"Mom, what happened at home?" Tang Zhengde asked worriedly, glancing at everyone and seeing that they were all standing here safe and sound. He was a bit confused, why did everyone come so early if there’s nothing wrong?
"Humph."
Granny Tang gave him a look and said, "What, do you still remember that I am your mother? You bought a house in the county and didn’t even tell me?"
Granny Tang’s voice grew louder as she berated Tang Zhengde, "Your father passed away early, and I raised you five siblings by myself. Now that you’ve all grown up, you don’t think I matter anymore, do you?"
"Do you think that whatever happens, there’s no need to discuss it with me, your mother?" Granny Tang was both angry and upset. Her son buying a house was supposed to be good news, and as a mother, she naturally hoped her son would have a good life.
But such a big matter as buying a house, and Tang Zhengde didn’t even utter a word about it, this upset Granny Tang.
Standing in the room, Tang Yue quietly said to Tang Jun, "Xiao Jun, go find uncle."
"Okay." Tang Jun didn’t ask why Tang Yue wanted him to find her uncle; he quickly went to find Tang Mingli. Over the past six months, he had become quite familiar with the town, especially the route from the shop to Tang Mingli’s house.
Outside, with no more customers around, Zhang Hualian finished cleaning up the dishes and entered the courtyard, calling out, "Mom, eldest brother, sister-in-law."
"Hualian, you are my daughter-in-law, did you stop Zhengde from talking about buying the house?" Granny Tang immediately pointed the finger at Zhang Hualian.
Before Zhang Hualian could even speak, Tang Zhengde stepped forward, protecting her as he said, "Mom, this was my oversight. I bought the house in a rush, and then got busy with the shop and... forgot to bring it up."
Tang Zhengde’s tone softened, he really made a mistake in this aspect and apologizing to his own mom was the right thing to do.
"Second brother, where is this house you bought? We don’t even know whether it’s to the east, south, or west. Are you afraid that we will come looking for you in the future?" Wang Aihua found the right moment to speak.
Just as Granny Tang’s heart was softening, she toughened up again.
Tang Zhengde ignored what Wang Aihua said and just spoke earnestly to Granny Tang, "Mom, actually, I was planning to fix up the house and then move you in, but you came before that. Let’s go check out the house later."
"Is that so?" Granny Tang was clearly skeptical.
"Of course," Tang Zhengde affirmed confidently. "There are four rooms. Four of us can use three rooms, and Mom, you can have one room; isn’t that perfect?" After finishing, he added, "And, Mingli bought the house right next to ours, so Mom, you can choose wherever you want to stay."
"Mingli also bought a house?" Granny Tang’s eyes lit up when she heard this. It was not right for her sons to hide this from her, but the fact that both her sons had managed to buy houses made her proud.
In the entire Qianjin Village, whose sons could match hers? Both her sons had bought houses in the county!
"Yes, right next door, and it’s a multi-story building too," Tang Zhengde said with a smile, finally steering the conversation in a positive direction.
Only Tang Zhengyuan and Wang Aihua grew increasingly discontent as they looked on.
"Mom, I want to live with uncle," Tang Xian spoke outright, "Uncle, I can arrange for day commuting during my sophomore year of high school, then I can stay at your place."
He had never lived in a multi-story building before and thought, living there, he could even sneak out of school sometimes.
Wang Aihua’s eyes lit up and she immediately said, "Mingli, that sounds good, Xiao Xian living with you could save a lot of money."
The cost of boarding and meals would amount to a significant saving.
"No," Tang Mingli flatly refused. "High school requires evening self-study; it’s too late to come back, and if something happens, I can’t bear the responsibility. Besides, big brother and sister-in-law can’t leave the school, so they don’t need to worry about him wandering off. Him coming home every day, I have things to do and no time to take care of him. It’s safer for Xiao Xian to stay at school."
"Uncle, don’t worry, I definitely won’t wander off," Tang Xian immediately assured, already thinking about sneaking out and immediately feeling happy.
"Big sister-in-law, as you said, the school is far, and it’s also a bit far from the county. If he comes back after 10 pm, are you really comfortable with him being alone?" Tang Mingli definitely did not want to take in Tang Xian; he knew very well Tang Xian’s nature, always sneaking out to play, and if something went wrong, big brother would surely blame him.
"Uncle, last time we went out at night to buy things, we even encountered a few hoodlums trying to rob," Tang Yue’s cool voice rang out.
"Exactly, it’s not safe at night in the county, not just for Xiao Xian, even Xiao Yue is living in the school and has no plans for day commuting," Tang Mingli responded instantly.

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