Chapter 137 My Silly Little Brother Didn't Come

Zhou Mingyuan and his wife each carried a rather large backpack, and also held net bags and other items in their hands.

With so much stuff, it's definitely not going to be fast for the couple to walk.

Sheng Xiping and Zhou Qinglan stepped forward and quickly took some of the things to lighten their burden.

"Uncle, Aunt, when you get off the bus at Shuguang Forest Farm, just make a phone call here."

We'll push our railcars over to pick them up; it'll be easier that way."

"Oh, why bother? It's only seventeen or eighteen miles. We can walk there slowly." Wang Chunxiu waved her hand with a smile.

The Gao and Tang families are having their weddings tomorrow, so everyone must be busy today.

They arrived late and couldn't offer much help, but they shouldn't have added to the chaos.

"How are you all doing lately? I heard you've all moved to collective households."

How are the conditions over there? Do they eat in the cafeteria?

Wang Chunxiu hadn't seen her daughter for a long time, so she had to find out how her daughter was doing at the forest farm.

Especially after so many things happened in the forest farm recently, the entire Songjianghe Forestry Bureau heard about it, and the Zhou couple were quite worried about their daughter.

If Zhou Qinglan hadn't started dating Sheng Xiping, Wang Chunxiu would have really considered finding a way to send her daughter to another place to become an educated youth.

"The collective household is alright, there are more than a dozen of us female educated youth living together."

Originally, I was thinking of cooking for myself, but then I thought it was too much trouble, so I just ate in the cafeteria instead.

"Isn't it because Fengying is getting married? I've been staying at the Tang family's house lately, and I often eat at Aunt Sheng's place. I'm doing quite well."

Zhou Qinglan knew her mother was worried about her, so she had to say something to reassure her.

Of course, what she said was true. With Sheng Xiping taking care of her, Zhou Qinglan's life in the forest farm was significantly better than that of other female educated youth.

"Oh dear, it's all thanks to Xiping looking after things, otherwise we really wouldn't be at ease." Wang Chunxiu nodded upon hearing this.

I could tell just by meeting you. My daughter seems to be doing well these days. She's gained weight and looks great.

"Xiping, thank you so much for taking care of Qinglan for us."

"Auntie, this is what I should do. Qinglan is my girlfriend, so if I don't treat her well, who else should I treat well?"

Sheng Xiping laughed when he heard this. What kind of good-for-nothing is a grown man who can't even take care of the girl he likes?

"Hey? Why didn't Qingyue come along?"

Having just met, Zhou Qinglan was so happy that she didn't notice that her younger brother, Zhou Qingyue, was missing.

"We came in the car that the leaders were inspecting, and there were only two seats left, so we couldn't fit everyone in."

Besides, Qingyue is still in school. We can't exactly tell the teacher, "Let's go drinking," and ask for a few days off for the child, can we?

Zhou Mingyuan explained with a smile.

"He's at home. Your mother cooked a lot of food for him and left him some money and food coupons."

"It's alright, don't worry. You're a fourteen or fifteen-year-old young man; you won't starve at home."

Men are generally optimistic. When Zhou Mingyuan went out to study in his teens, he took care of himself and thought his son would be just as capable.

"Mom, can our Qingyue, that idiot, manage on her own at home?"

Zhou Qinglan wasn't entirely at ease with her younger brother, so she quietly asked her mother.

"It's alright, I've already talked to your neighbor in the west courtyard, Aunt Wang."

"Have her come over every noon and evening to heat up the kang (heated brick bed) and reheat the food."

Wang Chunxiu glanced at her husband, shook her head and smiled helplessly, then whispered to her daughter.

Zhou Qinglan nodded in relief after hearing her mother's words.

The neighbors in the west courtyard are nice people. Wang Chunxiu was the one who delivered the baby when his eldest daughter-in-law gave birth. The two families have a good relationship.

With Aunt Wang keeping an eye on things, his silly little brother should be fine, at least he won't starve.

Zhou Mingyuan and Sheng Xiping got along quite well, so he couldn't help but ask Sheng Xiping what he had been up to lately.

There was nothing to hide, so Sheng Xiping told Zhou Mingyuan about everything he had done that autumn: leading people to see the greenery, collecting pine nuts, hunting, and so on.

Perhaps men are all born with a bit of an adventurous streak.

Despite being an engineer and a highly educated man, Zhou Mingyuan's eyes immediately lit up when he heard Sheng Xiping talking about bombarding badgers, hunting wild boars, and killing black bears. He listened with great interest.

"Wow, I didn't know your life in the forest farm was so exciting."

"What a pity we came at the wrong time, otherwise I would have gone up the mountain with you to see what was going on," Zhou Mingyuan said with a mixture of longing and envy.

"Uncle, actually hunting in the mountains isn't that fun; it's quite tough and tiring."

If you wander around the mountains from morning till night and don't encounter any prey, the day is wasted. And if you do encounter prey, it can sometimes be quite dangerous.

I don't have a proper job, so I have no choice but to go into the mountains to hunt and supplement my family's income.

Upon hearing this, Sheng Xiping could only shake his head and smile.

To outsiders, hunting in the mountains seems like a fun and profitable activity, but only the hunters themselves know how tiring and arduous the work is.

Of course, Sheng Xiping genuinely enjoys hunting and loves to wander in the mountains.

But he couldn't say that in front of Zhou Mingyuan.

No father would be happy to see his daughter marry a man who has no ambition.

That's why Sheng Xiping deliberately revealed his eagerness for a formal job.

This would put Zhou Mingyuan and his wife at ease, since their daughter's boyfriend was ambitious, but they had no choice but to accept it due to the current situation.

"Well, you're right. Having a formal job and receiving a salary would be the best thing."

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