Chapter 302

The dining table suddenly went quiet, and no one spoke another word.

At daybreak, Zhi Xia had gotten up early.

Sister Zhang carried in some fresh vegetables she had bought from outside, saw Zhi Xia exercising in the yard, and hesitantly said, “Zhi Xia, I can see that you’re able to take care of the children yourself during this vacation. I won’t be much help here, so why don’t I come back after you start teaching again?”

This would also save her a salary. Although her own income would be reduced, Sister Zhang was a grateful person who hadn’t forgotten the circumstances under which Zhi Xia had hired her.

Zhi Xia was startled for a moment. “Does Sister Zhang have things to do at home that she doesn’t have time to come over?”

“It’s not that I have anything to do. I just feel that since you can handle things yourself during this vacation, it would be a waste to pay me a salary. I know you have a kind heart and treat me well, so I naturally think of you too," Sister Zhang said. "You don't need to worry about me. I see that policies have relaxed now and there are more vendors outside. On my way here, the alley was filled with people selling vegetables, and there was also someone selling fried dough sticks who had opened up shop. So I was thinking I could do some small business on the side to supplement our family income, and come back to take care of the children after you start teaching again.”

Zhi Xia roughly understood her meaning. She went up and said, "Sister Zhang, if you don't want to work for me because you want to run a small business, I would definitely let you go. But if you plan to temporarily leave for two months to save me money, there is no need for that. I’ve only had some free time these past few days and don’t plan on always being idle. The family still needs someone to help look after the children."

"If that's the case, I'll stay," said Sister Zhang. "In any case, working for you puts my mind at ease. As long as I don't cause you trouble, that’s fine." She was still hesitant about running a small business.

When she had first made this decision, her husband had scolded her for being too soft-hearted and unable to even take care of herself, yet still concerning herself with other people’s affairs.

But Sister Zhang still remembered how desperate she had felt when falsely accused in the past. Neither her husband nor her children had been able to understand her. It was Zhi Xia who had given her a hand. The trust of the old master of the house had also given her confidence in front of her neighbors.

Zhi Xia knew the tide of history. The real decisions on reform and opening up would be made by the end of this year. For now, no one interfered with the selling of vegetables and the like. But it was still not easy to do big business openly.

Over these years, the savings in her hands and the allowances from her elders meant a sizable amount of deposits at home. But after the true reform and opening up, if she really wanted to do something, it would still be far from enough. She had to start thinking about how to accumulate capital.

Zhi Xia had been wandering around leisurely these past few days. She had too many goods in her space that weren’t easy to take out.

On her way back one day, she suddenly discovered a car parked at the front door.

She quickly quickened her pace, and sure enough, saw Pei Jing playing with the children in the yard.

“Why did you come back suddenly without any notice?” Although Zhi Xia complained verbally, she was quite happy inside.

Pei Jing turned his head in surprise. “Grandpa called me back. You didn’t know? He specifically asked me to call Fourth Brother back too.”

What’s more, Eldest Brother had come back too, suddenly receiving Old Master Pei's call. An Zhiqing was worried, so he went to ask Pei Jing if something had happened at home. Only then did he know that Old Master Pei had called back everyone who was outside.

Zhi Xia suddenly recalled the conversation at the dinner table a few days ago, but didn’t feel that it had anything to do with her. Why was even Pei Jing called back?

Since An Zhiqing was far away, Pei Jing and An Zhiang had returned two days ago, and he came leisurely late.

That night, they went to eat at the An family’s, and this time, all members of the family were present without a single person missing.

At the dinner table, Old Master and Old Madam appeared very happy, but didn’t say any extra words.

After the meal, Pei Jing brought them back. There were too many children that they could only sit on the adults' laps.

Zhi Xia couldn’t help thinking that in another few years, when the children grew up, even one car wouldn’t be enough to seat their whole family if they went out. It was only on the second day when she heard it from An Zhiang that Zhi Xia knew Old Master had split the property between them.

The returned property included some run-down shops on the street that still held some value despite the passing years. When the assets were being registered, the names of the four brothers had already been written down respectively.

There were also the family valuables that Old Master had hidden away, and these had all been split between them. An ZhiXian and An Zhiqing were still unmarried and living at home, so those items were temporarily kept at Old Master’s place.

In any case, they now knew where the hidden goods were kept. For things that had already been split, no one would go take them. Up to now, Zhi Xia still didn’t understand the purpose of calling Pei Jing back.

Late at night, almost time for bed, Zhou Nan called them from outside. “Little Jing, Zhi Xia, come over to Grandpa and Grandma’s place.”

When they went out, they realized An JingZhi was also there.

In the living room, as soon as Zhi Xia entered, she noticed several large boxes.

Old Madam touched these boxes reminiscently and said, “The An family’s things have all been given to you brothers. These were the dowries your grandma brought when she married, and Grandma said she would keep them for you. Now the two of us are already old, and we don’t know how many more days we have left to live. While we’re still alive, we wanted to arrange everything properly for you so we can rest easy even when we close our eyes."

"Grandma, you and Grandpa will definitely live past a hundred.” Zhi Xia suddenly felt a trace of sadness.

Old Madam waved her hand. “We’re old now, no need to say such things.”

To preserve them well in the past, some of Old Madam's dowry had been exchanged for gold bars, but most of the gold, silver, jade and jewelry were still kept. She took out a few pieces suitable for her own use. These would be buried with her when she died. The rest were all given to Zhi Xia.

Neither Old Master nor Old Madam opened the boxes to let them take a look. Of course, Zhi Xia did not dare help herself either.

After arranging Zhi Xia’s belongings, Old Madam called Zhou Nan over and pointed at the boxes on the table, “It’s been hard on you these years too. These are left for you.”

This came as an especially huge surprise to Zhou Nan, who was instantly delighted and unable to close her mouth. “There are things for me too?”

Zhou Nan had some of her own stuff too. Her wedding gifts from that year and some later additions. Having lived in hardship for so long, she was reluctant to throw away anything, good or bad. Later they had all been packed into boxes and buried in the backyard.

When Old Madam's parents had gone abroad back then, she had abandoned more things than Zhou Nan treasured, and was thus ridiculed for being petty.

Zhou Nan didn’t have much, and with no such worries, she opened up a box right there and then, revealing the box full of jewelry inside.

“These are all good stuff. Keep them well; they will come in handy one day.” Old Madam had considered this carefully. As soon as things opened up, those who had left back then would sooner or later return. Even if the An family couldn’t regain its former glory, with promising grandsons below, there would inevitably be social situations to attend.

These things were worthless in troubled times but represented face value during prosperous eras.

Old Madam, who was usually simple and unadorned, wore a jade bangle today. This also signified that these collections from over the years could finally see the light of day.

Pei Jing went back and forth several times before moving all the items back. The two small boxes contained gold bars, plus two boxes of antiques and some jewellery.