Since moving into the farmhouse, Zhou Jiao has found life truly relaxing. Every day, she wakes up early, enjoys a hearty breakfast, and returns to school with Zhang Guoqing, under the caring gaze of Aunt Qian.
I rest at school at noon, and then walk back to the courtyard after the last class in the afternoon. Occasionally, there is a philosophy class during evening self-study, and I chat with my classmates in my free time.
What made her happiest was the simple-mindedness of the people in this village. Today, Zhou Jiao gave a candy to a crying baby, and tomorrow, there would be an extra bunch of vegetables in the yard.
Less than a month after they'd moved in, the elderly and children from the neighborhood would greet them with a smile. One day, a mischievous child fell under a tree at the entrance of the village. After Zhou Jiao cleaned and bandaged the child's wound, the villagers looked at her with warmth.
When the weekend came, Ping An came and was eager to return to the compound, unlike when he lived in school. Many times, he stayed with Aunt Chen for two or three days, playing with the children in the village before returning to the city.
Even Aunt Qian joked that they might as well look for abandoned yards for sale and buy them so they could have more places to stay in the future. If there weren't so many yards, Zhou Jiao would have agreed right away.
Zhou Jiao was picking a bunch of Chinese toon in the yard. At this time, several children aged seven or eight came running over from outside the fence, calling out "Aunt Xiaowu".
"Come in. What's going on?"
A chubby boy led the way, pushing open the wooden door and coming in: "Uncle Xiaowu and the others caught a lot of loaches..."
"There are still a lot of small shrimps..."
"There are also wild vegetables. My grandma said that Uncle Wu is a capable man."
Zhou Jiao took out a few hard candies from her pocket and handed them to the leading boy: "Erwa, share them for Auntie."
Qian Erwa quickly shook his head: "My grandma said that we can't always eat Aunt Xiaowu's food. We are so old now. Aunt, please leave it to my brother Ping'an."
Zhou Jiao smiled and stuffed the fruit into the child's hand, "Don't listen to your grandma. I ate a lot of your wild fruits when I came here safely. Be obedient and take it."
Qian Erwa is the second son of Qian Da Niang's eldest son. Looking at his sturdy appearance, you can tell that this child is loved at home, and his upbringing has not been neglected.
This boy was very tactful. Seeing that Zhou Jiao was giving it to him sincerely, he didn't eat it first. Instead, he distributed the pieces to his friends one by one, kept one for himself, and put the remaining three on Zhou Jiao's stool.
Every time Zhou Jiao saw this scene, she couldn't help but rub his head. No one disliked this kind of child, no wonder he was the most favored among his brothers.
Zhou Jiao took advantage of the other child's inattention, grabbed the money and stuffed it into his pocket, and even winked at him on purpose, causing the seven-year-old child to laugh out loud.
"Will Brother Ping'an come again in two days?"
"He will definitely come."
After hearing this, Qian Erwa turned around and told his friends, "See, I didn't lie to you, did I? Ping An will definitely come. He said last time that he would bring a slingshot and treat us to meat."
After saying this, the little boy suddenly felt that he had spoken out of turn. This was their little secret. He turned his head to look at the smiling Zhou Jiao and quickly shouted, "Thank you, Auntie, candy. We are going to play."
Zhou Jiao watched him run out with a group of children, smiled and shook her head, asking them to slow down.
Thinking of how her son Ping An actually knew not to show off with stones in public, but to cover it up with a small slingshot, Zhou Jiao couldn't help but smile with relief.
There were no activities at school that day, so a bunch of free students didn't even go back to the dormitory and followed the couple to this small courtyard.
Unlike previous years, it is now spring and flowers are blooming. After more than two years of recuperation, wild vegetables and some small fish and shrimps can be found everywhere in the fields, on the slopes, and on both sides of the ditches.
Except for those who had all dropped out, there were still dozens of other students who came here just to have a bite before the busy farming season, or as they said, to treat themselves first.
