Zhou Xiaozheng brought Zhou Jiao to the yard, pointed at the flowerbed, and said, "This belongs to the old man. Before he left, he told Xiaowu to take good care of it. Jiaojiao, don't really put too much thought into it. We grow flowers for fun. If we are dragged down by toys, it will become a burden and the loss will outweigh the gain."
Seeing his daughter nod obediently, Zhou Xiaozheng smiled with satisfaction, pulled her to the kitchen, pointed inside and said, "Look, the kitchen is big enough, right? There's a clay stove and a modified coal briquette stove. Don't use the clay stove, the firewood will easily prick your hands. The coal briquette stove is better, we have plenty of coal briquette tickets, you can just put the coal briquettes in without even watching the fire. Let Xiaowu change the coal briquettes, be careful not to get burned."
Zhou Jiao smiled and nodded. She knew that in her father's eyes, she was just a little kid. Her father almost wanted to help her with her meals.
Zhou Xiaozheng pulled her into the cellar and whispered, "This is considered a basement. Dad has 400 kilograms of rice and flour in there. Eat as much as you can, don't give it away, and keep some for yourself. These boxes are all good prawns and yellow croaker. Remember to hide them in there and don't let anyone in. If Dad doesn't leave tomorrow, I'm going to buy some seafood and fine grains for you to eat slowly. If you don't want to cook, just make vermicelli noodles. There are also large dried fish in the warehouse for you to eat slowly. The remaining small fish have no meat and are full of bones. You can give them away or do whatever you want."
"Dad, this is enough to eat. There's no need to buy more. You can take the prawns away this time. They'll look nice as gifts for others." Zhou Jiao said quickly.
Zhou Xiaozheng shook his head, "No, keep these for when you want to eat them. Dad doesn't need gifts. Don't move the things in this basement into the village. And don't tell anyone. Xiaowu already knows what's going on, so just listen to him."
After the father and daughter left the basement and locked the entrance door, Zhou Xiaozheng took her to the warehouse. As soon as they opened the door, they were greeted by the fishy smell. After a while, the smell dissipated a little. Zhou Xiaozheng pointed to the large dried fish hanging inside and said, "Keep these for yourself. The seafood on the ground is for your uncles in the provincial capital."
"Then when you go back, do you want to prepare something for your great aunt? You can't go empty-handed, right? I think you should prepare something to take back. I have some tea leaves on hand, you can take them back too."
Zhou Xiaozheng looked outside and said softly, "I need to take it back to your grandma. There are too many people, so there's not enough to go around. It's better not to give it to her. You prepared so much last time, it was very considerate."
When you return to Beijing, remember not to bring anything with you. Even though they're doing me a favor by mailing a few packages, the interest alone from our family's money is enough for them to mail hundreds of packages.
They gave Ping An the baptism ceremony, and you gave them the return gifts. We don't owe them anything. It's not that Dad is stingy, but if we bring so many gifts to the Lin family, the Gu family will think we are ignorant and that we are easy to bully.
Zhou Jiao nodded and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you. Then prepare a few boxes of good tea that won't look conspicuous, and you can take them to my great aunt and the others. I think my great uncle likes tea. I wanted to give my great aunt some donkey hide gelatin, but forget it, there's still a long way to go."
Hearing this, Zhou Xiaozheng gently tapped her head and said, "Haha, my daughter is very smart. Okay, let's go out together. Dad will show you your study and bedroom in the main house. Let's not use the secret compartment on Professor Liu's blueprint for now. When there are fewer people, we can design our own storage space."
Zhou Jiao followed him to the main room and said softly, "Dad, don't bother with the secret compartment yet. We don't need it right now. When I have time, I'll make a small secret compartment in the cellar to store some things."
Zhou Xiaozheng saw the crowded living room and changed the subject. "There are some very good books in the study that you can look through. Professor Liu has even more books at home. It would be great if he wanted to sell them to me."
"Just collect them slowly. Used books are very cheap these days, and no one reads them."
Everyone in the living room was chatting happily, listening to Grandpa Lin and others telling stories about the battlefield.
The father and daughter quietly avoided them and went into the study.
As soon as she entered, Zhou Jiao's eyes lit up and she looked at the books in the bookcase excitedly. She ran to the desk and gently touched the tabletop until she had taken a good look at the entire study.
Her face flushed with excitement, her eyes curved with laughter, and she excitedly ran to the books, looking through the catalogs one by one, exclaiming repeatedly, "It's worth it, it's really worth it, this study alone is worth it. Dad, you are so amazing, you can find this too."
Zhou Xiaozheng saw her rare loss of composure and looked at her cheerfully, "There are still a few things missing. Can you think of what it is?"
Zhou Jiao nodded happily. "I'm missing the four treasures of the study and some good paper. I'll look for them when I get back to Beijing. There's no rush. Oh, this old man is really something. Why didn't he leave behind some more calligraphy? This big table is great. Just looking at it makes me want to start writing."
"Put the embroidery tools on the kang and it'll be almost complete. The yard is too small, so we have to make do with it for now. Dad will build you a beautiful study room later."
Zhou Jiao excitedly shook her head. "It's not small anymore, it's enough. There's no need to rush to put out the embroidery tools. I haven't been interested in embroidery in the past two years, so enough for needlework is enough. I plan to listen to you and start practicing calligraphy and chess."
