Rebirth: The whole family travels through time together: Fubao Koi is busy eating melons

Mr. Zhou pretended to be angry and snorted, emphasizing the word "brother", trying to correct Xiao Youniang's way of addressing him, but his efforts seemed to be ineffective.

His face looked a little gloomy, and he felt a little helpless when the boy next to Xiao Youniang called him "Uncle".

Zhang Laoer stood there for a while, in a dilemma.

Xiao Youniang seemed to be accustomed to Zhou Xiucai's cold words. There was no grievance in her bright eyes. She pushed open the fence door on her own, holding her father with one hand and her brother with the other, and walked into the yard with neat and natural movements.

She walked towards the kitchen with ease, carefully holding a bowl of steaming hot potato stewed chicken in her hand. It was a thank-you gift carefully prepared by Zhang Siwa.

Mr. Zhou's eyes followed the figure of Xiao Youniang, and the curiosity and confusion that he inadvertently revealed made him look more vivid.

"Oh? What good things did you bring?" He asked casually, but he had a hint of expectation in his heart.

Following Zhang Siwa's instructions, Xiao Youniang answered in a clear and melodious voice, "This was made by my second brother himself. He said it was a thank-you gift for Youniang's master, Mr. Zhou. It's potatoes stewed with chicken. It tastes delicious!"

Zhou Xiucai smiled slightly upon hearing this, and his words became less polite and more sharp: "Only a little girl like you would find such a thing precious. Besides, I have never admitted that I am your master. With your current level, you are still far from being able to become my disciple."

Zhang Laoer and Zhang Sanwa couldn't help but frown when they heard the impolite words, and the atmosphere became a little awkward for a moment.

But Xiao Youniang didn't care at all, her eyes were clear and sincere, and she continued: "Actually, I haven't thought about becoming your disciple, but...Uncle, you have a lot of books here, can you lend me one to read?"

Mr. Zhou gently closed the book in his hand, and looked at Xiao Youniang with a bit of surprise, as if he couldn't understand her sudden change: "This is really strange. Normally, when I ask you to recite the Three Character Classic, you always complain about it. Today, you actually come here to ask for a book?"

"This time I'm asking for it for my brother. He loves books very much." Xiao Youniang told the truth frankly.

Zhang Sanwa, who was standing by, was stunned at first when he heard this, then he turned his gaze gently to Xiao Youniang.

"Last time when I went to the market, I noticed that my elder brother was staring at the bookstall without blinking. But due to limited financial resources at home, he was always reluctant to buy books for himself, so he had to give up. Uncle Xiucai has a rich collection of books here. If you can lend us a book, we will definitely cherish it and will not damage it!"

Mr. Zhou took a serious look at Zhang Sanwa for the first time. Although he was dressed in simple farmer's clothes, his every move revealed his diligence and tenacity.

More importantly, those eyes and the temperament that he inadvertently revealed gave people a feeling of upbringing that was different from that of an ordinary farmer, as if he had lived in a different living environment, which made Zhou Xiucai secretly suspicious.

Mr. Zhou frowned, his eyebrows twisted into the shape of the Chinese character "川".

He slowly shifted his gaze from the ancient book in his hand to Zhang Laoer standing beside him, and the doubts in his heart grew stronger.

Although Zhang Laoer's clothes were simple, they lacked the roughness that was unique to farming under the sun and rain, which was completely different from that of ordinary farmers.

He pursed his lips slightly and turned to look at the little girl beside him who was looking at him eagerly.

"Little girl, you can borrow books, but you know there is no free lunch in the world. Borrowing books naturally has its conditions. Are you sure you can accept these conditions?"

The little girl blinked her big eyes, and a hint of hesitation was revealed in her clear eyes.

Her fingers twisted together nervously, and it was obvious that a little tug-of-war was going on in her mind.

"Uncle, can you tell me what the conditions are first?"

She asked cautiously, fearing that her only ten cents would not be enough to meet the unknown request.

However, before Mr. Zhou could speak, Zhang Sanwa had already made a firm decision: "No need, we don't need to borrow books. I'm sorry to bother you so abruptly. I'll take my sister away now."

As he said this, he was about to bend down and pick up the little girl who had a puzzled look on her face, with a decisive move.

Little Youniang's little hands tightly grasped her brother's collar, her face full of confusion and reluctance: "Brother, why don't you want to borrow books? I can clearly see that you are very interested in those books. Brother, you haven't really smiled in the past few days, I just want to make you happy..."

Zhang Sanwa's heartstrings were gently touched by his sister's words. He lowered his head and stared at Xiao Youniang with complicated eyes.

"I'm not unhappy, nor do I dislike books. For me, books may not be of any practical help..."

When Mr. Zhou heard this, a smile broke out on his originally serious face, but there was a hint of sarcasm hidden in this smile.

"Ridiculous! Are books really useless, or have you not yet discovered their value? The books in this world are as vast as the ocean. Does knowledge that is not understood become a sin to be abandoned?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Sanwa paused slightly, lowered his head, one side of his face disappeared into the shadow, and spoke in a low and sincere voice.

"Mr. Zhou has a point. It is my ignorance and inappropriate words. We will not disturb your meditation any longer."

After saying this, he bowed respectfully to Mr. Zhou, then steadily picked up the little girl and strode out the door, leaving Mr. Zhou with a resolute back.

Zhang Laoer, who witnessed this scene, felt mixed emotions. Facing Zhou Xiucai's cold face, he could only bow and hurriedly catch up with his own child, feeling secretly annoyed in his heart.

Amidst all this chaos, only the innocent little sister was unaware of the awkwardness and tension in the air.

She waved her little hands playfully at Zhou Xiucai, and jumped excitedly to follow her brother.

Zhou Xiucai stayed alone in the study room, holding his breath. He angrily threw the book in his hand heavily on the table and muttered in dissatisfaction: "Now that you have a brother, you have completely forgotten about me, your master. You are such a heartless ungrateful person. You just left without mercy!"

Feeling depressed, he strolled into the kitchen, thinking about checking out the abilities of the young man whom Xiao Youniang called "Second Brother".

When he inadvertently lifted the lid of the pot, a distinctive aroma suddenly hit his nose.

Mr. Zhou couldn't help but swallow his saliva. His tongue, which was usually very picky about food, actually surrendered to the aroma.

There was only a bowl of cold food in front of him, but even this scholar who usually boasted of his keen sense of taste was moved by it.

In the other corner of the kitchen, the little sister snuggled obediently in her big brother's arms, her little hands tightly around his neck, fearing that any mishap on her part would bring extra burden to him.