Chapter 265: Full of Style [6000 words]

The Zhang family came to the county town, but did not stay there for long.

Among them, the eldest brother and his wife and the second brother and his wife only stayed for two days before hurried back to do business. Because they came here on the 18th day of the first lunar month, if they went back on the 20th, they would be able to catch the Longtan fair on the 21st.

A store like theirs doesn't have much business on ordinary days, but it becomes extremely popular on market days.

So it’s okay to close the door for one or two days on normal days, but you must open the door for business on market days. Firstly, you can make more money, and secondly, you can cultivate loyal customers.

After all, customers may come to your store specifically to buy things on this market day, but when they arrive they find out that you are closed today. This means that the customer has made a wasted trip, and the shopping experience is naturally not a good one.

It doesn't matter if it happens once in a while, but if it happens too often, no one will come to your store to buy things.

After the eldest brother and his wife and the second brother and his wife went back, Zhang's father and mother stayed with their grandchildren and two younger sons for three more days and then went back.

…

People's Cinema.

A movie just ended, and the audience walked out of the cinema, reminiscing about the plot of the movie.

At this moment, curses were heard in the cinema:

"Dia paper white!"

"Dare to poke the star!"

"Do some falling!"

"Do a few!"

“…”

Then, several young men chased out of the cinema and started fighting with each other, each one more ferocious than the other, scaring the other audience members so much that they scattered in all directions.

This scene was seen by Deng Yuntai and Zhang Xiuping who were sitting diagonally opposite.

From last year to this year, they have witnessed more than ten fights.

Zhang Xiuping immediately sighed: "No wonder Dad keeps telling us not to go out unless necessary. Even if we really need to go out, we should not go out alone. This county town is really different from our countryside. It's really chaotic."

The countryside of Bobai was indeed okay in the early 1980s, but by the late 1980s and after the 1990s, it was the same everywhere.

Deng Yuntai said, "Anyway, we have Grandpa Zhang to protect us. As long as we do our job properly and don't cause trouble, no matter how chaotic it is, it's none of our business."

As the two were talking, the fight quickly shifted to another battlefield. The smaller side was ultimately no match for the larger side, so they retreated strategically.

The party with more people naturally took advantage of the victory and disappeared in front of everyone in the blink of an eye.

If Deng Shirong saw this scene, he would sigh in his heart that the end of these young people is approaching, and the most severe and largest-scale crackdown on criminal activities that seriously endanger social security since the founding of the People's Republic of China is about to come.

At this moment, Zhang Xiuping suddenly felt nauseous and rushed into the bathroom next door.

Deng Yuntai was shocked when he saw this, and followed her anxiously, "Pingmei, what's wrong with you? Where do you feel uncomfortable?"

Zhang Xiuping retched a few times but couldn't vomit anything. After she recovered, she said, "I don't know. I just suddenly felt nauseous and wanted to vomit."

The commotion here also alarmed the hotel staff. Zhang Guangzong also came over to ask a few questions with concern. Hearing what Zhang Xiuping said, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Madam Boss, you have already given birth to a child, how come you still have no experience at all? I think you should be pregnant!"

Hearing what Grandpa Zhang said, Zhang Xiuping couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. She thought about the date of her last menstrual period and realized that it had been delayed for more than a week. She might really be pregnant. She couldn't help but said in surprise: "I have been busy recently and didn't think of this."

Deng Yuntai was delighted when he heard this and immediately said, "Let's go to the hospital for a checkup."

It was not time for dinner, so Deng Yuntai gave some instructions and took his wife to the maternal and child health care center.

…

Forty minutes later.

Deng Yuntai helped his wife out of the maternal and child health care center with a smile on his face, and said, "Pingmei, from today on, you have to eat well. As Dad said, try to eat a variety of foods so that the nutrition will be balanced and the baby will be healthy after it is born."

Zhang Xiuping nodded and smiled, "I know. When I was pregnant with Xiaodong'er, my father prepared so many delicious foods for me. The effect was very obvious. After our Xiaodong'er was born, her body was much stronger than other children in the village."

"I'll tell Master Zhang when I get back and ask him to make you a nourishing soup every day."

"Um!"

…

Originally, whether it is now or in the future, generally the pregnancy will not be announced to the outside world until the fetus is stable in three months.

However, this time I went to the hospital for a check-up in front of everyone, so it was difficult to hide whether I was pregnant or not. Plus, I needed the help of the chef to stew the soup and cook, so I had no choice but to make it public. There was nothing wrong with this kind of thing.

Knowing that the boss lady was indeed pregnant, all the hotel employees congratulated her.

After the other employees went back to work, cousin's wife Liu Aihong secretly said to Zhang Xiuping: "Sister Ping (locals generally don't call each other cousin's wife or sister-in-law, they call each other sister, this is the common name), how was your first pregnancy? My period seems to be delayed for a few days, I wonder if I am pregnant too?"

