After hearing this, Zhou's mother recalled that when Zhou Yumei came back from the He family, Zhou Sufang, Li Yinfu and a few other gossipy women had been gossiping in the village. She curled her lips and said:

"Some people, you can never see what kind of person they are until the day they die, just like Zhou Sufen, who used to get along well with several daughters-in-law in the village and didn't have a bad reputation. On the contrary, Erchun's mother was notoriously difficult to deal with in the village.

When Erchun and Yang Hui were looking for a partner, the Yang family still disliked Xu Po and the two older daughters-in-law. They would fight whenever they met and did not approve of Yang Hui and Erchun's relationship.

What happened? After Erchun left, Mrs. Xu moved into Erchun's home. She never quarreled with Yang Hui, and she loved her daughter so much that she held her in her arms wherever she went.

Aunt Chen took over the conversation, "That's right, a few days ago, the maids in Xu's old house were still talking about her, saying that she moved in with Erchun, and they had nothing to do when they were free."

"Of course not. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have a small quarrel every three days and a big quarrel every five days. They are just like monkey trainers, performing monkey tricks for them to watch every day."

The women were talking and soon they arrived at the town. There were not many people going to the market, so Yang Chunyan asked Zhou's mother and Qian Chunhua to go first, and the sisters-in-law rode their bicycles to the place where firecrackers were sold.

It was not popular to send flower baskets for a business opening at that time, so Yang Chunyan and her sisters-in-law went to buy a few red firecrackers that would set off thousands of bangs. The sound of firecrackers was audible, and many people gathered around to watch the excitement, which could be considered a means of advertising.

Yang Chunyan bought two cakes, one for Zhou Yiding. He and Zhou Huaian were going upstream to hunt wild ducks this morning. There was no one to help Wan Xuejiao look after the child, so she asked Yang Chunyan to take care of the child.

When a few people arrived in front of the shop, they saw nearby residents gathered in front of the shop where a door panel had been removed, looking around curiously.

When Yang Chunyan saw the bare door, she realized that there was not even a sign hanging on it. The signs of clothing stores in later generations flashed through her mind. She thought about telling Zhou Yumei about it later and that she had to hang up a sign.

"Yumei, your family is here."

Someone shouted into the shop, and Zhou Yumei came out with a smile on her face. Seeing the firecrackers that several people were carrying, she asked, "Why did you buy so many firecrackers? Why didn't my brother and the youngest come with us?"

"Huaian has gone to hunt wild ducks. The weather is dry. The corn and sorghum are almost dying from the sun. My eldest brother and his family are at home fetching water to irrigate the fields!" Yang Chunyan handed her the firecrackers, "Set off more firecrackers to attract more people."

Zhou Yumei took it with a smile, "I thought you were coming, so I took down two door panels and waited for you to set off firecrackers. Just as I finished taking down the panels, the neighbor next door came over. He's already watching and said he'll pay me after I set off the firecrackers."

"Then quickly unpack and put it away."

"Okay, I'll get some matches." Zhou Yumei turned around and saw Fang Dongming walking towards them with firecrackers.

Yang Chunyan's sisters-in-law also looked over. Li Qiuyue pulled Zhou Yumei and whispered, "You are so thoughtful. I'm afraid you have been waiting for this since a long time."

"He came by last night and asked me when the store would open. I told him today," Zhou Yumei replied in a low voice.

Zhao Huifang asked hurriedly: "Have you talked to him?"

Zhou Yumei blushed and nodded, "We talked about it. He said that if I haven't made up my mind yet, I can wait until the day I make up my mind. Don't worry, he will treat Xiaoxi well.

He also said that the current policy does not allow for more children. Even if we have another child after we get married, we will only have two children... He also said that words don’t count, and time will prove everything.”

Li Qiuyue rushed to say: "What they said is right. No matter how nice the words are, it is useless. We have to prove it with actual actions."

Zhao Huifang: "If you are worried, then you can just date for a while. If you feel that the two of you are really compatible, then it's not too late to decide later."

A strong woman is afraid of a clingy man. This is not the first time they have been together. They got along well before. If the adults hadn't disagreed, they would probably have had a child.

Seeing Zhou Yumei nodding with a red face, Yang Chunyan said with a smile: "Now there are people setting off firecrackers. For those of us who are timid, it is better for us to hide in the store."

Zhou Yumei slapped her in a stern voice, "You've also learned bad things from the youngest one."

"whee!"

The sisters-in-law entered the shop, and soon the sound of firecrackers rang out. After the enthusiastic sound of firecrackers, all the door panels were removed, and the bright shop immediately attracted a lot of people.

…

Zhou Huaian and Zhou Yiding had already caught a few wild ducks in the reed marsh and were carrying them with some wild duck eggs in their net bags.

"There are five now. You take two and I'll take three to stew mushrooms and braise gray storks. There are also turtledoves and yellow eels. We will have enough for tonight."

"One for two people is enough." Zhou Yiding led Wangcai and turned to walk towards the forest in front. "Let's go to the forest to see if the Polygonum multiflorum is still there?"

"More and more people have been digging for herbs in the past two years. I think it's probably gone!"

“It’s possible!”

When the two got there, they saw that the Polygonum multiflorum vines that had originally covered the shrubs had disappeared, and were replaced by green Panax notoginseng vines.

Zhou Huaian spread his hands and said, "Look! I didn't know the value of it before, and I didn't even know to dig it up and sell it for money when I saw it. Now I want to dig it up but it's gone."

Zhou Yiding picked a few Notoginseng fruits and said, "You said last time that Notoginseng is also a medicine. Should we take some back?"

