Late at night, when everyone was asleep, Father Zhang leaned back in his bedroom with his eyes closed, quietly waiting for his grandchildren to arrive, his mind wandering to all sorts of things.
"What's wrong?"
Father Zhang patted his wife and said, "It's okay, go to sleep first."
"Our Xiaowu and the others are all doing well. There's nothing wrong at home. The children are all doing well. What are you worried about? Is it about the child's uncle?"
"No, big brother is stepping down, Qingshan will be the deputy captain. With the old captain's guidance for a few years, Qingshan will be the captain in a few years. Why should I worry about his family?"
Zhang's mother thought so too. The commune had approved it, and in the spring, her eldest nephew would be the deputy team leader.
"Grandpa and grandma..." Zhang Mingzuo poked his head in and called softly.
As soon as Mr. Zhang saw his wife about to speak, he quickly covered her mouth. He was really worried that if she raised her voice, nothing would be discussed tonight.
"What's wrong?"
"Could you please come out for a moment?"
Father Zhang glanced at him and nodded, not wanting his wife to hear. He kept it a secret, so he didn't say much and just asked his wife to keep an eye on the yard.
Although no outsiders would come in at midnight, who knew if there were any thieves or thieves out there? It was better to be careful these days.
As soon as Father Zhang entered the study in the east room... wow, there were seven or eight young men crowded in the room, all looking at him eagerly. No wonder he found all kinds of reasons to send the two girls back tonight.
"Grandpa, my eldest brother and eldest cousin made plans for us before we set out on this trip. It's all thanks to them that we're so safe on the road. I'll be in charge of the money and tickets, Xiaoyou will be in charge of communications, Ziwu will be in charge of safety, and Zicong and Shitou will be in charge of gathering information."
Father Zhang looked at the children approvingly and nodded. After all, they had been in school for several years, and their arrangements were more detailed than those of adults. It was indeed good.
"We've already talked about what happened on the road today, but there are still some things..." Zhang Mingzuo scratched his head, "It's not that we brothers can't trust women."
Father Zhang glared at him and said, "Alright! Your grandma is still keeping watch outside. Be careful she might hear you and beat you up. Tell me quickly, did you do anything bad?"
Zhang's father naturally knew why his grandsons were hiding things from the women in the family. The eldest daughter was untrustworthy; the second daughter's family was a big mouth; the eldest daughter's son was impatient and impulsive; and the second daughter, as a child, had nothing to do with her family.
"Hehe..." Zhang Mingzuo laughed twice and pulled out the quilt from the kang. "We only brought three quilts. Brothers, please help us take them all apart. Be careful."
At this point, what else did Zhang Daddy not understand? Glancing at the children busy at work, he frowned and looked at Zhang Mingzuo, "Did you bring quilts into the compound?"
"Hey, we're not stupid. We heard you guys say there would be inspections at the compound gate, so we left it at the station. Later, we asked my uncle to take the lead, and he took us to retrieve it."
"Look how clean it is now. It's all thanks to my aunt. We slept outside for so long, sharing a space with strangers all day. It was so dirty, with fleas, lice and everything. As soon as we entered the compound, Ping An dragged us to the bathhouse, had our hair cut and changed clothes. It was so embarrassing."
Zhang Dad rolled his eyes at him, suppressed his smile, and shook his head, "Quite smart."
"Yes, my uncle and aunt said the same thing. My aunt said that if you are clean, it will easily arouse suspicion. Nowadays, the poorer you are, the more glorious it is. There is no need to feel that your self-esteem is damaged."
Zhang Dad saw what was taken out of the quilt and shook his head speechlessly. He didn't know whether to say that the kids were too brave or...
That’s true... Maybe anyone else would think that the children had done such a bad thing and would either scold them or panic, but what kind of people are his son and his wife?
"Master, a lot of good stuff got smashed, but unfortunately some of it was too conspicuous. My brothers and I just learned to hide these things from others. We originally wanted my uncle to sell them for some money, but my aunt said it would be a waste to sell them, so she told us to keep them for future use."
My aunt is even more capable than my uncle; she knows everything about these things and even sorted them for us. We originally wanted to leave half for the three Ping'an brothers, but my aunt said she didn't want any.
"Master, my uncle said that just in case, it's safer to give these things to you. Please keep them well, and each of us brothers will have a share in the future."
After scraping out the corners of the three quilts, there were only about a dozen items in total. They were all small and mixed, and I don't know how these few items were found.
Some peace buckles, jade pendants, gold rings, brooches, jewelry, paintings and calligraphy with the spindles removed, Jiangnan embroidery, and a few small yellow croakers...
Father Zhang didn't know which one was the most valuable, but he could tell from the few jade pendants that the white ones were oily and the green ones were very translucent. Both colors could fluoresce under the light.
After pondering for a moment, Father Zhang secretly shook his head and looked with complicated eyes at the children in front of him who were talking in agreement.
These children grew up together, have a deep brotherly love, know how to cooperate, are brave, and have high knowledge, but they still haven't thought about the changes that may occur after they each have their own family in the future.
Now they are still young and united, but when they each start their own families and careers in the future, their mindsets will be different. Taozi and the others will all grow up, so how can everyone have a share of something?
Just because his eldest son and his wife didn't covet these material possessions didn't mean his remaining daughters-in-law, daughters, and sons-in-law had no objections. Truth would come to light, and he didn't want to be accused of partiality by his children after he and his wife passed away, and that they had caused such a scene and become enemies over a few things.
Money is a good thing, but it can also be harmful. He didn't approve of his grandchildren's behavior. Ill-gotten gains are too easy to come by, and it will affect the children's character.
There are some things that the children are talking about right now, so they won't listen even if I tell them. I can only do it slowly. Why have I never told my sons about my family background?
Aren't you worried that they don't have Xiaowu's strong character, become fearless, think they have enough money, and are no longer willing to work in the fields?
People are more united when they are poor. Look at those rich families, which ones have filial sons and loving fathers, and are the whole family harmonious?
Zhang Mingzuo on the opposite side looked at the silent Zhang Dad and suddenly felt a pang in his heart. His uncle's prediction was really right. His grandfather was really worried.
He immediately stepped forward and said, "Before we came back, my uncle gave us a whole night of ideological lessons. He was worried that we would learn to get something for nothing, so he gave us homework."
"Oh?" Father Zhang didn't expect his eldest son to be worried about this. That's good! The truths spoken by educated people are more convincing to children.
His eldest son can come up with all kinds of weird ideas at will.
Zhang Mingzuo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his expression ease. His uncle had repeatedly warned them not to worry the old man.
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