Zhang Xiuping was stunned and said, "Cousin, why didn't you tell me just now? Then we could have checked it together!"

Liu Aihong said embarrassedly: "I don't understand this either. I didn't think about pregnancy at first. When you went to the hospital for a check-up, I remembered that when I went back to my parents' home on the second day of junior high school, my mother seemed to have told me that if the menstrual period is suddenly delayed for a few days, it is very likely that I am pregnant, and asked me to pay more attention to myself."

Zhang Xiuping said, "Then go talk to your cousin and ask him to take you to the maternal and child health care center for a checkup."

Liu Aihong looked at the time and shook her head, saying, "It will be lunchtime soon. I'll check again in the afternoon after lunch."

Zhang Xiuping thought about it and said, "Okay, then I'll say hello to them, and you can just help make some tea and serve some wine later, and don't do anything else for now."

Liu Aihong said: "No need to say hello, I'm in good health, it's no big deal to do this."

Zhang Xiuping said, "Cousin, you must not be careless. I heard that the fetus is unstable in the early stages of pregnancy, so it is better to be careful."

"We rural people are not that precious. There are many people in the village who work with big bellies. Some even work in the fields when they are about to give birth. I am not in the way. I don't even know if I am pregnant or not. There is no need to treat me specially."

"That's true. You better be careful then!"

"Yes, I know."

…

afternoon.

Liu Aihong's examination results showed that she was indeed pregnant. With two more pregnant women in the restaurant all of a sudden, it was quite lively.

Zhang Xiuping smiled and said, "Cousin, follow me and eat. Pregnant women should eat a variety of foods so that the baby can absorb balanced nutrition and be stronger."

When Zhang Xiuping was pregnant, Bu Dashi was learning cooking from his uncle. He knew that his uncle would stew nourishing soup every day and change the dishes every day, so when he heard his cousins ​​say this, he smiled and said, "Aihong, you are in for a treat this time!"

Liu Aihong didn't understand the true meaning of her husband's words at the time, but she understood it after a few days.

Originally, the meals at the hotel were not bad. There was meat at every meal, which was hundreds of times better than the food she had at her parents' home.

However, after she ate the meal for pregnant women with her cousin's wife, she realized how big the gap between people is.

In their village, whether pregnant or not, they eat the same food as usual. Only after giving birth can they eat a few chickens. This has only been happening in the past two years. In the past, it was considered good to be able to eat a chicken to replenish the body after giving birth.

But after my cousin's wife became pregnant, not only did she have a nourishing soup every day, but she also had a variety of dishes including delicacies from land and sea, chicken, duck, fish and meat. I'm afraid that even the big landlords in the past could not match this standard of food. It's really scary.

Liu Aihong felt embarrassed to eat with her cousin's wife.

A country girl like her is worthy of eating like this? If I tell her family about this, they will be shocked.

…

Naye Village.

Under his own wooden shed, Deng Shirong was smoking a hookah while listening to the accountant Deng Changqian say, "Jiu Gong, after a month of donations, there is basically no change in the honor roll of donating to support education, whether it is the individual ranking or the village ranking. What should we do next?"

Deng Shirong stuffed tobacco into his pipe and asked, "Who are the top ten individual donors now?"

"The first place is still Deng Changbao from Jimaoling, who donated 688 yuan at the beginning and then added 200 yuan, for a total of 888 yuan. The second place is Deng Changxiong from Bangba Village, who donated 688 yuan. The third place is tied for Uncle Yungui, Uncle Yunfa from Yangdipo Village and Deng Changshou, who all donated 388 yuan."

Deng Changqian knew the list by heart, and he named them one by one: "The fourth one is Uncle Yunfei from Macun, who donated 288 yuan. The fifth one is Deng Changming from Daozhang Village, who donated 268 yuan. The sixth one is Deng Changji from Guanchong Village, who donated 228 yuan.

The seventh is Uncle Yuntian from Longjing Village, who donated 188 yuan. The eighth is Deng Changqing from Shanggaoxing Village, who donated 168 yuan. The ninth is Deng Changli from Meitian Village, who donated 138 yuan. The tenth is Deng Changnian from Zhadu Village, who donated 100 yuan.

Deng Shirong nodded secretly after listening to this. The top ten were all the Deng family members whose economy was currently relatively well developed. Some of them were doing business or their whole family was eating commercial grain. The amount of their donations was all over one hundred yuan.

“How much is the total amount of all donations so far?”

"There are 6,632 yuan."

Deng Shirong nodded and said, "This is already a large sum of money. Let's stop here for this year's donation. I will make a second donation next Spring Festival. Please put one thousand on it for me and make a statement. If this year's donation is enough, then there is no need to say more. If not, I will cover the difference."

Deng Changqian was cheered up when he heard this. Jiugong's donation ranked first, and the whole family was mentally prepared for this.

