Zhou Huaian drove the tractor to the intersection of Qiaodong Street and saw quite a few people standing on the street, all craning their necks to look towards the bridgehead.

He drove forward slowly for about ten meters before being stopped by several police officers. Thinking he had done something wrong, he hurriedly explained with a smile, "Comrade, I am from the Funius Brigade of Baima Town. I want to cross the bridge and go home."

A police officer who looked not very old came forward and saluted him, saying, "Comrade, please pull over for a moment. We have to wait until the car passes before you can go."

Zhou Huaian immediately became interested when he heard this, "That's right, these bad guys should be caught and shown if they dare to do bad things again in the future."

A cadre-looking man nearby said in a serious tone, "Those petty thieves have become more and more rampant in the past two years. We should have arrested a group of them long ago to deter those lawless people."

An old man nearby took over and said, "That's how it should be. Look, these days, people go out in the alleys at night and there are fewer petty thefts."

"And those who are wearing colorful clothes and look neither male nor female should also be arrested and punished."

Zhou Huaian sat on the tractor and listened to the chatter of the people waiting to watch the fun. After a while, the police came slowly towards them on a three-wheeled motorcycle, blaring the sirens.

Behind them was a team of police officers, escorting a long string of criminals tied together with ropes. There were both men and women, the oldest of them were in their 40s or 50s, and the youngest looked to be in their 20s.

Suddenly, he saw a familiar face among those people, "Cai Ermei?" He couldn't believe his eyes, rubbed them, and looked again, and it was indeed him.

Afro, dirty flowered shirt, and bell-bottom pants with one leg torn. "How did you end up like this? Now you've finally gotten yourself into trouble."

Cai Ermei also saw Zhou Huaian parked on the side of the road. His lips moved a few times and he lowered his head even lower in shame.

It took a while for twenty or thirty people to pass by. Zhou Huaian took out a cigarette, lit it, took a long puff, started the tractor and drove towards the bridge head.

When he got home, the dog came to greet him happily and didn't run back to the gate of the yard and lie down until he parked the tractor.

Zhou Huaian walked to the kitchen door and saw Xiao Jiuer sitting in a sedan chair, holding a wooden gun in his hand, banging the chair. Yang Chunyan was standing by the stove washing the pot, "Yan'er, are you cooking?"

Yang Chunyan nodded, "My mother and I just came back too."

Xiao Jiuer stretched out his hands to him, "Daddy, hug me, hug me!"

Zhou Huaian bent over and picked him up, then said to Yang Chunyan, "I'll put the bag away, I have something to tell you!"

"I also heard some news today. Come out and I'll tell you."

Zhou Huaian stopped walking, "What news? Is it about Cai Ermei?"

"You know that, too?"

"I saw in the city that the police were parading a bunch of criminals through the streets, both men and women."

"We heard from Xu Hongbing that Wang Chunhua received a letter from the court, saying that she had committed theft and had promiscuous relationships with other women, and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. I heard that Wang Chunhua cried at home for the whole morning and wanted to take her children to see Cai Ermei, but the Wang family didn't allow her to go, saying that people like her deserved it."

Yang Chunyan thought of her past life and felt that Cai Ermei was really a person who could not change his bad nature. After all the trouble she had done, she finally got herself into trouble.

"He was always thinking about this and that all day long, not living a peaceful life, and he was disgusted with his wife, thinking only of making quick money, easy money. Now, he has gotten himself into trouble and his reputation has been ruined."

"Cai Ermei is in jail, and the Cai family wants to find Wang Chunhua, saying that if she remarries, she will have to leave the child behind, and the Cai family will take the house back and keep it for Cai Ermei."

"The Cai family is really shameless. When Cai Ermei was at home, they didn't seem to be that kind to each other. Now they are orphans and widows, and they still care about a few shabby mud houses."

Yang Chunyan poured the washed rice into the pot and said, "Of course not. The people who help with the work are all scolding those people from the Cai family."

"Well done, you deserve it!" Zhou's mother came in carrying two cabbages. "Just now, Ma Chunhua told me that the Wang family said that Cai Ermei's rotten houses would be awarded to the Cai family's beasts, and Wang Chunhua would approve a piece of land in the village to build his own house."

Zhou Huaian looked at his mother curiously, "Mom, her relationship with Li Wu didn't work out?"

Mother Zhou shook her head. "Years ago, Aunt Li asked Matchmaker Liu to go to the Wang family to raise this matter, but Wang Chunhua didn't agree. Should she give up now?"

Zhou Huaian curled his lips, "Wang Chunhua is just a silly woman, and Cai Ermei is only slightly prettier. Li Wu is much more reliable than him. Not only is he hardworking, but he is also a kind person."

"That's true." Zhou's mother looked at the bag he was carrying and said, "Look at your bag, it's so bulging. What did you buy again?"

Zhou Huaian then remembered and said with a smile: "Point-and-shoot camera!"

Zhou's mother didn't understand. "Point-and-shoot camera? What is that?"

"It's a camera!" Zhou Huaian happily hugged Xiao Jiuer and took out the camera from his bag. "Look, the film and batteries are all ready. When we're done, let's go take some photos as a family."

