At the dinner table, Zhao Chuangguang ate a piece of steamed bun and drank a mouthful of porridge, his attention focused on his two sons. His eldest son was a handsome man who had already attended Harbin Institute of Technology, so he didn't have to worry about his future.
Then I see my youngest son being so carefree even while drinking his porridge, which makes me worried. Why is he still acting like he hasn't grown up?
Sixteen-year-old Zhao Lihui sat up straight at the sight of his father's glance, his heart trembling. He wondered if his father had some other bad idea up his sleeve.
"This summer vacation is almost over. I have a mission for you..."
Before Zhao Chuangguang could finish his words, he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Zhao Lihui was so happy that he planned to thank this unexpected guest. He winked at his elder brother...
"Godfather, godmother, it's me..."
"Uncle, I'm Ping An..."
Hearing this, Zhao Lihui immediately jumped up and rushed out, and the stool fell to the ground with a bang. No one noticed that he had already rushed to the door, and the whole family also ran to the door in surprise.
"Sister, brother-in-law, Xiao Ping'an. It's really you... Awooo..."
Ping An was picked up by him and giggled with joy. He hugged Zhao Lihui's neck tightly, but he didn't ask Zhao Liyang who was stroking his head and complained: "Uncle, you didn't write to me?"
Zhao Liyang: "My uncle has been extremely busy these past few months and was just thinking of visiting you during the New Year."
"Okay, I forgive you."
Zhao Liyang laughed happily and said, "Thank you, little nephew! Can your uncle take you out to play?"
Zhao Lihui immediately said, "Brother, let's take Xiao Ping'an to grandpa's house and let them see what a beautiful doll is."
"Uncle, I'm a man, not a baby..."
Over there, Huang Huimin pulled Zhou Jiao onto a stool and complained, "Why didn't you notify us to pick you up? You must be exhausted." After saying that, she walked towards the kitchen without waiting for her to answer.
Seeing this, Zhou Jiao hurried to follow.
Zhao Chuangguang, standing nearby, patted Zhang Guoqing on the shoulder with a wide smile on his face and praised him, "Good boy, you did a great job! Your uncle Wang and the others have praised you many times in front of me. Keep up the good work!"
Zhang Guoqing smiled and said, "Godfather, I'm still a long way from that. How have you been recently? Did the prince give you any trouble?"
Zhao Chuangguang smiled and shook his head, "Don't worry! Who is your godfather?"
"How many uncles are there?"
Zhao Chuangguang looked at him with concern and smiled happily, "Everything is fine! How long will you be home this time?"
"I don't know what's going on at home right now, I'll go back and check it out first."
"I went to the county town a while ago. Your parents are doing well. They still live alone in a small courtyard. Your second brother goes there three times a day. Your eldest brother is still in the provincial capital. You can go and see him later."
Zhang Guoqing smiled gratefully and nodded. Zhao Chuangguang treated him like his own son, so thanking him between them was too light and too distant.
Thinking of something, he slapped his forehead in frustration and quickly ran to pick up a large sack. This was a gift he had smuggled out on the way specifically for Zhao Chuangguang. Otherwise, he would have been too busy carrying such a large sack of precious things on and off the bus.
Zhang Guoqing opened the bag, winked at Zhao Chuangguang, and with a smile, took out a 20-jin wine jar with some dirt still on it. As expected, Zhao Chuangguang laughed heartily with joy.
"Godfather, take another look at what's inside. I buried it in the yard the year I went to the capital. The medicine should be taking effect by now. Remember to only drink one small cup a day."
Zhao Chuangguang opened the lid of the wine jar and was greeted by a strong aroma of medicinal wine, which filled the entire living room. He looked inside and glanced at Zhang Guoqing in surprise.
Zhang Guoqing smiled and whispered in his ear, "That year, I got tiger penis, and with the stock at home, I asked Old Man Wang to prepare the herbs for me. This time, I opened two jars and buried them underground."
Zhao Chuangguang remembered that the kid had given him a tiger that year, so it wasn't surprising that he wouldn't try every possible means to get the good stuff if he had it.
He touched the wine jar distressedly, "Can your father drink 20 kilograms by himself?"
