Mao Kangshan was tight-lipped.

His wife’s surname was Song.

Grandmother Song questioned him repeatedly without result.

Mao Kangshan only said someone “might” visit tomorrow.

Nothing was certain, yet he asked her to buy meat and fish. It was the hottest time of August—meat would spoil after just one day!

Mao Kangshan was stubborn. Grandmother Song didn’t argue with him but decided that if no one came tomorrow, she would invite their youngest son’s family who lived nearby for dinner. It was rare for her old man to be generous—they couldn’t waste money spent on meat.

But Grandmother Song was very curious about the students who would visit.

The next day, after Grandmother Song went out to buy groceries, Mao Kangshan wandered around the house, examining things.

The house was small.

The furniture was old.

Fortunately, Grandmother Song loved cleanliness. Though the house was small and the furniture old, everything was kept spotlessly clean.

The house felt cramped mainly because of Mao Kangshan’s numerous books and tools. After carving out a workspace for him, the already small house became even smaller.

“In this world, who complains about a teacher being poor? They should only care about the teacher’s ability… Hmph, forget it if they don’t want to become disciples!”

Mao Kangshan muttered to himself.

When Grandmother Song returned from shopping, she saw him washing a basin of water to clean the chairs.

“The sun must be rising from the west today! Old Mao, what’s going on? If you don’t explain clearly, I won’t cook today!”

No amount of cleaning could make the peeling paint on the chairs look better.

Mao Kangshan was anxious inside. When Grandmother Song pressed him further, his explosive temper almost flared up, but seeing her sweating from grocery shopping and massaging her tired feet, his anger subsided—unlike Ning Yanfan, Mao Kangshan had made many enemies. During the Cultural Revolution, while Ning Yanfan emerged almost unscathed, Mao Kangshan suffered greatly.

He was imprisoned in the cattle pen for several years, and Grandmother Song suffered alongside him.

All of Ning Yanfan’s children were successful.

The Mao family’s situation wasn’t good.

Mao Kangshan couldn’t speak harshly to his wife. After hanging up the cleaned washcloth, he told her about what happened in Jiang City.

Grandmother Song suddenly understood:

“You want to take on a disciple?”

Disciples were different from students.

After graduation, students merely considered Mao Kangshan as one of their teachers.

A disciple requires hands-on guidance in the profession.

Taking on a disciple meant endless worry.

Moreover, Mao Kangshan’s imprisonment in the cattle pen was due to being reported by a former disciple. This incident left him disillusioned. Even after rehabilitation and returning to work, he cut off contact with all his formerly valued disciples. He naturally severed ties with the one who betrayed him, but he also ignored those who had defended him.

Mao Kangshan hadn’t always been stingy.

He became stingy later, and Grandmother Song knew this was his way of “driving away guests,” avoiding social interactions, and even pushing away his children.

Grandmother Song doubted her hearing—her old Comrade Mao wanted to take on a disciple again.

From what she heard, it was a young girl.

“Would she be willing?”

Knowing Old Mao’s situation yet still wanting to visit—was this young girl a bit foolish?

Mao Kangshan became embarrassedly angry, “If she’s unwilling, forget it! I already regret mentioning it. I just wanted to compete with Ning Yanfan—you think I want to?”

Grandmother Song fell silent.

She went to the kitchen to prepare the fish and meat.

Having a disciple wouldn’t be bad. Whether a girl or boy, having someone visit regularly would bring more life to their home.

…

In the same staff housing complex.

Mao Kangshan’s youngest son’s family also lived there.

The youngest son Mao Guosheng also worked at the Design Institute.

However, affected by his father’s troubles, his career was delayed. Despite his high skill level, his professional title remained low.

After Mao Kangshan’s rehabilitation, the Design Institute restored his benefits and reassigned a three-bedroom apartment for the Mao couple. The apartment Mao Guosheng was assigned was where Mao Kangshan and Grandmother Song currently lived.

One was a three-bedroom apartment on the third floor, spacious and comfortable in all seasons.

The other was a small two-bedroom on the sixth floor.

Mao Guosheng’s wife was calculating and had mentioned it several times to Grandmother Song, who finally decided to exchange houses with their youngest son’s family.

Mao Kangshan had no objections—Mao Guosheng and his wife had three children, boys, and girls, making it difficult to squeeze into a small two-bedroom. Moreover, when the youngest son Mao Guosheng had just started working at the Design Institute, he suffered the worst from his father’s troubles…

The relationship between Mao Kangshan and Mao Guosheng was somewhat awkward.

Mao Guosheng had complicated feelings toward his father.

With this barrier between father and son, his wife frequently complained about her in-laws, believing they deserved the house exchange after suffering so much without benefits.

She also closely monitored her in-laws’ activities, worried that Mao Kangshan’s other children might take advantage.

Why should they?

She and Guosheng took care of the elderly couple’s every ailment—why should others share in the benefits?

That wasn’t how things worked.

Mao Kangshan and Grandmother Song lived very frugally, eating little in their old age, usually just plain noodles.

Mao Kangshan was so stingy that even when his daughter-in-law wanted to take advantage, she couldn’t endure several meals of plain noodles.

Today the sun must have risen from the west. When Mao Guosheng’s wife saw her mother-in-law buying meat and fish at the market, she rushed home like the wind:

“Guosheng, are your parents inviting us upstairs for dinner today?”

Mao Guosheng was confused, “What nonsense are you talking about? Nothing like that.”

Go upstairs to eat what? Haven’t had enough plain noodles?

His wife told him about Grandmother Song returning home with lots of meat and fish, “If they’re not inviting us for dinner, why would Mom buy so much food? How could they eat it all?”

This daughter-in-law tried to control everything, even her in-laws’ dining table!

Mao Guosheng responded uncomfortably: “Why concern yourself with these things? Go if invited, ignore it if not. They should improve their meals sometimes!”

His wife snorted.

Improve their meals? They were secretly eating well by themselves.

She knew her father-in-law was a selfish miser, a true iron rooster. Today the iron rooster was plucking its feathers—Mao Guosheng’s wife was puzzled!

Among those of her father-in-law’s status, only Mao Kangshan lived so poorly.

Mao Guosheng’s wife felt angry, remembering she hadn’t bought groceries yet and needed to visit the market.

Going downstairs, she saw a taxi parked in the courtyard.

The door opened, and a very beautiful young girl stepped out.

Mao Guosheng’s wife scrutinized her from head to toe—she looked flirtatious, not like a good person.

This supposedly flirtatious girl walked straight toward her:

“Sister, is this the Provincial Design Institute’s staff housing?”

Mao Guosheng’s wife nodded:

“Who are you looking for?”

The girl smiled, “Then I’m in the right place. I’m looking for Teacher Mao Kangshan.”

Looking for her father-in-law?

Mao Guosheng’s wife immediately understood why her mother-in-law bought meat and fish.

So they were having a guest!

Had the two elderly people gone crazy? They wouldn’t spend money on their own son’s family but were being so generous to outsiders.

Mao Guosheng’s wife pointed upward, suppressing her anger: “Sixth floor, the third apartment is his home!”

The girl was delighted: “Thank you!”

She turned and called to the taxi: “Ge Jian, quickly bring everything up. We’ve found Teacher Mao’s home, we’re in the right place!”