The Yi family raised their glasses to celebrate, and the Zhou family was no less impressive.
As she entered her home from the compound, Zhou Jiao was a little curious. Why didn't her husband come to the door to greet her? Even the arrival of Miao Zhicheng couldn't slow him down.
"Ding ding... Welcome home our heroine." Zhang Guoqing rushed out from the doorway. "Son, you can scatter the flowers now."
The shredded colored paper fell from the hands of the funny father and son onto Zhou Jiao who came in, making the whole family watching laugh.
"Mom, are you happy?"
Zhou Jiao bent down and picked up the child, then took the small bamboo basket from his hand. "Thank you, son. This is so grand."
"I wanted to set off firecrackers, what a pity..."
Zhou Xiaozheng, with a smile on his face, waved at them after they finished their fight and said, "Let's eat first."
"Mom, Grandma Chen cooked a lot of your favorite dishes today. She said you were so brave that you even dared to capture enemy spies, so she wanted to give you some food."
Zhou Jiao listened to her son's mumbling, nodded repeatedly, looked at Miao Zhicheng in front of her, and said with a smile: "Brother Zhicheng, I'm sorry, I can't pick you up at the station."
"I'm a grown-up, so I can take on anything." Miao Zhicheng said with a smile, "Congratulations, cousin, but you still need to be careful in the future."
"Okay, thank you, Brother Zhicheng."
Zhou Jiao handed the things to her father, washed her hands and ran to see the twins first.
"Is Dayile stupid?"
"I just told him that he will come to see you tomorrow."
Zhang Guoqing nodded. "He almost couldn't hold it in a while ago. I guess he'll ask about it before school starts." He pointed at Wuyi and said, "Look at the youngest one."
The child is very good! He is white and chubby, with dark eyes, and he looks smart. Zhou Jiao looked at him doubtfully.
"We see each other every day and don't notice it. But today Zhicheng came over and took one look at her and exclaimed, 'Why does she look so much like my cousin? Look, isn't it? He's getting older day by day and really looks more and more like you."
Zhou Jiao looked around at the two white buns, but still couldn't tell. They were so chubby, how could they look like her? They did have the same dimples when they smiled, though.
At the dinner table, Zhou Jiao listened to everyone's conversation, glancing at her father from time to time. Her three sons were about to inherit their grandfather's growing pains, and she secretly rejoiced at the thought.
"Xiaowu, take pictures of these certificates and medals this afternoon, develop a few copies, and send them to your mother and your godmother so they can be happy too."
Zhang Guoqing really meant this, and after hearing what his mother-in-law said, he nodded happily.
Miao Zhicheng sighed, "A few years ago, someone from our commune won a second-class merit in the army. It was a huge success with a lot of fanfare. It's a shame it's only in the city this time."
What is this "pity" that the honest people are talking about? Everyone knows it, and they laugh happily. Who cares about these formalities?
But you know what, Miao Zhicheng was half right.
In a county town in the northeast, Dad Zhang finished practicing Tai Chi early in the morning, chatted with a few old friends, and then slowly went home with the old man in the front yard.
As soon as he entered the house, he saw his wife looking up at the sky. He looked up curiously and asked, "Mother of the child, what are you doing?"
"What do you think our little five is doing right now? School has already started, and I don't know how he's eating at school. I also don't know how the twins are doing. I don't know if anyone else would take good care of them if I left them to their care."
"Oh, I dreamed early this morning that Jiaojiao was calling for her mother to come quickly. Do you think they can handle it? Brother Zhou and his wife are only at home at night. Can they take care of the children? And what about our safety?"
Zhang Dad paused as his wife nagging at him. School had already started for a few days, so he couldn't take care of the kids. He knew better than his wife that Zhou Laodi and his wife weren't just home at night; sometimes they had to go on business trips, leaving them with no time to spare.
He asked hesitantly, "How about I stay at home and you go to the capital tomorrow?"
