The family entered the living room.
"Mom, I'm hungry." Xiao Ping'an touched his stomach with a smile.
Mother Zhang glared at him and said with a smile, "He's really stubborn, just like his father. Now he knows he's hungry."
Zhang Guoqing asked curiously, "What's going on? I didn't see him like this last time when Jiaojiao wasn't home."
"You wouldn't be at home then. Your mother told him in the morning that you would go home today, so he kept waiting outside. Seeing that it was getting dark, he became a little anxious." Father Zhang knows his grandson best.
Zhang Guoqing wanted to hold the child, but when he saw that he was soaked, he smiled and said, "Mom and Dad, let's change clothes first and then eat. Son, have some snacks first."
Seeing them all go in, Zhou Jiao took the child to the kitchen.
"Mom, grandpa is awesome..."
Zhou Jiao fed the child and listened to him boasting proudly, gradually revealing a bright smile, "Little chatterbox! You can't wait at the door anymore, do you understand?"
Ping An nodded and said, "Mom, many people came to see Dad, and they gave me candy. An old man even praised me."
Zhang Guoqing followed his parents in and just happened to hear it. He looked at Zhang's father and saw him nod. He didn't ask any questions. The most important thing for the family was to eat first.
After dinner, in the living room, Zhang Dad said he and his wife were going back to the village the next day. He hadn't been back for a month, and he didn't know what was going on in the village.
Seeing this, Zhang Guoqing offered to go back with him.
"Don't rush back to the village. Mr. Liu, who sold your house, has been looking for you these past few days. I think he has something urgent to tell you. It happens to be raining, so you should rest at home for a few days."
Zhang's mother nodded in agreement. "There are many people in the county town looking for you. Your father and I can just go back to the village. We'll just go back to look at the backyard. I think it's useless."
Zhang's father wanted to discuss some village matters with his son, but after a moment's hesitation, he decided to let it go. Natural disasters and man-made disasters were beyond anyone's control. With weather like this, even he had no idea what the harvest would be like this year.
The family chatted for a while, and seeing that the child was already sleepy, Dad Zhang asked everyone to go to bed early and talk about it tomorrow.
After returning to her room, Zhou Jiao washed up and quickly fell asleep while holding her son. She hadn't slept well these past few days while away from home, and now she could finally lie comfortably on the kang, even smiling as she fell asleep.
Zhang Guoqing originally wanted to discuss the next arrangements with her. But after seeing this, he gave up.
The next day at noon, after seeing off Zhang's father and mother, Zhang Guoqing was just about to visit Mr. Liu's house, but unexpectedly the other party came alone in the rain.
Zhang Guoqing was startled to see Old Man Liu outside. What could have happened to make the old man so impatient? Feeling anxious, he invited the old man in.
In the living room, Mr. Liu picked up the tea, took a sip, and hesitated to say why he came.
Zhang Guoqing glanced at him from the corner of his eye. He hadn't noticed before, but now he looked closely and realized he had lost a lot of weight. It seemed like everyone was having a hard time.
After finishing a cup of tea, Mr. Liu took out a box from his bag and placed it on the coffee table, motioning the young couple to open it and take a look.
Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao remained motionless, staring at the old man. They had no interest in opening it until it was explained. The box looked like a jewelry box, and they didn't have too many of them at home.
"These are some things I bought from others when I was young. I want to exchange them for food from you. I don't need fine grains, coarse grains will do."
Zhang Guoqing laughed, "Old man, even if I want to exchange, I still need food. I don't care about your things, and I don't want them. Just tell me how much you need, and I'll find a way to get it for you, so you can wait."
Old Master Liu smiled and shook his head, pointing at him. "Others might not know about you two, but how could I not know? You're the only ones in the entire county with surplus rations. The provincial capital sends food here every day, so it's impossible for your father-in-law not to subsidize you. You're also a skilled hunter. Don't try to hide it from me, let's get straight to the point. You must be going to the capital, right? There you'll have enough to eat. You might as well sell it all to me."
