CHAPTER 83 PART 2

 

They were cooking rice porridge, and the aroma would definitely drift out. But they always cooked with the doors and windows closed, for fear of the smell being detected. How could someone come looking for them?

 

Yao Meimei: “I’ll go take a look.”

 

Qin Shanzhou: “Don’t open the door.”

 

Yao Meimei: “Oh, I know, don’t worry.”

 

She picked up a bowl, added some side dishes, and then walked to the door, eating as she asked, “Who’s knocking so early in the morning?”

 

Soon, a somewhat familiar yet strange voice came from outside. “Is this Mrs. Yao?”

 

Yao Meimei: “Hmm? Uh… yes, I am. Who are you?”

 

She hesitated but still answered. Someone actually addressed her as Mrs. Yao now, who could it be? She subconsciously looked through the peephole and saw the Xia family!

 

She then remembered Qin Jiuzhen saying yesterday that the Xia family had arrived at the stronghold. She didn’t expect them to come knocking today.

 

Yao Meimei regretted it immensely. She shouldn’t have answered, let alone admitted that she was Yao Meimei. What should she do now?

 

Seeing how down and out they were, they must be here to scrounge for food, and she had just finished making breakfast. Absolutely couldn’t let them in!

 

Yao Meimei didn’t say anything more but quickly returned to the dining room and sat down to continue eating. Qin Shanzhou asked, “Who’s outside?”

 

Yao Meimei: “Shh! It’s the Xia family. Xiaozhen mentioned the Xia family yesterday. I didn’t expect them to show up today. They definitely have bad intentions, they’re here to ask us for food!”

 

Qin Shanzhou’s lips twitched. “Don’t say anything, and don’t open the door. Pretend we’re not home.”

 

The fact that Yao Meimei had just answered the person outside was selectively forgotten by both of them.

 

Yao Meimei: “Right, save some for Xiaozhen, he can eat it when he wakes up. He’s been exhausted these past few days.”

 

Qin Shanzhou: “He still can’t endure hardship, unlike us when we were young…”

 

However, Qin Shanzhou didn’t object. Now, basically all the food at home was sent by Xia Liansheng because of Qin Jiuzhen.

 

Yuan Zhuo had knocked and someone had answered, and from the voice, it did seem to be Yao Meimei, and she had admitted to being surnamed Yao.

 

Jiang Meng: “It must be the Qin family. Hurry up and tell them to open the door.”

 

Yuan Zhuo continued knocking. “Mrs. Yao, we’re from the Yuan family, please open the door.”

 

But this time, after he knocked and spoke, there was no response from inside.

 

Yuan Qingning frowned. “Mom, Dad, are they pretending not to be home?”

 

Yuan Zhuo wasn’t stupid, of course he realized this too. They probably saw their faces through the peephole and didn’t want to have anything to do with them now.

 

Yuan Qingfeng, being a boy, had a short temper. He had maintained good manners and behavior before only because the occasion required it. He had suffered so much now that his patience had reached its limit.

 

He kicked the door right in front of them. Although he was still young, his kick wasn’t weak, and the door made a loud bang.

 

Fortunately, only a footprint was left on the door, and there was no other damage.

 

Qin Shanzhou and Yao Meimei, who were silently eating breakfast inside, were startled. If they didn’t answer the door, were they going to break in directly?

 

Yuan Zhuo and Jiang Meng outside didn’t stop their son. Yuan Qingfeng carefully glanced at them and then, instead of stopping, kicked the door again.

 

This time, the force was much weaker than before, but it sounded about the same from inside.

 

Yao Meimei panicked. “What should we do? Are they going to barge in?”

 

Qin Shanzhou thought for a moment and sneered. “It’s fine, I’ll go talk to them!”

 

He put down his empty bowl, walked to the door, and shouted sharply, “What are you doing out there? If you kick the door again, I’ll contact the patrolling soldiers to deal with you!”

 

Yuan Zhuo quickly stopped Yuan Qingfeng. He recognized the voice, though harsh, as Qin Shanzhou’s. He said gently, “Mr. Qin, long time no see. Won’t you invite us in for a chat?”

 

Qin Shanzhou: “My house is small, it can’t accommodate the prestigious Yuan family.”

 

He was basically telling them to get lost, and Yuan Zhuo probably understood what he meant.

 

Yuan Zhuo: “We’ve come all this way just to see you. You can’t be so stingy, can you?”

 

Qin Shanzhou sneered. He didn’t even care about his own mother now, let alone other people. The Yuan family was now like a tiger fallen from grace, bullied by dogs, worse than dogs!

 

He didn’t bother to pretend. “Heh! I’m too lazy to waste my breath on you. Get lost, don’t force me. Otherwise, if you’re kicked out of this stronghold for trespassing, it’s none of my business.”

 

Of course, Yuan Zhuo and his family wouldn’t just barge in. Letting Yuan Qingfeng kick the door twice was actually to force the two people inside to come out and talk to them.

 

If they didn’t even talk, wouldn’t there be no chance at all?

 

Yuan Zhuo suddenly thought of Qin Jiulin, who was with Liu Zhongyuan. “I heard that your eldest son is now with the captain of one of the Variant beastman squads. Is that true?”

