A smokeless war in the capital ended quietly before it even began.

Zhou Jiao, who knew nothing about it, was in a very happy mood during this period.

As the couple's notices arrived, their classmates and friends also received their notices one after another. Now the old friends gathered in the courtyard and talked about the future.

The most surprising thing about Zhao Yuanyuan and Zhao Hongbing was that they were both accepted into the Finance and Economics Department and the Chemical Engineering Department of the provincial university. This made Zhao Dashan and his wife smile at everyone they met.

They didn't care how their daughter had filled out such a strange application. It was Zhao Dashan's lifelong ambition to get all three children into college.

Zhang Yuntao soon followed and became Zhao Yuanyuan's classmate in the Department of Finance. Li Qinglin realized his dream of pursuing a life in the south and was admitted to the Department of Literature at Fuhua University in S City in the south.

Young people always want to achieve something. Even Zhao Yuanyuan, who didn't have much passion for the future, has become different. Of course, traveling is still what she is most interested in.

Several people sat together in the living room.

Seeing that everyone's conversation had reached a certain point, Zhao Yuanyuan raised her right hand and suggested where they should go for a trip before the end of the semester.

As soon as the proposal came out, Zhou Jiao smiled happily, Zhao Hongbing was eager to act, Li Qinglin nodded repeatedly, and Zhang Yuntao applauded, and they discussed where to go.

Zhang Guoqing didn't care. These people came from well-off families, their parents supporting them, so they had no worries about food and clothing. He had already sorted out his own affairs and things, so he could pack up and return to Beijing.

The reason I stayed late was that I wanted to play for a few more days, go up the mountain more often, and collect as many supplies as possible. Nowadays, except for my hometown, I can find wild vegetables everywhere to satisfy my hunger.

The July rainstorm did cause several incidents, flooding much farmland and collapsing many houses. Fortunately, rescue efforts were timely, and the people were able to harvest some crops.

After several years of college life... all he spent was money, and he couldn't rely on his father-in-law for everything. Now they were waiting for the cabbage, radishes, and young corn in their backyard.

Reality is so ridiculous. The moment has finally arrived when a piece of gold is worth less than a meat bun. No one can understand Zhang Guoqing's sorrow—it's so hard to make his wife and children do what they want with his own ability.

"Then it's settled. Zhang Xiaowu, did you hear that? What are you thinking about?"

Zhang Guoqing was snapped out of his trance by Zhao Yuanyuan's yell and rolled his eyes at her. "There was a flood last month, and the entire county is under reconstruction. Why would we go there?"

Zhao Yuanyuan was dumbfounded. She looked at everyone and asked, "Then where do you want to go?"

Where to go? Zhang Guoqing has many places he wants to go, but now he can't leave. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, there's plenty of time. Let's think about it."

"How about going to the beach? There won't be any floods there."

Zhang Yuntao laughed heartily and pointed at Zhao Yuanyuan. "Go ahead. And see where the typhoon takes you. You still want to go to the beach? Are you tired of living?"

"You're looking for death." Zhao Yuanyuan said as she was about to pounce on him and punch him.

Everyone laughed as they watched these two funny guys making a fuss.

Zhao Hongbing suddenly thought of something. He pulled Zhang Guoqing aside and asked, "Xiaowu, do my dad and the others have a mission to the grassland? How about we go there?"

Zhang Guoqing nodded. "They'll probably leave in the next two days. They're driving a truck, so we can't leave. We have to ask Uncle for help."

Zhao Yuanyuan immediately stood up and ran out, shouting, "I'm going to see my dad right away. He mentioned he was going on a business trip this morning. That's great."

"You're running away now? You haven't even asked us whether we want to go?" Zhang Yuntao looked at everyone in disbelief.

Zhang Guoqing smiled. Going with someone from his company would mean going directly to the military horse ranch, and they might not be willing to take you. He was still an employee, so he could go, but it wouldn't be easy to ask to bring his wife and son.

Before his file was transferred to the university, he didn't dare to act rashly. Otherwise, he would have gone with them to the prairie to gallop on horseback and hunt wild cattle. How exciting that would have been!

When Zhang Lao Da and his wife Zhang Guofu and Zhang Lao Er and his wife came over, they happened to meet Zhao Yuanyuan who came back and informed everyone to set off with the truck at five o'clock the next morning.

Seeing that the matter had been settled, several friends did not want to stay any longer, so they said a few words in a hurry, leaving space for Zhang Guoqing to deal with family affairs.

"Why don't you leave Ping An with her and leave him to mother's care?"

Zhang Guoqing glanced at Huang Cuilan, smiled and shook his head, "No. We'll go with the car. They're all acquaintances and will take care of the children first." After saying that, he looked at the boss and the others, "Why are you here now? You don't have work this afternoon?"

Zhang Laoer pointed at the eldest brother and said, "Big brother, you don't have to go to work this afternoon. He has something to talk to us two brothers about. It's okay if I'm late." As for why the old woman followed him, he had no idea.

Huang Cuilan smiled and said, "Juhua and I are working the night shift today. We came over to see if we can help."

"I'm not here to help. I want to eat for free." Lin Juhua said and laughed to herself.

Zhou Jiao glanced at the cloth bag on the ground, smiled and nodded, "Mom and Dad will be back in the afternoon, so it's a good time to have the children over and have a reunion dinner tonight."

Zhang Guoqing waited for the three sisters-in-law to chat for a while, then looked at the eldest brother, "Brother, what's the matter? Is it urgent? Is there something going on at your new workplace?"

