A middle-aged man in his forties or fifties emerged from the courtyard on the left. He had a ruddy complexion, a medium build, and a strong physique. In today's streets and alleys, most people are pale and thin, their clothes patched. His appearance and figure were truly attractive.
Zhou Xiaozheng guessed that this person was the male owner who worked in the meat processing factory next door. It seemed that he had been taking a lot of supplements in private.
Seeing Zhou Xiao outside, he walked towards him with a smile and shouted from a distance, "Comrade, this yard is what you bought, right? When will your family move in?"
Zhou Xiaozheng watched the other person approach, stretched out his hand and shook it, saying, "I've been so busy these past two days, I'll move in once I'm done packing. Bro, you live next door, right? What's your name?"
The other person took Zhou Xiaozheng's hand, shaking it continuously, and spoke in a loud and clear voice, "My surname is Wang, Wang Dasheng, as in victory. I live on your left. I see you've been busy for two days, isn't it almost done? If you need our help, just shout, we can all hear you. They say a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor, so don't hesitate."
"Thank you very much. I've packed everything. My last name is Zhou Xiaozheng. The one following me around in military uniform is my wife. My daughter and son-in-law live in this yard with their newborn baby. Due to our status, we can't stay here long-term. Please take good care of them in the future."
Wang Dasheng waved his hand nonchalantly, "Don't worry, if anything happens, just tell your daughter and son-in-law to call us. Our area is very safe, and the people living around here are all decent people. There's a public security bureau and an armed forces department just down the road, so no one dares to cause trouble. The gate to the yard is usually open, and nothing is stolen."
Zhou Xiaozheng nodded and agreed, "That's true. I bought the house because the environment was good, and my son-in-law's two sisters also live not far away."
"I know. It's said outside that Chen Xiaobin's brother-in-law, Zhang Guoqing, lives in this courtyard. Chen Xiaobin's brother-in-law recently bought the large courtyard in front of his house. This county town is very small, and everyone knows everyone. Brother Zhou, would you like to come in and sit down?"
Zhou Xiaozheng smiled, pointed to the door of his house, and said, "I'm still waiting for someone to come over. I'll come to your house next time. If you have nothing to do, come and sit with us."
"Okay, then I'll go in first. Let me know if you need anything." After Wang Dasheng said that, he saw him nod, smiled, and turned to go in.
Zhou Xiaozheng narrowed his eyes. Wang Dasheng from the meat processing plant knew their background and was eager to meet him. He had no idea what the people in the yard on the right were like. He only saw that the gate to the yard was locked every day and no one was home.
He looked towards Wang Dasheng and his own house. They were quite far away and no one could hear him even if he shouted loudly, unless he used a loudspeaker.
Wang Dasheng had piled up a lot of firewood in front of his yard, and there was still a layer of snow on top that hadn't been swept away. He looked at his neighbor's house on the right, and the entrance was clean, so he probably had firewood piled up in the yard.
The three courtyards were about the same size. I heard Wang Dasheng was just a couple with four children. Logically, they had plenty of space, but why did they have to store firewood outside? In their area, there were hardly any piles of things outside the courtyards; everything was clean. I wondered where his wife worked. Zhou Xiaozheng shook his head.
Zhao Dashan saw Zhou Xiao wandering in front of the gate from afar.
He carried a jar of wine and hurried forward with his son. When they arrived not far away, he shouted, "Brother Zheng, why are you not indoors in this cold weather? Are you waiting for me? This is my second son, Zhao Hongbing, and his twin brother is Zhao Hongjun. Second son, go say hello to your Uncle Zhou."
Zhao Hongbing greeted Zhou Xiaozheng earnestly, "Uncle Zhou, I'm the second son, Zhao Hongbing. But I've heard about your deeds from my parents since I was a child. Nice to meet you. Xiaowu is really lucky..."
Zhao Dashan quickly kicked his leg and said, "Alright, let's talk inside."
"Dad, this isn't right. You can't just interrupt other people's conversations. Hehe...Okay, stop glaring at me. If you keep glaring at me, I'll tell Mom about you."
"Uncle Zhou, I'll run in first." After saying that, he ran in laughing.
Zhao Dashan cursed a few times with a smile, and said to Zhou Xiaozheng: "Brother Zheng, did you see that? This is how dishonest you are!"
"A good kid, your family should be lively and cheerful. That's great, you have a cheerful personality and a broad mind. Have you arranged everything for tomorrow?" Zhou Xiaozheng could imagine how lively their family life was.
Zhao Dashan followed him inside. "Everything is ready. What made you want to go out of town today, Brother Zheng? Is there something you need to take care of? If you need me, just let me know."
"Nothing. I just suddenly remembered that HX County in K Province isn't far from here. There aren't any big mountains there, and there's a lot of land and people living there. So I shouldn't be short of food, so I drove over to see if there was any fine grain. I asked someone along the way and was lucky enough to follow him. He was a driver for the K Province Aquatic Products Company, a local tyrant, so I followed him to the fishing grounds."
Zhao Dashan looked at him complainingly, "Brother, you should have called me. I'm short of food too. Have you bought any fine grains?"
Zhou Xiaozheng glared at him. "What's with that expression, man? Hurry up and take it. Buy it and follow the other party directly to the captain's house. The village doesn't keep any fine grain except for the public grain, and usually supplies it to several villages around the fishing grounds. It's not easy to buy. I heard that the villages have an agreement. The price is not expensive. First-grade rice is 1.6 cents for new grain. If you want to go, you'd better go early. If you're late, the fishing villages will probably ask for it, and the drivers to the fishing grounds will bring their own."
"Then after we get back from the mountains, can we go the next day? My parents gave us some grains as a gift that year. My brothers and I have many children, and I don't have many food coupons. In the summer, I bought old rice at the black market for 80 cents, and they wouldn't let me bargain, so I just left. And, wow, how much is the meat? 78 cents."
Zhou Xiaozheng stopped in surprise and said to him seriously, "Then we really need to go over there and look for it quickly. I went to a village, and there must be people selling it in the neighboring villages. When the time comes, we can go directly to the captain and ask him to introduce us. Otherwise, it will be impossible without an acquaintance. I thought the black market would only double the price at most. This time, we have to buy even the rice and wheat without husking, so that we can save the fine grains for later."
Zhao Dashan nodded with a smile, "I'll prepare the truck. You drive the car and take my sister-in-law with you, and we'll continue to the fishing village."
"Okay, we're just going there to catch seafood, and we won't take too much. We'll just do it as a token of our appreciation, so the local fishermen won't mind. Let's borrow a bigger truck. This time when I came back, my car couldn't fit all the noodles, so I had to tie them to the roof."
Zhao Dashan was so happy when he heard this that he chuckled to himself. Before they even entered the kitchen, they heard the two siblings bickering and joking. When they got to the kitchen, Zhao Dashan looked at the dishes on the table and said, "Oh, all seafood. What a treat!"
Zhou Xiaozheng looked at his wife and asked, "Is everything packed?"
"It will only take another twenty minutes. You guys drink first, and we'll wait for Xiaowu to come back with the wine before we eat."
Zhao Dashan quickly shook his head and said, "Let's wait for Xiaowu to come and eat together. Brother Zheng and I will go sit in the main hall first."
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