"Good idea. Dad will go back and buy you a set of four study treasures and a set of Go. I'll send them to you."
Zhou Jiao quickly refused, "No, this thing is easy to break. I'll go to the provincial capital to buy it later. I'm afraid you'll buy something expensive again. When I get back to Beijing, Dad, you can accompany me to choose."
Zhou Xiaozheng spread his hands helplessly and said, "Okay, I'll listen to my daughter. You are the eldest among us." Looking at Jiaojiao smiling happily, he felt warm in his heart. This is how his daughter should be.
Zhang Guoqing had heard the conversation between the father and daughter in the inner room a long time ago. After watching for a long time, she didn't see anyone come in. She brought her son out and saw that he was exactly what she wanted.
"Dad, please bring Jiaojiao in to see the bedroom."
Zhou Xiaozheng pulled the reluctant Zhou Jiao into the inner room, and found that Zhou Jiao had lost her previous excitement, and raised her eyebrows proudly at her son-in-law.
Zhang Guoqing looked at him and laughed secretly, "Jiaojiao doesn't like it?"
Zhou Jiao said with emotion, "No, they are all good materials and valuable goods. This old man is really a spendthrift. Fortunately, he sold them casually. It is not easy to collect such valuable items of this age.
The old lady's family must have been quite prominent, as they had fine wood and a complete set of furniture in her bedroom. Her parents had put so much effort into it, and now it was just abandoned. As the saying goes, so too have the descendants of the elders followed the same path.
Zhou Xiaozheng laughed heartily. "Kid, if anyone hears this, they'll say we're being ungrateful. Go pack your suitcases! There's still some fabric and other stuff in the closet. Take care of it. Dad's going to go out and accompany them first."
Zhou Jiao smiled sheepishly, "Dad, let's invite them out for dinner tonight. Don't prepare dinner."
"Alright, I'll tell Xiaowu about this. Just pack your things and remember to put the important things away separately."
Zhou Jiao watched her father leave and ran to the closet with a smile, "Brother, where did these things come from? Why are there so many? It seems that both of us can save a lot of money."
Zhang Guoqing held his son and gently placed him on the bed. "These are Uncle Zhao Chuangguang's. Don't tell anyone. Put them all in the closet. Mom has already given a lot to Zhao Yuanyuan. These are all good things. Keep them for later use."
Zhou Jiao nodded, rearranged the clothes and put them on top, then packed the clothes she had brought from home. She locked all the suitcases in the closet.
Zhang Guoqing leaned against the kang and said, "Jiaojiao, I think we need to replace the furniture. There are many people who know the business."
Zhou Jiao went forward and touched the mattress, which was quite soft. Seeing her son's eyes darting towards the door, she said, "Well, use it for now. For now, the village courtyard will be the main focus. The sooner we can separate and move in, the sooner we can. You see, Ping An likes it here very much."
Zhang Guoqing looked at the little thing and covered his head with his hands. He found that he was no longer crying. His eyes began to look towards him, and he looked at him with great interest. "Jiaojiao, I think our son must have a very high IQ. He is so quick to react before he is even a month old. Son, you also know how to appreciate."
Zhou Jiao leaned close to Zhang Guoqing's ear and whispered, "Dad doesn't want to give gifts to Old Lady Lin. To avoid being conspicuous, I'm planning to give some tea to my great aunt. How much do you think is appropriate? And what kind of tea do you want?"
"I'm sending Tieguanyin tea for you. Two boxes of the best quality are for Dad to drink. Three boxes of a lesser quality are for my great aunt. Pay attention to the packaging. If you find anything less conspicuous, bring it back for Dad too."
Zhou Jiao opened her eyes wide, looked for a long time, shook her head, and suddenly took out a coat with surprise, "This is the coat I modified last time, do you think it's okay? It was originally yours, and I see that you are about the same height as my dad."
Zhang Guoqing immediately grabbed the coat, put it inside, and shook his head in refusal, "No, this is the first coat you made for me when you came here, and I won't give it to anyone else. Even if you give me all your gold, this coat won't work."
Zhou Jiao rolled her eyes at him, then patted him with a smile, "Alright, you're the most important, okay? No more gifts. After you're out of confinement, I'll knit you sweaters and make you some warm clothes."
Zhang Guoqing squinted at her and said, "That's more like it. But forget about knitting a sweater, it's too tiring. When you have time in the future, knit a sweater for your dad. He'll be so happy he won't know what to do. Take a look inside, there should be something inside."
Zhou Jiao shook her head firmly and whispered in his ear, "Dad is very smart. I can't send him. It's not that I worry about him, but there's no need for more people to know. This is a secret between us."
Zhang Guoqing checked his watch and immediately stood up. "I'll drive to Grandpa Wang's place and ask for some wine. I'll say it's for my father-in-law's health. If they ask, just shake your head and don't tell them. I'll be back before dinner."
Zhou Jiao hurriedly pulled him, "Bring something with you, don't come empty-handed. What do you think they care about?"
"Haha, we have what they want most. Do you have the special wine that grandpa sent last time? Give me a bottle, and I'll go straight over with some seafood. And see if you have any extra military coats."
Zhou Jiao stood up, took out a military coat and a bottle of wine from the closet and handed them to him. Zhang Guoqing walked out with the wine wrapped in the coat, went to the warehouse, took out a small bamboo basket, stuffed three big yellow croakers and some dried fish into it, and walked out with it.
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