Chapter 41

Caught off guard as someone leaned close to his ear, warm breath brushed his ear shell. Zhang Xianyang shrank his neck back, tickled. He scratched his ear and turned around irritably. "Don't talk into my ear. It tickles me to death."

Zhang Muyang smiled fondly and ruffled Zhang Xianyang's hair. "Are you hungry? If you are, shall we eat first?"

At that, Zhang Xianyang immediately turned to the Li Family and Zhang Yaxian. "We're going to eat now. You should go home first."

"Huh?"

Seeing the Li Family's blank, foolish expressions, Zhang Xianyang said impatiently, "What do you mean, huh? You're a bunch of uninvited guests who barged in. Letting you into the house was already more than courteous enough. Don't tell me you want to mooch a meal too? Please don't. You'll make me too sick to eat."

For that last sentence, Zhang Xianyang could not resist mocking them in the style of a Korean drama. Zhang Yaxian unconsciously clenched her fitted beige skirt suit and quietly took a deep breath before rising to her feet. "In that case, we won't disturb you any longer. We'll come back after you finish lunch."

Zhang Xianyang sharply noticed the wrinkles she had clawed into her skirt suit and said bluntly, "I think you should take this chance to iron your clothes. A woman from a Kyoto family, someone who has always cared so much about her appearance, has actually wrinkled her skirt suit with her own hands. If word gets out, it'll damage Madam's image!"

Zhang Yaxian swayed as though she could barely remain standing. Li Jiangnan, who had been watching his mother closely, immediately stepped forward to support her and said angrily, "If you have grievances, take them out on us. My mother came here with good intentions, and she sincerely wanted to apologize to Yangyang and his mother. You don't have to treat her so harshly, do you?"

"How thick does someone's skin have to be to say something like that?" Zhang Xiyang rose to his feet as well, his face full of disbelief. "How dare you say that? You were the ones who came uninvited and spouted a whole carload of nonsense. Then you said you wanted to replace Yangyang's mother and take care of him. What right does your mother have to replace my aunt? A woman so vicious that she would not even spare a baby in swaddling clothes—whether in looks or character, she isn't even worthy of carrying my aunt's shoes. And you call that an apology? You were clearly here to flaunt your power. Do you think we can't understand?"

"Who are you? Who is your mother? What right do you have to care for the Old District Zhang Family's Third Young Master? Do you know that even a servant who sweeps the floors in this villa has to pass strict screening before being allowed in, let alone someone who would care for Yangyang at his side? The people we use are all old retainers whose families have served the gang for generations. In old terms, they are family-born servants—the most loyal people, the kind who would not betray us even if they were chopped to pieces. What sort of confidence makes you people of unknown origin think you can casually take Yangyang away and raise him?"

"If you truly wanted to raise him, what were you doing sixteen years ago?"

"One moment, you were trying every possible way to sneak into the Old Zhang Family Secret Passage. The next, you were shouting about raising my little brother. Do you people even know how to write the word 'shame'?"

When it came to long-winded logical arguments or sharp, classic verbal abuse, how could Li Jiangnan possibly outtalk Zhang Xiyang, who had grown up memorizing family genealogies and listening to the Three Character Classic of insults? After being lectured without pause, Li Jiangnan was full of resentment, yet his face turned purple and he could not say a single word.

Instead, Li Mobei, who had been standing to one side without speaking, frowned and said softly, "As the saying goes, no one is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. Our Li Family may indeed have done some wrong things, but that does not mean you are right about everything. Since that is the case, why be so aggressive and deny people a chance to reform?"

Zhang Xiyang froze at that. It made it sound as though the Old Zhang Family was being unreasonable despite having the moral high ground. Though that was what he thought, after Li Mobei put it that way... it made the Old Zhang Family seem rather petty.

Seeing his younger brother stumped by a single sentence, Zhang Muyang stepped forward and subtly shielded the speechless Zhang Xiyang behind him. He smiled casually. "That's a strange thing to say. You were the ones who did wrong, yet instead of reflecting on yourselves, you righteously demand that we forgive you. Does our forgiveness mean you never made mistakes? And why should we be required to forgive you? Just because you lowered yourselves and came to admit your fault?"

Zhang Xianyang, who had been stuck on the sidelines with nowhere to join in, immediately echoed, "Exactly! If apologies worked, why would we need the police? If you killed someone and merely said you were wrong, could you just keep living as if nothing had happened?"

As he said that, Zhang Xianyang gave Li Jiangnan a meaningful glance and suddenly realized something. "Oh, I forgot. You really can do that."

Li Jiangnan's vision went black as he immediately remembered the comrades who had died miserably in the Zhang Family Secret Passage. Li Mobei was about to say something else when Old Zhang, the butler who had finished preparing the meal in the kitchen, came over and bowed slightly. "Master, lunch is ready. When would you like it served?"

Zhang Linmo, already starving and thoroughly impatient, immediately cursed, "Are you done yet? You're bickering like a bunch of women. You've given me a damn headache. How many times have I taught you not to just sit there running your mouths and mocking people when you can't do a damn useful thing? You say one thing and do another. What good is all that flowery talk? Jumping around and spouting bullshit only makes you look like clowns trying to attract attention. The Old Zhang Family has no rule about talking without acting, and no family law about saying one thing to someone's face and another behind their back. If you're men, take responsibility. I told you long ago to talk less and do more, but none of you ever listen. Later, every last one of you will hand-copy a set of the Zhang Family Rules. You can eat after you finish."

With that, the Zhang Family patriarch decisively waved his hand. "Old Zhang, see the guests out."

