Zhang Guoqing came in and saw Zhou Jiao gesturing to his father-in-law. He said nothing and went to the kang to look at his son. Xiao Ping'an must have been full and was playing alone. Zhang Guoqing came over and focused his attention on him. Zhang Guoqing picked up his son, looked at the little guy, so soft and chubby, and happily teased him while listening to what Zhou Jiao said.
"Dad, you really can't go deep into the mountains. Otherwise, I'll go with you. It's so cold, and I'll be back in a few nights. How can my body withstand it? No matter what, it's only one night at most. And don't even think about that tiger skin. I don't want it. A Siberian tiger is over two meters tall and very dangerous. Have you forgotten that a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall?"
"Okay, Dad will listen to you and won't go into the mountains. Your uncle Guang and the others will come with their guys the day after tomorrow, and we'll just look around the periphery, okay? Oh, my little housekeeper." Zhou Xiaozheng looked at his tearful daughter and surrendered immediately.
Zhang Guoqing smiled and comforted her, "Don't worry, I'm with Dad and won't go into the mountains."
Zhou Xiaozheng asked him, "Xiaowu, is your father in the main hall? I want to talk to him about something." He wanted to talk to Brother Zhang Er about taking his daughter and her husband to the county town, and it just so happened that he could do so while everyone was here.
Zhang Guoqing put his son down and walked over to him. "Dad, let me take you there. I just saw him smoking a pipe in the main hall."
Zhou Xiaozheng shook his hand and walked out, "No need, you stay with Jiaojiao."
Zhang Guoqing walked over and sat beside her, softly recounting what had happened today and the people he had met. He summarized, "Jiaojiao, I think forget about Old Man Liu. We should go see him when we have time. Zuo Lin will probably be back in a few years, so he wants to build a good relationship with us in advance. The rest of the group are very respectful to Dad, and they all take Dad as their leader, so there won't be any problems. I'll handle Second Brother's matter tomorrow. Do you think there's anything else I haven't thought of?"
Zhou Jiao shook her head, looked outside, and whispered to him, "Some of the people in the Lin family are really not good. Fortunately, our father doesn't have to be controlled by them. I guess the old lady has no money and gave it all to her youngest son and daughter. My mother foolishly thought my grandmother had forgotten. Do you think the old lady is taking my uncle's salary just to pay back my father? Fortunately, my mother put our rent on herself."
"Zuo Lin's opinion of the old lady is a bit inappropriate. I guess there are a few people in the family who look like her. Grandpa and uncle can rest assured, but we have to wait and see about the others."
Zhou Jiao leaned against him and whispered, "The old lady also wants to transfer my cousin to the capital. What do you think she thinks?"
Zhang Guoqing held her in his arms and whispered, "It has little to do with us or Dad, so don't worry about it. The money won't go away, and we'll return it to Dad, but it's impossible to get it all back. He must have spent a lot over the years, so at most 70% will be returned. What does it matter if the dowry is less? We don't need it. We don't care about these things. As long as Grandpa is around, there will be no chaos. If they have good character, we can get along with them more. If they don't, we can avoid them. Let's deal with the things that happened before the New Year and do our own things. The most important thing is to think about whether Dad has left anything behind. SH must go this time. Do you think there is any other way to take your son there?"
Zhou Jiao thought for a moment and said, "How about we come back later? We can go directly from Shanghai to the Northeast at the end of the first lunar month, before you start work. The weather should be warmer by then."
"Let's talk about it later. The market will be open in the next two days. You should make a list and prepare it first. We have to hurry up after my parents leave. I think my parents want us to live in the county town in the next few days." Zhang Guoqing was silent for a moment and said.
Zhou Jiao smiled happily, her eyes sparkling. "Well, Dad has already told him to leave it to us. He'll take us there after everything is ready in a few days. He even borrowed a car just to pick me up. Brother, how about we treat everyone to a meal in the county town for our son's full moon, including warming the house."
"It's okay to wait until the full moon before going home this time. We don't have to move anything here; it's not far. We can just come back two or three days early. If we really hold the full moon banquet at the warm house in the county town, it's too messy. We'd better keep a low profile. You didn't see the yard. It's all heated with floor heating. No matter how Professor Liu tries to hide it, you can tell after spending time in the house that the annual heating costs are quite high. Besides, the study and bedroom haven't been re-furnished yet, and our parents have spent so much effort and money on sprucing them up. Except for close relatives, no one else can go to the county town right now. We need to replace the furniture, and some places need tidying up. My second brother came in last night and couldn't stop smiling. He kept saying he'd never seen anyone dote on their daughter so much. The money my parents spent on cleaning the house and buying the yard is almost the same. Don't my parents have all their money with grandma? Even if their salary is high, they can't spend it like this. You should keep a close eye on them and don't let them spend any more." Zhang Guoqing wanted to laugh when he thought of his second son's expression. He'd lived in the nice house so many times that he didn't think much of it, but he could tell by looking around.
Zhou Jiao nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to you. You'll have to urge the carpenter. Let's go out and don't stay in the inner room. Our son is almost ready to sleep after eating." After saying that, she saw him nod, picked up her son, fed him, changed his diaper, and saw that he fell asleep. Then the two of them tiptoed out of the inner room.
Mother Zhang saw that they had all left and asked, "Is Ping'an asleep? We'll be done here soon, it won't take long."
Zhang Guoqing saw that he had nothing to do here, as there were only women around. "Mom, I'll go out and accompany Dad and the others first." After saying that, he nodded to everyone and turned to leave.
Zhou Jiao looked at everyone else, and saw that they were almost done sewing. She was just waiting for the end. She looked at the remaining pieces of cloth, large and small, beside her. They didn't have enough to make clothes for the adults, but they could make two sets of clothes for the wheat seedlings and ears.
She found a place to sit down, picked up the pieces of fabric, gestured a few times, and cut with scissors. Soon, thin and thick materials were pieced together to make a short-sleeved shirt and shorts for little girls in summer. She made them bigger on purpose so they could be worn next year. She also used the remaining thin strips to braid a bow and found an elastic band to sew it on with a needle.
Lin Lishan and the others watched as Zhou Jiao swiftly swished her scissors, then threaded the needle through the string, quickly completing a small dress. Soon, another was ready. They were all amazed. They had heard Zhou Jiao was an expert at embroidery, but they hadn't expected her to be so quick. They hadn't seen her pick up a needle since she got married. They watched as the bow, wrapped around her finger a few times and sewn with elastic, suddenly looked even prettier than the hair ornaments from the supply and marketing cooperative. There were several flowers, large and small, scattered there, and they hadn't expected them to be made from these strips of fabric.
After Zhou Jiao finished, she picked up the clothes and hairpins and called Mai Miao, who had been silent tonight, "Why are you so quiet today? Take a look. Do you like it? This is for you and Mai Sui. You two can each wear one set. You can wear it when summer comes. Divide the hairpins among yourselves. You can tie your hair tomorrow."
Mai Miao happily touched her clothes and her hair, and said to her cheerfully, "Aunt, this is for us. Give me the hairpin, and you can keep the clothes for Ping An."
Mai Sui looked at the clothes reluctantly, but still pushed them to Zhou Jiao, "Aunt, give it to my brother. I won't fight with him for it."
"You are all good children. Look, these are all clothes for girls. Your aunt made them for you." Zhou Jiao touched the children's heads with satisfaction.
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