Chapter 440: Chapter 430: Perfect Weapon

Although they knew the situation in the city wasn’t much better than the countryside, everyone knew that Xu Jinsan had made it big—he was a big boss.

A starved camel is still bigger than a horse, after all. By leeching off him, they would at least never have to worry about their next meal.

The family had made their self-serving calculations with great precision.

At first, Xu Shan had her reservations. She knew that in times like these, it couldn’t be easy for her younger brother, who had a wife and daughter to support.

But she couldn’t stand it when Xu Yuanshan and Xu Ru spent days pitifully whining about being hungry, so Xu Shan gave in with feigned reluctance.

In truth, her younger brother had left home early and she only saw him a few times a year. Naturally, he wasn’t as dear to her as Yuanshan, who she had raised by her side since he was a child.

More importantly, Xu Yuanshan had also promised that Xu Ru would care for her in her old age, which completely tipped the scales of her heart in his favor.

The Xu Yuanshan family’s car was a hand-me-down from Xu Jinsan. Although he was getting rid of it, the car was worth over 300,000 and had only been driven for two years.

Back when Xu Yuanshan had Xu Shan ask her brother for a car, he thought his wealthy uncle would buy him a new one. He never expected her to come back with a used car. Instead of feeling any gratitude, he secretly resented him for it.

It was a perfect example of the saying: a pint of rice is a kindness, a peck of rice is a grudge.

And now, Xu Yuanshan had driven that very car he looked down on to the city, expecting Xu Jinsan to support his entire family.

"Auntie, you should change your shoes first."

Tang Mo spoke up to remind them, seeing as they were about to charge into the house still wearing their shoes, with no intention of taking them off.

She was quite comfortable living here; she had no intention of letting someone else ruin it.

"Well, well. So many rules in your brother’s house. It feels like we’re not welcome, doesn’t it, Elder Sister?"

Tan Jing was a very clever woman. She knew her own words carried little weight here, so she turned and tugged on the elder sister instead.

For years, they had been using the elder sister to milk all sorts of benefits from Xu Jinsan’s family. She was an old hand at this game.

"Jinsan... are we causing trouble for you?"

Xu Shan said, her back hunched and her manner anxious.

Having always lived in the countryside, she had suffered a great deal recently. The drive over had been so nerve-wracking that she hardly dared to breathe. Now that she had finally seen her family and felt safe, she had simply forgotten to take off her shoes.

When she saw the trail of footprints she’d left on the floor, Xu Shan hunched over even further.

"Sis, what are you talking about? Come in, sit down, and get some rest."

Xu Jinsan helped Xu Shan by the arm and sat her down on the living room sofa.

Despite what Xu Jinsan said, once Xu Shan sat down, she took her shoes off anyway and set them aside.

Tan Jing and the others tried to enter again, but Tang Mo stood in their way with her arms crossed.

"Dad, it doesn’t matter for us adults, but Pingping and An’an are still so little. Their immune systems are weak. If they get sick, we can’t even go to a hospital in this situation..."

Tang Mo played her trump card.

"Ah."

Xu Jinsan turned his head to look at Pingping and An’an, who were perched on the sofa and curiously watching the newcomers.

"Why don’t you... change your shoes before you come in? The shoe cabinet is right there."

Xu Jinsan thought for a moment and decided that Pingping and An’an’s health was more important.

The faces of Tan Jing, Xu Yuanshan, and Xu Ru all went pale. They hadn’t even made it through the door and they were already being put on the spot.

As the group reluctantly changed their shoes, they seemed to forget they had come to freeload, showing none of the humility expected of beggars.

Tang Mo, on the other hand, was delighted. ’I never thought the two kids I brought home would be this useful,’ she mused. ’They can even be used as a weapon against scoundrels.’

’Tan Jing is using Xu Shan as a weapon, right? Well, I’ll just use Pingping and An’an. A taste of her own medicine. Now that’s a happy thought.’

"Uncle, so you and Auntie had another child? And twins, at that! Why didn’t you ever tell us? With a fortune as big as yours, you should’ve had more kids long ago. You’re the only one not worried about the lack of a boy in this house."

Tan Jing finished changing her shoes, walked inside, and only spoke again after getting a clear look at Pingping and An’an.

"What, more girls?"

The disgust on Tan Jing’s face was plain to see. It really proved the point that women are often the ones who are most chauvinistic toward other women. Why must women make things so difficult for one another?

"Jinsan, didn’t you say before that Jingyi’s health wasn’t good? So how...?"

Xu Shan, at least, remembered Xu Jinsan telling her that Zhou Jingyi’s health was poor and that they wouldn’t be having a second child.

"These are children we’ve adopted."

Xu Jinsan explained.

"Adopted? Uncle, I have to say something about this. Our own family doesn’t have enough to eat, and you’re adopting children? Giving them food? What’s the point? You should return them right away."

As Xu Yuanshan sat on the sofa, he was pained by the waste.

’My uncle must be dumb as a rock,’ he thought. ’Why give all this food to outsiders when it could be feeding me? What a waste!’

Tang Mo couldn’t stand being in the living room for another second. "I’m going to help my mom. You all can talk."

After saying that, she quickly ran into the kitchen and shut the door.

Inside the kitchen, Zhou Jingyi looked upset.

Just a moment ago, when she came in to cook, she had been quite happy. Now, her mood had soured...

Tang Mo put two and two together. ’Tan Jing’s comments about having a son must have gotten to Mom.’

Zhou Jingyi had always been insecure about her health preventing her from giving Xu Jinsan another child. Having it thrown in her face like that would put anyone in a bad mood.

"Mom, are Aunt Shan and her family planning to live with us?"

Tang Mo leaned in and asked.

"Surely not..."

Their arrival had been so sudden that Zhou Jingyi hadn’t thought that far ahead. Her daughter’s question made her realize the possibility.

’With the poison fog everywhere, they can’t have gone to all this trouble just to pay us a visit, right?’

’Are they here to move in with us?’

Zhou Jingyi glanced at her large freezers.

’I’ve calculated our supplies perfectly. For our family of five, we have more than enough for six months. But with four more mouths to feed, it won’t be nearly enough.’

’Besides,’ she continued to worry, ’our house may be big, but with so few people, we only have three main bedrooms.’

’There used to be another, but we combined it with Xu Yin’s room to make a walk-in closet and studio for her.’

’Now that four more people have shown up, where are we supposed to put them?’

In fact, their house used to have a spare bedroom. That was the room Xu Yuanshan’s family of three had stayed in during a previous visit.

But now with Pingping and An’an, there weren’t enough rooms.

Although Pingping and An’an were young, they were toddlers who could walk and talk, not infants.

It would be difficult for Xu Jinsan and his wife to sleep with the two children. The couple wouldn’t get any sleep at all.

"Mom," Tang Mo asked in a pitiful voice, looking pleadingly at her mother, "now that they’re here... will I still get to eat my fill?"

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