Author's note: The site was acting up badly yesterday, so I couldn't post an update. I had to combine it with today's chapter, so today's chapter is extra long~~

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Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Watching the Li Family leave the Zhang Family Villa with their heads hanging, Zhang Xianyang blinked suspiciously. In his impression, neither the Li Family nor the Kyoto Zhang Family were the type to waste effort on useless endeavors. Besides, their vile act of spying on the Zhang Family Secret Passage was still fresh in everyone's minds. The Li Family should understand that the Old District's wariness and hostility toward them could not be changed by a few words from Zhang Yaxian. If so, why had the Li Family sent Zhang Yaxian all the way from distant Kyoto? After going through so much trouble, surely they had not come merely to say a few things?

Zhang Linmo looked at his third son, who stood silently thinking, then at his eldest son, who had been studying his third son with worried eyes. He sighed inwardly. "Don't overthink it for now. Let's eat."

This lunch was unusually quiet. Afterward, everyone returned to their rooms for an afternoon nap. When they woke, the men at the gate came to report that the Li Family had been waiting outside for quite some time. It was November. Though it was not yet the dead of winter, the northern weather had always been bitterly cold and dry, and the Li Family members were lightly dressed. They stood shivering in the frigid north wind, looking rather pitiful.

Zhang Xianyang stood on the second-floor balcony and looked outside through the glass window. The Li Family stood there stubbornly despite the cold. Before long, light snow began drifting down. Zhang Yaxian, the only woman among them, hugged herself and rubbed her equally thin arms. Li Cunzhou immediately took off his heavy suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Li Mobei also wrapped an arm around his mother, trying to warm her with his body heat.

Zhang Xianyang watched from inside for a long time. The neighbors around them had likely been watching for just as long. The Li Family refused to move. No matter how cold it was outside, they stubbornly stood at the entrance to the Zhang Family Villa, both disgusting people and making themselves look pitiful.

Zhang Xianyang's heart sank slightly. He suddenly remembered how Li Cunzhou and his son had knelt through an entire night in a blizzard in his previous life. Back then, their persistence had moved the foolish and naïve Zhang Xianyang. Now, although there was no blizzard, there was an obviously vulnerable woman among those putting on this performance...

Zhang Xianyang sneered inwardly. He suddenly understood what the Li Family was thinking.

They had not come to obtain the Zhang Family's forgiveness at all. They merely wanted to act on their own and win public sympathy. Thinking of the military unit that would be coming to Guandong Province to film in some time, Zhang Xianyang realized that no matter what, Old Master Li was a decorated veteran. His children were being treated like this in the Old District. Though they had brought it upon themselves, the Kyoto elite circles were much like those in the Old District. Everyone had known one another for a long time, and even without affection, there was still a strange sense of shared identity. By the logic that offending one person was equivalent to disrespecting the entire circle that person belonged to, the Li men and Zhang Yaxian were likely trying to stir the military's dissatisfaction with the Old District Zhang Family and ruin the Zhang Family's plans to befriend the military.

If the Old District could not interact smoothly with Kyoto's forces, then it would undoubtedly remain isolated from the nation's power structure. That would give the Li Family enough time to scheme and carefully adjust their plans.

Once Zhang Xianyang understood the Li Family's intentions, he felt even more disgusted by people who would scheme even against their own family. It was an intimate blood bond, one where breaking bones still left the tendons connected, yet they could exploit and frame one another mercilessly for profit. The Kyoto Li Family and Zhang Family were like leeches that survived by sucking blood. The very sight of them was nauseating.

The Kyoto Li Family had sinister intentions and grand ambitions. Just as in his previous life, they likely did not merely want to seize a few benefits in the Old District. They wanted to gather the Old District into their hands, turn it into their private possession, even use it as fertile soil to nourish themselves. Unfortunately, Zhang Xianyang was no longer the naïve, stupid playboy from his previous life. As long as he refused to give the Li Family an opportunity, they could forget about destroying the Old District Zhang Family from within again.

With that thought, Zhang Xianyang decisively turned and went to Zhang Linmo's room. The Zhang Family patriarch had just risen from his afternoon nap. Seeing Zhang Xianyang's resolute expression, Zhang Linmo rolled his neck, stiff from sleep, and asked, "What kind of expression is that? It looks like someone bullied you."

"Dad, I just had a nightmare."

"Oh?" Zhang Linmo raised his brows with interest and gestured for Zhang Xianyang to sit. Then he asked, "What kind of nightmare made our Yangyang look like this?"

"I dreamed that Li Cunzhou's family kept pestering us, constantly using every kind of pathetic trick. In the end, they fooled me into going back to Kyoto with them. Then..." Without blinking, Zhang Xianyang recounted his experiences from his previous life as though they had been a dream, pouring everything out without pause. Only after he had said it all did he look anxiously at the Zhang Family patriarch sitting on the bed across from him and ask uneasily, "Dad, do you think I'm stupid?"

"It was only a nightmare. Why are you taking it seriously?" Zhang Linmo smiled and reached out to pat Zhang Xianyang's head. "The Li Family has probably been causing too much trouble lately. What you think about during the day appears in your dreams at night. But don't worry. Since the Old Zhang Family has stood firm in the Old District for a hundred years, we are not so easily plotted against. I don't take the Li Family's little tricks seriously."

"But the Li Family is clearly up to no good. We can't simply let them do whatever they want. We have to drive them away." Zhang Xianyang looked anxious. He did not know how to describe the turmoil in his heart. He could not and dared not reveal that he had been reborn, yet he feared that his concealment would cause the Old Zhang Family to suffer losses. If his father still did not take it seriously...