After get off work, Zhang Guofu rode his bike to Huang Yaozong's house with some wine.
After the family had dinner, the son-in-law asked to pick up the children. Huang's father took the opportunity to ask his son-in-law to take them to Zhang Guoqing's home to visit his in-laws.
The group came to Zhang Guoqing's yard. Huang's father saw that the yard door was not locked, so he pushed it open and entered the yard, calling out to Zhang's father and mother.
Zhou Jiao heard the noise in the kitchen and came out curiously to see that it was her sister-in-law's family. She immediately understood that they were here to explain and apologize.
"Come in quickly, my dad is listening to a play. It's so loud that he can't hear anything outside. Big brother, my parents are all in the living room, please take my grandpa and the others in."
Huang Cuilan gently moved to Zhou Jiao's side and saw her family members entering the living room. She took Zhou Jiao's hand and said, "Jiaojiao, sister-in-law is done. Mother is angry. You should help sister-in-law."
Zhou Jiao followed her to the kitchen, following her in her direction. She asked curiously, "Mom isn't angry. What's wrong? Is my sister-in-law being overly suspicious?"
Huang Cuilan whispered in her ear, "My eldest brother saw Mom buying defective items and joked about how Xiaowu could let her buy those. Mom probably thought he was mocking Xiaowu and got angry."
Zhou Jiao really didn't expect this to happen. She narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Sister-in-law, you scared me. I thought it was something serious. It was just a joke. Why would mother be angry?
Don't you know our mother's temperament? She's very open-minded. It's okay. Don't worry. She's been smiling since she came back. You're overthinking it."
Angry? Of course she is! If it were just a casual remark like that, her mother-in-law wouldn't be angry. But the tone and attitude of the speech are crucial.
The most crucial point is probably that her mother-in-law feels that her eldest daughter-in-law is not devoted to the Zhang family. She doesn't care about her family even when there are benefits. This is the most important thing.
She had no intention of getting involved in this dispute between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law. What did it have to do with her? What did it have to do with her?
See, it's easy to share adversity, but hard to share prosperity. The more she does, the more mistakes she makes. She never dares to treat others sincerely. See, this is reality.
Huang Cuilan felt relieved after hearing Zhou Jiao's words. Seeing her open the pot with a small bowl of steaming pear soup in it, she asked curiously, "Jiaojiao, who are you giving this to?"
"Dad loves to smoke, doesn't he? I saw he started coughing last night, so I tried drinking it and see if it helps."
Normally, she'd have steamed a whole pot, but now she wasn't interested. Especially since the other person had come in and made no mention of the fact that she hadn't dragged her into buying a defective item. Zhou Jiao didn't care about material possessions, but she considered herself a worldly person; she valued the thought.
"Oh, then bring it in? It's too hot, I'll serve it to you." After saying that, without waiting for Zhou Jiao's reaction, Huang Cuilan picked up the bowl and put it on the plate, then walked out first.
Zhou Jiao narrowed her eyes slightly and followed her into the living room with a smile.
"...It's okay, it was just a joke. If anyone takes it seriously, it will be terrible. My in-laws, please stay in the city for a few days. I'll take you to meet some old men. They exercise not far ahead every morning. Those old men are quite interesting. They do all kinds of things."
"I can't get used to it here, so I'll go back tomorrow. You're still young, but I'm really old. The city is too crowded and noisy, so I feel more comfortable back home. If I don't walk around the village for a day, I feel empty inside."
Zhou Jiao returned to her bedroom and leaned against the kang, listening to their conversation outside. She was stunned for a moment, then sat up, took out a bag of embroidery thread, and opened it on the kang.
To get all the embroidery threads, Zhang Guoqing went to the provincial capital to ask Zhao Chuangguang and his wife for help. If Huang Huimin hadn't been so resourceful, she wouldn't have been able to find all the threads.
Splitting the thread may be a boring thing for others, but Zhou Jiao enjoys the process very much.
Whenever she felt upset, she would sit there and split the thread, her concentration so intense that she would forget everything else. When she was tired, she would just lie down and sleep. The next day, it would be a new day.
When I was young, feeling sad and heartbroken, I would grab a handful of thread, return to the ancestral hall, and slowly begin splitting it. Watching the strands emerge from my hands was like the sadness and pain dissipating. She kept splitting like this until dark, her eyes tired, her mind relaxed, and even the trace of sadness in her heart disappeared.
Now holding the thread again, Zhou Jiao closed her eyes and rested for a moment before she began to move quickly. Perhaps it was habit, her fingers gliding subconsciously.