Not long after Qian Erwa and the other children ran away, all the male and female classmates came in with smiles on their faces, carrying and hugging a lot of things.
"Jiaojiao, we also changed the eggs."
"We have some at home, why waste it? I've prepared some things in the kitchen, so feel free to help yourself, I won't interfere."
"We wouldn't dare come if you were pregnant and wanted to help. Just relax and have a good rest. Our group dinner will start soon."
During this time, Aunt Qian even asked her eldest daughter-in-law to send a basket of vegetables, which made everyone scream with joy. He doesn't look like a college student at all, he's even worse than the village rascals.
It was almost dark after dinner was ready, so Zhang Guoqing lit two torches and set them up in the yard.
In the yard, a group of people were eating fried loach and snails, drinking wild vegetable and egg soup, and corn dumpling soup. It was as if they were eating delicious food and drinking fine wine.
After the music ended and everyone dispersed, it was already late to see off the classmates. Zhou Jiao returned to her bedroom and passed by the outer room. She saw that the cornmeal and other grains she had specially prepared for everyone were basically untouched, and smiled.
——It seems that everyone is very sensible.
"Are you exhausted? These guys are really noisy. If you weren't pregnant, I would have suspected they were going to play all night."
"It's nice and lively. How can I get tired just sitting there?"
Zhang Guoqing smiled and shook his head. "They were planning to come to the nearby teams to help out during the busy farming season. The farm is so far away, they're probably afraid of it."
Zhou Jiao observed his expression suspiciously: "But you are hinting at something on the side, right?"
"How is that possible?"
Zhou Jiao glanced at him with amusement. If she was right, Zhang Guoqing must have arranged all these details before the start of the school year. Otherwise, how could they have such a coincidence that they were having dinner today?
The biannual busy farming season arrived, and this time, just as Zhang Guoqing had envisioned, their class and two other classes were assigned to a nearby production team.
The only unexpected thing was that their class wasn't in the production team overseen by Captain Qian. Fortunately, Instructor Wu and the other students were kind enough to assign Zhou Jiao to help out in the team cafeteria.
Upon learning that his daughter had joined the busy farming season, Zhou Xiaozheng, who was so worried that he couldn't sleep at home, finally came up with a not-so-good solution and asked Ping'an to supervise his mother.
Ping An saluted him, his face tense, and he shouted solemnly, "Please rest assured, Commander. Soldier Zhou Ping An will definitely complete the mission."
After saying that, his eyes kept wandering around his grandfather's arm.
Zhou Xiaozheng looked at him with a smile in his eyes and saluted quickly. Seeing the child's happy smile, he touched his head. He was really a happy person.
Zhou Xiaozheng had made all the arrangements here, and Doctor Hu also went to the suburbs with his medicine box on his back.
So the next day, the two groups met in the Qian family's rented farmhouse.
Not long after Doctor Hu and a disabled elderly couple pried open the fence of the yard, Ping An got out of a military vehicle, followed by Aunt Chen.
"Master, why didn't you tell me you were coming? I would have asked Uncle Wang to take a detour to pick you up." Ping'an's eyes lit up when he saw the old man and he ran over.
Doctor Hu patted his little head and said, "Why did you come here? You still need your parents to take care of you."
"Who said that? I'm here to take care of my mom and brothers." Ping An grabbed his hand. "Master, why didn't you wait for me last time?"
Doctor Hu gestured towards the kitchen. After the elderly couple who had followed him carried their things in, he said to Aunt Chen who was standing nearby, "You'd better go back with the car. I'm here. Tell my nephew that I'll be watching the child, and he'll understand."
Of course Aunt Chen knew who the other party was. The Zhou family had never hidden these things from her. Seeing that the other party came with two helpers, she had nothing to worry about. Besides, there were only three rooms in total, and it would not be convenient for her to stay there.
After saying goodbye to the old man, I repeatedly gave Ping'an some instructions, agreed on a time to pick him up, and then left reluctantly.
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