At four o'clock in the afternoon, the group finally said goodbye to Lao Wang's family and returned happily with a truck full of supplies.
The two cars sped all the way back to the county town without stopping and it was already past six in the afternoon.
Two cars were parked at the gate of Zhao Dashan's house. After unloading Zhao Dashan's seafood, Zhang Guoqing let Zhao Dashan and his wife pick out what they needed.
After several attempts at evasion, Zhang Guoqing went up and gave him two-thirds of the fine grain, and each of them received half of the rest. Soon, Zhang Guoqing had unloaded the sacks and bamboo baskets and placed them in front of the warehouse.
Before Zhao Dashan and his wife could react, he had already put on his coat and pulled Zhou Jiao to the truck.
After the car started, Zhang Guoqing shouted to Zhao Dashan and his wife who were counting their belongings, "I'll take care of these things first. I'll come over later and change to a small car to go to the provincial capital. Uncle Dashan, if you have anything you want me to pass on, get it ready quickly."
When the truck was halfway through, Zhang Guoqing found a place to take shelter and stopped.
He took Zhou Jiao inside the carriage with a flashlight, turned it off, and checked outside to see if there was anything unusual. He asked her to take everything into the space in the dark. After Zhou Jiao finished, he turned on the flashlight to see that the carriage was indeed empty.
Zhang Guoqing pulled Zhou Jiao to stand in the middle, turned off the flashlight again, and asked her to put everything in the car one by one according to the plan they had originally agreed upon.
After Zhou Jiao finished again, Zhang Guoqing turned on the flashlight and looked at the things taken out of the carriage to see if they were wrong. It was dark, and he was really worried that Zhou Jiao would let the box containing valuables out without permission.
The ten jars of wine were placed in the carriage for public viewing, but more importantly, they were prepared for Zhang's father. Filial piety was a must for parents, but as for his brothers and sisters, Zhang Guoqing felt that he had done enough, and since they had split up, it was time to stop here.
Greedy is the essence of greed. Since they themselves have no income, they will gradually reduce their subsidies to their brothers and sisters and resume normal interpersonal relationships.
Besides the wine, they also kept some fresh seafood, salted fish, and vermicelli noodles. The only people they were sending gifts to were their four older siblings, Zuo Lin, Li Qinglin, and Zhang Yuntao. They had no plans to send gifts to any other relatives.
The rest was seafood destined for the provincial capital and the capital, the largest of which was live crabs weighing over a hundred pounds. He planned to give twenty crabs to Zhao Chuanguang, and ten to each of the other four people, totaling almost fifty pounds. He would keep the rest at home for future use, and then add the remaining crabs to the inventory in his space to ship to his father-in-law in the capital as a favor.
This time, because Zhang Dad and his family were at home, the couple told Zhao Dashan in advance that they should take care of some things before going home to avoid making things difficult for the old man.
Everyone is smart. Zhao Dashan understood immediately. He also believed that after the family split up, each of them should have their own family. Zhang Guoqing had done well enough for his two older brothers. Since the couple had no income of their own, there was really no need to subsidize them.
The couple returned to the car, smiled at each other, and breathed a sigh of relief.
They drove all the way to the door of their home. After opening the door, Zhang Guoqing asked Zhou Jiao to go check on his son first, while he took off his coat and ran up and down to move things.
When Zhang Dad and the others came to help, he greeted them and didn't bother to explain in detail.
After moving everything to the yard, Zhang Guoqing straightened his back and said with a smile, "They're all ours. You can ask Jiaojiao for details later. I still have to move them to the warehouse. Sister, you can pick them out later and take whatever you like. Mom, I'll send the rest when I get back from the provincial capital."
Zhou Jiao came out after looking after the children and just heard, "Don't move the warehouse yet. Go to the kitchen and eat first before going to the provincial capital. How can you endure a four-hour round trip? I'll discuss with my parents who should give away the things at home. Besides my sister, aren't they Zuo Lin and the neighbors on both sides? I'll send them over. Be careful when driving. There's no rush."
Father Zhang nodded and said, "Listen to Jiaojiao. Your mother and I will take care of it at home. You and Jiaojiao go eat first, and then we can do it."
