"Mom, are you really going to Big Brother's house? Then I'll bring you some fine food."
Zhang's mother quickly pulled Zhou Jiao into the bedroom.
Go inside.
Mother Zhang whispered, "Don't take out the fine grains casually from now on. Not even in front of your eldest sister. You understand what I mean, don't you?"
How could Zhou Jiao not understand?
It had been a month since Ping An's birthday, and now every household was not only running out of fine grains, but even coarse grains were being saved. She was worried about their stomach problems, so she wanted to take the fine grains she had received back with them. Otherwise, she would have trouble sleeping and eating white rice at home.
"Mom has to stay with your eldest brother. Your eldest sister-in-law must stay with her parents. Mom doesn't blame her for staying with her parents, but I can't let my grandson starve. I prepared so many wild vegetables and dried vegetables before, and your eldest brother is still working at the grain store. They should be able to fill their stomachs, but look at how thin the three Xizi brothers are."
"Mom, don't argue with your sister-in-law. If you don't like it, just go home."
"Alas..." Zhang's mother sighed and said, "Mother, don't bother with her. We are all women, who doesn't care about her family? In the past, the Huang family was better off than us, so she didn't have to subsidize us. Now that we are doing better, I care about her... and your eldest sister-in-law is a soft-hearted person, I have to keep an eye on her and can't let her be the head of the family."
What could Zhou Jiao say? If she didn't cherish such good parents-in-law, she would be struck by lightning.
"Also, Mom isn't home. Don't eat steamed buns with wild vegetables all day long. Leave all the good food for Xiaowu. Xiaowu is Mom's lifeblood, how could I not love him? But you are also my daughter, he has a big appetite, don't save it for him."
Hearing this, Zhou Jiao took her arm and said, "Mom, I have a small appetite, not that I'm saving." She couldn't tell her mother-in-law that she had cooked for her.
Mother Zhang patted her head and smiled, "Yeah, I know. Our Jiaojiao is a good child. Haha... Don't usually take Ping An out with you. A chubby white child is too eye-catching."
"Well, I made several tattered clothes for the whole family to change into. I also usually lock the compound and don't go out."
Mother Zhang patted her. "Don't worry, Xiaowu, don't go to your eldest brother's place. I'll come back often. And if your eldest sister and the others need food, don't help them. Don't let them all rely on Xiaowu. If they really can't make ends meet, I'll tell you. Can you tell them to stop sending the packages from the capital?"
Zhou Jiao nodded quickly. She had already discussed this issue with her mother and Cheng Ruzhu last time. It was too noticeable. She had even warned Zhao Chuangguang about it.
Seeing this, Zhang's mother nodded with a smile and stood up. "Then Dad and Mom will go to your eldest brother's place. If it's too late, Xiaowu will come back and we won't be able to leave. Remember not to light the kang in the west room while we're not here. We don't even know if we have enough firewood at home to last until next spring."
Zhou Jiao smiled silently and followed her out.
Standing at the gate, Zhou Jiao looked up at the sky, her heart filled with worry as she watched Mr. and Mrs. Zhang walk out of the intersection and wave to her to come in.
When Aunt Wang came out, she took a few quick steps and saw Zhou Jiao frowning. "It's so cold, who are you standing there waiting for? Where are your parents-in-law and children? Go in quickly."
Zhou Jiao pointed ahead and said with a smile, "The old couple just went to the old house. The child is sleeping inside. Where are you going? Do you want to come in and sit for a while?"
Aunt Wang quickly shook her head, "I'm leaving now. I have to get to work."
Zhou Jiao watched her walk away anxiously and laughed. Just as she was about to go in, she turned around and saw her right neighbor Huang Juan looking at her with a smile.
"Aunt Juan, you're not going to work today?"
Huang Juan raised her hand to the net bag and said, "Just for this. I'll leave right away."
"Aunt Juan, have a good trip."
"Go in, be careful not to get cold."
Zhou Jiao locked the door and went into the yard, thinking deeply about the two neighbors she had just seen.
It seems that both families still have surplus food... Thinking of this, she shook her head and smiled - how boring it is to care about other people's family affairs.
Here, before Mr. and Mrs. Zhang reached their eldest son's door, they saw their eldest daughter-in-law looking out the door. When she saw them coming, she hurried forward.
"Mom and Dad, why didn't you come back for dinner? Your dad couldn't wait and went to work first. My parents just came over and are waiting for you inside."
