Lin Xuezhen's unexpected letter did not cause any ripples in Zhou Jiao's heart.

Back in the courtyard in the county town, Zhou Jiao still sends her husband to work every day and spends time with her son with a cup of tea and a book.

The leisurely days passed one by one.

One weekend in mid-June, the family had lunch at a restaurant and strolled home slowly.

As soon as I reached the intersection, I met Zhang Guoqiang, who was riding a bicycle and smiling foolishly.

"Xiaowu, I just went to your house and saw that the door was locked. I thought you had gone to the provincial capital. Luckily I ran into you. I have something to talk to you about. Please come back to the village with me."

Zhang Guoqing glanced at the passersby and said, "Let's go to my house first."

After entering the yard, Zhang Laoer hurriedly said, "Someone's coming from my hometown."

Zhang Guoqing looked at him with confusion.

"Hey... look at what I'm saying. It's the clan members from outside the Great Wall. Two old men came to the village this time, holding the family tree to look for the clan leader. They said that the Zhang family is running out of people and want to move to our village. The clan leader and Third Grandpa asked you to go back and discuss it."

Zhang Guoqing frowned slightly, "Let's go inside first."

In the living room, Zhou Jiao poured a cup of tea for Zhang Guoqiang and took her son to sit down.

"Second brother, this isn't my turn to get involved. What could I say? We've finally gained some land, and everyone's looking forward to filling their stomachs and having some surplus food. If the tribe members move here, with so many people and so little land, will the villagers agree?"

Zhang Laoer laughed when he heard this. "You guessed it all? The villagers didn't dare to say it to the clan leader's face, but they all whispered about it behind his back. The clan leader and Third Grandpa asked me to find you because they wanted to hear what you had to say."

Zhang Guoqing glanced at Zhou Jiao and asked, "Did they tell me how many people are still living in the ancestral land? Are they moving all of them here, or just some? Will they handle the household registration transfer themselves?"

"I don't know the details. I only heard that there are still about a hundred families in Shan Province, but they didn't say if all of them will move here or just some."

Zhang Guoqing smiled at them and said, "These old foxes! They're clearly plotting against me, so I have no choice but to pay."

Zhang Laoer looked at him puzzledly, "What's going on? Tell me about it."

"Jiaojiao, tell me."

Zhou Jiao smiled at Zhang Laoer's questioning look and said, "How many in-laws are there in a hundred or so households? Are all the daughters-in-law you married in and the daughters you married off unwanted? How did so many of them come here from a thousand miles away? They came here to provide relief."

Zhang Guoqing saw his second brother looking at him, so he nodded and smiled, "The clan leader and Third Grandpa have guessed it, so they asked you to come to me. Otherwise, they would first ask you about the household registration transfer process. Look, I'm not registered in the village, and there are so many elders in the village. Can I be used?"

Zhang Laoer quickly said, "Then don't go. I'll say I can't find you."

Seeing him stand up and anxious to leave, Zhang Guoqing pulled him back, "Don't be so hasty. We can't be so careless about this. Let me think about it."

After hearing this, Zhang Laoer quickly sat down and looked at him eagerly.

"Who are they feeding and sheltering now?"

"Yesterday, as soon as they arrived, they went straight to look for the clan leader and stayed at his house. I don't know what happened today."

Here, Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao looked at each other.

"Let's go and see what's going on."

Zhou Jiao carried her son as they left the house. Seeing Zhang Guoqing abandon his sidecar and ride off on his bicycle, she secretly laughed. Was there any need to be so cautious?

Zhang Guoqing returned to the village and went back to the old courtyard first. He heard from Zhang's mother that Zhang's father and his two brothers were still at the clan leader's house.

He frowned slightly and followed Zhang Laoer to the patriarch's house.

Standing outside the patriarch's yard, Zhang Guoqing grabbed Zhang Laoer and listened for a while. Then he went in and saw a dozen old men chatting around two middle-aged men with patched clothes.

"Xiaowu is here. Come quickly and meet your two uncles. They are our family outside the Great Wall..."

