After Zhang Xudong sent the children away, he sat in the yard in a daze.
Zhang Xiyan saw her brother's worried look, so she ran over and hugged his neck and asked:
"Brother, are you unhappy about something? Tell Yanyan, Yanyan also wants to be unhappy with you."
Zhang Xudong couldn't help but smile after hearing this, pinched his sister's cheek and said:
"Silly girl, from now on, just focus on the happy things, and leave the unhappy things to your brother.
From now on, if anyone dares to make our Yanyan unhappy, I will beat him up and make him unhappy for the rest of his life."
After Zhang Xudong finished speaking, he asked anxiously, "Little sister, do you miss your mother?"
Zhang Xiyan immediately said in a panic after hearing this: "Brother, Yanyan can only eat one meal a day in the future, and can wash clothes and cook, so can you keep Yanyan?
Yanyan doesn’t want to follow that bad woman, she will beat Yanyan to death. Brother, I miss Daddy! "After saying this, Zhang Xiyan hugged Zhang Xudong and burst into tears.
Zhang Xudong held his sister and coaxed her for a long time before she slowly calmed down.
"Little sister, I sent that woman to jail yesterday, and she won't hurt you anymore.
But she is your mother after all, I just want to ask you if you want to forgive her?"
"Brother, no, I will never forgive him. She scolded me for being incompetent, she scolded me for being a money loser, she secretly burned me with tongs, and she didn't let me eat.
She said that if I was a boy, Dad would not need my silly brother. Brother, I don’t want Mom. Yanyan only wants Dad, Grandma and Brother! Please don’t chase Yanyan away, okay?
Zhang Xudong hugged his sister, tears falling down his face.
He didn't even know that his younger sister had suffered so much injustice during the two years when he was in a daze.
Zhang Xudong couldn't help but grit his teeth. Li Guizhi, the suffering you are going through now cannot repay the evil you have done!
Zhang Xudong and his grandmother finally managed to comfort his crying sister, and all the other children came back holding their clothes.
Uncle Gen also came home later: "Dongzi, Heidan told me everything. I will pick them up tomorrow.
Uncle knows you want to subsidize these kids, but as their parents, we feel bad too! We can't let others raise our own children, right?
You have to rush them to finish the work today, and I will pick them up early tomorrow morning. You don’t even have to worry about their breakfast.”
Zhang Xudong said to Uncle Gen, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "Uncle Gen, I didn't ask Heidan to call you here for this. I can still afford to take care of their three or two meals a day.
I just want to remind you, whether it's tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, just remember to pick them up.
However, if anything happens, you should prioritize your own safety. That mule, even if you don't tie it up, it can't get away."
Zhang Xudong had just sent Uncle Gen back when Zhuzi was called over from the field by his younger brother.
"Dongzi, I was fetching water in the fields when Gousheng said you called me for something, so he dragged me over here. What's it?"
"Brother Zhuzi, if I give you a place to join the army this fall, would you be willing to go?" Zhang Xudong asked Zhuzi.
"What? Dongzi, you are not kidding me, right? If that's the case, I can call you brother from now on!" Zhuzi said stutteringly.
"Brother Zhuzi, as long as you want to join the army, I will reserve this spot for you. Don't worry, no one can take this spot away." Zhang Xudong said to Zhuzi.
"Dongzi, you don't know that being a soldier is harder than getting married. If you're a soldier, you can have enough to eat, and you can have money and tickets to support your family. Your whole family will have a way to make a living.
Dongzi, my brother and the whole family thank you!" Zhuzi bowed to Zhang Xudong excitedly.
Zhang Xudong quickly stopped Zhuzi and said, "Brother Zhuzi, I gave you this position because I saw that you are a down-to-earth person. Don't worry about anything else. Just don't lose our brothers when you join the team."
Zhang Xudong was talking to Brother Zhuzi when a car horn sounded outside the courtyard gate.
When Zhang Xudong went out to see, he found that it was a group of half-grown children from the village who had led a truck from the machinery factory to his doorstep.
Zhang Xudong exchanged a few words with the driver and then asked everyone to start loading the truck.
Without waiting for the adults to take action, Zhang Xiyan took the seven children to pack up the luggage, and then climbed into the back of the truck one by one, waiting for it to start.
Zhang Xudong and the children sat in the back of the truck, looking at the small mountain village that was getting farther and farther away. They felt as if there was a rope binding them, and then one of the ropes broke with a "bang".
Zhang Xudong and his grandmother took care of eight children and worked non-stop until noon before they managed to tidy up the house to a barely presentable state.
It’s not that they are not good at their work, it’s just that Li Guizhi and Fang Daqing’s family are too mean.
In this era of food and clothing shortages, they were considered talented for being able to fill their houses with garbage inside and outside.
At noon, Zhang Xudong didn't have time to entertain the few little guests in detail, so he just cooked a pot of white rice, cut two pounds of fat meat, added some potatoes, eggplants, etc., and made a pot of stew.
Although it is just one dish, it is large in quantity and rich in oil. Whether it is vegetables or rice, you can let the children make whatever they want.
The overall area of this courtyard in the county town is not as large as the courtyard in the village, but it has quite a few rooms.
In addition to the three main rooms in the yard, there are two side rooms on the east and west sides.
One room in the east wing was used as a kitchen, and the other was used as a storage room and bathroom.
The two west wing rooms were used as guest rooms.
Zhang Xudong hurriedly ate lunch and left home for the military family compound. He had to take someone to the factory to report this afternoon.
Zhang Xudong felt that during this period of time, he had been doing a lot of thankless and unprofitable business.
In the afternoon, Zhang Xudong took the son of Captain He's old buddy to complete the formalities and then left him alone. It was up to him to make a living from now on.
Sitting in Director Feng's office, Zhang Xudong listened to Director Feng talking about the decision on how to deal with Li Guizhi and the others.
"Dongzi, after an investigation by the factory and the Public Security Bureau, Li Guizhi and Fang Daqing will be sent to Northwest China for five years of reeducation through labor for the crime of misappropriating collective assets.
Fang Daqing had two sons who were to be sent to the Great Northern Wilderness for eight years of labor reform on charges of robbery.
As for Secretary Jiang from the union, the factory will fire her, and will not pursue her for anything else."
"Uncle Feng, what benefit did Secretary Jiang get that made her disregard everything else and do such an immoral thing for Li Guizhi?" Zhang Xudong asked Director Feng with some confusion.
"What's the benefit? Just twenty-three kilograms of food rations for you a month, and fifteen kilograms of food rations for your sister a month.
Li Guizhi gave her these 38 kilograms of food coupons, and she threw away her humanity and principles," Director Feng said angrily.
Zhang Xudong shook his head speechlessly, as if this was a case of picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons.
Zhang Xudong checked his watch and saw it was almost five o'clock. He said goodbye to Director Feng and headed towards the hospital. He wanted to see Mr. Zheng.
When Zhang Xudong passed the small square in front of the county government, he finally understood why he had been worried for the past two days.
But it was too late now. Zhang Xudong knew that he was in big trouble.
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