 

Qin Shanzhou: “What’s it to you?”

 

Yuan Zhuo: “You should also know that person named Liu Zhongyuan, right?”

 

Qin Shanzhou: “So what?”

 

Yuan Zhuo: “Have you forgotten? The relationship between Liu Zhongyuan and the Yuan family.”

 

Qin Shanzhou had actually forgotten. After all, for the upper class, this was just a joke for after-dinner chatter. If Yuan Zhuo hadn’t brought it up now, he wouldn’t have remembered.

 

Qin Shanzhou: “Then…why aren’t you looking for Liu Zhongyuan, but us?! Oh right, you treated him badly, so now he doesn’t care about you.”

 

Just like that piece of trash Qin Jiulin, birds of a feather flock together.

 

Yuan Zhuo: “Don’t you want Qin Jiulin to take good care of you and serve you?”

 

Didn’t Qin Shanzhou want that? He wanted it very much! But Qin Jiulin was against them, what could they do? Could they force a Variant beastman to do their bidding?

 

Qin Shanzhou: “Do you have a good idea?”

 

Yuan Zhuo smiled, he had taken the bait. “What? Aren’t you going to invite us in for a seat?”

 

Qin Shanzhou exchanged glances with Yao Meimei, who had just finished eating and cleared the dishes. Yao Meimei whispered, “Should we open the door?”

 

Qin Shanzhou thought for a moment. “Let’s open the door first. If they refuse to leave, we’ll contact the soldiers. We definitely won’t let them take advantage of us.”

 

Yao Meimei: “I have a feeling that letting them in is easy, but making them leave will be difficult.”

 

Qin Shanzhou thought that Yuan Zhuo might have a solution. After all, he had such a big business, so his mind must be better than theirs.

 

Thinking this, he hesitated but still opened the door. “Come in.”

 

The four members of the Yuan family looked a bit dirty, but they seemed energetic and their bodies weren’t dirty. He led them inside, and the first thing they smelled was the aroma of porridge.

 

Yuan Qingfeng: “It smells so good! Just in time, we haven’t had breakfast!”

 

Qin Shanzhou and Yao Meimei heard it but didn’t react. Yuan Qingfeng didn’t treat this place as somewhere else, he directly pulled his sister’s hand and headed for the kitchen.

 

Yao Meimei hurried over to block the kitchen door. “Hey! What are you doing?!”

 

Jiang Meng, holding Yuan Zhuo’s arm, smiled slightly. “Oh, children are so 不懂事 (naive/immature). You wouldn’t be so petty, would you? It’s just a little breakfast, you can’t bear to part with it?”

 

If it were before, she would have felt embarrassed, but now, Yao Meimei wasn’t buying it. “Heh! Of course, we can’t bear to part with it. We can’t bear to eat it ourselves, let alone give it to outsiders like you!”

 

“Don’t tell me you don’t know how precious food is now. Just say what you have to say, and then leave quickly. We don’t have much time to entertain you.”

 

Jiang Meng didn’t expect Yao Meimei to say that and was a little surprised. “Oh, you’re living such a hard life. It seems Qin Jiulin, as a Variant beastman, eats and drinks well every day, but leaves you aside. He’s really unfilial, you raised him after all!”

 

Wasn’t that the truth!

 

Qin Shanzhou and Yao Meimei thought the same. Although Liu Zhongyuan and Qin Jiulin had similar experiences, at least the Qin family raised Qin Jiulin, providing him with education, food, clothing, and shelter.

 

But they didn’t expect him to turn his back on them after the apocalypse. It was said that it was because Xia Liansheng and Qin Jiuzhen had joined forces to deceive him emotionally. But hadn’t Xia Liansheng and he never really been together?

 

In that case, what was wrong with Xia Liansheng choosing Xiaozhen? Why be angry about it?

 

Even if he was angry about this, shouldn’t they, as parents, enjoy his filial piety?

 

Although Yao Meimei thought this way, she still blocked the kitchen door without moving. Qin Shanzhou walked to the living room sofa. “Please have a seat.”

 

Seeing that there was no way to directly enter the kitchen to find food, Yuan Qingfeng finally calmed down and pulled Yuan Qingning to the living room. Yao Meimei wasn’t stingy with water, since the water supply had been restored, and the kitchen water was very clean.

 

Even without boiling it again, it was safe to drink.

 

Yao Meimei poured them four glasses of water and then returned to the kitchen, still preventing them from getting close.

 

With Yao Meimei guarding so closely, they had no way to barge in. After all, this stronghold was guarded by the military, and they couldn’t commit a crime here.

 

They could only endure their hunger and drink some water.

 

Qin Shanzhou: “Does Patriarch Yuan have any good ideas? We really can’t control this child, Qin Jiulin, especially now, we can’t even find him.”

 

Yuan Zhuo: “What’s so difficult about that? It’s precisely because the two of them have status and position now that they care more about reputation than ordinary beastmen.”

 

Qin Shanzhou: “We’ve tried that method before, but it was useless. They don’t care about their reputation at all.”

 

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