Baili Hongzhu

Finally, Zhang Yunji returned home happily, but he did not receive a definite answer from Ma Feifei. However, that did not matter. Whether the library would eventually be established in Yong'an City or not would not affect Zhang Yunji. He was simply fulfilling the task assigned to him by his mother-in-law.

As the Mysterious Bookstore grew in fame, he, as one of the few employees of the Mysterious Bookstore, naturally received a lot of attention.

His residence was usually packed with people, with relatives and friends flocking to his door, all trying to curry favor with him. He could ignore and refuse the others, but he really couldn't do anything about his wife's mother.

"Sigh! It's so hard to be a good man!" Zhang Yunji shook his head, looked up and realized that he had unknowingly arrived at his front door. He immediately put aside his thoughts and strode inside.

"Brother is back!" Liu Ying was standing in the courtyard admiring the snow when she saw Zhang Yunji return and quickly went up to greet him.

"Where's Chuxue?" Zhang Yunji nodded slightly, glanced around the lobby, and, finding no one there, asked curiously.

"She's in the back garden with her mother," Liu Ying said, gesturing with her lips.

"Then why didn't you follow?" Zhang Yunji asked, puzzled.

"I don't like it." Liu Ying looked disgusted. It wasn't that she disliked the people, but rather that whenever they chatted with her, they would bring up the Mysterious Bookstore, trying to trick her into giving them a hand in business. They even wanted her to introduce their family's juniors to the Mysterious Bookstore owner so that those juniors could also become employees of the Mysterious Bookstore.

Even if she could make the decision, let alone not, Liu Ying would never help her. These people had given her plenty of meaningful looks before!

Zhang Yunji naturally knew about his sister's situation. Speaking of which, many unpleasant things happened when he married Baili Chuxue.

Although the Baili Family and the Zhang Clan were both among the Twelve Kings of the Great Chu, the Baili Family was ranked higher and had a very good family development momentum over thousands of years, while the Zhang Clan was far inferior to the Baili Family.

Therefore, Zhang Yunji and Baili Chuxue's love was not approved by the Baili Family, especially Baili Chuxue's mother Baili Hongzhu, who was quite opposed to Zhang Yunji and Baili Chuxue being together.

Baili Chuxue's father, Chang Kong, was known as a professional heartbreaker. He slept with Baili Hongzhu, the daughter of the Baili Family, but then abandoned Baili Hongzhu to return to the Sword Sect to cultivate.

It wasn't until later, when Chang Kong learned that Baili Hongzhu was pregnant and had given birth to Baili Chuxue, that he ran down the mountain to find Baili Hongzhu again. But by then, how could she possibly pay attention to Chang Kong? She even changed the child's surname to Baili, determined to sever all ties with Chang Kong.

Although Chang Kong's persistence eventually moved Baili Hongzhu, causing her to no longer restrict Chang Kong and Baili Chuxue from meeting and spending time together, her Grudge towards Chang Kong did not diminish at all; in fact, she even transferred this Grudge to Zhang Yunji.

Because Zhang Yunji had already become Chang Kong's disciple at that time, Chang Kong saw that Zhang Yunji was intelligent and talented, and for some reason, he was flirting with his daughter. Finally, at a banquet hosted by Zhang Yunji, Changkong betrothed his daughter to Zhang Yunji.

Zhang Yunji was naturally overjoyed, but Baili Hongzhu was furious. Not only did she disagree, she also chased Chang Kong for a full 30,000 li.

However, the words had already been spoken, and Zhang Yunji and Baili Chuxue were truly in love, so Baili Hongzhu could not stop them and had no choice but to agree to the marriage.

However, Baili Hongzhu didn't give Zhang Yunji and Chang Kong a friendly look, which is why Ma Feifei hadn't seen Baili Chuxue's mother even after knowing Zhang Yunji's family for over a year.

"You! All you do is throw tantrums." Zhang Yunji tapped Liu Ying's forehead, but didn't scold her too much, and turned to walk towards the back garden.

Liu Ying stuck out her tongue at Zhang Yunji's retreating figure, but in the end, she followed him.

It's called a back garden, but it's really just a slightly larger courtyard with a small lake, pavilions, and flowers and plants, but you can see the whole thing at a glance.

After all, this is Dubian Town, where land is incredibly valuable, so having a backyard like this is already a great luxury.

When Zhang Yunji and Liu Ying arrived at the back garden, they found Baili Chuxue in the pavilion, enjoying tea and admiring the snow with a beautiful woman.

This woman was none other than Baili Chuxue's mother, Baili Hongzhu.

Of course, Chang Kong was also present, but he stood behind the two of them, his face full of obsequiousness, indicating that he was of low status.

"Yunji is back!" As soon as Zhang Yunji appeared, Zhang Yunji Baili Hongzhu noticed him and waved to him.

"Mother!" Zhang Yunji quickly smiled and went up to her.

"How is it?" Baili Hongzhu gestured for Zhang Yunji to sit down and personally brewed him a cup of tea.

Zhang Yunji was so startled that he stood up again, glancing at Chang Kong.

Chang Kong, however, remained completely oblivious, pretending not to notice anything.

"Replying to Mother, I have already conveyed the shopkeeper's message. As for her final decision, I really cannot make that decision," Zhang Yunji replied with a smile.

Baili Hongzhu nodded slightly and said with satisfaction, "As long as the message has been delivered, I think the shopkeeper will definitely give the Zhang Clan that much face."

"Hehe..." Zhang Yunji could only chuckle awkwardly, unsure how to answer the question. Could it be that his family became employees of the Mysterious Bookstore simply because the owner was lazy and didn't want to put in the effort to hire people?

That's definitely not the way to go. If he did, Zhang Yunji's status might drop back to what it used to be. He's finally gained his mother-in-law's favor, so he has to be a little arrogant now.

"However, just to be on the safe side, you and your master should go again tomorrow," Baili Hongzhu said calmly, glancing at Chang Kong behind her.

"Uh..." Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunji glanced at Chang Kong, unsure of how to respond.

"Madam, this is absolutely unacceptable!" Chang Kong exclaimed upon seeing this.

This kind of backdoor dealing is enough once; doing it again would easily cause resentment. Besides, they are all employees of Mysterious Bookstore and will continue to work Bookstore. What if this displeases the owner? Wouldn't they lose their jobs?

"Why not? I'm making a deal with the shopkeeper and I haven't taken advantage of him at all. If you're not going, then introduce me to the shopkeeper and let me talk to him myself!" Baili Hongzhu said sternly. She got angry whenever she saw Chang Kong and harbored deep Grudge.

"This..."