Zhang Guoqing had no intention of listening to the old clan member's chatter. He greeted all the elders, sat down next to Zhang's father with a smile, and glanced at the old captain.

"This is the most promising child in our clan, the youngest of the second branch. He looks quite energetic, doesn't he? That's the one I was just talking about..."

Zhang Guoqing listened to the old clansmen showing off. He looked at Zhang's father and sighed inwardly when he saw his father's helpless smile.

He had just noticed the two great-uncles sitting at the table. They looked relaxed, unrestricted. Despite their patched clothes, they were in good spirits, not at all like they claimed to be starving and drinking only water.

His family had just returned from outside the Great Wall last month, so he'd seen what rural people were like. Why was he looking so pale and thin? He thought they lived just as well as those in Zhangjia Village.

I listened to the other party talking about how they had no money to evade the ticket and had been hungry for several days.

Zhang Guoqing lowered his head and smiled.

"Xiaowu, your uncle said that he wants to move all the clan members here. What do you think?" The old clan leader saw Zhang Guoqing lowering his head and pretending to be deaf and dumb, so he asked quickly.

Zhang Guoqing chuckled a few times, "Grandpa, clan leader, what do you think a mere kid like me knows? You should discuss it with everyone else. My family isn't registered in the village, so I won't raise any objections. It would be bad if the villagers knew."

The old patriarch was choked by him. He looked at everyone and found that no one said anything. He said to the old captain, "Third brother, come and see what we should do. Give me some suggestions."

Zhang Guoqing paid attention to the two uncles above him. Sure enough, they were looking at everyone, and one of them even pulled the other.

He glanced at the old captain smoking his pipe, then looked at the elders present and realized that except for one or two people, no one was stupid.

For a moment, there was silence in the main room and the atmosphere was very awkward.

Zhang Guoqing glanced at the two uncles from the corner of his eye. Their expressions had turned into a look of sorrow and helplessness. He raised an eyebrow and looked at the old captain.

Finishing his pipe, the old captain finally spoke, "I don't know what to do about this. Besides our family, there are quite a few outsiders in the village. Besides, will the higher-ups approve of over a hundred families coming here? What will they eat and where will they stay? You should write a letter and send it back to see what the clan leader says, and then we can discuss it."

"Xiao Wu, do you think the higher-ups will agree?"

Zhang Guoqing looked at the patriarch with a headache, wondering why he was dragged into this again.

He shook his head decisively. "The local authorities won't agree, and we won't accept them. If they keep asking to move to the northeast, we'll most likely ask them to relocate to the northernmost part, which is currently being developed and has a labor shortage."

"So what do you say we should do?"

Zhang Guoqing shook his head, knowing that the old man was talking nonsense, and he was too lazy to speak.

Sure enough, the clan leader suggested that the other party go back and communicate with the village cadres there to discuss whether to move to the northernmost part.

Zhang Guoqing listened to the conversation in the room and shook his head secretly.

I saw the old captain stand up and go to tell the villagers to go to work.

He quickly pulled his second brother, stood up and said with a smile: "Third Uncle, I'm going with you. I have to go to the provincial capital for a meeting with my leader tomorrow morning, so I'll go back and pack my things. My elders, I'm going back first."

The clan leader shouted, "Why are you in such a hurry? It's okay to go back late at night for tomorrow's matter."

Zhang Guoqing smiled and shook his head: "How can it be so easy to collect a salary? Before my second brother came, I had to take the manuscript to the leader's house for him to check. It was only because of your order that I hurried over here.

We'll leave at five tomorrow morning, and we'll be there for at least a week. If you have any questions, just tell my dad and the others. Uncles, please stay a few more days. Your nephew is being rude."

After saying that, he quickly followed the old captain out of the yard.

After sending off the ever-smiling captain, Zhang Guoqing rolled his eyes at Zhang Laoer, "What's so funny? Oh...poor dad. In an hour or so, find an excuse to have him come back."

"Everyone is making excuses. It's so pitiful to see the two of them."

"Second brother, go back and think about the reason. Some people are not as poor as our village."

After saying that, Zhang Guoqing saw that he was in deep thought and was too lazy to explain. He got on his bike and accelerated quickly.