Thirty minutes was neither long nor short. Thanks to the swift movement of the four wheels, the couple even took a spin around the city.
Zhou Jiao, in high spirits, skillfully controlled the steering wheel, glancing out the window from time to time, and regretfully discovered that the entire city had fallen asleep.
Seeing this, she lost interest and originally wanted to drive to the small train station, but then she thought it would be too conspicuous to drive in the middle of the night, so she decided to turn around and drive to the trading point in the suburbs.
The car hadn't even gotten close yet, but the three people in front were already waiting. Judging by the cigarettes in their hands, they'd probably been waiting for quite a while.
Since the transaction had already been completed, the middle-aged man did not say much this time. He counted the quantity of each item in the car and directly threw a black cloth bag to Zhang Guoqing.
Zhang Guoqing opened the bag, checked the real and fake banknotes and food coupons inside, and threw them to the front without even counting them.
The middle-aged man laughed and gave him a thumbs-up. He had been in the underworld for many years and had met all kinds of people. He had seen wealthy people before, but he rarely saw such generosity!
Before leaving, the middle-aged man told Zhang Guoqing to contact him directly next time if he needed anything. If he couldn't find him, he could draw a secret code on the wall at the entrance of the tunnel, and he would appear the next day.
On the way back, Zhang Guoqing definitely wouldn't let his wife drive. It was almost 1:30 a.m., and they had to get home before dawn. The journey would take over three hours at a normal speed, and with his wife's driving skills, even the best car wouldn't be able to reach the village entrance before dawn.
Along the way, Zhou Jiao fell asleep in a daze, while he was concentrating on driving. They drove hard and finally arrived at the county town at a quarter before four.
At this moment, Zhang Guoqing didn't dare to drive to the village again. In the summer in Northeast China, it would be dawn at a little after four in the morning.
They drove into a small road, got out of the car, took advantage of the cover of the woods, parked the car, walked stealthily for a while, and came to a river.
The couple was not in a hurry at this time. They slowly removed the camouflage with chemicals. After washing with clean water, they sat on a washboard on a large stone and waited for dawn to watch the sunrise.
"Will mother be worried if we don't go back?"
Zhang Guoqing said confidently, "No. She'll definitely think we're still asleep when she sees us with the gate closed. Don't be embarrassed. We'll bring breakfast back later and tell her we went to the county town. The most she'll say is that we're bored out of our minds."
Zhou Jiao glanced at him sideways, "Better to be idle than a lazy woman."
"It's dawn now. Should we walk slowly first?" Zhang Guoqing asked softly when he saw a woman from the village carrying a wooden tray walking towards them.
"Hmph." Zhou Jiao raised her chin proudly, stood up and walked forward.
"What does this mean? Can you give me a hint?"
Zhou Jiao smiled and said, "Don't you feel honored to be able to follow a beauty like me?"
"I'm more than honored. I'm filled with gratitude. My heart is pounding. Would you like to touch it?"
The couple sang in florid tones and laughed from time to time. They took a bullock cart to the village, got off halfway and walked quickly towards Zhangjia Village.
It was almost six o'clock when they arrived at the old house. As expected, Zhang's mother didn't knock when she saw the door was closed. Seeing them sweating as they carried a bag of buns, she realized they had nothing better to do than to go to the county town. They were indeed looked down upon.
Zhang's mother specifically warned her daughter-in-law: "Jiaojiao, don't listen to Xiaowu. He's as strong as an ox. You can't follow him in any exercise. What if he faints halfway?"
Zhang Guoqing laughed out loud with joy.
Zhang's mother scolded him with a smile, "You little rascal, you're still so naughty. How can you treat your wife like a wild boy? Why didn't you tell me you wanted to eat buns? I bought the buns today. I'll go see if I can get some meat in the next two days. I'll let you eat as much as you want. It's too expensive outside."
Even Zhou Jiao was laughing so hard that she fell backwards. Her mother-in-law was so cute!
"Alright, go wash your face and come over for breakfast." Zhang's mother saw the couple walking so fast and shouted, "Don't worry, your father is out with the kids and hasn't come back yet."
"Oh, I see."
