"Mom and Dad, where is Xiao Fan?" Xia Xue asked as she entered, putting down the woven bag under her arm and looking around while putting away her umbrella.
Xia Xiangqian and Xia Cui'e looked tense, not daring to turn their heads.
"He..."
"Sister-in-law, I'm tidying up the room," Lin Fan said, returning everything to its original place as quickly as possible, then turning around with a smile.
"Why are you tidying the room out of the blue?" Xia Xue asked Lin Fan, looking confused.
"It's just that Uncle and Aunt are here, and I was afraid they'd laugh if the room was messy," Lin Fan said with a simple smile, then changed the subject. "Did you bring the medicine back?"
"I brought it," Xia Xue took out a small piece of Ganoderma lucidum from her pocket.
"Alright, save it for me for later. I'll go see how the medicine is simmering," Lin Fan said, walking towards the brazier.
Xia Xue pointed to the woven bag at her feet. "Mom and Dad, Xiao Fan's friends sent some old clothes. Take them back to wear."
"We don't want them," Xia Xiangqian shook his head.
"If you don't wear them, you can make them into padding. My mother is good with her hands."
Speaking of which, Xia Xue looked at her mother. "By the way, Mom, can you still thread a needle?"
"Daughter, our family isn't that hard up. I still have more than ten jin of cotton," Xia Cui'e refused.
"This material is much better than cotton." Xia Xue took out a brown fur coat from the woven bag, regardless of what her parents said.
"Oh!"
"This is..."
Xia Xiangqian and Xia Cui'e were stunned.
"My dad gets cold after drinking, so you can put it on him to sleep, or make it into a quilt," Xia Xue unfolded the heavy, thick fur coat and placed it on her parents' laps.
"Is this real fur?"
"It feels really warm, so smooth and shiny. Is this real?"
The old couple were extremely surprised.
"I don't know if it's real or not, but it's something someone didn't want anymore, so just take it back and use it however you like," Xia Xue continued to rummage in the woven bag.
"Such a nice fur coat, and they just gave it away?" Xia Cui'e held up the exquisite fur coat, her eyes full of disbelief.
She was old and hadn't seen much of the world.
However, based on the weight and feel of the coat, she knew it was definitely not cheap.
"Don't try to fool Mom and me. If Xiao Fan bought it for you, we can't accept it," Xia Xiangqian thought to himself that his daughter felt guilty for not lending him money, so she wanted to make amends by giving them clothes.
"I told you it was something someone didn't want. I can't wear such nice clothes in the countryside, it would be a shame if they got dirty." As she spoke, Xia Xue took out a white fox fur vest.
"Mom, here, it'll keep you warm."
"Oh my, this is what landlords wear! I can't, I can't wear it."
Xia Cui'e looked at it with amazement. The snow-white fur was soft, thick, and lustrous, without a single stray hair, as if it had a magical power that made it impossible to look away.
"You're a landlord now."
Xia Xue unbuttoned it. "Here, let me try it on you."
"No need," Xia Cui'e said, her face full of longing, but her voice refused.
"If you don't want it, I'll keep it, and it'll get moldy in the closet if it's kept too long. It'll be a waste of good things." Xia Xue simply draped the vest over her mother's shoulders.
"Let me do it myself. Don't get any dust on it, be careful." Xia Cui'e carefully opened her arms and put on the vest.
Xia Xue took a few steps back to admire it. "It's a bit loose. You can alter it yourself later."
"No need to alter it. This is a precious item, it'll cost a lot of money to trim even a little!" Xia Cui'e touched the soft sleeve, as if she had received a treasured gem.
"Daughter, where did these clothes come from?" Xia Xiangqian felt uneasy. It wasn't just that Lin Fan had so much money, but his daughter had also brought out two expensive clothes at once.
Could she have stolen from a wealthy family?
"I told you, they were given by Xiao Fan's friends," Xia Xue said indifferently.
"Stop lying to us!"
Xia Xiangqian pointed to the coat and vest. "What kind of person would give away such nice clothes? I heard these things cost tens of thousands each!"
"Oh, so expensive!" Xia Cui'e was startled and hurried to take off the vest.
Xia Xue grabbed her mother's hand and turned to Lin Fan. "Xiao Fan, you tell them."
Lin Fan had been watching the fun from the side, secretly amused. Hearing this, he said seriously, "These clothes were given by General Manager Zhou of Xinghe Real Estate. She's very rich. She built all the houses in town and has large industries in the county town."
Xia Xiangqian vaguely remembered hearing the name. It was a powerful private enterprise in the county.
"I have a good relationship with General Manager Zhou. The last time I went to her house, she didn't want these clothes anymore, so she let me take them all home."
Lin Fan said the truth in a joking tone. "You should have seen it, the room where she kept her clothes and shoes could fit an entire house like ours."
"She's that rich!"
"Xiao Fan, how do you know her?"
Xia Xiangqian and Xia Cui'e marveled, as if listening to a story.
"I'm a doctor, and she was my patient. Later, we helped each other a few times and became familiar," Lin Fan said casually.
"Is that so?" Xia Cui'e looked at the exquisite vest on her body and was reluctant to take it off. "It's so extravagant to just throw away such a nice vest. If someone found it, they'd be rich!"
Lin Fan grinned.
Zhou Yi was rich, but not stupid.
Even the emperor had poor relatives. Even without Lin Fan, Zhou Yi would have given these valuable items to someone else.
It wasn't that easy to pick them up.
"There are also two bags. Mom, you can carry them usually," Xia Xue took out two handbags from the bottom of the bag. They were not small and looked sturdy.
Lin Fan glanced at them. One had an LV trademark, and the other had interlocking half-circles.
If he remembered correctly, these two brands were Louis Vuitton and Chanel.
Given Zhou Yi's extravagant spending habits, he had every reason to believe that the price of these two bags was no less than ten thousand, and possibly even eighty or ninety thousand.
"This bag is quite nice," Xia Cui'e didn't recognize any brands.
She took the bag in her hands, turned it over and over, and asked happily, "Old man, in a couple of days when we plow the field, do you think I can carry this to pick peanuts?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Fan stumbled and almost fell into the brazier.
Carrying a luxury item to pick peanuts, she could really think of that.
However, things were meant to be used, and it didn't matter how they were used.
"Mom, I have some money here," Xia Xue reached into her pocket and laboriously pulled out a stack of red bills.
"Xiao Fan, I'm giving Mom ten thousand yuan. They're getting old and can't work anymore. This ten thousand yuan is for this year's living expenses."
"Ten thousand isn't enough."
Lin Fan felt a pang in his heart.
The worry and guilt on his sister-in-law's face, and her forced expression, were very moving.
She was already so rich, why bother with ten thousand yuan?
"Sister-in-law, I forgot to tell you, I earned some money in Siam..."
"Cough, cough,"
Xia Xue coughed twice and gave Lin Fan a look.
Xia Xiangqian and Xia Cui'e knew what their daughter meant.
The old couple exchanged glances, their faces full of helplessness.
The daughter was growing up and leaving them!
Even their own daughter was guarding against them now.
They were not as good as Lin Fan, an outsider.
"Mom, this is all I have," Xia Xue said.
Xia Cui'e understood. Her daughter didn't want to borrow money, but she also didn't want to put her parents in a difficult position, so she took out ten thousand yuan in front of Lin Fan, so that both families would have an explanation.