and I haven't received our salaries yet."

"Okay, okay, no rush, Mom."

Zhuang Ganmei said this, but in her heart she was scheming how to get the money as soon as possible.

Zhuang Ganmei didn't think his behavior was wrong. He was taking care of his parents, and his wife was taking care of their lives. It was only right for him to take some money from his parents. Besides, the old couple was counting on him for their old age. He couldn't agree to give the money to someone else instead of him.

,,,,,,,

The family took the bus home, and Zhuang Chaoying cooked some of the glutinous rice balls he had made at noon.

Soon the glutinous rice balls were cooked, and each person drank a bowl of them.

After eating the hot glutinous rice balls, I felt much warmer.

Dongzhe heard the noise from next door and came over to knock on the door.

"Brother Tunan, you're back! I left the door open for you."

Tu Nan stood up and yawned. "Mom and Dad, I'm going to bed."

After saying that, he put his arm around Lin Dongzhe and walked towards his house.

Dongzhe looked at him with a reproachful expression. "Brother Tunan, why didn't you tell me you were back? I was waiting for you so eagerly, I even made the bed for you."

Tu Nan smiled and patted Dong Zhe on the shoulder. "You're back now, come on, let's go inside and talk."

Huang Ling slept too much during the day and couldn't fall asleep, so she sat in bed knitting. "Chao Ying, give the children a few yuan in red envelopes. We have three children, but Song Ying's family only has one. We can't let them suffer."

Zhuang Chaoying thought for a moment and said, "The bag costs thirty yuan. Song Ying should be able to give ten yuan per child, so let's give Dongzhe thirty yuan."

Huang Ling nodded, her hands continuing to work. "Okay, I'll do as you say."

Zhuang Chaoying took the basket of yarn and pressed Huang Ling's hand down. "Alright, stop knitting. It's getting late. Go to sleep. Who knits on New Year's Eve?"

Put the yarn in Huang Ling's hand into a basket and place it on the bedside table.

Reaching out to turn off the desk lamp, Zhuang Chaoying leaned closer and said, "Ah Ling, since you're not sleepy, how about we work overtime?" As she spoke, she gently hugged Huang Ling.

Are the children asleep?

"The sound makes it seem like they're asleep."