Zhang Guofu chuckled, "We're all acquaintances at work, who would be so crazy as to find fault? I'm fine, it's just that my parents want to live on their own, and I'm uncomfortable."

Zhang Guoqing looked at him speechlessly. Wasn't this matter already settled? Why was it being brought up again?

"Xiaowu, my parents live on their own without us around. What if something happens? I've been thinking about it for a few days. I work here and the kids go to school here. I want to move."

Zhang Guoqing glanced at Huang Cuilan and said with a smile, "Okay. Let's move here so we can take care of our parents..."

"That's not what I meant. I want to sell the yard over there and buy this one." Zhang Guofu said anxiously before his brother could finish. This yard was bought by Uncle Zhou for his brother and his wife. If he and his family moved in, it would be really shameless.

Zhang Laoer said, "Brother, this is a good idea. You guys have to wade through water every day since it rained this time. Discuss it with Mom and Dad tonight and see what Dad thinks."

Zhou Jiao next to her looked at Huang Cuilan.

"Mom and Dad aren't used to living over there, and your eldest brother has wanted to sell the house for a long time. Sigh...it's all my fault. Moving here will be closer to Mom and Dad, so we can see what's happening right in front of us."

Huang Cuilan's words made everyone laugh, and no one dared to respond. Regardless of whether it was sincere or not, it was good to have this awareness.

Zhou Jiao, in particular, was unwilling to pay attention. Being close to her in-laws offered Huang Cuilan nothing but advantages, no disadvantages; anyone would choose her. However, her opinion of Zhang Lao Da had changed somewhat; as expected, the house was sold after just one year.

Zhang Guofu looked at his two younger brothers and said, "These are minor matters. While our parents are away, shouldn't we three brothers reconsider our retirement arrangements? When we divided the family property, they said our parents would live with me, so they didn't mention how much food and money I would give. Now that our parents want to live on their own, before they can no longer move, I think we three brothers should redistribute the family property."

Zhang Guoqing laughed heartily at this. His elder brother had finally grasped this point. It didn't matter how much he gave, it was all for his parents. He didn't care, but he had to realize it.

Zhang Laoer smiled and nodded repeatedly. "Xiaowu and I will listen to you. You're the boss, you make the arrangements." He had thought more than Zhang Guoqing. It was obvious that this proposal came from his eldest brother. A family shouldn't be subject to the nagging of women. If a man can't be the master of the household, why would he need to pee standing up?

"There's nothing much to arrange. Xiaowu and his wife are in school, so don't send money back. We can't ask Uncle Zhou to help support our parents. Second brother, how about our parents live with Xiaowu and we both provide food and money?"

"No problem. It's settled. Xiaowu, don't send money back for the next few years. Dad and Mom have their own food supply, so we can't give them much. As for money, it's still five dollars a month. You can give more or less privately as you like. Big brother, do you think this is okay?"

Zhang Guoqing didn't interrupt their discussion. He understood the situation they faced better than anyone else. If they were willing, he was willing to help.

After the two brothers reached an agreement, Zhang Laoer began to worry that it would be difficult to sell the eldest brother's house. Since the eldest brother had made up his mind, he had to nail it down and decided not to let the eldest brother waver.

"Brother, everyone is short of food now. Is your yard easy to sell?"

Zhang Guofu smiled and said, "A colleague from my old unit wants to buy a house to get married. We agreed on 300 yuan plus food. Now we're just waiting for Dad's approval."

Zhou Jiao noticed Huang Cuilan's surprised expression from the corner of her eye and glanced at Zhang Guoqing. Seeing his indifference, she remained silent. Whether the yard business was profitable or not was anyone's guess. In fact, selling it early would have yielded a higher price. By the end of the year, two or three hundred kilograms of cornmeal could have been exchanged for a whole yard.

Zhang Guoqing certainly noticed her look. But when it came to money, he preferred to stay out of it. He didn't ask how much grain was exchanged. These days, brown rice on the black market is already one yuan per pound. Even if the man worked at a grain store, he probably wouldn't be able to get much grain.

At dinner, the family reunited. After hearing the details, Zhang's father immediately asked his eldest son to rush to make an appointment with the other party, and also specifically asked Zhang Lao to ask for more food.

Ginger is always more experienced. After watching Zhang Guofu leave, Zhang's father didn't explain to his wife. This year's autumn harvest was already difficult, and it definitely wouldn't make it to April or May next year. They said there was grain to be returned for sale, but who knew how much they would be able to get.

When people have nothing to eat, nothing is worth anything. He still remembers the days when a bag of dried sweet potatoes could be exchanged for a virgin. Back then, when people were desperate, who would buy a yard?

Father Zhang drank absentmindedly, remembering his eldest brother's sour words today. He glanced at his oldest son. Yes, he and his wife were truly blessed. No one was as shrewd as his own son, moving his household registration and then secretly hiding food. He and his wife truly had no worries about food and clothing, and even had a little wine to enjoy when they had nothing to do.

More than an hour later, Zhang Guofu came back with a smile on his face.

Seeing this, Zhang's father knew the matter was settled. He didn't bother asking for details and quickly let the child eat first. There was no rush for the next matter, but he still had to take care of it himself.

Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao looked at each other and smiled.

See, it's great to have a dad! With his father around, he doesn't have to worry about many things. He just needs to make sure his two elders have enough food and clothes and have some spare money.