The Zhou family had prepared a meal with great care. Even though it was midday, Sheng Xiping and the others felt too embarrassed to drink freely. After three cups of wine, they stopped drinking and started eating.
After lunch, Sheng Xiping asked Zhou Qinglan and Zhou Qingyue to go to the neighbors' houses and borrow four or five large axes. They then found a whetstone and sharpened them all to be very sharp.
Then the group of young men sawed the remaining wood and chopped firewood, while the rest of the men stacked the firewood.
The Zhou family had sheds set up on both sides of their gate to store firewood and other things.
This small space is clearly not enough to fit ten or more feet of firewood.
Upon seeing this, Sheng Xiping and Gao Haining and the others built a place outside Zhoujiayuan with wood laid across the ditch to stack firewood.
Don't underestimate the importance of stacking firewood; there's a specific method to it.
At both ends of the firewood stack, wharves must be built, which are made by stacking wooden planks horizontally and vertically to prevent the planks from sliding down.
Generally speaking, a "ten-foot-long" firewood refers to a stack of firewood that is 1.2 feet long, stacked to a length of 10 feet and a height of 5 feet.
The amount of firewood that Sheng Xiping requested for the Zhou family was truly substantial. It not only filled the firewood sheds on both sides of the Zhou family's gate but also formed a rather tall stack outside the garden canopy.
Conservatively speaking, it must be at least ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) long.
Not to mention, they also picked out a lot of good wood, which could be used to build barns or other structures.
After a busy afternoon, everyone finally managed to pack up all the firewood.
Even the wood chips and scraps left over from chopping firewood were piled up to be used for burning in the stove during the winter.
That evening, Wang Chunxiu painstakingly prepared a meal, but this time everyone was less interested and drank a bit more.
The meal lasted until after 7:30, and it was already completely dark outside.
Upon seeing this, Sheng Xiping and the others quickly took their leave.
Despite Zhou Mingyuan and his wife's repeated attempts to persuade them to stay, Sheng Xiping and the others felt too embarrassed to actually stay at the Zhou family's house.
Besides, the Zhou family's house isn't very big. The kang (heated brick bed) in the east room is a little bigger, but the kang in the west room can only sleep two people.
Including the Zhou family and Sheng Xiping, there are at least ten people in total. How can they possibly fit everyone in?
"Old Zhou, take Xiping and the others to the hotel. They don't come here often and don't know where to go."
Wang Chunxiu nudged her husband, signaling Zhou Mingyuan to follow along and arrange accommodations for Sheng Xiping and the others.
Zhou Mingyuan had drunk a little alcohol, so his mind wasn't quite sharp. His wife nudged him, and he finally understood.
"Yes, yes, I'll take you to the hotel. You don't come down here often and you're not familiar with the area. It'll be tiring for you to wander around so late at night."
Sheng Xiping and the others declined, but they couldn't argue with Zhou Mingyuan, so they had no choice but to let him accompany them.
There are several hotels in town, and the one closest to the Zhou family's house is the Donglin Hotel.
Zhou Mingyuan led Sheng Xiping and the others through the alley in front of his house, heading south, and after turning a corner, they arrived.
Sheng Xiping had a letter of introduction with him, so they didn't make things difficult for them; they just registered him and made arrangements.
This was originally a guesthouse converted from a private house, so it was filled with large kang beds. Sheng Xiping and his group were able to stay in one large room, and each person was charged three mao (0.3 yuan).
Sheng Xiping was supposed to pay, but Zhou Mingyuan insisted on paying for him instead.
After settling Sheng Xiping and the others in, Zhou Mingyuan chatted with them for a while before leaving to go home.
When she arrived home, the lights were still on, and Wang Chunxiu was chatting with Zhou Qinglan and Tang Fengying on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the east room.
"How's it going? Have you made arrangements for Xiping and the others?" Wang Chunxiu asked with a smile when she saw her husband return.
The change in address, from "Xiao Sheng" when they first met to "Xi Ping" now, reflects the change in the Zhou couple's attitude towards Sheng Xi Ping.
"Yes, they're all settled in. They're sharing a room."
I also paid for the hotel, both nights together.
When Sheng Xiping and his group arrived, they rode in the farm's internal combustion engine, but after the tractor was repaired in the afternoon, the internal combustion engine pulled them back to the forest farm.
The little train won't return to Qianchuan until early the day after tomorrow, so Sheng Xiping and his group will have to stay in Songjianghe for two nights.
Wang Chunxiu nodded in agreement, thinking that her husband's approach was quite good.
"Xiping is a really good kid. He's reliable and considerate."
Look at how well those people are doing their work today, so efficient and neat. They're clearly people who know how to make a living.
Wang Chunxiu couldn't help but praise him.
"Yes, that's true. Xiping is indeed a capable child."
What could Zhou Mingyuan say when his wife said that? Besides, it was the truth.
Being able to get the timber from the forest farm and then find a vehicle to transport it down is a skill in itself. Others might not have been able to accomplish that.
Moreover, with so much firewood, Sheng Xiping led his men to saw and chop it all up in less than a day, and finally stacked it neatly and tidied up every part.
Anyone would have to say, "Well done today."
"This kid is really good. He's very well-mannered at the dinner table, and he's quite experienced in his speech and actions. He's a good kid."
People say that fathers-in-law and sons-in-law are natural enemies and usually can't stand each other, but Zhou Mingyuan really didn't feel that way.
He quite admired Sheng Xiping; the young man seemed good in every way.
"It has to be our Qinglan, she has such good taste, finding such a good partner."
As the saying goes, a mother-in-law is more and more satisfied with her son-in-law the more she looks at him. Wang Chunxiu is starting to feel that way about Sheng Xiping now.
"Of course, Fengying's boyfriend, Haining, is also quite good. I think he's very reliable when it comes to work."
These young men are all quite nice.
It didn't seem appropriate to only praise her own daughter, so Wang Chunxiu also praised Gao Haining and others.
Tang Fengying laughed when she heard this, "Aunt, you don't need to praise Gao Haining anymore, he's just a fool."
"If I hadn't grown up with him and felt sorry for him because he had no one else, I wouldn't have stayed with him."
Tang Fengying and Gao Haining are a pair of bickering lovers. They say they look down on each other, but in reality, they can't live without each other.
Tang Fengying's words made everyone laugh.
“When you two get married, your uncle and I will both take leave and go to the forest farm for the wedding banquet,” Wang Chunxiu said with a smile, pulling Tang Fengying’s hand.
It was getting late, and we were all quite tired from a busy day, so after chatting for a while, we quickly packed up and went to bed.
Zhou Mingyuan moved to the small kang (heated brick bed) in the west room to live with his youngest son.
On the kang (heated brick bed) in the east room, Wang Chunxiu led her daughter and niece together.
Lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) at night, the mother and her two children couldn't sleep, so Wang Chunxiu couldn't help but inquire more about her future son-in-law.
We need to understand the Sheng family's financial situation, the number of family members, and the temperaments and personalities of the parents.
The main reason was that it was Sheng Xiping's first time here, and he had worked all day, so Wang Chunxiu didn't want to keep asking him too many questions, lest it be like checking household registration.
Tang Fengying and Sheng Xiping worked at the same forest farm and were very familiar with each other, so Wang Chunxiu wanted to learn more about the Sheng family through Tang Fengying.
Tang Fengying has a silver tongue; she's very eloquent.
When Wang Chunxiu asked, she said that she had told Wang Chunxiu everything she knew.
That night, the three of them chatted until late into the night. When they woke up the next morning, they all had dark circles under their eyes and were yawning constantly.
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