Zhou Jiao reluctantly watched Zhou Xiaozheng and the others leave. Only when they were out of sight did she turn back to the stove and begin cooking.

Stewed pot of pheasant soup - to make the two sisters-in-law feel more comfortable, and also to make Zhang's mother happier. Everyone is their own child, and they love them. It is unreasonable for her, the daughter-in-law, to eat and drink foolishly every day while her grandson stares blankly.

These past few days, every time she saw her nephews and nieces staring at the stove, she felt a surge of guilt. Without a split family, many things had to be handled with more care. She didn't demand gratitude, just peace and quiet. The children were well-behaved and sensible, not clamoring for anything, which made her reluctant to let them suffer.

Thinking about how she felt when she was a child and saw her younger brother eating chicken legs, she could not ignore the fact that she ate meat and fish every day in the name of confinement, while the children probably still had steamed buns with porridge.

Thinking of her own safety and her children at home, she couldn't bear to hide it. It wasn't the right time yet, and she could still buy some things with the money. She might as well be a saint.

Zhang Guoqing came in and saw her in a daze. She didn't even react when he came in. He frowned. Could it be that he was not at home today and someone had said something gossipy?

He closed the door, walked over to her, hugged her, and asked softly, "What's wrong? Are you worried?"

Zhou Jiao realized he had misunderstood. She shook her head and smiled, "Bring it to Mom tomorrow so the kids can have some tonic. Seeing them staring at it eagerly tonight and not making a fuss, how could they not be greedy?"

Zhang Guoqing stared at her and spoke, but in his heart he was secretly wondering if someone had wronged her because he was not by her side.

"Okay. I'll go up the mountain after we finish eating. Xizi and the others were clamoring for clothes tonight, but I stopped my two brothers. When I was little, I looked forward to wearing new clothes and eating delicious food during the New Year, and it's been like that ever since I was a child. I told them not to scold the children. If our family was safe, I would rack my brains to find a solution, and I wouldn't have the heart to scold them. It's all because of poverty these days. Later, when I saw the children shouting with joy, I felt very happy. I'll buy their cloth at the market later. The good fabric at home is for our sons."

"Well. It's up to you." Zhou Jiao didn't care about the quality of the material. As long as he was happy, it was fine.

The two chatted for a while, and Zhou Jiao saw that there was nothing to clean up, so she took Zhang Guoqing to wash his feet and went back to the inner room.

Zhou Jiao couldn't help but persuade him again: "Do you have anything else to do tomorrow? Don't go deep into the mountains. I won't feel at ease at home."

After taking off his clothes, Zhang Guoqing collapsed on the kang, hugged his son, breathed a sigh of relief, and whispered, "Tomorrow morning, I'll take my cousin and the others to the dense wild boar forest. It's safe there. I promised you I wouldn't go deep into the mountains, so don't worry too much at home. I'll be back soon and I'll take my second brother to the bureau to handle the paperwork. It'll be almost noon when we're done, and I might even have to treat a few people at the bureau to a meal to build some good relationships for my second brother. From then on, it's up to him."

Zhou Jiao pondered for a moment and said, "Then we should wait until second brother moves his household registration to save the hassle of running back and forth. Do my parents know about second brother's situation? Has my eldest brother and his wife reacted? Logically, you should make arrangements for them first. But second brother has already done it, so we'll have to wait until at least next year to process eldest brother's. I wonder what my eldest brother and his wife think of it."

Zhang Guoqing patted her, "Second brother hasn't told anyone about this yet. Only Dad knows about it, so let's wait until next Monday when we go to work. We don't even plan to tell Second Sister-in-law yet, to avoid unnecessary complications. I've already told Big Brother, don't worry. Do you still have a bicycle ticket? Second brother wants to buy a bicycle for work, and he told me tonight. I promised him I'd look for it."

