Chapter 51 Soaring Prices, Zhizhi Takes the Whole Family Off the Brink
Jiang Anchao was both amused and exasperated. He raised his hand and gave the eldest son a flick on the forehead. "You think your father is the head of the household registration office? The household registration books are arranged according to the order of seniority, and you can't change them."
Little Zhizhi sighed regretfully, "Okay then..."
After finishing her meal, she jumped off the stool, wanting to show off her new name to her mother.
But as soon as he entered the master bedroom, he saw his stepmother staring blankly at the letter that his grandfather had sent.
"Mom, are you worried that bad Dad will find us?"
Hearing her daughter's voice, Deng Qiu hurriedly tried to put away the letter, forcing a smile. "No, Zhizhi, don't worry, I won't let him take you back."
"Mom, are you scared..."
Although Zhizhi was very young, she could still sense that her stepmother was very distressed.
The little cub stepped forward, gently took its mother's hand, and then snatched the letter away.
In one of the envelopes, the bad father had asked the village chief to write that his mistress had run away with all the money and grain coupons in the house, and even stolen and sold all the grain that had been harvested this year. He was so angry that he fainted and was hospitalized. Now he remembered how good Deng Qiu was and tried every means to beg Deng Qiu to come back to him and live with him.
Even if Deng Qiu refused to go, he was determined to take Zhi Zhi back. He was the child's biological father, while Deng Qiu was just a stepmother with no blood relation to Zhi Zhi. He was fully entitled to take back his only bloodline.
Zhizhi frowned. There were some words on the letter that she couldn't recognize, but after reading it, she was still angry at her bad father's shamelessness.
The little hand touched the envelope and suddenly felt that it was bulging, as if it contained something.
She opened the letter inside again; it was a letter from her grandfather to her mother...
Seeing that the little one had seen the letter, Deng Qiu decided not to hide it anymore. "Grandpa apologized to Mom in the letter, saying that he was wrong and shouldn't have listened to Uncle and refused to let us register our household. There was a thousand yuan and a hundred catties of grain coupons in the letter. He hoped that I would forgive him and not really sever ties with him. Zhizhi... what do you think Mom should do?"
The obsequious manner of her family during her last visit home made her very uncomfortable.
That home was no longer the home she remembered, but since her parents had truly bowed their heads and admitted their mistakes, she found it difficult to directly refuse them.
Zhizhi tilted her head up and asked earnestly, "Does Mom know how much money Grandpa has?"
“Those private properties should have all been handed over to the state; this money should be their last savings.”
Deng Qiu was puzzled as to why the little cub would ask such a question. "Does Zhizhi think it's too little?"
"Yes, yes!" Zhizhi nodded without hesitation. "Grandpa didn't hand over all the family property. When I went upstairs that day, I saw that there were still many valuable treasures in the house!"
Not only did she see it, she even moved part of it away!
My maternal grandfather was an old-fashioned capitalist with considerable savings.
The gold bars and jade she took from her grandfather's house that day alone would be enough to fill a bank's inventory.
In other words, private gold trading is not allowed now, otherwise my grandfather could have achieved financial freedom simply by selling gold.
Zhizhi sighed helplessly, her clear black and white eyes filled with complex emotions.
“Mom, a thousand yuan is nothing to Grandpa, right? He wants to spend a small amount of money to get a filial daughter or even a son-in-law who can help his family. This isn’t about family affection; it’s about doing business. Since he’s willing to give it, why shouldn’t we take it? Anyway, you’ve sacrificed a lot, so you should accept the money, but accepting it doesn’t mean you can truly forgive him.”
Zhizhi pouted and grinned mischievously, "Who would turn down money? We'll just take the money and not do the work!"
"Yes, Mom understands."
Deng Qiu picked up the baby, pressed her chubby little face against her cheek, and felt a mix of heartache and relief.
"It doesn't matter if we don't have a home anymore, Mom has Zhizhi, that's enough."
Of course!
Zhizhi smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescent shapes, but she was still a little worried. "But why is bad daddy so insistent on taking me back?"
Mentioning Sang Lao Er, Deng Qiu's face lit up with a look of satisfaction. "Your father's body was damaged by that woman, and he can't have children anymore, so he thought of you."
Sang Lao Er's mistress is pregnant, but the child is not his.
The woman originally thought that finding Sang Lao Er to take over the family would be equivalent to registering the child's household registration for free. However, she did not expect that while Sang Lao Er boasted to outsiders, his family was actually dirt poor.
Seeing that things were not going well, the woman packed up her belongings and headed out. In the ensuing struggle, she even stabbed Sang Lao Er in a vital spot with a hoe. By the time the villagers found him and took him to the hospital, he barely survived, but it would be difficult for him to have children in the future.
"Oh... the bad dad got neutered?"
Sang Zhizhi had a look of sudden realization; no wonder she hadn't seen those words before.
Evil will be punished.
Hearing the little cub say that, Deng Qiu chuckled, "You could say that, but your dad is really acting strange this time. He even offered to give me some money if I was willing to let him have you."
Sang Lao Er is already in dire straits himself, yet he's still willing to pay money to take Zhi Zhi away.
Would he really be that kind?
*
As expected, prices soared on the eve of the start of winter.
People lined up to buy rice and flour, but couldn't get any. The area outside the supply and marketing cooperative was packed with people, so much so that even shoe insoles were practically being stepped on.
However, no one from the Jiang family joined in the fun.
A family of five sat neatly around the stove, peeling oranges and watching TV.
"—Guangming Daily published: Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth; starting next year, the household contract responsibility system will be implemented in coastal areas..."
Jiang Anchao was hugging his eldest child while reading a comic book when he heard the news and immediately looked up. "It seems that reform is the general trend... No wonder Li Zhengyang has been complaining to me lately that the house is full of stockpiled soap, rice, flour, and cooking oil. Hey? Honey, should we stock up on some too?"
"Where can we still buy it now? The school store is completely sold out."
Deng Qiu came out carrying a bowl of dumpling filling and beckoned him over to help put it on the cutting board. "But I see that Zhizhi bought a lot of vegetables, so there's no need to stock up. As for the rest... if all else fails, I'll take a day off and go queue up to buy some daily necessities to stock up on another day."
When little Zhizhi heard her parents say that, she immediately raised her head and exclaimed, "No need to hoard! Zhizhi has already bought everything!"
Jiang Anchao was amused by the success, "Really? Our Zhizhi is so amazing, she even knows how to hoard things?!"
He didn't expect a child to buy several bags of rice, flour, and cooking oil, after all, he was just a three-and-a-half-year-old baby.
A person doesn't even weigh as much as a bag of flour; even if you bought it with your pocket money, you couldn't carry it back.
"Dad, you're so perfunctory..."
Sang Zhizhi glanced at her father with a mournful expression.
Damn it!
Even her father didn't believe she had really bought a lot of things!
While suppressing a laugh, Deng Qiu pretended to be angry, put her hands on her hips, and spoke to her daughter:
"Jiang Anchao, how can you talk to your daughter like that?! If she says she'll hoard it, then she'll hoard it."
As she spoke, she turned to her daughter with a smile, "Zhizhi, Mom believes in you! You must have stocked up on an egg, a bottle of vinegar, and a box of soap, right? My goodness, that's so much! How amazing is our Zhizhi!"
Little Zhizhi: "...Mom, you don't actually need to say that."
She turned and ran towards her bedroom, and a moment later she shouted outside.
"Mom! Come and see!"
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