Mother Zhang rolled her eyes at him. "The second son's family is pregnant, how could I leave? Winter is almost here, and we need to stock up on food. Xiaowu and Ping'an like dried beans, so I need to dry some for them. I also need to dry more vegetables and mushrooms to send to them. Dad, can you give us some pork from someone's wedding?"
Zhang Dad looked at his wife with amusement. He had thought she was about to leave after all this talk, but now, his worries were aroused, and she was talking about meat again.
"Really not going?"
"Alas, I can't leave. Our Xiaowu should be able to arrange it, right?" Mother Zhang was not very sure. "Master Jiaojiao has Aunt Ya and Old Madam Cheng at home. They should be fine, right?"
Zhang Dad looked at his wife's worried eyes. What else could he say? He smiled comfortingly: "Xiaowu told me that if you are really too busy, just send a telegram."
"Look, when you split up the family, you were always worried about their children taking care of their children. Look, our family is raising them well. Don't worry! When the second child's family has a baby, I will accompany you to see the grandchild."
"It's different. Jiaojiao was at home then." Mother Zhang said this and waved her hand. "Forget it, let's leave it this way for now. I want to go back to the village today. Do you want to come?"
"Needless to say?" Father Zhang said, then thought for a moment, "Have you told the second son? I won't be back so soon this time, and I have to clean up several backyards."
"The second son lets me do whatever I want. It's not like his wife hasn't given birth to a child before. I agree. She used to have to work in the fields. I'd better go back to the village early to prepare some things."
Zhang Dad nodded. After drinking corn porridge and eating three steamed buns made of 200g of flour with his wife, he prepared to return to the village.
As Zhangjia Village has become much better off in the past two years, more and more courtyards, large and small, have appeared at the foot of Fenjia North Mountain. When the old couple Zhang entered the village, the team had already started working. The surroundings were quiet, and few people came forward to say hello.
Mother Zhang looked around and sighed, "It's not even been thirty years, and there are so many more courtyards here. I used to be able to see the intersection from my doorstep, but now..."
“This shows good feng shui.”
As they were talking, the old couple passed by the old courtyard but did not enter the house. They went straight around Zhang Laoer's yard, stood in Zhang Guoqing's yard, opened the lock and went in.
Because they came back so often, the yard didn't look desolate at all. After several years, the grape trellis in the front yard had become old vines, with dense purple grapes hanging on it.
The fruit trees transplanted by Zhang Guoqing in the backyard have also grown strong. The red sand apples and red dates look even more shiny and attractive under the green vegetables and beans on the ground.
Every time Zhang Dad came in, he felt that his eldest son was destined to be blessed. Who could have expected such a bountiful harvest from a barren land?
Didn't you see that the fruit trees his second son transplanted either died or had few fruits hanging on them? If it came to meticulous care, Father Zhang would be ashamed for his eldest son.
"Or are you planning to sell it?"
Father Zhang nodded. Even a mosquito leg, no matter how small, is still meat! He had inquired and thought that if he saved up for a few years, he could find 3,000 yuan to buy Ping An a small courtyard in the capital.
He wasn't worried about the twins. The five-story courtyard and the alley courtyard given by Old Lady Cheng would definitely belong to the two brothers in the future. But whether his family, Ping An, would accept the courtyard given to his daughter-in-law was still uncertain.
There are some things he can't explain too clearly to his wife.
After being tormented by their eldest son for the past few years, the young couple probably didn't have much money. Otherwise, their eldest son wouldn't have accepted the thousand yuan.
My daughter-in-law is nice, but she doesn't know how to manage the household, and we're still too financially strapped. Even if she starts working next year, with both of their salaries, I guess it won't be enough to spend.
Brother Zhou said that the three children would share it equally, but who knows what will happen in the future? He still has to follow his own wishes and save more money for his grandchildren.
Father Zhang was secretly making his own plans, which even his wife, Mother Zhang, didn't know about, let alone Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao.
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