Gradually, as her hand movements quickened, the embroidery thread in her hand became four strands, then eight strands...
After Zhang Guoqing had seen the guests off, he and his mother came in holding the child, and they saw this scene. The kang was covered with thick and thin colorful silk threads. Zhou Jiao was sitting in the middle like a monk in meditation, her fingers sliding quickly, her eyes slightly narrowed as she stared at the lines, and she didn't notice their arrival at all.
At this moment, he remembered that when he came back from her parents' home, Zhou Jiao would stay in the study and practice calligraphy non-stop, from cursive to regular script. ——This time, he had offended her.
Zhang's mother held her son, not daring to make a single movement. While she wasn't skilled in Suzhou embroidery, she could still create simple patterns. She knew she couldn't interrupt him; this was what the elderly often called "being absorbed in a state of trance."
As Zhou Jiao's hands moved rapidly, Zhang's mother closed her eyes, then opened them again, not daring to watch. Now she understood why Zhou Jiao had hidden her skills.
If she had been in front of Huang Zhaodi earlier and that woman had seen this scene, she would have made her embroider day and night to make money.
She didn't even have to wait for Zhou Jiao to start embroidering the patterns. Just based on her thread-dividing technique, she could tell that she definitely didn't just know how to embroider, but was an expert at it.
Seeing that his son was hungry, Zhang Guoqing began to walk lightly to the kang. Seeing that she still did not respond, she hummed the tune she often hummed for her son.
Zhou Jiao regained consciousness, quickly drew out her last breath, and slowly exhaled. She smiled with relief and said, "Mom, why didn't you call me? Did the guests leave?"
"Just left. Before she left, your sister-in-law came in to see you. When she left, she said you were so engrossed in dividing the lines that she didn't call you."
Zhou Jiao didn't bother to tidy up. She jumped off the kang, wiped her hands with a wet towel, and took her son. "Mom, there are still buns in the stove. You and Dad should remember to eat them. Has Dad had the pear soup? Can you see if Dad is feeling better? We can have more tomorrow."
Zhang's mother knew she was shy, so when she saw her turn around to feed her baby, she smiled and said, "I see. You're fine, I'll go back to my room. Remember to go to bed early and stop working. Don't try to split your eyes at night; it's bad for your eyes."
Zhou Jiao turned her head and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Zhang Guoqing didn't dare to sort out the embroidery threads on the kang. After the child had eaten, he took over and said, "I think embroidery is too tiring. Let's forget it."
Zhou Jiao chuckled and glanced at him. She'd already split the thread, so why would she be worried about embroidering a small piece? She needed to think more carefully about the draft for this portrait. With time being tight and the size to be reduced, the draft was crucial.
Zhang Guoqing checked the doors, windows and kitchen to make sure there were no safety hazards. He added firewood and returned to the bedroom.
"Jiaojiao, aren't you curious about what Huang Yaozong said to Mother that made her angry? And don't you want to hear the purpose of their visit tonight?"
Zhou Jiao was already feeling sleepy on the kang. What was her relationship with the Huang family? Seeing his enthusiasm, she said, "Oh, my sister-in-law told me it was just a joke. Her purpose was nothing more than to use you."
"Huang Yaoguo has really practiced. Every word he said last night was full of hidden meaning. What else did your sister-in-law say to you last night?"
Zhou Jiao opened her eyes and looked at him, wondering what to say. With Zhang Guofu in the middle, there were some things she didn't want to say.
Seeing him busy making arrangements for others every day, she really didn't want to pour cold water on him, but sometimes the ones who are hurt the most are often the ones closest to them.
But looking at the man in front of her, she sighed inwardly.
"I have a suggestion for you. Let's end the Zhang family's affairs here. Start to close the door and refuse visitors, cultivate your character, and except for the large items you need to collect, start to have less contact with people, no matter who they are."
"My parents will be back home for the next two days and the shop will be closed. Starting tomorrow I won't be leaving the house. I'll try to catch up on the lost year with this exam."
Zhang Guoqing looked at her with a smile and said, "It seems Zhou Jiao has finally grown tired of these people and these things." He had been waiting for her to speak, and now she finally said it, right?
He already knew what was going on without her reminding him. The village was safe, his parents were healthy, and his two brothers had some savings and were working.
He had done enough for the original owner. Apart from providing for his parents until their death, everything else was no longer his responsibility.
At night, Huang Yaoguo kept trying to build friendship with Zhang Guoqing, and his words and actions showed that he wanted Zhang Guoqing to help him, but why?
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