Zhou Jiao, who had just woken up, had a slightly flushed face and a hazy look in her eyes. Her lazy demeanor really made her look like a kitten. Furthermore, her loose hair made her face look small, and her red lips and white teeth made her look even more delicate.
Zhang Guoqing, who had just entered the bedroom, loved his wife's little look and said, "It's still early, sleep a little longer."
"What time is it?"
"It's only a little after five. Wife, there was a heavy snowstorm this morning, and the snow outside is almost knee-deep. Luckily, we drove the car into the garage (Armed Forces Department) last night."
Zhou Jiao couldn't lie still any longer after hearing this. Besides the presence of her parents-in-law, her family was doing horse stance at 5 a.m., and she was even more worried about her child getting cold in the yard.
"Auntie is making breakfast, you lie down for a while. I won't mind you two chatting so late last night."
"I can't fall asleep once I wake up."
Zhang Guoqing had cleared the snow in the yard. Xiao Ping'an was practicing the breathing method improved by his master, and he was standing in a horse stance steadily. Occasionally, snowflakes floated on his long eyelashes, but he didn't even blink.
Zhang's mother was heartbroken when she saw this. She didn't want to delay her child's exercise, so she took out a large black oil-paper umbrella and held it over the child's head, breathing on him.
Seeing his wife coming in and out, Mr. Zhang was very happy. He stood by with his hands on his hips and watched. He was secretly proud of himself. Who could be as promising as his grandson!
After washing up, Zhou Jiao looked at the twins who were fast asleep. When she walked out of the living room, she saw the scene of the three generations of grandparents and grandchildren, and smiled.
After breakfast, the three branches of the Zhang family gathered in the courtyard, waiting for the two rented carriages to appear at the gate on time, and then rushed into the carriages with quilts and coats.
Ping An was worried his car might break down, preventing him from reaching the provincial capital to meet his grandfather that afternoon. Seeing his brothers huddled together in the car, he couldn't speak, and could only glance at his parents.
It wasn't until Zhou Jiao nodded at him that the little guy breathed a sigh of relief. Now that he had some free time, he secretly regretted that he probably wouldn't be able to go hunting in the mountains today.
The carriage stopped at the foot of the northern mountain of Zhangjia Village. Father Zhang did not take the children to the grave first. Instead, he went back to his room and took out a few wolf tooth pendants and peach wood necklaces to hang on his young grandchildren.
After the children had warmed up, Zhang Dad secretly led the team from the backyard to the North Mountain, carrying a basket of offerings prepared by his wife.
During the winter, except for the members working in the production team yard and breeding farm in the distance, there was no one in the open fields around, which made things less troublesome.
In front of the graves of Grandpa Zhang and Grandma Zhang, the three Zhang Guoqing brothers cleared the snow on them. Dad Zhang placed offerings and prayed for the safety of his descendants.
After burning gold and silver paper money in an old copper plate, Father Zhang led the children to kneel on the ground and kowtow three times before reluctantly cleaning up the scene and leaving.
Seeing his father's unwavering expression, Zhang Guoqing held the twins close to him and whispered, "Dad, wait a little longer. When the situation improves, I will definitely build a good house for grandpa and grandma."
Father Zhang patted him with a pat of relief. "No need. Your grandfather said that once someone passes away, it's all over. There's no need to spend all this spare money. Dad, I'm worried that the villagers will get jealous and come and take over our territory."
Zhang Guoqing almost laughed out loud.
The influence of Feng Shui superstition is really great. It seems that everyone is targeting his grandfather's Feng Shui land. But why don't those people think about the fact that his uncle, his younger uncle, and that confused aunt are also his grandparents' biological children?
"Back then, Wang Baiwan hired countless Feng Shui masters to find a gravesite in Wangjiaao?" Zhang Guoqing smiled. "But look where his descendants are now?"
"Just wait and enjoy your life when you're old, don't overthink it. Some things might be truly influential, but they still depend on the efforts of your descendants. Even if the feng shui is excellent, what's the point if your descendants just sit there and do nothing to work?"
Zhang Guoqing agreed with what his second brother said.
After returning to the old house from the mountain, the kang in the main hall was already warm. Zhang Guoqing didn't bother chatting with them, but first delivered cakes to several elders in the village.
There weren't many things. Like in previous years, the elders of the clan each got two boxes of pastries; Uncle Zhang, Uncle Zhang, the old captain and Uncle Zhang Wu got an extra bottle of Northeastern Fever.
After greeting the elders and exchanging a few pleasantries, when Zhang Guoqing returned home, his mother had already started preparing lunch with her daughters-in-law. There were also a few people gathered in the corner of the yard, basking in the sun and chatting.
"dad?"
Zhang Guoqing, seeing Ping'an's expression, was completely clueless. He checked the time, figuring it was enough for him and his son to stroll up the mountain and back. After greeting Zhou Jiao, he found a random excuse to take his eldest son back to his own yard.
Zhang's father had picked every last drop of fruit from the trees in the backyard, and his parents had kept the rooms immaculately tidy and exceptionally clean. If he hadn't had to return to Beijing for work that evening, he would have planned to stay there for a few nights.
The father and son set out from the snow-covered backyard and headed towards Daqing Mountain. After three months of hard training at the military academy, Zhang Guoqing was eager to test his skills again.
The father and son had been in the mountains for nearly an hour when Zhou Jiao slowly returned home, leading the twins by the hand. At noon, the strong north wind died down, and the warm sun shone on them, as if the winter's gloom had faded a little.
Zhou Jiao felt a pity for missing the New Year pig slaughtering ceremony. It was Chinese New Year, and the three members of the production team had already gone home to celebrate.
——She sighed deeply that she couldn’t buy the local pigs at such a good opportunity.
Especially when she saw Zhang Guoqing coming in from the backyard carrying a wild boar and holding his son, Zhou Jiao frowned with heartache.
"What's wrong?"
Zhou Jiao calmed her two jumping little sons and whispered, "Wild boars could have been used to replace the mission pigs. What a pity, what a pity."
Zhang Guoqing burst out laughing. Zhou Jiao, who looked so cold and like the girl next door, had such a vivid expression that he just wanted to have a good bite.
"elder brother?"
Seeing her stamping her feet and stretching out her voice to act coquettishly, Zhang Guoqing joked: "How about calling me brother a few more times, one pig at a time?"
"Do you have a purpose? Can you make it back in time for the evening?"
The three brothers, who were eating melons, looked at their parents curiously, then looked at each other, and laughed happily. They heard this, and there was no shortage of meat at home again.
"Sons, keep it a secret." Zhang Guoqing made a gesture, and seeing his three sons nodding happily, he felt both amused and sad.
Apart from the fact that there is usually an aunt at home, they try to cover up the situation, but their own living standards are not that bad. Why do they make the children feel a sense of crisis?
After Zhang Guoqing cleaned up the two- to three-hundred-pound wild boar, out of the sight of the children, he had Zhou Jiao take it into his living room. He planned to leave it with coal briquettes and grains for his parents before leaving.
After cleaning up, the family had lunch in the old house. Zhang Guoqing left the children with their grandparents under the pretext of visiting Grandpa Wang and his family, and drove Zhou Jiao to several contacted households. He bought six pigs at a price double the purchase price of 40 cents from the meat processing plant.
It was simply too tight a timeframe, otherwise there would be more. Nowadays, any decent-sized family in the countryside would raise two pigs, one for the mission and one for their own use.
With such high profits, any excuse, such as saving for a wedding, had to be put on the back burner. Zhang Guoqing didn't worry about not being able to buy what he wanted.
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