Under the big locust tree at the entrance of the village, Xizi vividly described the interesting childhood stories of his uncle and aunt. Of course, he had heard these rumors, but it didn't stop his little brother from enjoying listening to them.
Xizi guessed that Ping An's interest had been piqued by what the old ladies in the wheat fields had said this morning. Otherwise, he wouldn't have secretly asked her to take him on a tour of Zhoujia Village.
"Every year on Qixi Festival, a magpie bridge is built to allow the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl to reunite. This stone bridge was originally used to allow your parents to travel back and forth across the two villages."
Don’t think you don’t understand, Ping An rolled his eyes at him.
Xizi joked, "Don't disbelieve me! When your father was five years old, he often dragged your mother to the middle of the bridge."
"Did you see it?"
Xizi smiled and said, "Grandma and the others said so. There are witnesses, so it's undeniable. I heard that there were adults sitting right where you are now, watching them playing hand in hand."
Ping An wasn't interested in hearing this. He clenched his fists and said nonchalantly, "Are all the people in Zhoujia Village surnamed Zhou?"
"Just like our village, there are several people with surnames outside."
"Will you be bullied?"
Xizi smiled and said, "Every place bullies newbies."
"Then why did they move here? Why don't they go back to their hometown? My great-grandfather Jiang said that old people like to return to their roots."
Xizi shook his head. "Those who can leave here are those who can't make it in their local area. Otherwise, who would bring their families here? Look at the Zhou family. They all fled to Lin County because they couldn't stand being criticized."
Ping An stood up and walked towards the washboard by the river, a smile flashing in his eyes. "No wonder. That means they must be living well now. With my family's gold, they must not be short of money."
"How is that possible? Everyone in the city knows that their family is completely devoid of conscience. I heard they're having a hard time out there, too. Otherwise, Zhou Linan wouldn't have kept wanting to move back home."
Ping An turned his head to look at him, "Oh?"
"I have a classmate whose uncle also works there. I heard that their family has a lot of gold. Many people are targeting their family."
Ping An took a few quick steps, squatted down to wash his hands, and sighed, "That clan leader's grandfather was really pitiful. If they go back to the village, won't outsiders say that he accepted gold to help?"
Xizi glanced at the two women who were washing clothes not far away, and nodded after hearing what she said. "That's right."
"Oh my..." Ping An exclaimed, and hurriedly shouted, "Brother, those brothers were all very nice just now. We should be loyal to each other. Shouldn't we remind them of this? If those people move back, a lot of scoundrels will come over and someone might get killed."
Ping An looked up at him uneasily and continued, "Especially the neighbors on both sides of that yard. It's really dangerous. It's pitch dark. If a bad guy goes into the wrong yard and kills the wrong person, it would be the end of him. It's so scary."
One of the women doing the laundry was the village's most prestigious wife, Guo Shu. If she hadn't been afraid of Zhang Guoqing, she would have been tempted to throw a tantrum and get something from his son.
Ever since Ping'an came over to wash her hands, she has been paying attention to what the two brothers are talking about.
Hearing Ping'an's exclamation, without waiting for Xizi to reply, she quickly grabbed the rinsed clothes in her hands, raised her head with a smile, and echoed: "That's right, you are Xiaowu's child, right? You look like your father, but you are kind-hearted. Don't worry about outsiders, they are far away from us. We are safe in our team, there is nothing to be afraid of."
Ping An nodded obediently. "I know our village is separated from them by a river. Those bad guys won't take the wrong path. Even if they do, we don't have to worry. We have more people."
After saying that, he didn't wait for Guoshu's wife to wake up. He ran to the shore waving his little hands and shouting goodbye.
"...Goodbye...Oh no...Laoshan wife, we have to talk to the child's father. If he's not careful, he could be dead. What if he runs into someone when he goes out in the middle of the night..."
Ping'an ran away and heard the loud voice of the old woman who was a beat slower and smiled at him in a flattering way. He curled his lips and smiled sarcastically.
——These people always think they are young and they just want to take advantage of their family!
Xizi followed closely behind, but found that they were too far away and the other party could not hear him.
He then said to Ping An, who had slowed down his pace, "Next time you see that person, ignore her and run away. She's a famous ghost-seeker in the village. That runny-nosed, naked brat from the day before yesterday was her son. You can tell how well-educated they are by the way they were when they were snatching food from him."
Ping An laughed inwardly, nodded in confusion, and said, "I'll listen to Big Brother."
Xizi smiled with relief and reached out to touch his head, but suddenly remembered that Ping'an didn't allow anyone to touch his head except his grandparents and other elders.
He then patted Ping An's shoulder and said, "Come, let me tell you about this glorious deed. This is the top-notch person that my uncle once mentioned."
Ping An lowered his eyes, took his hand, and listened to the funny stories he told as they walked. He chuckled a few times to show his courtesy, with his eyes slightly narrowed.
If Zhou Xiaozheng was there, he would definitely know that the child was absent-mindedly thinking about something again.
Xizi, completely unaware that he had just been used as a prop by his fifth brother, was gossiping cheerfully, and when he got excited, he even revealed the inside stories of the "celebrities" from the surrounding teams.
A few days later, the situation escalated further when the members of the Zhoujia Village brigade, especially the old Zhou family's neighbors, went to the Zhou clan leader's house and shouted that the old Zhou family would not be allowed to move back to the brigade. Only then did he thoughtfully ask Ping'an if he had anticipated the outcome.
Of course, facing the naive little Ping'an, especially his bewildered look, this matter became a mystery that Xizi half believed and half doubted. However, in the following years, he became more and more accustomed to writing to his fifth brother to discuss any problems.
A figure pushing a cart appeared on the road leading to the county town. Xiao Ping'an could tell from afar that the two people walking side by side, one tall and one short, were definitely his father and mother. He jumped up with joy, waved and shouted.
Xizi narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance, then asked uncertainly, "Are they really my uncle and aunt? Wait a minute, if you call them the wrong ones, they'll make you laugh."
"No," Ping'an said confidently. He had observed over the past two days that women in the village had a very low status. They always walked behind men when they went out. Even his grandmother would lag behind his grandfather.
The ones walking side by side in front must be his parents. His dad really loves his mom, unlike many of his friends whose parents sit far apart even in the same row.
Zhang Guoqing listened carefully and found it was Ping An's voice. He immediately picked up Zhou Jiao who was beside him and put her on the stroller. He pushed it away and ran away, complaining, "It would be great if you could just sit in the stroller the whole time. My son must have been waiting for a long time."
Zhou Jiao grabbed the handrail and glanced at him. She was too lazy to speak. She was the stepmother, right?
"son……"
"Dad, I miss you so much..."
When they got there, Zhou Jiao couldn't bear to look at the father and son hugging each other with silly smiles and cheers. It was really an eyesore. She glanced at Xizi, who was laughing secretly. Look! What a joke!
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