Reborn in the 70s: Pampered by Regiment Commander
Chapter 371 - 257: The Zhou Family’s Past

Chapter 371: Chapter 257: The Zhou Family’s Past

Last Chapter’s character order had a bit of an error, Nuan has already modified it, you all can look back at it again.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"If it wasn’t for you seducing Xiao Yuwen, would Seventh Sister have had a fallout with you?" Zhou Nanping looked at Chuxia with disdain, "Flirting with Xiao Yuwen in front of everyone, what are you if not a fool?"

To have right and wrong so inverted to this extent, it really opened her eyes! "Zhou Aiping told you this? That I was openly seducing Xiao Yuwen in front of everyone?" Chuxia stared at Zhou Nanping with wide eyes.

"Both Seventh Sister and third sister-in-law said so..." Zhou Nanping pouted her lips, "Third Brother is the most promising child in our family, of course the elders will be more partial towards him.

But that doesn’t mean we should cover up your mistakes and kick out third sister-in-law and Seventh Sister from the Zhou family. Anyway, I just can’t stand it, can’t stand that they always use self-interest as the measuring standard!"

"You really are a fool." Chuxia concluded seriously, "Zhou Nanping, I am now very certain, extremely certain, that you truly, truly are a fool! The kind that is super, super stupid yet thinks they’re smart."

"You..." Zhou Nanping raised her eyebrows, "Even if I’m stupid, I’m not as stupid as you."

"In your heart, isn’t Xiao Yuwen better than Zhou Mikang?" Chuxia asked.

"Of course." Zhou Nanping nodded affirmatively, "Doesn’t everything happening now prove it, is there even a need to ask?"

"Elder sister, it’s impossible to communicate with this kind of idiot," Chuxia said pitifully as she turned to Zhou Jiping, "What on earth does grandma want me to say to this fool? Just tell me directly."

"You... who are you calling a fool?" Zhou Nanping glared at Chuxia, full of anger in her eyes, "Don’t think just because you’re my sister-in-law, you can bully me!"

"Elder sister, I’m going down now; this fool is better left to you," Chuxia said, and without looking back, she left the room. Before closing the door, she didn’t forget to turn around and make a face at Zhou Nanping.

"She..." Zhou Nanping pointed at the doorway, shaking with anger, "You’re just going to let her treat me like this and not do anything?"

"Nannan..." Zhou Jiping sighed and took hold of Zhou Nanping’s hand, "You understand what grandma means, right?"

"I..." Zhou Nanping paused for a moment, then nodded her head, "I admit, she’s not the kind of girl Seventh Sister described. I also know that Seventh Sister might be adding her personal emotions to it, but, it’s a fact our family outmatches theirs, it’s a fact their family has been riding on our coattails, and that there are reasons why the Xiao family targets ours, these are facts, too."

"Maybe in the past, the Lin Family wasn’t good enough for the Zhou family, but now? Chuxia is the goddaughter of Old Master Wan and Old Master Jing, where does she not match up?"

"The Zhou family, does it really..." Zhou Nanping couldn’t bring herself to say the last two words, when she was younger, she was fostered out to a farmer’s family, and she had always resented that, why could her brother live in the city when she, older than him, had to be sent to the countryside?

Her brother was a university student, and she was a semi-literate who hadn’t even finished middle school. If it wasn’t for this, how would she have married into the Fang Family in a fit of pique?

The Fang Family was a family of scholars, and she just wanted to show everyone that even without education, she could still marry into a cultured family.

When she chose the Fang Family, they still wore the stigmatized label of "stinky old nine," and for this reason, her parents opposed it. She found it particularly amusing--they threw her into the countryside and didn’t care, but they wanted to control whom she married?

Did they think she didn’t know that they wanted to use her as a bond for political gains? She stubbornly refused to comply, and in the end, she married into the Fang Family by threatening to die...

...

Chuxia pouted as she walked down the stairs and sat down beside Old Madam Zhou, "Grandma, I can’t play with Zhou Nanping."

"If you can’t play together, then don’t...," Old Madam Zhou said indulgently as she stroked her head, "Did Nanping make you feel wronged?"

"In any case, she doesn’t like me, and..." Chuxia glanced at Liang Xiaohong, then shut her mouth; it wasn’t proper to complain about someone in front of their mother.

Liang Xiaohong quickly said, "Chuxia, go ahead and speak, I don’t mind."

After hesitating for a moment, Chuxia then said, "Alright, I’ll tell the truth, with no targeting intent. Second aunt, you can’t get angry with me just because I speak my mind."

"Your second aunt isn’t that kind of person, go ahead," Old Madam Zhou said.

"Zhou Nanping’s understanding of the Zhou family seems a bit lacking, she actually thinks that the Xiao family is more formidable than the Zhou family, that Xiao Yuwen is better than Zhou Mikang.

Our Xiaomi, although a bit hot-tempered, is absolutely top-notch in both ability and character. To compare with Xiao Yuwen, that’s just insulting to our Xiaomi!"

Old Madam Zhou chuckled and nodded her head, "Hmm, Chuxia is right, that kind of comparison is indeed an insult to our Xiaomi."

Lin Yanqiu, Zhou Yueping, and Liang Xiaohong couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of their mouths when they heard someone refer to "our family’s Xiaomi" in such an awkward way.

