Zhou Chunping's tiled house looks large, but it's actually quite large. When Zhou Chunping's family of six first lived there, the house seemed spacious. But when his three sons got married and had several children each, the house became a bit tight. To be fair, Zhou Chunping allocated two rooms and a kitchen to each son's family.
When Zhou Zhigang's children grew up, they turned both rooms into bedrooms: one for the children and one for him and his wife. The two bedrooms were connected by a small door, and entered and exited through the main door. The same was true for Zhou Zhiqiang's family.
Zhao Yunxiang's children were still young, and Zhou Zhixin was often away from home, so she used one room as a bedroom and cleared out the other as a storage room, where she stored food for the family of three. Unlike Zhou Zhigang and Zhou Zhiqiang, who stored all their food in the attic.
When Zhou Zhixin is not at home, putting the grain in the attic is a strenuous job. Zhao Yunxiang is busy running around by herself and has no free time all year round. She also tries to save as much effort as possible under the current conditions.
However, when a guest came to Zhao Yunxiang's house, there was no place to accommodate him.
Zhao Yunxiang's father and younger brother knew the situation of Zhao Yunxiang's family. They came and left during the day and never stayed overnight.
Wu Jinfeng hosted all the other relatives who came to visit the Zhou family. The Zhou family had reserved a spare room for relatives who came from far away, such as those from Wu Jinfeng's family's hometown, Xiaofenggang. Xiaofenggang was over a hundred miles from Zhoujia Village, and with no access to a road, it would take a full day and night to walk there.
Every time someone came from Xiaofenggang, Wu Jinfeng would treat them to delicious food and drinks for a few days, and then let the visitor take away a lot of bags, to show off Wu Jinfeng's "status" in the Zhou family.
Zhou Zhimei also had a room at her parents' home. After she got married, Wu Jinfeng locked the door, leaving the room as it was before she got married. Whenever Zhou Zhimei returned to her parents' home, she would stay in this room.
When Wen Ziqing came over today, Wu Jinfeng deliberately didn't take out the key to the guest room. She was planning to let Zhao Yunxiang ask her for help. As long as Zhao Yunxiang asked her for help, Wu Jinfeng would find a way to get benefits from her.
Zhao Yunxiang herself wasn't favored by her mother-in-law, so she wouldn't bother Wu Jinfeng easily. Less trouble is worse than more trouble, so naturally, she wouldn't think of asking Wu Jinfeng for the key to the guest room. Deep down, Zhao Yunxiang was a proud person, preferring to suffer a little rather than shamelessly ask Wu Jinfeng for favors.
"Aunt Yunxiang, I need to meditate tonight. A stool will do." Wen Ziqing, seeing Zhao Yunxiang's awkward expression, had to explain. During the first two years of learning the Zhao family martial arts, meditating every night was best; it would promote the automatic circulation of internal energy within the body.
Meditation? Zhao Yunxiang actually knew about this. Zhao Yunxiang remembered that when she was Yuanyuan's age, Zhao Qingshan often did not sleep in bed at night. Instead, he sat cross-legged on a stool beside the bed, watching over her while meditating and practicing.
"This... I'm so sorry, the place is so small." Zhao Yunxiang rubbed her hands, feeling a little embarrassed. Wen Ziqing was a guest, so logically, she should let him stay in the bedroom. However, Wen Ziqing was already a young man, and if he meditated in the bedroom, Zhao Yunxiang and Zhou Yuanyuan would have to find another place to stay.
There was only a grain cabinet, a pile of sweet potatoes, a pile of potatoes and a few large clay jars for pickled vegetables in Zhao Yunxiang's storage room, and nothing else.
It was freezing cold, and Zhao Yunxiang could sleep on a mat spread on the ground, but how could Yuanyuan sleep?
"Aunt Yunxiang, I can be anywhere." Wen Ziqing didn't wait for Zhao Yunxiang to hesitate, and went straight into the storage room with a stool.
There was a door connecting the storage room and bedroom. As long as it was sheltered from the wind and rain, it made no difference to Wen Ziqing. In his previous life, Wen Ziqing had once spent seventy-two hours lying motionless in the snow while on a mission. If it weren't for Zhao Yunxiang worrying, Wen Ziqing would have even considered meditating under the sycamore tree in the corner of the backyard.
Seeing that Wen Ziqing was not shy, Zhao Yunxiang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. To be honest, Zhao Yunxiang really didn't want to see her mother-in-law's solemn face all year round.
Wen Ziqing put down the stool he was sitting on, scanned the storage room, and made a decision. Tonight, he would investigate thoroughly. As a skilled investigator, Wen Ziqing couldn't bear to have any doubts left unanswered.
Wu Jinfeng waited for a long time but Zhao Yunxiang didn't give in. Just as she was about to go to the west wing, Zhou Chunping walked in, his face flushed from drinking.
"Old lady, please bring me some water for washing feet quickly." Zhou Chunping touched the thick stack of big unity bills in his pocket and felt full of strength.
"Oh." Wu Jinfeng was a person who knew what was going on. She would never tease Zhou Chunping after he drank. She obediently went to the kitchen to boil a bucket of hot water and washed Zhou Chunping's feet carefully.
Zhou Chunping hummed an unknown tune, his heart filled with joy that seemed to overflow. After washing his feet and getting into bed, Zhou Chunping mumbled, "We're going to be rich! Our Zhou family is going to be rich."
What? The old man stumbled upon something good? Wu Jinfeng's ears pricked up. She waited for a long time but didn't hear Zhou Chunping speak again.
"Damn old man!" Wu Jinfeng cursed. Zhou Chunping didn't usually drink, only when he was happy. He wasn't a big drinker, so when he was drunk he would say what was on his mind.
Zhou Chunping snored soundly in his sleep.
It seems that the old man will tell you some secrets tonight! Wu Jinfeng didn't bother to go to the west wing to find trouble with Zhao Yunxiang. She got on the bed and slept next to Zhou Chunping.
In the middle of the night, in the storage room, Wen Ziqing sat cross-legged on a stool, and his internal energy had just completed one cycle.
Wen Ziqing opened his eyes, raised his hand to look at his watch. It was 2:15, just the right time.
Wen Ziqing stood up, walked to the outer wall of the storage room, and knocked lightly on the corner a few times.
Before Wen Ziqing could make any move, a faint sweet fragrance wafted through the air.
"Yuanyuan, why aren't you sleeping?" Wen Ziqing turned around and saw Zhou Yuanyuan standing at the door of the storage room, staring at him with wide eyes.
"Brother Ziqing, what are you doing?" Zhou Yuanyuan asked curiously. Wen Ziqing was meditating in the storage room, while Zhou Yuanyuan was sleeping on her bed. Ever since she'd been able to hear and "see" things a dozen meters around her while meditating a few days ago, she'd been able to practice even from her bed. The energy in her body seemed to be drawn in, automatically circulating through the Great Circulation.
If Zhao Qingshan knew Zhou Yuanyuan's body could automatically practice Qigong even while she slept, he would surely roar with joy. Zhao Qingshan himself had practiced the Zhao family martial arts for a lifetime, but he only reached the point of achieving automatic Qigong movement when he was nearly forty. Unfortunately, Zhao Qingshan's knee was injured not long after, and his internal Qi naturally stopped improving.
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