Chapter 2311

Zhang Yanhong had no choice but to say, "I know my father was wrong to borrow the ginseng, but he did it to save me."

"What does that have to do with our family?" Zhu Shun'ao asked again. "If every family took things from others to save someone, would anyone accept that behavior?"

Zhang Yanhong paused, then said, "Uncle, I know my father was wrong, but he has suffered enough. Can't you let him go?"

"He hasn't returned the ginseng. How can we let him go?" Taking things without returning them and just saying sorry is not enough to avoid trouble. What kind of excuse is that?

Zhu Shun'ao looked at Zhang Yanhong. He had thought she was a smart girl, but now it seemed her intelligence was only superficial.

Zhang Yanhong gritted her teeth. "Uncle, the ginseng is gone. How much money do I need to raise to pay for it?"

"I don't know much about herbs, but I can ask someone who does." Zhu Shun'ao called out directly, "Ani, come in for a moment."

Hearing Zhu Shun'ao call her, Zhu Yanyi handed Little Northwest to Yan Aohan and went inside. "Dad, what's up?"

"Yanhong says Broken Zhang is willing to pay for the stolen ginseng. She's asking how much." Zhu Shun'ao said directly.

"My ginseng was planted fifteen years ago. When I planted it, it was already about five or six years old. So, counting it up, it’s a twenty-year-old ginseng. It’s not the oldest, but it has some age. On the market, a twenty-year-old ginseng costs between three thousand and five thousand yuan. Since we are neighbors, I won’t ask for much. Just three thousand."

Zhu Yanyi didn’t intend to make a business out of this. Besides, she had plenty of ginseng. A twenty-year-old one wasn’t special to her; she had thousands of years-old ginseng on her person. However, some people needed a lesson, so she spoke up.

Moreover, this price was the lowest on the market. She hadn’t added anything extra.

Zhu Shun'ao nodded slightly after hearing this, then said to Zhang Yanhong, "Yanhong, did you hear? Three thousand. As long as you pay three thousand yuan, I will naturally have your father released."

Zhang Yanhong’s face turned pale. Three thousand yuan. Their family could barely scrape together five hundred yuan. Where would she get three thousand? But if she didn’t pay, it wouldn’t work. She couldn’t watch Broken Zhang stay locked up; it would be bad for her. After thinking for a moment, she had an idea. "Can I exchange it for items of equal value?"

Zhu Shun'ao nodded. "Of course. As long as it’s of equal value and not illegal, we can exchange it."

Zhang Yanhong thought for a moment, then turned around and said, "Okay, I’ll bring the items tomorrow to exchange." With that, she left.

Watching her leave, Zhu Yanyi looked puzzled. "I don’t think Zhang Yanhong is a simple person. Why does she insist on saving Broken Zhang? And she doesn’t seem like a truly filial daughter."

Zhu Shun'ao shook his head. "Don’t ask me. I don’t know what you don’t know."

Zhu Yanyi shrugged. "Forget it. Let’s see what Zhang Yanhong brings tomorrow. I hope it doesn’t disappoint us."

"Disappointment or not, it has nothing to do with us. We don’t lack those three thousand yuan," Xie Xinlian said casually. "Let’s go prepare the wedding candies."

"No way, Mom. It’s already night. Can’t we do it tomorrow?" Zhu Yanyi thought about wrapping gifts during the day and still having to wrap them at night. It felt like her mom was addicted to wrapping things.

Seeing Zhu Yanyi’s reaction, Xie Xinlian thought for a moment.

"Okay, let’s wrap them tomorrow. We won’t do it today. Let’s go for a walk. I heard a free park opened nearby. Let’s go take a look."

Zhu Yanyi saw Xie Xinlian was excited and didn’t say anything. At least it was better than staying home wrapping things all the time.

The elders heard they were going to the park and came out to say they wanted to go too. So, everyone set off.

Actually, the free park was very close to the Zhu family, only a three-minute walk. Looking at the brightly lit park, everyone walked slowly.

Probably because of the cold, there were few people there at night.

Zhu Yanyi looked at the sky. "It looks like it’s going to snow."

"The weather forecast said there will be light snow in the second half of the night, and moderate to heavy snow tomorrow. The northwest wind will be level five," Yan Aohan said, also looking at the sky.

"I’m used to winters in the capital. Coming here feels a bit unfamiliar," Xie Xinlian exhaled a breath.

"Indeed. In the capital, it’s all about heating now. Even though it’s minus ten degrees outside, the air is dry, so it’s not as cold as here," Elder Chun said.

"So, why are we here in this cold weather?" Zhu Yanli asked curiously.

Everyone looked at each other and laughed. Zhu Xinfu said, "We’re all here to feel the northwest wind. Let’s go back. It’s warmer at home."

Because there was a boiler burning at home, they didn’t feel cold.

Everyone laughed and prepared to go back. Zhu Yanyi smelled the fragrance of osmanthus sugar-roasted chestnuts and said, "You go back first. I’ll buy some Tang Dynasty chestnuts."

