In an attempt to brainwash Zhou Jiaxiang, Cao Laoliu told him a story about Shi Qian, the chivalrous thief known as "Drum-Flea" from the Water Margin.
Seeing Zhou Jiaxiang's excitement, Cao Laoliu continued, saying that society was too unfair, with some people having bulging wallets while others couldn't even afford a fried dough stick.
What they need to do now is take money from the rich and give it to the poor (such as Zhou Jiaxiang).
Zhou Jiaxiang thought Cao Laoliu's words made a lot of sense.
Seeing that Zhou Jiaxiang was no longer resistant, Cao Laoliu took Zhou Jiaxiang to the courtyard and gave him a basin filled halfway with water.
Cao Laoliu threw a piece of soap into the water and asked Zhou Jiaxiang to use his fingers to pick it out.
The tiny bar of soap was slippery in the water, and Zhou Jiaxiang's hands almost cramped from practicing.
Liang Xiaobao also started practicing.
Cao Laoliu showed Liang Xiaobao his "income" for the day, which amounted to more than fifty yuan.
Liang Xiaobao was extremely envious.
Zhou Jiaxiang practiced all afternoon and was exhausted.
Liang Xiaobao dropped Zhou Jiaxiang off at the roadside before going home.
The new underling was a bit dim-witted, and Liang Xiaobao was afraid that Zhou Jiaxiang wouldn't be able to find his way home and would have no one to rely on in the future.
Zhou Jiaxiang carried a big chicken leg and ate it all the way home, finishing it just as he got home.
Zhou Jiaxiang threw down the bone in his hand and quickly went inside to sleep. He was already full anyway, so it didn't matter whether he ate dinner or not.
On the Zhou family's main branch side.
Zhou Bingqiang sat at the table flipping through a small notebook, while Chen Jinfeng was sewing shoe soles with a rustling sound.
As the sky outside the window grew darker, Zhou Bingqiang stuffed the notebook into his pocket, stood up, and said, "I'm going out for a bit."
"Bingqiang, where are you going?" Chen Jinfeng asked.
“My third brother and the others went out to look for Jiaxiang, but they haven’t returned yet. I’m going to the brigade leader’s house to see if he can send some militiamen to help look for him.”
"You're going to ask my brother-in-law for help again? In the end, we'll have to repay that favor ourselves, won't we? Your dad hasn't said anything, so why are you worrying about this?" Chen Jinfeng said angrily.
Ding Ermei was arrested today, and Chen Jinfeng heard a lot of ridicule in the village. She's really annoyed right now!
"I'm the eldest brother after all, I can't just watch my second brother and sister-in-law run around like headless flies. The brigade leader is quite easy to talk to, I'll just ask the family for half a basket of eggs later!" Zhou Bingqiang said helplessly.
“You may be the eldest brother, but don’t you have someone above you? Don’t end up putting in all the effort only to be blamed.” Chen Jinfeng gestured with her chin toward Zhou Fugui’s room and said.
After Zhou Fugui returned in the afternoon, he stayed inside. It was unclear whether he was sleeping or sulking.
Zhou Hongxia brought dinner to us.
Chen Jinfeng was speechless.
Several major events happened in the family today. As the head of the family, shouldn't Zhou Fugui step forward and give everyone instructions on what to do? Instead, he hid in his room without saying a word.
They really put their eldest son's family on the hot seat.
Zhou Bingqiang hesitated for a moment.
Indeed, this afternoon Zhou Bingqiang suggested going to the brigade leader to think of a solution, but Zhou Fugui refused.
Zhou Fugui is a man who is extremely proud.
Zhou Bingqiang was also afraid that Zhou Fugui would blame him afterward.
Just as Zhou Bingqiang was in a dilemma, Zhou Jiasheng entered the room.
Zhou Bingqiang and his wife have two daughters and one son.
The eldest daughter, Zhou Hongxia, is ten years old this year. The second daughter, Zhou Honghua, is eight years old this year, and the youngest son, Zhou Hongsheng, is six years old this year.