Zhou Huaian shook his head, "This thing is an unpopular medicine, Wang Zhen doesn't have many of them."

"No wonder they are everywhere, but no one comes to pick them." Zhou Yiding threw away the fruit in his hand with disdain. "There's nothing in this forest. If we don't water the corn fields at home, they will dry up. Let's go back!"

"My husband and his friends are also watering the corn field behind the old house today." Zhou Huaian looked up at the scorching sun early in the morning. "I have never seen the continuous spring rain mentioned in the books."

Zhou Yiding also looked up at the sky and said, "I haven't seen it either!"

"I'm back!" Zhou Huaian turned around, "I'll go back and finish the work, and then go cut the hard-headed springs to prepare for our TV to be brought home."

"What do you think of the TV antenna? I heard that the circle that comes with it is useless. You need to find some iron and flat iron to make one."

"I don't know what it looks like either. I'll know when I see it tomorrow. Let's prepare the bamboo pole first. If it doesn't work tomorrow, we can find a flat iron to make one."

The two broke up in front of Zhou Yiding's house. When Zhou Huaian returned home, he found that the gate was locked. He opened the door and released Wangcai, put the wild duck in the kitchen, picked up a load of dung buckets and went up the mountain from the backyard, heading towards the back mountain of the old house.

After crossing the ditch and passing Zhou Yiding's medicinal fields, you will arrive at the edge of the mountain where Zhou Datian's family lives. His family also grows several acres of medicinal herbs, including Viola yedoensis, Plantain, Dandelion, etc., which are all common herbs.

The two families further away were growing sorghum and corn. Both families were carrying water to irrigate the fields. When they saw him coming over with the dung bucket, they greeted him with a smile.

"Zhou Laoyao, you should also go fetch water to irrigate the fields. You are diligent now!"

Zhou Huaian took out a cigarette and handed it to him, "Uncle Gao, now the land is distributed to each household. If you don't work hard, you won't have food to eat."

"Are you still worried about having no food to eat? You are so young, but you earn so much money. How can you spend all of it?"

"Auntie Gao, we have no money! We just paid off the money for the tractor!"

"This kid is really sensible now. Guilan and her husband are so lucky!"

Zhou Huaian likes to hear both flattery and compliments. The corners of his mouth turned up, revealing a smug smile.

Going further ahead, we arrived at the Zhou family’s mountain. The mango tree that was grafted last year was already more than one meter tall. The branches of the walnut trees, pear trees, and peach trees next to it were not as straight as last year. The pepper trees were sparsely blooming with light yellow-green flowers.

The open space in the woods was covered with pumpkin vines, gourds, loofahs, winter melons, and beans. He didn't know why the old people in his family were so hardworking.

Whenever he has some free time, he either spends it in the medicinal fields or in the fields. In any corners of the fields, he either plants crops or melon vines.

When we arrived at the corn field, we saw that the green beans, mung beans, and cowpeas planted in the field had all begun to climb vines, and some of the impatient ones had even bloomed purple flowers.

From a distance, Zhou's father and the eldest and third sons were seen carrying water. Zhou Huaijun had been studying at the power plant during this period. He heard that the water conservancy surveyors there had already come to see it. Once the site was decided, Wang Zhen would ask someone to buy equipment.

When they arrived at the corn field, the old man and Zhou's father used dung scoops to scoop water to water the field. Zhou Xiaolin and Xiao Jiuer lay on the edge of the field picking nightshades to eat. There was a torn mat in the ditch. Zhou Xiaolong lay on the mat and picked the leaves of the nightshade in front of him.

The three little guys' faces were covered with mud and sour grass juice, like three little cats.

As soon as Zhou Xiaolin saw him, she grabbed a handful of Physalis leaves and gave them to him. "Dad, this is delicious. Look, I brought Jiuer to find it by the edge of the field."

"What's the point of eating something sour? Didn't the ancestor give you some candy?" Zhou Huaian put down the dung bucket and brushed the dirt off her hair. "Look at you, even your hair is covered in mud."

"We had a mud fight." Zhou Xiaolin raised her hand to stroke her hair and looked up at him. "Dad, our ancestors said that if you eat too much candy, your teeth will grow worms and you won't be able to chew meat anymore."

Zhou Huaian nodded, "The ancestor is right. From now on, my teeth will be full of worms, and they will fall out when I speak."

"Yeah!" Zhou Xiaolin was so scared that she covered her mouth and nodded continuously.

"Dad, Dad!" Xiao Jiuer grabbed his trouser leg, stood on tiptoe, reached out and stuffed the Physalis leaves in her hand into his hand.

"Oh my god, you're just like a little beggar." Zhou Huaian picked him up, took out a handkerchief from his bib, and wiped his face. "Why is there mud around your mouth? You little greedy cat, you even eat dirt!"

"Xiaojiuer is eating mud and making a fuss about it!" said Zhou Xiaolin, who was sitting on a mat.

"Eat, eat!" Xiao Jiuer stuffed the sour sauce leaves in his hand into his mouth.

"Stupid little pig!" Zhou Huaian wiped the mud off his head, "You only know how to speak one word at a time. If you have the guts, say a few more words."

"Little stupid pig!" Xiao Jiuer hugged his neck and repeated what he said, watching him laugh proudly.

"Oh, my son is quite capable!" Zhou Huaian smiled and pinched his little nose, "Little lazy pig, now that you can speak, why don't you speak properly? You always speak one word at a time. You are a rooster, not a stone!" (End of this chapter)