Everyone had no objections. It was just a few steps away, and they weren’t worried about Zhu Yanyi having any trouble, so they went back. Yan Aohan naturally stayed with Zhu Yanyi. Seeing Zhu Yanyi buy five jin of sugar-roasted chestnuts, Yan Aohan said speechlessly, "Are you planning to eat five jin by yourself tonight?"

"There are many people at home. The taste is quite good. I’m worried there won’t be enough," Zhu Yanyi answered seriously.

Yan Aohan sighed and shook his head, unable to say anything about his wife’s helplessness. Fortunately, five jin of sugar-roasted chestnuts weren’t expensive now, only five yuan per jin.

Zhu Yanyi held a bag in her hands and let Yan Aohan carry the rest. She started peeling and eating chestnuts as she walked.

"Eh~" Just as they turned a corner, Zhu Yanyi saw Zhang Yanhong arguing with a man.

"Isn’t that Zhang Yanhong?" Zhu Yanyi looked at Yan Aohan.

Yan Aohan saw it too. "It is Zhang Yanhong. That man seems to be Shi Xiong."

"Shi Xiong?" Zhu Yanyi raised her eyebrows slightly. Looking closely, she indeed had some of Shi Xiong’s former beauty. "Although Yanhong is the biological daughter of Zhu Xiangyao and Zhang Qiaolian, she was abandoned since childhood and is considered Broken Zhang’s daughter. Shi Xiong is the only son of Zhu Yingu and Shi Hongjun. How did they get mixed up?"

Yan Aohan shook his head. "You’re asking me, and I don’t know either. Although they have cousin blood ties, they don’t exist in name now. So, honestly, I don’t know why they are together."

Yan Aohan hadn’t investigated, so he didn’t know. "How about I have someone investigate?"

Zhu Yanyi hesitated slightly, then nodded in agreement. "It’s good to investigate. As long as it has nothing to do with our family, I won’t care. But if they are plotting against our family, I won’t let any of them off."

For some reason, Zhu Yanyi felt that Zhang Yanhong and her senior brother getting mixed up might be aimed at their family.

"Since you’re investigating, might as well investigate the remaining few people from the fourth branch of the Zhu family." Zhu Yanyi also wanted to know what had happened to these people.

Yan Aohan hummed. For him, investigating these people was very simple, so it didn’t take much effort for the information to appear.

Back home, Zhu Yanyi and Yan Aohan didn’t tell everyone about Zhang Yanhong and Shi Xiong’s entanglement. Zhu Yanyi just distributed the bought sugar-roasted chestnuts for everyone to eat. "These chestnuts taste good, very powdery and soft. The osmanthus flavor is also well absorbed."

The elders also started peeling chestnuts. They couldn’t eat other things due to dental issues, but they could eat these chestnuts. Mainly, these chestnuts were really soft and glutinous.

"No wonder Ani bought five jin. You should have bought more," Elder詹 said as he ate.

"I knew you liked them, so I didn’t dare buy too much. A little tastes better, too much ruins the stomach. So I bought a little. If you want more, we can buy again tomorrow. That chestnut stall isn’t going anywhere," Zhu Yanyi said with a smile.

Everyone chatted and watched TV while eating. Life was truly leisurely.

"This is only the first day, and I already feel so comfortable. It seems we made the right choice coming here," Elder Chun said seriously while drinking tea.

"That’s a must. Although this is the countryside, the air is good here," Zhu Yanyi said with a smile. "I’ll definitely come here for retirement in the future."

"How old are you? Thinking about retirement now?" Elder Li said speechlessly. "Wait another forty years before saying that."

"I’m just making a plan. Having a plan is a good thing," Zhu Yanyi answered with a smile.

"Don’t be so disrespectful," Zhu Shun'ao scolded jokingly.

Zhu Yanyi stuck out her tongue and made a funny face, feeling very pleased inside.

They chatted, ate chestnuts, and watched TV downstairs until ten o’clock, then dispersed to their rooms to rest.

At this time, Yan Aohan had received the information about Zhang Yanhong and Shi Xiong, including the status of the remaining people from the fourth branch of the Zhu family.

After reading it, Yan Aohan chuckled and then gave it to Zhu Yanyi.

Zhu Yanyi raised her eyebrows slightly after reading it.

After Zhu Xiangyao, Zhu Guifu, and Gan Juhua died successively, there were no one left in the fourth branch.

Zhu Yingu was sentenced to prison for accidentally killing Gan Juhua and was still in prison. Shi Hongjun divorced Zhu Yingu and then married another wife, who gave birth to a son named Shi Jie.

Because of this child’s arrival, Shi Xiong entered a difficult time.

The stepmother didn’t like Shi Xiong and subjected him to cold violence. Shi Xiong was not yet an adult. If Shi Hongjun had guided him well, it would have been fine. But because of Zhu Yingu’s incident, Shi Hongjun disliked Shi Xiong. Shi Xiong’s grades began to decline, and he became dull.

Later, he accidentally found out that Zhang Yanhong was actually Zhu Xiangyao’s daughter, so he came to find Zhang Yanhong.