Chapter 8 For the Sake of Loach
The family enjoyed this rare dinner of snail meat very much. Even little Zhou Ying drank half a bowl of porridge to fill her belly. She played with Zhou Li for a while and then fell asleep again.
After dinner, Zheng and Zhou Yu began to study how to weave mats. Zhou Yu could do it in theory but not in practice, and his hands-on ability was not as good as Zheng's. The two of them, one demonstrating and the other thinking, soon came up with a clue.
At the same time, Zhou Jin was not idle either. He found two large leaves, washed them clean, scooped up the cleaned loaches, and planned to send them to Song, the yamen runner.
They were having a great time, but some people were unhappy.
Zhou Jin and Zhou Yu picked up a lot of snails, and naturally everyone in the exile team saw it. No one was a fool. Although most of them were used to a life of luxury, after several months of imprisonment and a few days of exile, their eyes lit up when they suddenly saw the meat. They no longer remembered that snail meat was only eaten by poor people in the past and how much they despised it.
So everyone rushed to the wormwood field by the river and started searching. Although they didn't pick up as much or as big as Zhou Jin and his sister, almost every household picked up some, and some lucky ones also caught a lot of loaches.
Only Zhou Ruifu's family did not move, because they thought that since Zhou Jin and his sister caught so many snails and loaches, they would definitely send a lot to them.
As a result, they waited until the flowers wilted, the meal was finished, and they didn’t even see a snail shell. How could they be happy!
But Mr. Zhou had told them not to provoke Zheng's mother and the others in the near future, and Feng didn't dare to let Qian's mother and the others go over to ask for it.
Today, because Zheng was almost kidnapped and they had no help, Zheng's mother and others were very dissatisfied with them. They were all like they had taken poison and didn't even stay with them to rest on the road. Feng was also afraid that if she went to the mother and the others to make trouble again, the old man would get angry, so she could only glare at them like a knife.
Zhou Jin had already seen their unwillingness and sneered in his heart. When delivering loaches to Song the yamen runner, not only did he not avoid them, but he also deliberately passed by them and walked towards Song the yamen runner who was resting in the cart not far away.
When the yamen runner Song saw that it was him, he raised his eyebrows.
"Brother officer, thank you for the sweet soup today. I have no way to repay you, so I just caught a few pounds of loaches. I cleaned them up and will give them to you and the officers to drink with. This is my thank you gift!"
Zhou Jin bowed politely and gracefully.
As the saying goes, don't hit a smiling person. Although Song Yayi looked down on the few pounds of loaches, it didn't prevent him from thinking that Zhou Jin was knowledgeable and considerate. In addition, Zhou Jin had rescued his mother from the bandits today, so he looked up to him. Upon hearing this, he pointed to a wooden basin beside him and said with a smile:
"Oh, it's rare that you're the kind enough to repay a favor. Come on, put it in that pot."
"Hey," Zhou Jin agreed as he put the loaches in his hands into the wooden basin. His eyes swept over to a broken pottery jar with a hole in it thrown beside the basin. Thinking that their family didn't even have a pot now, he pointed at the pottery jar and said with a smile:
"Brother officer, if you don't want this pottery jar, can you give it to me?"
Although this clay pot was broken, it was not damaged. With this clay pot, it would be more convenient for his mother to cook porridge, and she could also have more porridge to drink on the waterway.
They had nothing now. Zheng could only find a suitable stone to use as a pot to cook porridge. His cheap grandmother had two small stoves, but she would never let them use them.
The weather is so hot now that they cannot live without water. However, they only have one bamboo tube with a limited amount of water, which is not enough for them to drink on the road.
The pottery jar was originally going to be thrown away. The yamen runner Song didn't care and waved his hand nonchalantly:
"If you want it, take it."
Zhou Jin happily picked up the pottery jar and thanked the servant Song with gratitude.
When the yamen runner Song saw this, his eyes twinkled and he said:
"Since you are so sensible, I won't take your things for nothing. Tell me, if you and your mother need anything, I can give it to you."
"No... no need, just this pot is good enough! Thank you, officer!"
Zhou Jin patted his head with a simple and honest look on his face, bowed again to the yamen runner Song, and walked away with the broken pottery jar in his arms under Song's rather amused gaze...
Li Mao, a subordinate of Song Yayi, saw this and looked at Zhou Jin's back. He asked Song Yayi in confusion:
"Boss, you ate a few loaches from this kid to give him face, why do you still have to give him something?"
Moreover, this boy's mother was given some brown sugar water at noon this afternoon. The brown sugar is very expensive and they can't usually drink it.
