Chapter 476 Together
Old Zhou grumbled, "Why do you need so much money?"
But since he had already given away all twenty-one, no matter how much he felt bad about the five taels, he would not break the rules. He could only turn around and say to Qian: "Give her six taels."
Qian agreed with a smile.
Manbao was delighted after receiving her share of the money. She waved to her friends and said, "Tomorrow is my day off. Fifth and sixth brothers, let's take Daya and the others to the city to play."
Zhou Wulang happily agreed.
Old Zhou was about to refuse, "You're going to the city right after we divided the money, Manbao, you should be frugal with your money, you'll have plenty of other places to spend money in the future."
"I understand, Dad. Don't worry." Manbao said perfunctorily.
Zhou Silang was unhappy when she didn't call him, "Manbao, there's still me."
"You already have a wife, you should play with your wife and children."
Zhou Wulang nodded repeatedly, "That's right, that's right."
Old Zhou suddenly remembered, "Old Five, you should go out less recently and take care of your appearance. Don't just save your money. Buy two sets of nice fabrics and ask your mother to make you some clothes. You'll be getting married soon."
Qian also took a look at Zhou Wulang's dark face and couldn't help but sigh, "This kid has the same skin as his grandfather."
Old Zhou was also worried. "That's right. With so many children in the family, most of them have skin like his grandmother, fairer and don't like to get tanned. Only he looks like his grandfather."
Zhou Wulang was unhappy, "Dad, you are dark too. People in the village say I look like you!"
"You want to compare yourself to me? Don't you consider my age or how many years I've been in the sun? Ask your mother, was I as dark as you when I was young?"
"Well, well, that's because you're lazy!"
"Nonsense! I can stay in the sun for a whole year and still not get tanned. If you don't believe me, ask your mom."
Manbao looked at her mother curiously, and Qian nudged her head. She said to Zhou Wulang, "Help your sister carry the bookcase back. Since you have to go to the county town tomorrow, go to bed early tonight. Go cook dinner."
Xiao Qian responded with a smile.
Zhou Wulang asked, "Mom, can we go there tomorrow by ox cart?"
"No," Old Zhou refused before Qian could say anything. "It's been a long year, and the autumn harvest is finally over. Shouldn't it have a good rest?"
Qian nodded in agreement.
Everyone can only feel regretful.
Zhou Wulang carried Manbao's bookcase back to her room. Manbao wanted to follow him, but was stopped by Old Zhou. He said, "Manbao, since you're going to the city, please buy some things for Dad. Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. We need to buy some cakes and meat. Oh, and your mother always says that her needles are not working well. You should buy her some. There's also a pickle jar at home..."
The Zhou family...
Dad wants to spend all of Manbao's money...
Sure enough, Old Zhou only told me what to buy and had no intention of paying at all.
Manbao didn't think much about it. She felt that her father said too much and she couldn't remember it for a while, so she took a pen and paper to write it down.
Seeing that his father even asked Manbao to buy vegetable seeds, Xiao Qian couldn't help but said, "Dad, the children can't bring back so many things, otherwise buy less."
Old Zhou was silent for a moment and then said, "Forget it, you should just drive the ox cart."
Everyone: ...
Manbao cheered happily, and Datou and the others also cheered. They didn't think too much about it, they just knew that they could go there and come back in a ox cart without having to walk.
"Be sure to take good care of the cow when you go." Old Zhou was very worried, afraid that they would lose the cow.
Zhou Erlang immediately said, "Dad, I'm here. Why don't you just let your sister-in-law soak the beans tonight? I'll go to town tomorrow to sell some baskets and tofu. That'll be a good time to keep an eye on them."
"Okay, go ahead."
Zhou Silang immediately said, "Dad, I want to go too!"
Old Zhou looked down on him and asked, "What are you going to do?"
"I bargained for them. Manbao aside, Laowu is no match for me in bargaining," Zhou Silang said, "and you asked them to buy vegetable seeds. Do they know how to choose them?"
"Will you?"
"I can, Manbao, do you think Fourth Brother can?"
Manbao: "I'm better than I am."
"What do you mean by better than you? Although I'm not as good as my three sisters-in-law, I do have the same eye for selecting vegetable varieties as my eldest brother and his friends."
Old Zhou waved his hand in disdain, "Alright, alright, go ahead if you want to, but you have to keep an eye on your brothers and sisters and nephews and nieces."
Zhou Silang happily agreed.
Early the next morning, Xiao Qian was very generous and made a pancake for everyone, stuffed it with various vegetables, and spread it with her own pickled sauce.
After just one bite, Manbao couldn't stop.
After she finished one, she was obviously full, but she still wanted to eat more.
Xiao Qianshi wrapped a hot one in dry lotus leaves and asked her to take it with her on the road.
"Don't play too late, come back early, okay?"
Everyone agreed, and then Zhou Silang pulled out the ox cart and first carried the youngest three girls, San Ya and Situ, onto the cart. Man Bao and Santou then climbed up by themselves.
In the middle were placed the things that Zhou Erlang was going to take to the county town, and on both sides there was room for only Datou Daya and Ertou Erya to sit.
Zhou Silang and his friends walked away with the cow, feeling regretful. "What a pity! We were born at the wrong time. It would have been better if we were a few years younger."
Zhou Erlang couldn't help but kick him in the butt.
After more than three months, the county town is still as bustling as ever.
The main reason is that the autumn harvest is over and everyone has time to go out and play.
Moreover, Luojiang County has a good harvest this year. As long as the family is not too lazy or there are other changes, basically no one will starve to death. So shouldn’t everyone come to the county to celebrate?
But in a family, no matter how many people celebrate, there will never be as many as in Manbao's family.
The soldier guarding the gate and his family didn't remember Manbao, but he recognized Zhou Erlang and his brothers and recognized them as soon as he saw them.
Glancing at the people on the oxcart, he couldn't help but ask with a smile, "Tuesday, you're not selling tofu today, are you selling people instead?"
Zhou Erlang laughed and said, "You are joking, sir. These are my children. I brought them into the city to see the excitement. Isn't the autumn harvest over? Let the children relax and have some fun."
The soldier couldn't help but look closely and exclaimed, "Are they all your children?"
Zhou Erlang narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Yes."
The soldier let them into the city, then looked back at the oxcart going away and sighed with his colleagues, "The population is thriving."
"envious?"
“I have to envy you.”
"There are so many people and so much food. It's not easy to support such a large family. No wonder he always goes to the city to set up a stall whenever he's not busy with farming."
Zhou Silang led the ox cart to Zhou Erlang's fixed stall and put the cart and the ox at the back so that Zhou Erlang could sit and lean on it.
Zhou Erlang didn't need their help, he just told Zhou Silang, "Don't run too far, just come back after buying things, it's not easy to move around with so many children."
"I understand, brother. Just let the older ones take care of the younger ones. Besides, the county town is so small, we can't go far even if we want to."
(End of this chapter)
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