Chapter 366: Chapter 367: Meeting Gift

Eldest Son Zhou glanced at Xu Ying, and Second Aunt Zhou immediately grabbed Xu Ying’s wrist with one hand.

Xu Ying was startled by this sudden action, and before she could resist, Second Aunt Zhou quickly took her pulse and then, unable to hide her joy, she said, “Are you pregnant?

I think it’s twins, Chen is really fortunate.”

As soon as Second Aunt Zhou spoke, Old Lady Zhou and Old Man Zhou were so pleased that they were beaming, “Is it true, the second son’s family?”

Second Aunt Zhou nodded her head; her medical skills were never wrong.

Old Lady Zhou regretted her words as soon as she said them. The medical skills of the second son’s wife were well-established; she definitely wouldn’t make a mistake in taking the pulse.

“Today is really a day of double happiness, oh my, when I get back, I must make up for the gift for my great-grandson.”

Third Aunt Zhou felt extremely jealous upon hearing this. When Zhou Yuelian was alive, the Zhou couple doted on her the most, and now that she was gone, their love for this grandchild was plain to see.

Seeing the mother-in-law’s affectionate gaze towards Xu Ying, jealousy bubbled up in Third Aunt Zhou’s heart. Her daughter Zhou Ru had never been so adored by the old woman.

That woman Zhou Yuelian, why didn’t she take her son with her in death.

Second Aunt Zhou took out a big box from her bag. When their home was raided in the past, she had been more astute than Eldest Son Zhou and had hidden some things away, at that time primarily concerned with protecting her own herbs.

“This is for you,” Second Aunt Zhou handed over the box, “You can open it and take a look when you want.”

Xu Ying, unable to contain her curiosity upon hearing this, opened the box and saw, clearly visible, a well-preserved ginseng root that seemed to be at least a hundred years old.

“Thank you, Uncle Zhou, Second Aunt Zhou.”

That ginseng was something precious. If it hadn’t been for these herbs, Old Zhou and his wife would have not survived tough times.

Third Aunt Zhou, seeing that the gifts from her sisters-in-law were all valuable items, suddenly felt that the red envelope in her hand was somewhat embarrassing to give.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Third Aunt Zhou steeled her heart, took off the golden bracelet from her wrist, and reluctantly handed it over to Xu Ying along with the red envelope.

“Yingying, our family can’t compare to your Uncle Zhou or Second Uncle Zhou, we don’t have much to offer. You must accept this golden bracelet and red envelope.”

Eldest Son Zhou and Eldest Son Zhou had been in business before and, naturally, had accumulated many treasures.

The wife of Eldest Son Zhou also came from a business background and naturally wasn’t short on money, while Second Uncle Zhou’s family had a medical background, full of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and naturally had no lack of valuable medicinal herbs.

It was then awkward for Third Uncle Zhou, who, as a boy, never liked business but preferred to wield weapons, thus he became a soldier.

The wife of Third Uncle Zhou also used to work in the military. Somehow the two got together; she did not have the backing of a powerful family and had to rely on her association with her husband.

Previously, when her in-laws became victims of the political turmoil and her brothers-in-law and their families were sent away, Third Uncle Zhou’s wife was overjoyed.

She felt like the winner in life.

But she never expected that in just a few years, the policy would change and her brothers-in-law and their families would all return.

Even Zhou Yuelian wouldn’t let her live in peace, who could have imagined that even in death she’d bring forth a son.

Third Uncle Zhou’s wife found herself out of luck at every turn.

Watching the dignified eldest sister-in-law, who exuded a sense of nobility in every movement, and the always cool and beautiful second sister-in-law, Third Uncle Zhou’s wife was flooded with intense jealousy.

“Thank you, Third Aunt Zhou.”

Third Aunt Zhou, holding back her pain, managed a smile, “What’s there to thank me for? We haven’t been around these past few years; Zhou Chen has relied on you both.”

Zhou Ru, seeing her own mother giving away the golden bracelet to Xu Ying, was visibly displeased.

Her mother was actually so willing to part with it; watching Xu Ying, she grew even more jealous.

“Mom, how could you give her a golden bracelet? You’ve never given me one.”

Why should she come along and immediately be so liked by everyone?

Third Aunt Zhou looked at her daughter’s jealous demeanor and said with irritation, “If I don’t give a golden bracelet, what should I give? Should I just wait for your Eldest Aunt and Second Aunt to take joy in my troubles?”

Zhou Ru sulkily shut her mouth. Why was fate so blind, to let her uncles come back so soon? Why couldn’t they have stayed in the countryside for a few more years?

Xu Ying, having received the gift, naturally could not neglect proper etiquette.

She smiled at everyone and said, “Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle… you all rest for a bit. I’ll go make something for you to eat.

Just so happens I can show you my cooking skills and let you taste the food I make.”

The moment Xu Ying spoke, Old Man Zhou was over the moon. He had inquired about her cooking skills, which were unmatched; otherwise, why would those foreign guests be so willing to buy the delicacies she concocted?

Old Man Zhou hadn’t been happy for three seconds before Old Lady Zhou objected, “That won’t do, you’re pregnant and have a big belly, how can you cook?”

“Grandma, it’s fine. My belly isn’t even showing yet, nothing is getting in the way.” Xu Ying said with a smile, seeing that Grandpa really wanted to taste her cooking. She had received so many gifts; she really needed to give them a proper thank you.

Aunt Zhou watched as Xu Ying was actually keen to cook and chimed in, “I’ll help Yingying with the preparations.”

“Exactly, Mom. My sister-in-law and I can take care of the firewood and the side dishes, we’ll just let Yingying stand and add some seasoning, and wave the spatula around.” Second Aunt Zhou also added from the side.

Seeing this, Old Lady Zhou hesitated for a second, looking disdainfully at Old Zhou’s greedy appearance.

In the end, she nodded and agreed.

Since they were discussing shopping for ingredients, Xu Ying asked him to also take a list for her.

They had finished talking, and Zhang Shulan and Yang Hongxia had already finished eating.

Xu Ying finally managed to slip away and promptly settled Yang Hongxia and Zhang Shulan’s bill.

Since she had promised to treat them to fried chicken, she certainly couldn’t let them pay.

“Yingying, we’ll take off first, you guys take your time talking.” Yang Hongxia ran to the bar to settle the bill, only to find out it had already been paid. She found Xu Ying, thanked her, and, pulling Zhang Shulan, they left.

Zhang Shulan cast a glance at Zhou Ru, somewhat worried. She hadn’t expected that the young girl would turn out to be the sister of Xu Ying’s husband’s uncle. There was a concern that the little aunt might go back and complain.

If it was because of her buying a dress that made Yingying not get along with her husband’s family, she would be making a big mistake.

All the way, Zhang Shulan was distracted.

On this side, after purchasing the groceries, they went into the kitchen to help out.

Since Xu Ying was cooking, they all decided to cook together.

The staff meals were usually two vegetarian dishes to one meat dish, but today Xu Ying was treating her relatives, so they made six meat dishes and six vegetarian dishes, much to the delight of the staff at the shop.

“The boss’s wife’s cooking is really delicious. Our boss is so fortunate. I heard that even the fried chicken in our shop was developed by the boss’s wife.

The boss really hit the jackpot marrying the boss’s wife, and she’s so beautiful too.”

“The boss is handsome too, and he’s so kind to the boss’s wife…”

Zhou Ru listened to the employees at the shop praise Xu Ying, and her heart grew even more displeased.

When she came, she understood from her mom’s intentions that she wanted her cousin to introduce her to her cousin’s husband, but to her surprise, his wife already had a child on the way. Now it seemed like it would be difficult.