Chapter 45: Gossip and News
"Then I'll be Sun Wukong." The little one still held a deep attachment to the Monkey King.
"Forget it. If you're Sun Wukong, who's going to cause her trouble without Tang Sanzang? If you want to fish, you'd better get some bait first." Zhu Yanyi lectured Zhu Zhican with an air of mature authority, leaving the boy dumbfounded. Beside them, Zhu Yanli burst into laughter at the sight.
Aunt Lian, who was picking vegetables nearby, turned to Xie Xinlian and said, "Ah Lian, your Ah Ni speaks in such coherent sentences. She's very smart."
"Just a bit of street smarts," Xie Xinlian replied with a smile. "She's been learning from her grandfather lately, but she's mixing things up and misusing some words."
"Eh, I think Ah Ni is genuinely clever," Aunt Jin, another helper, spoke up directly. "Listen to how she speaks—so fluent and logical. I'm sure she'll amount to something in the future."
"Thank you for your kind words. I hope your predictions come true," Xie Xinlian said modestly. She harbored no grand ambitions; she only wished for her children to grow up healthy. "I don't expect them to be exceptionally brilliant. As long as they are safe and their lives go smoothly, I'll be content."
"By the way, Ah Lian, I heard your brother-in-law is about to be discharged from the army?" Aunt Lian asked. Since most people in the village knew each other, news spread quickly. The rumor that Zhu Xiangyao was nearing his discharge had already circulated, prompting her question.
Xie Xinlian nodded. "Yes, indeed. I heard she'll be discharged in February next year, though she probably won't return until April."
"Your brother-in-law has been in the military for several years now. He must have received quite a few allowances," Aunt Jin asked casually. As the accountant for the production team, she had a keen eye for money.
Xie Xinlian shook her head. "I don't know about her allowances. They're always collected by my mother-in-law or my sister-in-law, so I have no idea how much she actually gets."
"It should be substantial. I heard your parents-in-law are planning to build her a house," Aunt Lian stated bluntly. In this village, Aunt Lian's gossiping skills were undoubtedly top-tier.
"The news has already spread?" Xie Xinlian was slightly surprised. While she knew her parents-in-law would certainly fund the construction of a house for Zhu Xiangyao, the project hadn't even started yet. If rumors got out now and something went wrong later, it would look bad.
"Your reaction tells me the news is true," Aunt Lian said.
"My mother-in-law mentioned it during her birthday celebration a while ago, but we thought they had other plans. I didn't expect the news to spread so quickly," Xie Xinlian expressed her surprise again.
"It's not that it spread quickly; they didn't say it themselves. We just happened to find out. Yesterday, my husband went to his private plot and saw your father-in-law loading discarded bricks near the brick kiln. After asking around, we learned he intended to build a house for Zhu Xiangyao." Aunt Lian spilled all the details of her information source without holding back.
"Discarded bricks?" Xie Xinlian was momentarily stunned. She remembered Zhu Shunyao had mentioned that she originally planned to use those discarded bricks as well, but she hadn't yet discussed it with the team. She hadn't expected her father-in-law to beat her to it. She frowned slightly but said nothing, though she made a mental note to tell Zhu Shunyao about it when she returned.
"Yes, discarded bricks—the ones left over from the brick kiln. Not to criticize your parents-in-law, but they're being too stingy. They're not short of money; why not buy better bricks? People will live in that house for a long time, and discarded bricks aren't very sturdy," Aunt Lian chattered on as she continued picking vegetables.