Zhu Yanyi felt a slight surprise in her heart. As expected of Xie Zhong, she saw things very clearly. In her past life, her eldest uncle, Xie Jingyu, only cared about herself. She ignored her siblings and even Qi Qiao'er. She would rather lend money to strangers than to her own family, fearing they were too poor to repay her.
Xie Shengyu, struggling with poverty and a wife who had left, had tried to pass off fake cigarettes as high-grade ones to support his daughter and mother. He nearly got into serious trouble. It was Zhu Shunyu and Qi Qiao'er’s husband who had bailed him out. As for Xie Chengyu, he had spent sixteen years in prison for the sake of "loyalty."
They were father and sons, after all. Xie Zhong knew his three sons deeply.
Back then, with Xie Zhong dead, no one could control them. But now that Xie Zhong was alive, their flaws didn’t matter much. Even if Xie Jingyu had many complaints, it was useless to cause trouble. Xie Zhong wouldn’t give in. Because he was their father, and they were raised to value filial piety above all. As long as Xie Zhong lived, he was like the tightening spell on Sun Wukong’s head. No one dared to go astray. Even if Xie Jingyu wanted to scheme, he wouldn’t dare make big moves.
“Grandpa, don’t worry about these annoying things,” Zhu Yanyi said with a smile, comforting her. Her words were blunt but sincere. “You need to be happy now. If you are happy, your body will get better. Don’t punish yourself for others’ unhappiness. You wouldn’t do something that hurts your loved ones and makes your enemies happy.”
Hearing Zhu Yanyi’s comfort, Xie Zhong felt much better. At least this granddaughter truly cared about her family.
“Don’t worry. I’ve seen many things. It will be fine,” Xie Zhong said. “And you are right. Why should I hold a grudge over something that can be solved with a few tickets? It helps me see people clearly. Ani, how do you think your eldest uncle will use those four tickets?”
“She will definitely keep the bicycle ticket for herself,” Zhu Yanyi said, smiling. “As she said, she really needs a bicycle. If she hadn’t made a fuss, my dad bought a motorcycle, so that bicycle would have been useless. She could have had it for free. But since she made trouble, we won’t give it to her. She didn’t think of that. She will probably buy a bicycle. She won’t buy a sewing machine. Great-Aunt doesn’t know how to use it, so it would be a waste. She might sell that ticket. National tickets are very popular.”
Zhu Yanyi paused. “As for the TV and radio tickets, I don’t know what she will keep.”
Xie Zhong laughed. “He won’t keep them. Of the four tickets, he will only keep the bicycle ticket.”
“Really?” Zhu Yanyi was surprised. She knew Xie Jingyu liked to take shortcuts, but keeping only one ticket out of four seemed unbelievable.
Xie Zhong looked at Zhu Yanyi. “Absolutely. I know your eldest uncle. She will use these tickets to the fullest. But if she keeps none, people might suspect her. So she will keep one—the bicycle ticket—since she needs it anyway. She will sell the sewing machine ticket. The other two, she will likely use to build small connections. She has worked at the cinema for a long time. Most of the staff there are young people assigned recently. There are few old workers left. She wants to find a new path for herself.”