Zhou's mother looked at the box in his hand and thought that a photo would cost a few dollars, and the machine that could take a photo of a person would cost thousands of dollars! She felt so distressed when she thought of this. Even if she had money, she wouldn't waste it like this!

Just because it’s easy to earn money now doesn’t mean it will be easy to earn money in the future. If you’re used to spending lavishly and you can’t earn money in the future, what should you do?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She slapped him on the arm and said, "You prodigal son, you worked so hard to earn some money and you spend it on these wasteful things."

"Mom~ Xiao Jiu'er is still here, and you just hit me!" Zhou Huaian rubbed his arm that was hurt by the beating in dissatisfaction, "It's too much, why do I work so hard to earn money?

It's for buying things that you didn't have money to buy before. If you don't use the money you earn, do you put it in a urea bag and bury it in the ground, and then take it out and count it when you have nothing to do? "

Mother Zhou held Xiao Jiuer in her arms and sat in front of the stove. "I know, you think you can make money now, so you don't care about me anymore. You think I control you..."

"Mom," Yang Chunyan saw that Zhou's mother's eyes were red, and hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Wang Zhen helped us buy the cameras from the wholesaler. They were only 60 or 70 yuan each. We have a large family, so we can earn back the money after taking a few photos."

"Really?" Zhou's mother looked at her, "Don't speak for the youngest child and try to trick me into not knowing how to count."

"Mom, when have I ever coaxed you?" Yang Chunyan held Xiao Jiuer in her arms. "Think about it, the last time you came to take pictures of us, the size of the machine was so big. This is not the same as the one in the photo studio."

"If you don't believe me, go ask Yiding. Including the mailing fee, the total amount we gave Wang Zhen was only 150 yuan." Zhou Huaian saw that her eyes were red, and his voice softened.

Zhou's mother thought about the camera in the photo studio that day and said to him, "Even if it's smaller, it's worth more than sixty or seventy yuan. Even if you bought it for a hundred yuan, I won't say anything to you.

If it's a few hundred or a thousand, don't blame me for being nosy. It's not easy for us to get up early and go to bed late to earn a little money. We should save where we can."

"Got it!" Zhou Huaian smiled at her, "Look, I'm an old man now. Don't hit me in front of Jiuer anymore. It's so embarrassing!"

"So what if you're an old man? You're still my son." Mother Zhou glared at him. "Don't even mention beating you in front of Jiu'er. If you dare to do the same as Cai Ermei in the future, I'll beat you in front of your grandson!"

"..." Zhou Huaian shook his head and held his forehead in silence, "Alas, you are such a failure as a person. Your son is such an outstanding person, and you actually compare me with someone like Cai Ermei!"

Zhou's mother rolled her eyes at him and said, "You used to be close to him. If he hadn't taken over our business, you would still be on good terms with him!"

"Look at you, you're talking as if I'm having an affair with him. Luckily, Cai Ermei is a boy." Zhou Huaian reached out and hugged Xiao Jiuer, "Little boy, come here, let me hold you. I won't tell your grandma anymore. It's too sad and too infuriating. Let's go to the mountain to watch your ancestors work."

He has to find Zhou Yiding as soon as possible to collude in the testimony, otherwise I will ask him about the real price. Even if it's less than two hundred, it's still several hundred. Then he will get a beating!

Seeing that Zhou's mother wanted to say something, Yang Chunyan hurriedly said, "Huaian, call Grandpa and the others back for dinner." Then she said to Zhou's mother, "Mom, bring the brazier over and burn the down on the duck. I'll go pick up some taro, peel it and burn it for dinner."

"Great!" Zhou's mother stood up and walked towards the backyard. She brought the brazier to the stove, put a few burning sticks in it with tongs, and took it to the backyard to burn the fluff.

Over there, Zhou Huaian had already carried Xiao Jiuer up the mountain. When the little guy saw the fence and the primroses planted beside the medicinal field, he immediately shouted, "Huahua, Huahua..."

Zhou Huaian picked one for him, and when he saw him take it, he put it on his head, saliva dripping down his chin. He felt he couldn't bear to watch it anymore, "Damn it, you little boy, you spend money on it every day, be careful or I'll spank you!"

Xiao Jiuer patted his shoulder and said, "Hit, hit, hit..."

Zhou Huaian found it a little funny and patted his butt gently, "You are a tail-chaser. All you know is to follow others and shout all day long."

When the father and son arrived at Baihua Forest, Zhou Huairong and Zhou Yiding were still planting trees with the villagers they had invited. The Magnolia officinalis and chestnuts had all been planted, and the work would be completed after the remaining dozens of acres of honeysuckle seedlings were planted.

The old man, Zhou's father, and Zhou Huaishan planted thorny roses, hibiscus, myrtle, golden cherry, primrose, golden vine, and kangbangui that they dug from the forest on a flat and easy-to-access spot.

Once these vines grow, it will be difficult for those who want to steal honey and herbs to enter through these places.

As soon as Xu Hongbing saw him, he came up to him and asked, "Youngest brother, do you know about Cai Ermei's matter?"

Zhou Huaian nodded, "I know, I saw that idiot with my own eyes!"

Zhou Yiding also came over and asked curiously, "Did you go to the prison to see him?" (End of this chapter)