Chapter 126: When you are poor, you must think of change

Since his daughter married into the Deng family, Zhang Zhenfa's status in the village has unknowingly risen several levels.

In the past, because his family was poor and Zhang Zhenfa himself had no special abilities, he had almost no say in the village. The only thing that made people look up to him was probably that he had four sons.

In rural areas, families with more sons are more powerful than families with fewer sons.

After all, there is strength in numbers!

Although it is common in this era to have five or six children at least, many families with six or seven children may not have four sons. Zhang Zhenfa only had five children, but four of them were sons. This alone made him better than many people in the village.

But then again, although there were not many families in the village with four or five sons, there were still about ten families, and Zhang Zhenfa was not conspicuous among them.

Until his daughter got married, Zhang Zhenfa finally gained a certain prestige in the village with the help of his in-laws. The most obvious change was that more people took the initiative to show their goodwill to him, and every now and then someone would go to his house to bring a few bunches of vegetables or something.

This change made Zhang Zhenfa and his wife, who had never had much presence in the village, overjoyed.

Although Zhang Zhenfa and his wife are not well educated, decades of life experience have made them understand that all this is because their daughter married well. If their daughter had not married into the extremely well-off Deng family, it would have been impossible for them to have their current status in the village.

Today their daughter is bringing her new son-in-law home, and Zhang Zhenfa and his wife are extremely happy.

Zhang Zhenfa had prepared a lot of good things early on, ready to entertain this son-in-law who he had never met but had already earned him enough face.

At ten o'clock in the morning, Zhang's mother had already cut the ash water rice dumplings, big rice dumplings and hair rice dumplings, and the water was already boiling. She was just waiting for her daughter and son-in-law to arrive so that she could make tea and boil the rice dumplings.

Zhang Zhenfa sat at the door holding a water pipe, staring at the direction of the village entrance and lighting a cigarette from time to time.

As for Mrs. Zhang Da and Mrs. Zhang Er, they also wiped the table clean, and then used the lids of containers to put some candies, biscuits, melon seeds and the like on the table.

The four brothers of the Zhang family had nothing to do, so they sat at the door of their house, craning their necks to look towards the village entrance with their father.

Around ten-thirty in the morning.

Zhang Shoujun, who had sharp eyes, saw two bicycles coming from the village entrance from a distance. On the bicycles were none other than his sister and brother-in-law. He immediately shouted, "Look, my sister and brother-in-law are here!"

Zhang Zhenfa and his other three sons looked towards the village entrance as soon as they heard the shouting. Zhang's mother and two daughters-in-law also heard the shouting and quickly came out of the house.

Soon, Zhang Xiuping and Deng Yuntai arrived.

The greetings and hellos to each other were omitted.

The Zhang family had all seen the bicycle that Deng Yuntai rode, after all, Deng Shirong had ridden this bicycle to their house several times. But the Zhang family had never seen the brand new bicycle that Zhang Xiuping rode. Seeing the national logo that looked like a phoenix, even people who had never seen a Phoenix brand bicycle could guess what brand of bicycle it was.

After saying hello, Zhang's mother couldn't help but ask, "Xiuping, is this a Phoenix brand bicycle?"

Zhang Xiuping nodded and smiled: "Yes, this is the Phoenix brand bicycle my father-in-law bought before the New Year."

Mrs. Zhang next to her said with envy, "Phoenix brand bicycles are so beautiful."

Mrs. Zhang's eyes lit up as well: "Yes, this bike is really beautiful!"

After greeting him, Zhang Zhenfa began to look at his son-in-law. His appearance was indeed quite ordinary, but his mental state was very good and his height was also very ideal. Coupled with his own abilities and family background, he was quite satisfied with such a son-in-law.

After some polite exchanges, Zhang's mother and Zhang's eldest and second sisters-in-law went up to help take off the two baskets. Seeing that the two baskets were filled with various gifts, the Zhang family naturally exclaimed again.

Zhang's mother couldn't help but ask, "Xiuping, what are these bags of stuff?"

Zhang Xiuping smiled and said, "Those things that are wrapped are candies, biscuits, dried fruits, candied fruits, melon seeds, and pastries. At the bottom is braised pork. Sister-in-law, go get the baskets to pack them out. Bring two more baskets. I have to send some to Uncle Four's and Uncle Man's families."

Mrs. Zhang Dasao and Mrs. Zhang Ersao responded and hurried back to the kitchen to get the basket.

After the basket was brought, Zhang Xiuping started to get things for her fourth uncle's and uncle Man's families. Her father-in-law prepared two pieces of braised pork for her to bring back. One of them was not cut, and the other was cut in half, with one portion for each of her fourth uncle's and uncle Man's families.

The gray water basket and the big basket also took a little each.

Then there are the hair buns, which are divided into the head bun and the small bun. The small bun is about the size of a duck egg, but the head bun is at least as big as an adult's fist.

Generally, a married daughter would bring back glutinous rice balls when she returns to her parents’ home, so as soon as the Hakka people in Bobai give birth to a daughter, they would say that they would have glutinous rice balls to eat in the future.

Zhang Xiuping took a steamed bun and eight steamed buns for her fourth uncle's family and her uncle Man's family, and finally gave each of the packaged candies, biscuits, candied fruits, and melon seeds and cakes.

Of course, garlic is also indispensable, so I took two pieces and put them in the basket.

After dividing the food, Zhang Xiuping asked her husband to carry it to her fourth uncle's and uncle Man's homes.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

Seeing that their niece and niece-in-law brought so many gifts, Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt and Uncle Man and Aunt Man were naturally very happy, and they all rushed to set a time for the dinner.

According to the Hakka customs in Bobai, when a bride brings her new son-in-law back home, all uncles and aunts who have received gifts must take turns to treat them to a meal.

After delivering the gifts and returning home, Zhang's mother had already prepared the tea and was boiling ash water for making tea.

Zhang Zhenfa asked his daughter and son-in-law to sit down. His two elder brothers, Zhang Shouguo and Zhang Shoumin, also came over to keep them company. The eldest and second wives of Zhang helped pour tea while one of them unwrapped some of the pastries that her sister-in-law had brought back and placed them on the clean lid.

Zhang Xiuping asked, "Big Brother, Second Brother, is your shop open yet?"

Zhang Shouguo shook his head and said, "Not yet!"

Zhang Xiuping asked, "Did you encounter any problems?"

Zhang Shouguo said: "The main reason is that the family has not reached a consensus. I have my eyes on a small house in a good location and want to buy it as a store, but my father thinks the price is too high and he can't bargain it down.

As for buying a bicycle, Dad is still hesitating. "

Zhang Xiuping looked at her father and asked, "Dad, what do you think?"

Zhang Zhenfa took a sip of tea and said, "The main thing is that I don't know whether I can make money from opening this store. I have to invest so much money at once, and I really have no idea. You know, this money was originally reserved for Xiaojun and Xiaoshan to get married. If I lose money, what should I do?"

Zhang Xiuping said, "Dad, don't worry. My father-in-law said that the probability of losing money in this business is very low. As long as you manage it carefully, there is still a great chance of making money. The book says that when you are poor, you will think of changing your mind. Our family is not well off. If we don't dare to let go and take a gamble, how can we have a way out?"

(End of this chapter)