Zhang Guoqing laughed happily. Knowing that he was thinking about the wine in his father-in-law's hand, he quickly comforted him, "Don't worry, it's still buried at home. I'll bring it to you after you finish drinking it. I'll go to Mr. Wang's house again this time. Maybe I can get something."
"Forget it, it's too much trouble. No matter how much you make, it won't be enough for us two brothers to share. Did your father also pack some for your uncle Wang and the others?" Seeing Zhang Guoqing nod, Zhao Chuangguang carefully carried the wine jar into the house, "I'll also pack a kilogram or two for your four uncles later. I have to hide the rest first."
Zhang Guoqing smiled and shook his head, then shouted to his two brothers-in-law in the room next to him, "Why are you running in there? Come out first."
Zhao Liyang took the lead and carried Ping An out, saying with a smile, "Brother-in-law, you can't blame us for avoiding you. I'm really worried that my nephew will get drunk just by smelling the alcohol."
"Shh... don't tell anyone."
Zhao Liyang smiled and nodded. He watched him take something out of the sack and quickly said, "Brother-in-law, don't take it. Save it for my nephew. We are too old to eat snacks."
Zhang Guoqing laughed and scolded, "What's the point of a little brat pretending to be an adult?"
"Brother-in-law, I'm eighteen."
"In my eyes, you're still a little brat even at eighty!"
Ping An laughed happily.
Zhang Guoqing took out two cans of malted milk, two bags of milk powder, and a large bag of unwrapped chocolates, and asked Zhao Lihui to hide them in their room and eat them slowly.
"Brother-in-law, these good things are for Ping An..."
Ping An didn't wait for him to finish, and said with a smile: "Uncle, my father brought it from far away for you. I still have some at home."
Zhao Lihui jokingly asked, "Don't you feel bad?"
"I don't feel bad at all about giving it to my uncle, but others can't." Ping An said, and then he reminded him worriedly, "These things are very expensive, so don't give them to outsiders."
"My nephew is so smart, and I, as his uncle, am not stupid!"
Ping An watched him go with a smile, but his heart ached. He told himself that his second grandfather's family was different from everyone else's. He'd eaten a lot of the food they'd sent him. Well, his grandfather said it's about reciprocity!
Zhang Guoqing carried the remaining large bag of flour to the kitchen.
The noodles were boiling in the pot in the kitchen. Huang Huimin was busy with her hands, but she still managed to talk to Zhou Jiao. When she saw him coming in with something, she didn't say anything, but pointed to the cellar and asked him to put it in there.
Without her instructions, Zhang Guoqing had already opened the door to the cellar, took out four noodles from the bag and placed them on the stool, and put the flour into the vat in the cellar.
"Why is there so much food this time? Is there enough food at home?"
Zhang Guoqing clapped his hands and said with a smile, "There's nothing we can do if it's not enough to eat. Godmother, I've given you the full four gifts. Your daughter won't be at a disadvantage by marrying me, right?"
Huang Huimin laughed and nodded happily.
Zhou Jiao laughed and said, "Godmother, don't listen to his nonsense. My aunt said that outside of the capital, food rations are still very tight, so we went to the black market to buy some. Why didn't you tell me the truth in your letter?"
Huang Huimin smiled and shook her head. "We can still make ends meet. At first, your godfather couldn't buy anything when he went to the countryside, but later on, it was Old Third Liu who helped, and with the money from our old man, we had enough to eat."
Zhang Guoqing paused. "Didn't the canteens in the countryside get disbanded and private plots distributed last year? How come we can't buy any? We can still buy whole grains in the suburbs of Beijing."
"There must be regional differences. I heard our rural areas had a bumper harvest this year, but there wasn't much left after paying the public grain tax. And in several villages near the provincial capital, each household was only allocated a few mu of private land at most. How much can you cultivate with a few mu of land? Some production teams also raised pigs on a quota basis. The food shortage situation can't be solved immediately, and it can only be better than it was in the past two years."
Zhang Guoqing glanced at Zhou Jiao.
Zhou Jiaowei shook her head. She knew what he was worried about. As for Zhangjia Village, they should go back and take a look. Her godmother stayed in the provincial capital and never went to the countryside, so she only heard about it from hearsay.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