Mother Zhang glanced at her husband and asked, "What's the matter with the in-laws coming here?"
Huang Cuilan shook her head. "They said everything was fine, but they just hadn't seen you for a long time."
Zhang Dad smiled and stepped into the yard first, laughing and calling out to his in-laws. His wife couldn't understand the key point - if they had something urgent, they would have gone to their eldest son's house long ago, why would they wait so long?
"Brother Huang, when will you and your sister-in-law come over? Why don't you ask the eldest brother to call me?"
"Come over after lunch. They said you'd be back soon. Why are you and your sister-in-law so late?"
Zhang's mother laughed and said, "Hurry up and sit down. It's because Xiaowu wouldn't let Dad and I go, so we waited until he went to work before sneaking back. My oldest son is almost like Xizi."
Hearing this, Huang's father laughed out loud.
Huang's mother looked at her enviously, "His family is wealthy, and he wants you to enjoy life with him. I see your sister-in-law looks very well. What has he eaten now?"
Mother Zhang glanced at her daughter-in-law and said with a smile, "What do you mean by rich? The food rations are fixed. The food is pretty good, with wild vegetable steamed buns and corn cakes. Jiaojiao has a small appetite, so a lot of the food rations are saved and all go to us."
"Alas," Huang's mother sighed, "you've done a great job. Our village has been depleted for a long time. Our eldest son couldn't stand it anymore and dragged us to the county town."
Zhang's mother stared at her husband in surprise. She hadn't known. Back in Zhangjia Village, life was still the same: porridge for breakfast and dry rice for lunch. Even so, she felt quite pitiful, considering his family used to have two dry meals.
Zhang's father had a good idea; he probably had been eating to excess for the past three or four months. However, he didn't want to say it out loud. His oldest son was even more of a scourge. He and his wife always ate mostly rice, rarely sweet potatoes, and even less noodles for breakfast. No one would believe him if he told them.
Father Zhang smiled and said, "There's not much work to do right now anyway. You can just consider it an early hibernation and enjoy the good life at your old son's house."
Father Huang smiled bitterly and shook his head. "My second son has many children, and the burden is heavy, but the food rations are so meager. Don't worry about you laughing at me, but if there was any other way, I wouldn't come to the city."
"It's okay. We'll get through this hurdle now, and it'll be great if we have a good harvest next year. It's just right that we can keep each other company. If you get bored, I'll take you to chat with some old men." Father Zhang could only comfort him. He didn't dare mention that the other party had an older son, as it would be unkind to poke holes in someone's wounds.
Mother Zhang saw that the table on the kang was empty. She was not used to it. "Old man, hurry up and get your parents some snacks. Is there any left at home?"
"No, I'll save it for the children. I won't be polite to you if I'm hungry."
Huang Cuilan looked at her mother-in-law in embarrassment.
There really wasn't anything in her house; everything was locked up by Xizi. That child was incredibly cunning. Whenever her uncle gave her something, she acted as if she was afraid her older brothers and sisters would snatch it away. She clutched everything tightly, willingly giving all the things she had to Shitou rather than her nephews and nieces. No wonder people say nephews eat like dogs and walk away. The children had forgotten how much they had eaten during their early years at the Huang family's.
Father Huang quickly stood up and said, "If you guys are busy burning things, I will really leave."
Father Zhang pulled him aside and said with a smile, "Okay. Let's not talk about food. Let's have a good chat."
Zhang's mother also smiled and said, "I also wanted to ask you how things are going at my mother's side. What's the rush?"
Huang's mother knew, "Before I came to the city, I saw your sister-in-law go back to her parents' home. She also asked about you and asked you to visit her parents' home when you have time. She said that they are all well and asked you to rest assured."
Zhang's mother was delighted to hear this. She had been so busy recently and hadn't been home for a long time. "Didn't I tell her why I was going back to her parents' home? She's such a tough person, and she's always nice when I ask her. Did something happen at home?"
Huang's mother recalled the scene and shook her head. "No, she was so happy. She was still carrying a bamboo basket on her elbow as she walked home. I thought it was quite heavy. She was just taking a break when I came out and ran into her."
Father Zhang smiled and said, "If you're worried, let the children go and have a look."
Mother Zhang shook her head. As long as nothing happened, it was fine. Why should the children go through the trouble of traveling back and forth?
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