Zhang Guoqing shook his head. "Don't disbelieve me. My family really doesn't have any surplus food. How much is on the supply list? My godfather did send some food, but it was only enough for my son. He has two half-grown boys at home, how much can he give us? My father-in-law did give me food coupons, but they weren't much. You forget I have four brothers and sisters. They give me some subsidies every time, so there's no way we have any extra food."
Old Master Liu looked at him suspiciously, "You really don't have any food stored?"
"The only place in this house where food can be stored is in the basement. If you don't believe me, how about I take you to see it? My parents just returned to the village and they wanted to see if there is any harvest in the backyard. Would I let them go back in the rain if there was food?" After saying that, Zhang Guoqing glanced at him.
"Haha... You have a lot of connections. Can you help me, an old man, see what's going on in the provincial capital?"
Zhang Guoqing secretly cursed the old fox, saying that he had been trying to trick him with words. Now was his goal, right?
He smiled helplessly at Zhou Jiao, pointed at her, and said with a wry smile: "Jiao Jiao, you go and tell the old man. No matter how much I say, he won't believe it."
Zhou Jiao patted him and said to Old Man Liu, "Old Man, don't count on having food in the provincial capital. We went there privately this time and originally wanted to collect some national food coupons. The black market is now deserted. Later, we found an acquaintance, and they told us to go back and wait until after the autumn harvest."
Old Master Liu sighed in disappointment, "It seems the provincial capital is not as good as our place."
Zhang Guoqing immediately stepped forward upon hearing this and asked, "Who in the county has it?"
Old Master Liu reached out and slapped him on the forehead. "I didn't say who had it. If anyone did, it would be a few scattered ones. You wouldn't want to look at them."
"Just tell me."
Old Master Liu hesitated for a moment and whispered, "Heimazi has coarse rice, but he's a ruthless person. He sells it for 80 cents a pound, and he can only sell ten pounds at a time. Dried sweet potatoes are sold for 10 cents, but the maximum is also ten pounds."
Zhang Guoqing looked at Zhou Jiao in surprise. How many times has this increased?
"Haha, are you scared by just this? If it rains again, it will be even more expensive. There should be people selling it in the county town, but it's a pity that I can't buy it without an acquaintance."
The three people were talking in low voices, and one of them didn't notice that Ping An took small steps forward and was about to pick up the box.
"Son, don't move." Zhang Guoqing quickly picked him up.
"It's okay, just take a look. It will belong to someone else in a few days anyway." Old Master Liu waved his hand indifferently, stopping Zhou Jiao from going forward to stuff the box.
"Dad, I like that bird."
Zhang Guoqing looked up and saw that the child liked the box. He smiled and said, "Tomorrow Dad will carve lots of birds for you. This bird is not good. Look, its eyes are broken."
Old Master Liu snorted disdainfully, "No one is as knowledgeable as your son. You can carve a phoenix? A bird? You're the bird! Don't look down on this box because its material is ordinary, but the craftsmanship is top-notch. It's a pity that someone so stupid scratched it."
After saying this, he touched the box surface distressedly. Thinking about opening the box, he took out a pair of mutton-fat jade bracelets and a jade pendant, stuffed them into his arms, and handed the box to Ping An.
"Grandpa, don't listen to the child. Put it back quickly." Zhang Guoqing quickly took the box from Ping'an and returned it to the old man.
"This isn't worth much. Forget it, I'll just use it as a gadget for the kid. Okay, I'm leaving now. When you have time, help me find someone with connections. Remember to keep it a secret."
It wasn't a valuable item anyway, so Zhang Guoqing didn't say much. He handed the box to Ping An and personally escorted him out. However, he was a little puzzled as to why this kid was so interested in such a lousy bird. He had no shortage of phoenixes, twin dragons playing with pearls, or anything like that.
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