Two days later, it was the weekend again. A strong wind blew in the early morning, bringing a chill that made Zhang Guoqing anxious about how to get home. Just then, his father and mother arrived, braving the heat.
Zhang Guoqing quickly pulled them into the house to rest, while Zhou Jiao quickly ran to make dumplings.
In the second bedroom, Zhang's father and his wife took off their coats, quickly got on the kang, and shouted to Zhang Guoqing to quickly bring the child over to show them.
Zhang Guoqing saw the wet and stiff coats hanging on the wall and complained distressedly, "Why don't you wait until the sun comes out before leaving? Or you can wait for me at home."
Father Zhang said with a smile, "We were worried about you going there so early in the morning, so your mother and I rushed over. Come on, where's the child?"
"Your father wanted to come over the day before yesterday, but he was worried that you were too busy at work to accompany him. Today is the weekend, and if I hadn't dragged him along, he would have probably left at three o'clock." Zhang's mother laughed happily.
Zhang Guoqing was delighted to hear this and said, "Don't go back this time. Aunt Fen happened to be back home for something, so you and Dad can stay home and help me. I don't have time to queue up for supplies this month. Last month, my eldest sister helped me collect them because Jiaojiao and I were too busy."
Zhang's father urged him to hurry up and pick up the child first, and to decide whether to go back later. He had come without clothes today because he was worried that his youngest son would not let them go.
When Zhang Guoqing left, Zhang's mother quickly pushed her husband. She couldn't bear to let her child queue up in the street so early in the morning, and besides, it was fine at home.
Father Zhang nodded at her with a smile, "There's no rush for this, let's talk about it later. I still have something to tell Xiaowu. Don't interrupt me later, I'll do it myself."
Upon hearing this, Zhang's mother immediately grumbled unhappily. She wasn't angry at her husband for telling her not to interrupt, but rather she remembered her eldest daughter-in-law's discontent. She had come to complain to her oldest son. Without him at home, she felt miserable.
When Zhou Jiao came over with two bowls of dumplings, Zhang's father was holding Ping'an and laughing happily. Zhang's mother and Zhang Guoqing were chatting about something with sad faces.
When she heard the last part of the sentence, her heart skipped a beat. Something really happened.
She quickly smiled and said, "Mom, you and Dad should try the shrimp dumplings. How do they taste? We have all kinds of fillings for dumplings at home. If you don't like them, we can try something else. Dad, I brought you a lot of good things. Don't go back this time. It's so nice to be at home. I'll make delicious food for you every day."
Zhang Guoqing quickly took the child and let Zhang's father and the others eat first. This time, even without Jiaojiao's advice, he also planned to let his parents stay. If he really had to live next door to the Huang family with the eldest son, wouldn't he be bullied?
"It's still our Jiaojiao who's thinking about dad. Can you tell dad what good things there are? There were too many people that day, and dad didn't ask you in detail. Did you have a good time this time?" After saying that, Dad Zhang took a bite of dumplings and looked at the couple.
Zhang Guoqing smiled and nodded, holding the child in his arms. He asked Zhou Jiao to get the photos to show them, saying, "How do they taste? Jiaojiao has really charmed many of the elders with these dumplings. We're having a great time over there, and my aunt is helping take care of the children. She even worried about us going south. My father-in-law didn't make it this time; he said he'd let you and Mom go to Beijing together in the summer."
Mother Zhang looked at her eldest son with a smile on her face, and she looked happy no matter how she looked at him.
"Mom, you eat first. How is it? Does it taste okay? I'll tell you later what it's like out there. Every time we go to a place with delicious food, we pack it up and bring it back just so you and dad can try it. Everything is good about this trip, except that I miss you without you around. Don't even think about following me anymore - wherever I go, you have to go with me. This time, even if the emperor comes, don't even think about going back."
Father Zhang kept saying that the dumplings were delicious, but he didn't ask to stay.
"Let's talk about it later. I didn't bring any clothes this time, and I have to go back tonight." Zhang's mother said after quickly finishing her dumplings.
Zhou Jiao came in holding the photo and just heard it. She smiled and said, "Mom, do you and Dad still need to worry about clothes? I bought a lot this time just in anticipation of your arrival. Aunt Juan and Aunt Wang next door asked me yesterday when you would come. Oh, by the way, the old ladies upstairs kept asking about you."
Zhang's father laughed heartily, and all the depression in his heart disappeared. When he saw the photo in Zhang's mother's hand, he immediately stood up and hurriedly told her not to move!
Mother Zhang was frightened by her husband's sudden startles and her eyes widened. She saw her husband take the photo from her hand, carefully placed it on the kang table, and asked her not to move.
Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao smiled at each other. These photos were still quite valuable as souvenirs, and they might even be of great use in the future.
"Now Dad believes that you must be living very well in the capital! Our Zhang family's ancestors are really celebrating - in the past, we would have held a grand banquet to celebrate. Hey, my dear, let's go home and burn incense to make the clan leader and the team leader uncle happy." Dad Zhang spoke excitedly and incoherently, and immediately pulled Zhang's mother to go out.
Zhang Guoqing was so frightened that he quickly grabbed him and said, "Dad, don't get excited! Sit down first. There are still photos. Look at the people in the New Year pictures. We have them all. It's nothing special."
With a loud slap, Father Zhang slapped his son hard on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Silly boy! What could be more extraordinary than this? Your father-in-law is so happy. Why doesn't he smile when he's with them? Look at his stern face. I'll beat him up later!"
