Chapter 451 Similarity
"I know. The hills around here are small and there won't be any ferocious beasts. I'm not going to Mianshan."
Zhou Xi paused here. Mianshan is the mountain that runs towards the county town after leaving the village. It is a mountain range that is not high. I remember that when they were young, they often went there to look for wild fruits, pheasants, rabbits and the like. There are more of them there than in other mountains.
There are even things like wild boars, roe deer and wolves.
But the young people in Qili Village are very brave and will not stop going to Mianshan. They will call their friends and as long as there are enough people, they dare to cross Mianshan from here to another county.
But ever since the bodies of Zhou Yin and his wife were found there, the people of Qili Village subconsciously avoided that place. For many years, few people went up there to look for things.
Zhou Xi hurried out.
Qian leaned against the wall in a daze for a while.
All the children in Old Zhou's family were driven to the small courtyard next door, and only four daughters-in-law were busy in the big courtyard.
Mrs. Feng wiped the chicken's neck and was waiting for the boiling water to remove the feathers. Mrs. Fang was boiling water. Mrs. He went to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables, and Mrs. Qian was kneading dough.
The family had long since run out of rice, so naturally they couldn't steam rice. Lately, they'd been eating noodles or pancakes. Occasionally, Old Zhou would allow them to splurge a bit and have Little Qian make each of them a bowl of noodles...
Occasionally, the sound of children talking could be heard from the small courtyard next door, so distant that it seemed to come from the horizon. Qian's tears, which had stopped at one point, suddenly began to flow like a river bursting its banks, and she couldn't stop them no matter what she did...
This is what Old Zhou saw when he and his children rushed back. He couldn't help but ask loudly, "What happened? What happened?"
The village chief and the yamen runners in the house walked out after hearing the sound. Qian, with tears in her eyes, first saw Zhou Xi following closely behind them. When she saw Zhou Xi nod, she knew that she had already told Old Zhou about it.
She simply leaned against the wall without saying anything. She didn't want to talk now, and she didn't want to bother with Old Zhou.
Old Zhou looked at her again and again, and first he and the yamen runner got to know each other through the introduction of the village chief.
The yamen runner looked at the large group of young men behind him in surprise, swallowed his saliva and said, "No problem, no problem."
Manbao heard the noise next door and left his nephews and nieces behind and ran to the next door...
"Aunt!" Erya couldn't catch her and was about to chase her, but Wutou and Liutou, who were placed on the bed, screamed in unison. Erya could only stomp her feet and let Ertou chase Xiaogu, while she went back to continue looking after her two cousins.
Manbao rushed to the main hall, saw his father, and threw himself into his arms, bursting into tears.
Old Zhou was so distressed that he asked quickly, "What's wrong? What's wrong? What happened to you?"
Qian wiped her tears and came over. She pulled Manbao over and wiped her tears, saying, "Don't cry. Let your father greet the guests."
Manbao snuggled in his mother's arms and sobbed. He secretly turned his head and glared at the yamen runner.
The bailiffs didn't notice.
After seeing Old Zhou's six sons, the yamen runners became much more polite to Old Zhou's family. Therefore, they didn't say anything about Qian sitting at the table, nor did they say anything about Manbao leaning on Qian.
Although the village chief and Mrs. Qian had already been informed, the yamen runner still formally reiterated to Old Zhou, emphasizing that they had to take their belongings to the county government to go through the deregistration procedures.
Although he had learned what had happened from Zhou Xi in advance and he had guessed what his wife meant, Old Zhou was still a little undecided.
Even though they have the same name, he is not my biological brother, right?
But after Zhou Yin's death, the officials who came to the village to find him felt like a thorn in his throat. Now there was an opportunity for him, the Zhou family, and even the entire Qili Village to get out of that predicament.
The village chief gently kicked Old Zhou's head under the table and reminded him, "Uncle Jin, the official is asking you a question."
Old Zhou replied sullenly, "How many householders are required to sign this guarantee?"
"At least five households."
Old Zhou wants to smoke.
Qian wiped her eyes and said, "Sir, my master has a deep brotherly bond, and it's still a little hard to calm down. By the way, when my son Zhou Yin was fourteen, he left because of a drought. Although the name on the pass was written as my son Zhou Yin, the place he went to seems to be Shangzhou..."
The yamen runner took a sip of the tofu pudding and said, "Isn't it Shangzhou? The yamen in Liangzhou have checked. Originally, these things had been sent to Shangzhou, but the people in the Shangzhou county yamen said that Zhou Yin is not a local, but came from our Mianzhou. He married a woman named Xia there. After Xia's parents passed away, he moved away with his family. It is said that he is returning to Mianzhou."
The people in the Zhou family were stunned when they heard this.
The yamen runner slapped his thigh and said, "I don't know how it ended up that they went to Liangzhou, and the three of them were killed by bandits. If it weren't for the Liangzhou bandit suppression a year ago, I'm afraid we wouldn't even know they were dead."
The yamen runner comforted them insincerely, "Please accept my condolences. At least you know whether you are alive or dead now, right?"
Old Zhou's eyes widened with a look of disbelief.
Qian was the first to come to her senses and nodded, "Yes, yes, you are right."
Qian stood up, took Manbao in her arms, and said to the yamen runner with a smile, "Please sit down first. I'll go to the kitchen and take a look..."
There were many people in the family, so Xiao Qian cooked very quickly. In a short while, she prepared a table full of food and served it.
Old Zhou only asked Zhou Dalang to sit with him, while his other sons went to the kitchen to get a bowl of noodle soup and squatted in the yard to eat.
The yamen runner didn't care at all. He gnawed on a chicken leg and said happily, "I told you, you have to eat tender chicken. The chicken you raise is really delicious. This is the best chicken I've eaten this year."
Old Zhou smiled at him, handed him another chicken leg, and said, "If you think it tastes good, eat more."
The village chief couldn't help but look at him and thought to himself, if Aunt Qian were here, even if she was reluctant, she would still give him a chicken to take away.
But, never mind.
The village chief lowered his head to eat noodles. Apart from the Zhou family, he was the one who knew Zhou Yin's situation best. If he had not been sure that Zhou Yin died seven years ago, he would have almost thought that what the yamen runner brought were Zhou Yin's relics.
The situation is so consistent, what are you afraid of?
After the yamen runners had eaten and drunk their fill, they finally took their things and left.
Because he thought tofu was delicious, Old Zhou asked Xiao Qian to pack several pieces of tofu for him and also gave him a basket.
People didn't even look down on the small basket and insisted on having a big basket that they kept under the eaves.
Old Zhou endured it all. These things were not expensive anyway, but it was impossible to get the chicken.
I just killed a hen that had just laid eggs, and he was so heartbroken. Now he wants to take one away. Is he dreaming?
Seeing that neither hints nor explicit instructions were of any use, the yamen runner curled his lips, snorted coldly, and left.
Obviously, the friendship that was developed during the meal disappeared immediately, and the impression may even have dropped to negative.
(End of this chapter)
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