Zhou Huakang looked at Chuxia with a grin, "Third sister-in-law, after you meet third brother, could you repeat what you said today to him?"

"You think I don’t dare to call him Xiaomi?" Chuxia raised her eyebrows, her face full of smugness, "I truly wouldn’t dare say it to his face, though."

"Pfft!" Zhou Huakang couldn’t help but burst out laughing, "Third sister-in-law, if you don’t dare say it, why are you so smug about it?"

"I dare to say it behind his back; that’s when I’m courageous!" Chuxia raised her eyebrows at Zhou Huakang, "Do you dare?"

Thinking of Zhou Mikang’s formidable strength, Zhou Huakang shrank his neck, "I don’t!" Then, slapping his forehead, he added, "Oh right, I forgot to mention something. Zhou Zhongkang got married the day before yesterday. He married Mei Xiaofeng, the younger sister of Mei Yitong."

"Let him be," Old Madam Zhou sighed, "As long as he can live peacefully, let him be."

Liang Xiaohong’s eyes turned red. Among the Zhou family’s three brothers’ children, the eldest brother’s four were quite worry-free. Although Aiping from the third brother’s side caused concern, Huakang was the worry-free one. Only her side, not one of them was less than troublesome.

Back in the day, she and her husband were sent to the countryside and couldn’t take care of the children, leaving no option but to rely on her own family for support. She was somewhat partial; she left her son in the city with her younger brother and her daughter in the countryside with her parents. She had thought that her son would achieve something significant. It turned out that he did, but his nature also became cold and unfeeling to the extreme.

Now that she thought about it, her son had been involved with the Mei family early on, yet he kept it hidden from them. It seemed that his falling out with the family had been long planned; otherwise, how could he marry a daughter of the Mei family during such a sensitive time?

"I was considering whether to tell you or not, but keeping this from you didn’t seem right," Zhou Huakang explained nervously, sensing the heavy atmosphere.

"You did the right thing," Old Madam Zhou nodded approvingly at him, "If we found out from someone else, the Zhou family’s face really wouldn’t have anywhere to go."

"I heard that the Mei family wasn’t very supportive of their marriage. Mei Xiaofeng walked out of her home with her luggage and moved into fifth brother’s dorm. They invited some classmates for dinner in the evening, and that was considered the wedding," Zhou Huakang carefully observed Liang Xiaohong’s expression as he spoke. "I went there too, and you could tell that fifth brother was genuinely happy."

Old Madam Zhou looked at Liang Xiaohong, "Xiaohong, go see Zhongkang tomorrow. The child suffered too much when he was young, which led him to become like this. We cannot blame the child alone."

Liang Xiaohong looked at Old Madam Zhou with surprise, "Mom, can I really go?"

"Of course!" Old Madam Zhou sighed and looked at Chuxia with a puzzled face, "You’re part of the Zhou family now, too. There’s no need to keep certain things from you.

Our family went through an incident once. Not only your parents, your second and third uncles, but even I and your grandfather were scattered to various places for re-education. We couldn’t take care of the children at home.

Your mother-in-law’s family wasn’t affected and was quite well-off, so Xi Kang and the other three lived with the Lin Family until your father-in-law and mother-in-law returned to take them back to their home.

These four children were raised very well by their maternal grandparents, hence they were the most worry-free four. Your second uncle naturally placed his children in the care of your second aunt’s family.

Your second aunt’s family lived in the countryside. She had a brother who was assigned to the city after graduating from university. Your second aunt left Zhongkang with that brother and Nanping at her parents’ home in the countryside.

On your third uncle’s side, Aiping and Huakang were left with the Liu Family, though one stayed with a maternal aunt, the other with a maternal aunt-in-law."

With Old Madam Zhou’s explanation, the muddle in Chuxia’s head finally began to clear. No wonder the second generation of the Zhou family all had decent personalities, but the third generation contrasted so starkly in character. It turned out they were living in different environments and influenced by various people, resulting in these consequences. She also understood the reason for Old Madam Zhou’s leniency towards the younger generations. However, this was a unique situation exclusive to that era. Who could be blamed?

Although there were some things she still didn’t fully understand, she roughly got the gist of it. A child in foster care would naturally be more sensitive. However, she wasn’t here to be the scapegoat. After all, she had been transplanted from a well-off family in the 21st century to a poor household in the 20th century. She was still sensitive about that!

With the special permission granted by Old Madam Zhou, Liang Xiaohong went back to her room to pack her things. She was quite excited about meeting the new bride tomorrow.

Not long after she went upstairs, she came back down hesitantly, asking Lin Yanqiu if she could accompany her to meet her son and daughter-in-law.

Lin Yanqiu turned to look at Old Madam Zhou.

Old Madam Zhou looked straight at Liang Xiaohong, "Apart from you, no one else can go. At this time, the Zhou family’s situation is too sensitive."

"Mom, I understand." Liang Xiaohong gave Lin Yanqiu an apologetic smile and went upstairs, feeling a lack of confidence about seeing her daughter-in-law alone.

By this time, Old Master Zhou had already finished holding a small meeting with his two sons, a grandson, and a son-in-law. Judging by their expressions, they were all much more relaxed than when they entered the room.

"What’s the good news?" Old Madam Zhou asked.

"I’ve made a decision to fight for a way out for the Zhou family," Old Master Zhou said with a sigh of relief, "Once the decision was made, the burden suddenly lifted."