"There should be, they're all in the secret compartment. Did Aunt Zuo mention the textile factory hiring tonight? I want to get a spot for my eldest sister-in-law first. It just so happens that I'm in the company of my eldest sister and the others, so we won't be bullied. If Aunt Zuo doesn't work out, I'm also planning to ask Aunt Cheng to look for the supply and marketing cooperative. Yuanyuan said last time that she has connections. As for my second sister-in-law, we'll have to wait. The new courtyard will take several months to prepare, so we have to take care of everything at home and outside first. When they're all arranged, we'll let Mom and Dad live with us. We're all in the county town, so it's close for them to visit their grandson. If they don't want to go back to Beijing in a few years, we'll leave the small courtyard for them to live in, so they can enjoy their lives."

Zhang Guoqing laughed and said, "You really have Aunt Zuo and Aunt Cheng in your plans. I forgot to tell you that Dad told me not to arrange jobs for the two sisters-in-law. He said that we should split up and move ahead of time, and asked my second brother and me to clean up the yard next door within half a month. After the move, let the three daughters-in-law get used to managing a small family. If they can't even manage a small family well, they can just stay at home to take care of the children, do housework, and earn work points in the fields. He and Mom want the eldest and second brothers to have smooth work and have money on hand. After a few years, we can talk about the sisters-in-law's jobs. For now, we are considering settling down the small family.

I think he was probably worried about his sisters-in-law going to work, leaving no one to take care of the children at home or outside, and that all the worries would fall on Mom. More importantly, he was worried about me owing them favors and was concerned about the impact it would have on me. All these reasons combined, and once Dad said it, I didn't object.

We want our parents to live with us, but if they're worried about our eldest brother and our eldest sister-in-law has to work, Mom will be exhausted. We'd better listen to their arrangements. We'll talk about everything after we divide the family."

"I didn't think it through. Listen to Mom and Dad. There's no rush for this. Let's talk about it later. Brother, Mom will probably scold me again tomorrow. She just told me yesterday to be tight-lipped and not to lose something, and she talked about a lot of social etiquette. Tonight I was generous again, luckily it was to her grandson, otherwise she would have scolded me." Zhou Jiao didn't care. If it weren't for Zhang Guoqing's enthusiasm, she would have been unwilling to owe them a favor out of consideration for the old couple.

"Haha, Mom privately pulled me aside and told me not to ask for help if I was in trouble. She said Huang Yaoguo had used so many connections, but he hadn't been able to get your eldest brother a job in all these years, so I just had to take care of myself. She was happy that your second brother could go to the city, but she didn't want me to ask for help. She said that even if my eldest brother didn't have one, the burden would be on us. I guess she wouldn't be happy about helping my sister-in-law find a job. She was afraid her eldest son would owe a lot of favors." After saying this, the couple hugged each other and laughed, feeling both sad and happy. Having both parents alive and harmonious with their relatives was a wish they could never have asked for in their previous life.

Zhang Guoqing sighed after a moment and said, "Luckily, if you ride fast, it only takes half an hour to get to the county town, and the company has dormitories. If it were any further, I wouldn't dare arrange for them to go to the county town. Housing is hard to find in the county town, and waiting for the company to allocate housing is even more difficult. All I can do is arrange jobs for them. As for the rest, what mother said makes sense. Eat according to your appetite. As a younger brother, I've done what I should do. What happens next is up to them. Our parents are our responsibility. If they're settled, they won't worry about them anymore."

Zhou Jiao secretly complained in her heart, you have become a saint, what else do you want to do?

Seeing that he still had some realization, she could only comfort him softly, "You've done well enough. Take your time. We both just need to do it with a clear conscience. It's only because my parents are back that no one would give you face and follow your wishes. This is also their chance."

"Well, go to sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow morning." Zhang Guoqing patted her gently, coaxing her to sleep. He smiled softly as he watched her fall asleep with a smile on her face. Don't think he didn't notice that she was relieved when he told her about Zhang's decision. He was not stupid. Only by settling his family well and reducing the burden on his family in the future could he live a stable life.

It's almost time. Once the baby is one month old, they should separate. They can then live their own lives in peace and quiet. It's better to separate sooner rather than later. He's about to go back to work, and he doesn't want Zhou Jiao to suffer. Being able to take care of household chores before going to work is a big deal.