"Dad, how's the team? Are the uncles okay?"
When Zhang's mother saw her husband come in, she quickly brought him a bowl of cold boiled water.
Speaking of cold boiled water, Zhang's mother thought of her eldest son. If her own son Xiaowu knew, he would definitely praise her. She resolutely carried out her son's repeated instructions.
After those good times, Zhang's mother wasn't as enthusiastic about returning home as her husband. The village was plagued by mosquitoes in the summer, and the food and accommodation weren't as comfortable as in the city. She was becoming more and more accustomed to staying in the county town.
Look, she rarely went back home with her husband these past few times. When she went back, she saw that everyone was busy with the farm work, but she was worried about being looked down upon if she didn't do anything with nothing. Why bother?
"The whole village is so busy it's pounding its heels. Luckily you didn't go back. Now that the policy has come out, the village canteen will be disbanded after the busy farming season. Everyone's coming to me asking where they can buy a pot."
Zhang Dad finished speaking and shook his head. It keeps changing. Where can I buy a new one if this pot is broken?
"What did you say? Don't agree to it. The other day the supply and marketing cooperative asked us to bring our broken pots to buy new ones. Who would spend that money if they didn't repair their broken pots? They only buy new pots when they have no more pots. That's better. It doesn't mean people can't buy new ones."
After Zhang's mother finished speaking, she didn't care about the wet towel dripping from her hand and stared at her husband closely.
Father Zhang laughed and said, "Am I stupid? Is this something I can agree to? Just let them use the clay pots to make do with it first."
"Didn't my sister-in-law and sister-in-law ask you to bring me a message?"
"I'm an old man, why are they coming up to me for no reason? If they want to buy a pot, they will only ask the second brother. Isn't that better than asking us, the two of us, old couple?"
"It's useless to look for it. Our second child is not as enthusiastic as the fifth child. If it really doesn't work, we should make room for them first, so that they don't have to write to the fifth child and make things difficult for me, the old son."
Zhang Dad took the towel from his wife's hand, wrung it dry, and hung it on the washbasin rack. After a moment, he shook his head and said, "We can't move it. It's just one pot, and it wouldn't be suitable for anyone else. Big Brother and the others won't write to Xiaowu. Think about it, even if Xiaowu bought the pot, the shipping fee would be quite high if it was sent all the way back."
The old couple were chatting in the room. After a while, they heard the sound of Zhang Laoer shouting and Xizi opening the gate outside.
"Why is this kid not working?"
"How should I know? It might be an emergency."
When Zhang Laoer came in, he asked Xizi to pour him a glass of water. He took the bowl and rolled his eyes, "Your uncle is always picky. Don't learn from him."
Xizi chuckled at him and said provocatively, "Uncle, don't use shampoo or soap when you're doing something. I can smell it."
"You're so bold, you little brat."
Zhang's mother slapped him and said, "I think you're quite courageous. You don't save your salary, but just squander it."
"Mom, you misunderstood. This was given to me by Xiaowu two years ago. I usually don't want to use it, so I just wash it in the summer. Really, we still have soapberries at home."
Father Zhang watched his second son beg for mercy after being beaten by his wife, while his eldest grandson covered his mouth and smirked in glee. He patted his son on the head and said, "Are you happy? Go get your second uncle another bowl of water."
"Okay, my son is old enough now, he won't be unreliable. Let's see what the second one wants first."
Zhang Laoer laughed and said, "Dad, Mom couldn't bear to hit me. It was like scratching an itch. I was feeling quite comfortable. I just came to see if you were back. I thought you had to stay until the busy farming season was over."
Father Zhang glanced at his wife and said, "Your mother told me to come back today. Do I dare?"
Zhang's mother laughed out loud at his amusement.
"That old man is just talking nonsense."
Zhang Laoer couldn't stand hearing the unlucky word "death". He quickly asked his mother to spit on the ground and chanted "live a hundred years".
Father Zhang looked at his son curiously. He wondered if something had happened. He didn't know what kind of person his son was. How could he be so superstitious?
Zhang Laoer sat for a moment, chatting with his parents about family matters. After a while, he said, "I heard that Mrs. Zhou has been ill for some time. Do you think I should mention this to Xiaowu?"
Father Zhang frowned. "Did the Zhou family send someone to tell you this, or did you find out about it?"
"Someone mentioned it unintentionally, and then I went to ask about it."
Mother Zhang really didn't want to tell her son and daughter-in-law about this. If they got involved again, the in-laws would be annoyed to death. Others relied on imagination and had never been to the capital, but she and her husband had seen it with their own eyes. If the Zhou family saw it, they would shamelessly refuse to leave and would cause trouble.
She looked at her husband, hoping he would give her some advice.
Father Zhang had also thought of this. What was a person's face worth? If the Zhou family really started a scene in the compound, it would be embarrassing for Brother Zhou. Even if his reason was valid, there would be people behind the scenes trying to confuse right and wrong and smear him as much as possible.
"Has the old lady called a doctor?"
"We went to the city hospital once, but we didn't know what was wrong with her. A few days later, they took her home. Now she can't get out of bed and spends all day on the kang."
After Zhang Laoer finished speaking, he looked at his parents' frowning faces and expressed his opinion.
"Dad, the Zhou family won't ignore the old lady. You forgot that she has a pension and a lot of benefits every year. If she runs away, these benefits will be gone.
So you and mother, don't worry about the idea of a long-term illness leaving no filial son. I see the old lady doesn't need anyone to take care of her, so I'm just considering whether to notify Uncle Zhou and his daughter..."
Father Zhang shook his head before his son finished speaking. "The Zhou family hasn't informed us yet, so just pretend you don't know and don't ask around, lest anyone find out."
After saying that, he turned to his wife and said, "Mother, I don't think Xiaowu should come back this summer. The journey is not safe, and with what happened, it's better for them to stay outside."
"Okay. That way, we can avoid embarrassing Jiaojiao if someone brings this up when we get back. Just say we're going to visit them at the end of the year and ask them not to come back. Let's just lie like that for now and talk about the rest later."
Zhang Laoer saw his nephew listening with great interest and nodding, so he quickly instructed, "Don't tell your uncle in the letter, okay?"
Xizi nodded, but inwardly he disagreed. Why should he hide this from his uncle? What if they had good intentions but did something bad? His uncle was such a smart man, why would he need to hide this from him? He secretly pondered how to write the most appropriate words. "Well, I have to include what my grandparents said, too."
Zhang Laoer smiled with satisfaction. This child was quite obedient and had no doubts at all.
"It's settled. We'll talk about it after they pass the message to us. Go send a telegram to Xiaowu first and tell him not to go home."
Father Zhang made the decision and the matter was settled.
Zhang Laoer, seeing that the matter was settled, got up and went to the kang to check on his youngest son. He saw that the little fellow was sleeping soundly, and the loud noise just now did not disturb him.
Zhang's mother jokingly asked, "Are you thinking of your son?"
"Hehe...are you tired, Mom?"
"This child is just like Ping An. He eats and sleeps, sleeps and eats. He's very easy to take care of. You can just take a break and let him go to the nursery. It's not that I dislike the nursery staff there, but they're really not good. I even caught lice with them."
Father Zhang remained silent, watching the mother and child with a smile. My wife's perspective has broadened considerably since she visited the compound nursery several times. The notion that children don't have lice is simply a matter of taste in big cities.
He still remembers how his children had so many lice when they were young that they had no choice but to shave their heads. It was only after his wife stopped working in the fields and had the time to mess around that the children became clean. Otherwise, they would have been stuck in the fields all day, too busy to care for these little details.
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