Because she gave birth to two daughters after marrying into the family, Chen Jinfeng was scolded by Ding Ermei for several years as a "hen that can't lay eggs".
Only after Zhou Jiasheng was born did Chen Jinfeng finally stand up straight. In recent years, she has also dared to resist Ding Ermei's "unfairness" towards their first wife's family.
Therefore, Chen Jinfeng truly doted on her son Zhou Jiasheng, treating him with utmost care and affection.
"Oh my, what are you eating?" Chen Jinfeng stood up.
Zhou Jiasheng was holding a chicken thigh bone in his hand, and he didn't want to let go of it when he came in, making a "slurping" sound as he sucked on it.
Chen Jinfeng thought she was seeing things.
It's not a holiday, who would be so wasteful as to kill a chicken to eat?
Hey! Wait a minute, who would be so kind as to give Jiasheng a big chicken leg?
"Mom. Chicken leg, smells so good." Zhou Jiasheng took the chicken bone out of his mouth, waved it in front of Chen Jinfeng, and continued gnawing on it.
"Where did you get the chicken legs?" Chen Jinfeng asked.
“It’s my cousin’s. He threw it away after he finished eating at the door, and I caught it, hehehe…” Zhou Jiasheng said with a grin.
"Hey, why are you picking up other people's leftover bones to eat? Throw them away right now!" Chen Jinfeng angrily twisted her son's ear.
“I won’t throw it away. It didn’t fall on the ground, so it’s clean! We can chew it up and eat the bone marrow later, it’ll be delicious!” Zhou Jiasheng refused.
It's rare to eat chicken even once a year.
The Zhou family is large, so even when they kill a chicken to eat, Zhou Jiasheng doesn't always get to get a chicken leg.
Holding the long chicken leg bone in his hand, Zhou Jiasheng felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
"Spit it out quickly, and in a few days Mom will take you to Grandma's house, where Grandma will kill a chicken for you to eat." Chen Jinfeng had no choice but to resort to the "bribery" tactic.
"You're not lying?" Zhou Jiasheng's eyes lit up.
When Zhou Jiaxiang threw the bone, he didn't notice Zhou Jiasheng behind him and it hit Zhou Jiasheng directly.
Zhou Jiasheng originally wanted to curse, but when he smelled the delicious aroma of the chicken bone in his hand, he couldn't help but put it in his mouth and start gnawing on it.
"Mom won't lie to you," Chen Jinfeng promised.
Zhou Jiasheng then threw the bone on the ground. With chicken legs to eat, who would want to gnaw on bones that Zhou Jiaxiang had already eaten?
Chen Jinfeng breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Zhou Jiasheng throw away the bone.
"Jiasheng, you can't eat other people's leftovers anymore. Only beggars don't pick and choose; they'll eat what others have left over. If people see you like that, they'll think you want to be a beggar! It's too embarrassing," Chen Jinfeng instructed.
“It wasn’t someone else, it was one of our own family members, my cousin Zhou Jiaxiang, who threw the bone,” Zhou Jiasheng said.
"What? Zhou Jiaxiang is back? Have you seen your second uncle and second aunt?" Chen Jinfeng felt a surge of anger.
OK!
The couple was worried sick at home, but Ding Xiaocui and Zhou Bingxing took Zhou Jiaxiang to town to eat chicken.
“I didn’t see my second uncle and aunt, I only saw my cousin. Before he came in, he peeked inside furtively,” Zhou Jiasheng said.
"What? Zhou Jiaxiang came back alone?" Chen Jinfeng was stunned.
Zhou Bingqiang went out for a walk, but didn't see Zhou Bingxing and his wife, so he came back.
"Bingqiang, look, where did the second wife get the money to buy chicken? It must have been given to her by Mom." Chen Jinfeng pointed to the chicken bones on the ground and complained.
"Don't talk nonsense, that's impossible," Zhou Bingqiang said.
"How is it impossible? Isn't your mother's favorite grandson, Zhou Jiaxiang? I've seen her secretly giving money and things to my second brother's wife several times, but you just won't believe me." Chen Jinfeng's voice became sharp.
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