Three days passed quickly, and after finishing her chores, Zhou Jiao, seeing that even the affairs of the old patriarch's grandson had been arranged, suggested returning to Beijing. With the New Year approaching, her parents at home were even busier, and she still worried about her son at home.
Zhang Guoqing, who was so happy that he didn't want to leave his hometown, finally swallowed his sadness and said goodbye to his parents. Even though Zhang's father and mother were reluctant to leave their hometown, he couldn't help but persuade them again and again.
Feeling disappointed, he once again stood in front of the gate to stop his parents from seeing him off, and once again asked relatives and friends who were seeing him off to take good care of his parents.
As the young couple disappeared, Zhang's mother touched the handful of food coupons and money in her pocket. She tried hard to hold back her tears and looked at the intersection with a smile.
She secretly told herself, don't be sad, her eldest son is not going to never come back. She will leave after the second son's family is born. Just as her own Jiaojiao said, it would be a pity not to go to the capital when spring comes and flowers bloom.
Zhang Dad was curious to see his wife smiling all the time. He chatted with everyone for a while, and as everyone dispersed to go to work, he followed his wife into the bedroom.
"Mother, have you come to your senses this time? That's the way it should be! When the weather warms up, I will definitely keep my word and take you to the capital."
Mother Zhang smiled and nodded, then hid the money in her pocket in the corner and whispered, "Jiaojiao has stuffed money in again this time. Let's save it for them first."
She didn't mention that this was her daughter-in-law's private allowance for her family. How could a family with two small children understand how hard money was to earn, and food coupons were even harder to come by. No matter how much her family gave her, she couldn't let her son suffer. In the future, he would have children, and raising them would cost him countless more. She had to save for him, just in case.
"Well, save it all and pay it back to him in the future. What kind of money can we use at home? This kid always makes trouble, either for grains or meat. It makes me tired to see it."
Zhang's mother laughed heartily. Who could give birth to a son like her? Of course, her father-in-law also contributed to this. She wasn't bragging, but each of her sons was more impressive than the last. Her son, Xiaowu, made money like it was his play; there was nothing he couldn't do. Her son could easily find the fine grains and game that others couldn't get.
Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao were in a car heading to the provincial capital. Little did he know his mother had already deified him. Looking out the window, thinking about his future plans, he felt a wave of melancholy. He really wouldn't have time to return to his hometown for the next few years.
Arriving in the provincial capital, he had no time for sentimentality and plunged into the secular world again. He went to the North Station and visited Station Master Zhang. In addition to visiting him before leaving to strengthen his relationship, he also planned to arrange jobs for his two cousins from his uncle's family.
Relying on one's own family for support is not a long-term solution. Only if the two honest little cousins work on the railway, in the factory, get a job and find a good family, then his mother's burden will be much lighter.
Zhang Guoqing absolutely refused to admit that he didn't dare to arrange for them to stay in the county town, and insisted on staying in the provincial capital just to avoid his cousins.
Everyone is selfish. He didn't even dare to tell his father about this assignment, aside from Zhou Jiao. Huang Cuilan had already exposed him to the ugliness of human nature, and he never wanted to see the Zhang family destroy their own walls again.
Zhou Jiao agreed with his idea, and of course, she was most impressed by the thick calluses on the two girls' hands. She liked that they could work and go to school at the same time, and they didn't complain when they dropped out and went home, nor did they try to get close to her and get benefits.
Such people made her feel comfortable. As for whether they would change their temperament in the future, she didn't care. There was no reason to help with matchmaking and have to guarantee that they would give birth to a son.
The efficient and fast couple followed Zhao Chuangguang and his wife to visit relatives and friends in the provincial capital, while also doing things secretly.
While Zhou Jiao was chatting with her godmother Huang Huimin, Zhang Guoqing had already finished his work and sent his two uncles and cousin to report for work.
During this time, something happened that left Zhou Jiao in a state of both laughter and tears. The two cousins actually knelt down and kowtowed to her, frightening her so much that she fled behind Zhang Guoqing. She truly didn't expect their gratitude; she simply followed her heart, and their futures depended on themselves.
However, the two uncles didn't think so. They understood their daughter's long-educated mindset too well. If she hadn't been able to get into high school, they would have sold everything they had to support their only daughter's college education. And the reason for going to college was simply to get a good job.
In the past, as they watched their three nephews gradually start working, they had thought about asking their eldest sister for help, but in the end, they couldn't bring themselves to do it. When their brother-in-law's family wanted to help, they would give their nephews first, which made it difficult for their eldest sister.
Now, the two girls have escaped from their farming families thanks to their nephew's wife. They deserve it, not just kowtow, but even risk their lives. They're train conductors, earning a salary and a uniform year-round. Who could afford to take care of two of them at once? It's clear the nephew and his wife are working incredibly hard.
Compared to his two uncles who were ecstatic, Zhang Guoqing was much calmer.
He had only come forward because he saw that the Northern Line trains were in urgent need of staff. This was also an opportunity for the two cousins; such a good thing would not normally happen.
After giving them some instructions, the couple bought two train tickets to send their two uncles off. They didn't take the incident to heart. However, in the following years, when the harvest was good, their family often received packages from their in-laws.
After bidding farewell to Zhao Chuangguang's family who had come to see them off, they set out on their return journey. Their mood was completely different from the anxiety they felt when they came, and they now had the leisure to play chess and tell jokes.
Compared to the northbound train, the southbound train had far fewer passengers. Now that they could stay home, no one wanted to spend money to leave. A couple occupied the six bunk beds. They had no interest in getting off the train to buy rations at the several small stops along the way. Firstly, there was no need to compete with others for food, and secondly, queuing was a drudgery.
Zhou Jiao was tired and fell on the small bed with her eyes closed to rest. She secretly rearranged the supplies in the space. When she saw several sacks of rice bran, she piled them on the coal briquettes with disgust - they took up too much of her space.
She didn't need to rack her brains to know that this time Zhang Guoqing was worried that the coarse grains in the Taoist temple would go bad, so he put them all into the space and he would definitely become a regular visitor and stay.
She had thought it unnecessary to leave any rice bran. See, she miscalculated. If she had listened to herself, she would have raised several pigs.
Honestly, even she envied the pigs. Raising pigs meant slaughtering them, but humans also die, their lives only lasting a short time. Zhou Jiao was absolutely certain that many people in the village shared this sentiment.
After having the porridge in the village once, she would never drink it again. A bowl of it was either husks or cornmeal mixed with chopped cabbage stalks or rain-soaked radish shoots.
To prevent pigs from losing weight, what do they eat? It's a mixture of fine rice bran and tender sweet potato vines. Pigs have a good life; they don't have to work in the fields, and they don't have to worry about their families going hungry.
It's no wonder that children look at pigs with complicated eyes, wishing they could be reborn soon.
Zhou Jiao understood the children's thoughts very well. It was indeed better to reincarnate early. A pig's meal was enough for a family to survive for a day.
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