His words made everyone laugh. Really? In one of the photos, Zhou Xiaozheng looked stern and meticulous, truly serious.
"It seems that it's better for you to stay in Beijing. It's better for our family to stay in a big city in the future. Look how happy he is in this photo. Where is this place? Why is it so beautiful there?" Zhang's mother sighed repeatedly.
Zhang Guoqing pulled the two of them back to sit on the kang and started introducing the pictures one by one. The old couple Zhang's mouths opened wide as they were overwhelmed by many things.
Seeing this, Zhang Guoqing made up his mind to take his parents for a stroll as soon as possible. Although he couldn't go to far places at the moment, he could still visit nearby cities.
Zhou Jiao saw her son babbling happily after hearing everyone's conversation. She turned and walked out. Zhang's mother was at home and handed her some things.
On this trip to S City, she found a couple of secondhand fur coats in Huaihai for a good price. She bought five, but it cost her a pretty penny. To be more discreet, she altered all of them to coats with the fur facing inward. Unfortunately, her parents didn't like it when others wore them, but the two coats her parents-in-law had shouldn't be a problem.
Mother Zhang saw Zhou Jiao holding a pile of things, buried in them, and slowly moving in. She hurried forward to take some of them. Seeing that they were all clothes and sweaters, she was so angry that she kept shouting, "You two prodigals. Can your father and I wear them all? How much did these sweaters cost? There are piles of wool at home, why buy sweaters? It's over, it's over, the mouse has finally caught the opportunity to enter the rice jar. Did you buy anything for your parents? You are stupid, why do you give us such a pile? We deal with mud and soil all day long, do we need to wear such nice clothes?"
Zhou Jiao knew she would say that and smiled, "They're very cheap. If you don't believe me, ask me. Some of them were bought for you by my mom. We always remembered your words and didn't spend much."
Zhang's mother glared at her fiercely, and seeing that she was still wearing old clothes, she couldn't help laughing.
"Don't buy it in the future. The clothes you sent before the New Year, your mother was reluctant to wear them and they are still in the box. She didn't wear them when she went to your uncle's house to pay New Year's greetings two days ago, and was forced to change by the second son. If she hadn't come to the county town today, she probably wouldn't wear them again." Father Zhang said happily.
Zhang Guoqing pulled out a coat and said, "You buy it to wear it, why not wear it? It looks like a lot, but it didn't cost much. Jiaojiao made a lot of it herself. My mother-in-law also wanted to buy a cashmere coat for my mother, but I guess she would think she was too young and wouldn't wear it. But I stopped her.
Dad, look inside these two coats. Aren't they very high-end? They're secondhand. They were disinfected at the hotel when I bought them, but Jiaojiao thought they were too flashy and had them altered. This one is warmer, you guys wear these first."
Father Zhang stroked the fur, nodding happily. He knew that even though it was secondhand, it must be worth a lot. That was only in the big cities; in smaller towns, you wouldn't even see it. Since his children had offered to buy it for them, he happily accepted it. No one could stop his son from being filial.
Zhang's mother touched the things, her face full of smiles, and complained to Zhou Jiao that Zhang Laoer had secretly given away her and her husband's old clothes. Their coats were filled with new cotton that Zhou Jiao had just added, making them very warm. She was so angry that she couldn't sleep all night.
Zhou Jiao listened to Zhang's mother ramble on about the family's trivialities, realizing that aside from the psychopath Huang Yaozong, everything was fine. Then she listened to Zhang's father's additional information. She understood that Zhang Lao Da was aware of this, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, remembering how much the Yue family had taken care of him in the past. But the Huang family hadn't taken care of Xiao Wu, so why was he implicated?
Zhang Guoqing listened quietly. After a while, carefully observing his father's expression, he began to recount how Huang Yaozong had been running around in his name. As expected, his father's face turned livid with rage, and his mother yelled at her husband to seek justice from his in-laws.
He looked at his parents with a mixture of laughter and tears. He had told them this because he was worried that the Huang family would come looking for help. His parents, unaware of the situation, had agreed to it. He had taken action himself and then asked him to handle it. That was pure madness.
"Dad and Mom, just pretend you don't know about this and don't try to reason with anyone. Just watch the show from now on. They are complaining that their daughter bought a house without consulting you. If they come to you with something in the future, you will also say you didn't know. Do you really think that the Huang family has the final say over our Zhang family?" Zhang Guoqing advised with a gloating look.
Father Zhang pondered the meaning of his son's words for a while, then nodded with a smile. Now that his son was back, he didn't care anymore.
The Huang family subsidized the eldest son, but their approach was completely unrefined. Xiaowu had finally found the right connections to get Xizi and his two brothers into school in the county. They simply turned it down without even consulting him—they were his grandsons. If he hadn't worried about his wife's anger, he would have kicked the eldest son out of the Zhang family long ago after all the trouble he'd been through.
Zhang's mother frowned and said, "Xiaowu, what about your elder brother?"
"Mom, it's okay. Every experience makes one wiser. Didn't big brother grab the money? He's not stupid. You and dad shouldn't go back this time. Let's see what big sister-in-law will do. Since Xizi and the others are still in school in the village, let her take care of them."
Everything Zhang's mother said made perfect sense to her eldest son. After hearing what he said, she decided to leave things for later. Seeing her mood improve, Zhang Guoqing and his wife finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhang Dad, who was standing beside her, shook his head and laughed when he saw this. He knew that Xiaowu still had to persuade her in everything. Now he could finally sleep peacefully.
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