As the sun sets, after more than an hour of collecting garbage, the family of five finally returns to the alley courtyard with satisfaction, pushing the full garbage truck.
"Dad, I want a wooden stool."
"The rocking chair is nice."
"Are you sure?"
"Haha, let's just use a wooden stool."
"That's all right. I'll keep the materials in the back room for now. I'll try to make a rocking chair when I have a long vacation. It doesn't look that complicated to me."
"I'm sure I can do it. I'll help you when the time comes."
"Forget it, we can just spend some money and let an expert do it. If we have this much time, why don't you take us out for a walk and test our skills?"
"We can wait until autumn to go hunting. It's hot now, so we don't need meat. In autumn, I'll take your mother to pick wild fruits and make some snacks for you guys."
"Mom, did you hear that? My dad promised to take us hunting."
Zhou Jiao smiled and nodded. It was only a few days away, and some things needed to be settled. Autumn was approaching, and her father would be back soon anyway.
Ping An patted Wuyi and said, "Grandpa and grandma might come over, don't get too excited yet."
"Come if you want to. I just need to take them out. With Dad here, there will be no problem getting the certificate. Dad, don't you agree?"
Zhang Guoqing shook his head. "I can't come. Your brother Xizi and cousin Ziwen are getting married at the end of the year. They won't be coming, but they will ask our family to go back."
"How do you know if you didn't reply?"
"Ask your eldest brother, he can figure it out."
"No, I can guess. He's missing his wife."
"You little bastard, how old are you? Do you know what it means to miss a wife?" Zhang Guoqing laughed happily.
"I know a lot more. My grandmother told us a long time ago that once my cousins get married, there will soon be the fourth generation of the Zhang family, and we will all be elders."
Liuyi waited for him to finish, then said softly, "They're both engaged. Grandpa asked in the letter when you and Mom would have some vacation time. They want to arrange it, right?"
Zhang Guoqing smiled at him approvingly, "Smart!"
"Then do you have time to talk to my mom? Didn't you tell her last time that you were very busy at the end of the year and probably couldn't leave?"
Zhang Guoqing glanced at his youngest son in surprise, "Did you hear all this?"
"Well, I stayed in bed and didn't take a nap."
"If your mother and I don't have the day off this time, how about you go over there on our behalf?"
Ping An frowned, "Do I have to go?"
"Last time when Yinsuo got married, no one from our family went. This time, Xizi and the others should arrange to get married around the time of their wedding. Your grandma will be sad if we don't go back."
"That's fine, I can go alone then." Ping An nodded and asked thoughtfully, "How should our family give the gift this time?"
Zhang Guoqing looked at him with amusement, "Wait until my hometown notifies me of the wedding date, then discuss it with your second uncle, and we'll give him the gift. Your grandfather will also give a gift when the time comes."
Ping An looked at Zhou Jiao hesitantly, then walked closer to Zhang Guoqing, "It's okay for our family to give such a gift to my aunt, but will my aunt be unhappy?"
"You mean I have to give her a bigger gift for her?"
Liuyi and Wuyi shouted in unison: "She is so beautiful."
"So what does her happiness have to do with us? Your mother and I have limited salaries. Besides supporting your grandparents, we also have to support you three brothers. Where do we get the money?"
The three Ping'an brothers immediately covered their mouths and laughed.
"Are you happy? Dad knows what's going on. Don't say these things outside, or you'll lose your composure. Your grandma always told me to help in emergencies, not in poverty."
Ping An nodded and said, "My grandma is sensible. I've noticed that there are several families in our compound who, whenever there's a wedding in their hometown, try to act grandly and say they'd be embarrassed to do otherwise.
Last year, Xiaojie's mom and dad had a fight over a nephew's marriage back home. His grandmother actually wrote to him saying that there were two people in his family who were earning their salary, and since his eldest nephew was getting married, they, as uncle and aunt, had to buy him a sewing machine.
Liuyi laughed sarcastically, "This is what my mother calls moral kidnapping."
"I know about this. Later, his family's newly bought sewing machine was secretly sent back to his hometown by his father. His mother was so angry that she bought a bicycle for his grandmother's family. They are all idiots."
Zhou Jiao wasn't very interested in these things; it was just a matter of mutual consent.
Looking at the four fathers and sons happily gossiping in front of her, she shook her head speechlessly and could only walk forward quickly, "Okay, hurry back to the courtyard, we have to go home."
Especially when she came out of the scrap yard, the first thing she wanted to do was to take a look at the "garbage" that the children had picked out, and consider whether she should find someone to learn some cultural relic restoration skills in her spare time.
Those torn calligraphy and paintings, those smashed porcelains... these are the precious cultural heritage left by our ancestors, and if we don't take care of them anymore, they will really disappear in the long river of history.
They walked and thought all the way. With Zhou Jiao's reminder, everyone sped up a lot this time. They walked through the alleys and alleys, and soon returned to the alley courtyard.
The nearby park still has many groups of tourists and children swimming and fishing in the river. It's still a good place, but it's a pity that there are no more street food shops, popcorn corners, and summer desserts...
When Aunt Ya saw them come back, she put down the button-making work in her hands, stood up happily, and pointed in the direction of the kitchen towards the three children.
Zhou Jiao smiled and asked, "My master hasn't come back yet?"
Aunt Ya nodded and gestured for it to get dark.
Zhou Jiao didn't need her to answer, as she assumed the same thing. If the old man felt like it, he might even go to the countryside to play a traveling doctor. He hadn't traveled far this year, and it had been boring enough for him.
Over there, Zhang Guoqing pushed a cart to the back house, put all the wood he liked in it, picked up two sacks and placed them at the door, and finally moved the garbage to the woodshed.
After a busy period and dinner, Doctor Hu still had not returned. Zhou Jiao had no choice but to say goodbye to Aunt Ya and the family left.
Summer nights come late, and the family strolls in the alleys in the afterglow of the setting sun. If it weren't for the two sacks that are in the way, Zhang Guoqing would really like to take his wife and children shopping.
The bus swayed and stopped frequently along the way. Before it reached the terminal, many familiar people got on. They were all military families in the compound.
Among them is Yi Shumin.
After nodding and greeting each other, Yi Shumin squeezed in between them. Seeing two sacks near their feet, she kicked them lightly with her feet out of curiosity.
"What is this? It's dirty."
Zhou Jiao didn't worry about being exposed because she could bring it into the compound. Before she could speak, the twins Liuyi and Wuyi looked at each other. Liuyi looked at her and said, "I bought some broken wood."
Wuyi followed closely and said with a smile: "We want Dad to teach us how to make small stools."
Yi Shumin jokingly said, "You don't want to be a soldier anymore, you want to be a carpenter?"
"We are still young. If we learn more skills, we won't have to worry about not being able to find a wife in the future."
Yi Shumin was amused by Wuyi and laughed out loud with the people around him.
One of the female comrades said with a smile: "I have a little sister at home who is very cute. You don't need to learn any skills. I will be your wife. Do you want her?"
Wuyi shook his head. "No, no, I'm still young. I have to wait until I grow up and start working. Only when I have a salary can I marry a good wife."
Yi Shumin nudged Zhou Jiao and said, "Your son is really good. He understands it at such a young age."
Zhou Jiao: “…”
"By the way, why did Uncle Zhou take so long on his business trip?"
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