"Dad, are you in the inner room?"
Zhang Laoer came into the yard with a newspaper in his hand and started calling his father.
The weather in Northeast China is already very cold in early November, and the door curtains have already been hung in the living rooms of the courtyards in the county town.
Father Zhang hadn't come out yet, but his voice attracted Mother Zhang.
She lifted the door curtain, waved at him, and pointed in the direction of the west room.
Zhang Lao Er raised his eyebrows and asked, "Are there any guests?"
"Your Uncle Chen is chatting with your father in the inner room."
The Uncle Chen that Zhang's mother mentioned is Zhang Meihao's father-in-law, her old relative.
Zhang Laoer smiled knowingly, "My Uncle Chen isn't at home playing with his little granddaughter, so how could he bear to come over?"
"Xiao Yaoyao was taken to the provincial capital by her grandmother for a banquet. It seems your Uncle Chen came directly from your Uncle Zuo's place. I saw they were talking about our Xiaowu, so you should go and listen."
Zhang Laoer narrowed his eyes, glanced at the newspaper in his hand, and shook his head speechlessly. The friendship between Uncle Zuo and Uncle Chen is really close!
As they walked, Zhang's mother whispered, "Do we have enough oil this month? Your sister-in-law came by this afternoon and complained about the children, saying they were so ignorant and wasted all her oil."
Speaking of Huang Cuilan, Zhang Laoer subconsciously frowned, "What does an old woman like her know! Those four people were knocked down, didn't you see how joyous the whole county was!
Everyone's taking out the oil to fry, but she still wants to stay and be criticized? Mom, please remind her more often and stop being so picky. If she makes her nieces and nieces look down on her, who will truly be filial to her?
Mother Zhang waved her hand and sighed, "I said it, why didn't I say it? Let them do whatever they want, and don't bother with them. What does your Uncle Zuo say about Shitou? If it's suitable, marry her off soon. The child is already grown up."
Speaking of his own sons, Zhang Laoer paused and smiled, "It's not easy to have a wedding this year. But I've already made an appointment with Brother Zuo to find a matchmaker to arrange marriages for the two children by the end of the year."
There was one more thing he didn't mention. Zuo Lin said that both the old man and the old lady from the Zuo family would come on the wedding day. The implication was that he had been around for so many years, so he understood.
Isn’t it just that he wants his younger brother to come back to his hometown to attend the wedding?
He had worried about this when he first arranged a marriage with the Zuo family. If it weren't for the close relationship between the two children, he would have been reluctant.
Especially after the news in the newspaper today, he was worried that the Zuo family in the capital would drag his silly brother into it. If his wife didn't understand, how could he not understand?
That silly woman really thought that the Zuo family was of higher status than the Zhou family, and she kept saying that this marriage was suitable. Maybe if Xiaowu encountered trouble in the capital in the future, there would be someone to help him.
Pull, pull a bird!
"Matchmaker? Or maybe you and your uncle Chen should come forward."
Zhang Laoer shook his head. He really didn't want to involve his younger sister's family. "Let's find a formal matchmaker. They'll know what you need."
After hearing what her son said, Zhang's mother didn't object. After all, he was her own son, and he had the final say.
"What are you two whispering about? Why don't you come in?"
As Father Zhang raised his voice, the mother and son smiled at each other. Zhang Laoer put down the newspaper in his hand and followed his mother into the west room quickly.
Uncle Chen saw Zhang Laoer come in with his mother-in-law. After he greeted him, he smiled and said, "Why are you here so late to see your father? Is there something wrong?"
"Nothing, I just haven't come today." Zhang Laoer moved a stool and sat down. "I haven't seen you for several days. What have you been busy with?"
Father Zhang took it casually and said, "He is reluctant to leave the house because Xiao Yaoyao is here."
"You old fellow, hahaha, are you jealous?"
Jealous?
Zhang Daddy really had no shortage of granddaughters, let alone great-granddaughters. If he'd just let out a word about wanting a little one, his grandsons would have instantly sent him a baby.
But is he out of his mind, or does he think life is too easy?
After raising children for a lifetime, I finally let my spouse take a break. How could I want him to suffer even in his old age?
After seeing off Uncle Chen, Father Zhang waved to his second son and went back to the inner room together.
"Tell me, what's the matter?"
Zhang Laoer grumbled in dissatisfaction: "It's not like I come to you every time I encounter a problem."
"hehe……"
Father Zhang sneered twice and pointed at the newspaper he had brought in. "Xiaowu is in the newspaper again?"
Zhang's mother immediately grabbed the hand and asked, "Where is it? Where is it?"
Zhang Laoer, who had been startled by the old couple, was stunned when he heard this. After calming down, he asked in confusion, "Who said Xiaowu was in the newspaper?"
"Dad, I'm telling you, take a quick look and see if that's my Uncle Zhou's name on it?" Zhang Laoer became more and more excited, and snatched the newspaper that Zhang's mother disliked with one hand.
Then he immediately flipped to the first entry on the front page and clicked on the name. "Look, Zhou Xiaozheng, isn't that my Uncle Zhou's name?"
Father Zhang turned around and opened the drawer of the kangqin, took out his reading glasses, put them on carefully, and stretched his neck to take a closer look...
He immediately took off his reading glasses, wiped his eyes, and put them back on in disbelief. He grabbed the newspaper and read it word for word: "Vice Chairman Zhou Xiaozheng..."
Zhang Laoer leaned over to him and asked again, "It's me, Uncle Zhou, right?"
Father Zhang, who was in a daze, was startled awake by him and shuddered, "Wait... let me think... Oh my god... what's going on?"
Zhang Laoer also shook his head. "I didn't dare ask Uncle Zuo, for fear of making a mistake. But I saw that he was quite happy today. He was grinning all morning..."
Father Zhang didn't wait for him to finish his words. He grabbed the newspaper, stood up, got off the kang, and put on his shoes. "I have to go find your Uncle Dashan. He must know. This old man is really mean. Why didn't he tell me a word?"
Zhang Laoer quickly grabbed his father's arm and urged him: "Dad, don't go, don't go!"
"What are you doing?"
"Yeah, what are you doing? Can you tell me what's going on first?"
Zhang Laoer pressed his father down on the kang and asked solemnly, "If everyone knew that my Uncle Zhou was the Vice Chairman, would anything go wrong?"
"I'll just ask your Uncle Dashan..."
"No, don't ask! Regardless of whether the person above is my Uncle Zhou or not, just pretend he's not." Zhang Laoer quickly shook his head. "Dad, think about what those old guys in Zhoujia Village would do if they knew about this?"
"What?"
Father Zhang sneered and said, "It's not even the Zhou family's turn to offer sacrifices to their ancestors!" Although he said so, it did not make him want to rush to find Zhao Dashan to confirm.
"Wait a little longer, wait until Xiaowu writes and see what he says. If he doesn't mention it at all, I guess Uncle Zhou won't want to spread the word."
The only thing Zhang's mother cared about was her eldest son. After hearing this, she pulled her second son and said, "Take a closer look. Is our little fifth son's name not on the list?"
Zhang Laoer was at a loss for words when he heard this. How could anyone become such a high-ranking official? His silly little brother was far from it.
However, he didn't dare say this out loud, as he would definitely be beaten if he said it!
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