After listening to this, Zhang Guoqing thought it was better to eat first and then go, so he pulled Zhou Jiao to the kitchen.
Father Zhang closed the gate and returned to the yard. He paced back and forth among the wine jars, saying cheerfully, "Xiaowu bought good wine. My dear, remember to take five jars of wine back to the village and bury them in Xiaowu's backyard. We'll have them when we get married safely."
"Xiao Wu doesn't like drinking, so this is for you. My prodigal son is planning to let you bathe in wine? No, I have to go ask him how much it cost."
Seeing her mother and daughter heading into the kitchen, Zhang Dad shook his head and began moving the vermicelli into the warehouse. He knew without even looking that food and vermicelli were not to be given away.
In the kitchen, Zhang Guoqing said to his mother, "Mom, it didn't cost much. Some of it is sweet potato wine, and I marked it. The wine gets better with age, so there's no need to worry about it going bad. Don't give the wine to anyone else, save it for my dad to drink slowly."
Seeing that asking him was useless, Zhang's mother then asked Zhou Jiao, "Jiaojiao, tell me."
Zhou Jiao blinked and said, "Uncle Dashan also bought a lot of wine. It's all homemade in the village, so it's not expensive. Our family doesn't need this little money. Soaking some ginseng in it will be good for my father's health."
Zhang Meili laughed out loud after hearing this. "Mom, don't ask anymore. It will cost more money."
"It's free, I have ginseng."
Even Zhang's mother laughed at this, pointing at her and saying, "Silly. Didn't Mom tell you to hide some? Don't use it to make wine for your father to drink, save it for later use."
Zhou Jiao glanced at Zhang Guoqing and saw him nod. The fifty-year-old ginseng was perfect for making wine, and she would give it to Zhang Dad later. It's good for children to be more filial to their elders and keep them happy.
After quickly finishing his meal, Zhang Guoqing stood up and walked out. Arriving at the warehouse, he took out five bamboo baskets, poured fresh conch into them, put in twenty crabs, and ten of the rest, then fresh squid, leaving room for two yellow croakers and prawns later.
Zhang Guoqing then tied the dried salted fish, dried cuttlefish and kelp into a bundle with a rope, and made five bundles in a row.
After finishing the work, Zhang Guoqing stood up, took a look, and felt that it was almost done. He quickly ran to the living room, kissed his two sons, and returned to the yard with a smile.
After the bamboo basket was loaded onto the car, Zhang Guoqing said to Zhang Dad at the door, "Dad, go in quickly. I'll be back soon. Some of the things in the yard are very heavy, so be careful not to move them."
Father Zhang waved his hand and told him to drive. "Go ahead! Dad knows. Drive slowly and carefully. Dad will wait for you to come back."
Zhang Guoqing jumped into the car, waved to his father, and drove to Zhao Dashan's house. When he arrived at Zhao's house, he shouted loudly into the yard and started loading the car.
When Zhao Dashan and his wife came out, he had already opened the three cardboard boxes on the ground and placed two yellow croakers, two hairtails, and eight prawns into the five boxes in turn.
"Uncle, I'll take some of the rest. The little things in the cardboard box are for you and Aunt. You already have everything else, so I won't give it to you this time."
Zhang Guoqing sorted the boxes, leaving half a box of each for Zhao Dashan, poured the fish together, and put the remaining fish and prawns in an empty box, and then moved them to the car.
Zhao Dashan said hurriedly, "We don't need so much. Divide it all and you'll have nothing left. I can't finish it at home, so listen to your uncle and take it back quickly."
Seeing him about to get in the car, Cheng Hongli stepped forward to hold him back and said to Zhao Dashan, "Give Xiaowu the person you're sending."
Zhao Dashan quickly moved two jars of wine into the car.
Cheng Hongli and Zhao Yuanyuan carried the bamboo basket and placed it beside the car. They said, "Xiaowu, tell Zhao Chuangguang that no matter how much wine he has, it won't fit in. If he wants to drink, come to the county town. Have your godmother share some of the contents with Crazy Man and the others. Okay. Drive safely and don't rush."
Zhang Guoqing nodded, packed up his things in the car, got in, waved to them, and drove to the provincial capital.
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