Eh, that's not right? Giving that kid's mother brown sugar water? That kid's mother is pretty. Their boss giving brown sugar water to someone, could it be...
Their boss's wife has been away for over a year due to illness. What man wouldn't miss a woman?
Hehe... no wonder...
Li Mao thought he had found out the truth, and made obscene faces at the yamen runner Song.
"Boss, I know you, hehe..."
"Fuck you! You know nothing! Go stew some loach for me!"
As soon as the yamen runner Song saw the wretched look on Li Mao's face, he knew that he was up to no good, so he kicked him aside and scolded him with a smile.
In fact, Song the yamen runner deliberately said that he was giving Zhou Jin something, just because he wanted to test whether the boy would be greedy.
As a result, one is naturally not greedy.
At such a young age, he was able to judge the situation and lean on him, and he was also able to be neither humble nor arrogant, and not be greedy for petty gains...
"If Lord Zhou hadn't fallen, this kid might have become a big shot in the future, but now... what a pity!" Song the yamen runner couldn't help but sigh.
"Hey, didn't you tell the brothers that Lord Zhou might make a comeback one day? Let us all respect that stubborn old man. Why do you conclude that this kid is a pity..." Zhuzi, who had just been kicked away by the yamen runner Song, rushed back with the loach basin. Seeing that the yamen runner Song was still staring at Zhou Jin who was walking away, he asked in confusion.
Song Yayi was startled by his sudden voice and kicked him again in anger before he explained his confusion in a stern tone:
"Lord Zhou might be right, but this kid... Have you forgotten that those exiled families weren't safe once they arrived in Liaodong? One out of every three males in the family had to serve in the military! You saw what kind of people that kid's family was like. How could he possibly escape?"
"But this kid is still so young, it's not his turn to go..." Li Mao wanted to ask again, but suddenly remembered the cowardly look of the men in the Zhou family. He understood what Song Yayi meant and sighed, "What a pity!"
If the exile was a life-or-death struggle, then the men from the exiled families who were forced to join the army faced a life-or-death struggle of a hundred, a thousand, or even a thousand. Once a war broke out, they would be pushed to the front of the battlefield to block the sword, and few would survive.
Zhou Jin didn't know that he was already considered a dead man in the eyes of Song Yayi and his men. He was happily holding the newly exchanged pottery jar and presenting it to Zheng.
"Mom, you don't need to use the stone pot to cook porridge anymore. It cooks slowly and in small quantities. Use this clay pot instead. It's enough for our whole family to drink at once!"
Zheng was also very happy to see the pottery jar that Zhou Jin brought back, but she had learned her lesson now. Seeing Zhou Jin's excited face and loud voice, she quickly signaled him to speak in a lower voice and pointed to Grandpa Zhou's family not far away.
Zhou Jin deliberately said it loudly for them to hear, and after hearing it, he said loudly,
"Mom, you don't know that this pottery jar was specially given to me by the officer. I was thinking that it was thanks to the sweet soup that the officer gave me that I was able to wake you up today. We have nothing and nothing to repay him with, so I thought of giving them the loaches we caught as a token of my appreciation. I didn't expect that the officer would give me this pottery jar and praise me for my gratitude. He also asked me to take good care of you and my younger siblings in the future and to talk to you if I have any problems!"
Zhou Jin spoke these words extremely loudly, and his tone was like a child who had been praised outside and was eager to report to his parents. At this moment, most people in the forest were lying down to rest, and it was quiet. Not only Grandpa Zhou and his family heard his words, but most people in the forest also heard them.
"Haha! I just gave him a broken jar that no one wanted. Why are you showing off?"
Someone in the crowd immediately spoke sourly, but in the end, they were worried that Zhou Jin could now speak in front of Song Yayi, and they were afraid that he would retaliate, so they didn't dare to speak too loudly!
On Mr. Zhou's side, the Qian family couldn't help but curse a few times, but were stopped by Feng. It wasn't that Feng was not angry, but Feng felt that Zheng family wouldn't be able to show off for many days. Now their mothers were short of food and clothing and had nothing. Zheng, a woman with four children, would have to come back to beg her in a few days.
Thinking about how to deal with Zheng, the annoying daughter-in-law, in a few days, Feng became patient for a rare time.
This is exactly the effect Zhou Jin wanted. Their family is too weak now, and they can only use the name of Song Yayi to block bullets for them!
Song, the yamen runner standing by, saw all of this and looked at his men who were preparing to stew loaches for him. He thought, for the sake of this pot of loaches, he should let that clever boy use him as a gun!
The author has something to say:
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2022-05-26 17:56:43 and 2022-05-27 21:07:23~
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: yu 2 bottles;
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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