Once he'd bought a house and settled down, Zhou Chunping's pockets were cleaner than his face. If he hadn't had the money for gifts, wouldn't he have registered his entire family in Zhoujia Village? Would he have forced his wife and children to work the fields instead of commercial grain? His grandfather's old acquaintance, confiscating a single cent of his gifts, arranged a job for him, which was already quite good.
How could Zhou Chunping be grateful to Zhou Dazhu for these five hundred yuan?
"Chunping! This matter... I really have no other choice, so I came to you to discuss it." Zhou Dazhu saw Zhou Chunping's joking appearance, and how could he not know what Zhou Chunping was thinking? Zhou Chunping was a man with more than enough intelligence, but not enough calmness. Was he... resentful of him?
To be honest, when Zhou Chunping first arrived in Zhoujia Village, Zhou Dazhu initially didn't want to help him get his household registration. A city dweller's family moving to the countryside? Are they crazy or are they in big trouble?
Zhou Chunping took the initiative to give two hundred yuan to Zhou Dazhu. Zhou Dazhu took on the hot potato of Zhou Chunping's family because Zhou Chunping was a good person.
In Zhou Dazhu's opinion, he treated Zhou Chunping well. Asking someone to do something, can it be done just by talking? He accepted Zhou Chunping's money and helped Zhou Chunping get the job done, which was already very conscientious. Besides, if Zhou Dazhu hadn't been taking care of Zhou Chunping's family overtly and covertly over the years, would Zhou Chunping's family have had such a good life?
As for Zhou Chunping's house, it had been listed for sale for years in Zhoujia Village at a fixed price, but it remained unsold. Zhou Fugui's house was well-built. In the first few years after his family was executed, rumors circulated in the village that valuable gold and silver treasures were buried beneath the house. Zhou Fugui's family remained stubborn, refusing to admit to any hidden treasures, no matter how much criticism or struggle they faced.
Many villagers doubted Zhou Fugui's words. His family had been major landowners for generations before liberation. Could the Zhou family's entire fortune consist of only a few thousand kilograms of millet and a box of silver dollars? That box wasn't even as big as a woman's dressing box! Even when fully filled, it couldn't hold more than fifty items.
After Zhou Fugui's family died, the village organized dozens of militiamen and dug Zhou Fugui's house upside down. They found nothing, so everyone put the rumor aside.
Even if the treasure story was false, Zhou Fugui's house was still there. Such a nice house, it could be lived in for fifty or sixty years without any problem. Which family in the village wouldn't want to move in? If they hadn't offered a high price, Zhou Fugui's house would have been divided up by the villagers long ago.
Zhou Dazhu didn't pocket a cent of the money from the house sale; it all ended up in the village committee's accounts, becoming the village's collective property. Over the years, Zhou Chunping's initial investment in the house had been a significant contributor, helping Zhoujia Village through its most difficult years thanks to this money.
"What's the matter, big brother? Tell me. If Chunping can help, I'll definitely help you." Zhou Chunping narrowed his eyes and said something ambiguous. Zhou Chunping was just being polite to Zhou Dazhu. Their family lived in Zhoujia Village, so as long as they didn't offend Zhou Dazhu's family, it would be fine. As for extra work, Zhou Chunping wouldn't be stupid enough to take it on himself.
Thinking back to the past, if he hadn't been so stupid and nosy, he wouldn't have had to hide in this rural area. Zhou Chunping's thoughts drifted a little far away.
This old fellow, it seems he won’t release his eagle until he sees the rabbit! Zhou Dazhu secretly resented.
Zhou Dazhu originally wanted to use Zhou Zhigang's weakness against him, so he didn't reveal it so early. He planned to wait until Zhou Chunping agreed to his request, and then use Zhou Zhigang's weakness to get a promise from Zhou Chunping. Zhou Chunping's words were so watertight that it put Zhou Dazhu in a difficult position.
Zhou Dazhu lowered his head and took a sip of tea. He decided not to hide it anymore. He raised his head and said, "Chunping, your eldest son and my disappointing kid have gotten into big trouble."
"Zhigang?" Zhou Chunping was stunned. His eldest son, Zhou Zhigang, was a hardworking man. How could he have gotten into trouble? Could it be that... Zhigang and Hong Ming had colluded to steal the collective property?
No wonder Zhou Chunping thought this way. Zhou Zhigang was the accountant of Zhoujia Village, and Zhou Hongming was the village chief. One managed the money, the other had power. If these two men joined forces, they could indeed stir up trouble in Zhoujia Village.
"It's more serious than that. Hongming and Zhigang played with a woman together." Zhou Dazhu's face was heavy.
How shameful! If Zhou Dazhu hadn't been completely helpless, he really didn't want to talk about this. Although flies don't bite seamless eggs, flies are still flies. How can they turn into bees? If the news of these two brothers-in-law playing with the same woman got out, their reputations would be ruined immediately.
What's more, that woman wasn't just any woman. If she were any young wife from the village, Zhou Dazhu would have been confident he could shut her up. But Liu Moli was an educated youth from the city. She was educated and had seen a lot of the world, unlike those village women who couldn't be intimidated by a few words.
"What?" Zhou Chunping was startled and jumped up from the stool. His eldest son, the well-behaved and honest eldest son, was actually playing with a woman outside, and the same woman he was playing with his cousin's husband?
Zhou Chunping felt his head buzzing. This explosive news really stunned him.
"Chunping, if you don't believe it, you can go home and ask your son. But this matter cannot be spread out. Otherwise, you know the consequences." Seeing that he had calmed Zhou Chunping, Zhou Dazhu finally felt relieved.
As long as Zhou Chunping knew how to be afraid, his plans would have room to operate. So what if she was an educated youth? Her household registration was in Zhoujia Village, so why was he afraid of losing control of her life? However, sometimes less trouble is worse than more. If Zhou Chunping could ask his in-laws for help and send that educated youth away, wouldn't that solve everything?
To be honest, Zhou Dazhu was completely stunned when he heard his son Zhou Hongming confess to him about Liu Moli. It took him a long time to understand what Zhou Hongming meant.
Zhou Dazhu knew that Zhou Hongming had always liked beautiful women, so when Zhou Hongming fell in love with his daughter-in-law Li Cuilian's appearance and wanted to marry her, although Zhou Dazhu didn't like Li Cuilian, he just persuaded her a few words and let Zhou Hongming go.
Zhou Hongming and his daughter-in-law have been married for only ten years, and she looks completely different now. Zhou Dazhu worried in his spare time that his son would dislike his daughter-in-law. And that's exactly what happened.
Zhou Dazhu also knew Liu Moli, the educated youth from the village. When Liu Moli first arrived, Zhou Dazhu was still the village chief. In terms of looks, Li Cuilian couldn't even compare to Liu Moli when they first got married, let alone Li Cuilian now.
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