When Aunt Zhang came out, she heard the loud laughter of Zhang Guoqing and his wife. She walked into the old courtyard in confusion, calling her second brother's wife... Before she reached the kitchen door, she saw her sister-in-law coming out to answer her.
She couldn't help but ask, "What's the matter that makes you two laugh so loudly so early in the morning?"
Zhang's mother had already hidden the buns when she heard the noise outside. It would be bad if outsiders saw her family eating white flour and meat buns so early in the morning. Of course, she couldn't tell the truth at this moment.
She laughed and said, "It's all because of that naughty boy Xiaowu. He could have been playing and exercising by himself, but ended up dragging Jiaojiao along for a run and then running off to the city. Now they're coming back covered in sweat, and I'm laughing at them. They're so bored."
"These young couple are really close. They've been married for so long and they're still the same as they were when they first got married."
Mother Zhang smiled and nodded, explaining, "It's mainly because Jiaojiao has a good temper. No matter what Xiaowu says, she always nods cheerfully, regardless of whether it's right or wrong. She has such a good temper that she doesn't even swear, so we can never have a quarrel."
"That's right. So when a matchmaker comes, I always ask on Tiedan's behalf that the matchmaker must be literate and well-educated, and the girl must be steady and refined. Unfortunately, there are not many girls like that."
"Don't worry. Isn't the child still in school? Let him choose what he likes."
Aunt Zhang smiled and shook her head. "My eldest daughter-in-law's family is a worry. I have to check on the eldest grandson first, otherwise if a troublemaker comes into the family later, it will be all over."
"No, Tiedan is very smart." After saying this, Zhang's mother did not intend to talk about this topic anymore. If this happened to Xizi, would his grandmother's family intervene in the eldest grandson's marriage?
She changed the subject and asked, "Have you had breakfast?"
"Not yet. Tiedan and the others ran out with Xizi and the others early in the morning and haven't come back yet. Oh, I have to go look for them. I have to find the kids for dinner every day during the holidays."
Zhang's mother smiled as she followed her out of the yard and stood at the gate, watching her walk away. She glanced at the sky and knew her husband would be back with the children soon.
When Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao were leaving, he saw her standing there and told her to go to the old house to accompany his mother while he went to find his father. Before they had gone far, a group of young boys and girls came over with Zhang's father and his three brothers. They were so dark that he didn't even need to distinguish them.
Arriving, Zhang Guoqing greeted the three Zhang brothers and said with a smile, "My grandfather said that with a single shout, a dozen grandchildren would appear. You three are even more impressive than my grandfather!"
Uncle Zhang smiled and said, "That's right. Just now when we came here, your Third Grandfather said that our family is very prosperous. If we go over to the ancestral hall for a banquet, our branch wouldn't be able to fit at least ten tables."
Zhang Guoqing nodded repeatedly, "Let's find a time for our three families to take a group photo."
"Can it be photographed?"
Zhang Guoqing nodded and smiled: "I can do it!"
"Then let's pick a good day. Let's take a photo at the entrance of the ancestral hall, at the old house, and also one facing Daqing Mountain. Xiaowu, you arrange it for Dad."
"Okay, no problem, I'll take care of your son. I'll get one for you three brothers as well."
Father Zhang smiled at his eldest brother and younger brother and said, "It's a pity that we three brothers don't have any childhood photos."
Uncle Zhang laughed and scolded, "You wish! There weren't even cameras back then. Even if there were, if you'd mentioned taking a photo, they'd probably have called you crazy."
Uncle Zhang then laughed and said, "Brother, do you still remember when we were young and went to the provincial capital to read that pictorial?"
When Father Zhang heard this, he burst into laughter.
Uncle Zhang was so angry that he hit his brother on the head with his pipe. "What nonsense are you talking about? Take the children back home for dinner."
Uncle Zhang stepped back quickly and shouted, "Second brother, do you still remember?"
"Okay, be careful, big brother is going to beat you up."
Father Zhang smiled and shook his head. Back then, when we were young and naive, seeing the celebrities on the posters on the street, we all vowed to find wives like them. But the eldest son was much more excited, and his voice was a little loud!
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