After all, according to most estimates, Jiu Gong should be the richest man in their Naye Deng family, and he is also the new head of the family. It was he who initiated the donation to support education, so it is normal for Jiu Gong to rank first in donations.

But Deng Changqian didn't expect that Jiugong not only ranked first in donations, but also said something to cover the loss. In the words of later generations, his status suddenly improved.

Although a lot of money has been donated this year and it is unlikely that Jiugong will be needed to cover the entire amount, there is still a difference between having this promise and not having it.

Deng Changqian nodded and said, "Okay, Lord Jiu, I will get the complete list when I get back and post it at the entrance of the ancestral hall."

Deng Shirong urged, "In addition to the list posted at the ancestral hall, you should also make another donation list and keep it in the clan archives. This is ironclad evidence of our Naye Deng family's unity and common development. Who knows when it will be useful in the future."

Deng Changqian said quickly: "Jiu Gong, I will make three copies of the list. One will be posted at the entrance of the ancestral hall, one will be kept for the clan to archive, and the other will be kept by myself to prevent it from being lost."

Deng Shirong hummed, put the cigarette holder aside, then went back to the room and took out a thousand yuan to give to Deng Chang.

Deng Chang took the money, chatted with Jiu Gong for a while, and then went back to sort out the list of donations for education.

…

The next day.

The complete honor roll of donations to support education was posted in the ancestral hall of the Naye Deng family, instantly attracting the attention of many clansmen.

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This complete list was posted on four large red papers. The beginning introduced that the donation to support education was initiated by the clan leader Deng Shirong. The purpose was to encourage the children of the clan to study hard and become useful talents for the country, and at the same time contribute to the development of the Deng clan.

Next are the village donation rankings and the personal donation rankings. The village that tops the list is undoubtedly Naye Village, followed by Bangba Village in second, Jimaoling Village in third, Yangdipo Village in fourth, Ma Village in fifth, Daozhang Village in sixth, Guanchong Village in seventh, Shanggaoxing Village in eighth, Meitian Village in ninth, and Zhadu Village in tenth.

The villages that can be ranked in the top ten are basically supported by the bosses in the village.

As for the personal donation ranking, the person who topped the list is naturally Deng Shirong, who donated 1,000 yuan.

The next top ten rankings are the ones that Deng Changqian had “reported” before, but they were all moved one place back.

At the end of the list, the clan leader Deng Shirong’s words of guarantee were also emphasized, which convinced all the villagers.

The donation to support education organized by the Naye Deng family is of great momentum. Not only the Deng clan members are paying attention to it, but also villagers with other surnames in the Bangjie Brigade, and even many villagers from other brigades are paying attention to it.

Now that the final list is out, the total donation amount is as high as more than 7,000, which makes everyone who is paying attention to this list secretly shocked.

Needless to say, all the Deng clan members are very proud of this and feel proud of their clan's performance.

People with other surnames, when talking about this, all showed envious expressions. They also hoped that their own clan could do something like this. Unfortunately, in this era, it is difficult to donate money to support education without a prestigious and capable clan leader to lead.

Even if it is managed, there probably won't be many tribesmen willing to donate.

While the list of donations to support education by the Naye Deng family has always topped the list of topics in the surrounding area, the Qingming Festival is approaching, and the new year's activities of clearing mountains and worshiping ancestors are being carried out enthusiastically in Bobai.

The clan concept is relatively strong in Bobai, and the activities of clearing mountains and worshiping ancestors are more important than in many other places.

As mentioned before, it is very normal for Bobai people not to come back home to celebrate the Spring Festival. However, when it comes to the Qingming Festival when the mountains are being cleared, people who work outside will most likely rush back unless they really cannot get leave.

Even when students are in class and it is time to worship their ancestors, it is very common for more than half of the class to skip classes to participate in the worship. Even the teachers will not say much about it. Basically, when this happens, the rest of the students are allowed to move freely, which is also a disguised holiday.

In such an atmosphere, Deng Yuntai and Zhang Xiuping naturally had to rush back to clear the mountain.

…

“Okay, great!”

When Deng Shirong learned that his eldest daughter-in-law was pregnant again, he immediately smiled.

After all, he was born in the Republic of China, so he attached great importance to continuing the family line. This had nothing to do with favoring boys over girls. As long as his daughter-in-law gave birth to more children, it didn't matter whether they were grandsons or granddaughters. Anyway, he had five sons, so normally his lineage would not be cut off.

As long as someone inherits the family line, that's enough! Seeing her father-in-law happy, Zhang Xiuping smiled and said, "Dad, there's also my cousin's wife. She's also pregnant, and the due date should be about the same as mine."

Deng Shirong naturally cheered again after hearing this. His third sister had already become a grandmother, but no matter how close a grandson is to her, he can never compare to a biological grandson. If Liumei could give birth to a son, his third sister would probably be so happy.

After being happy, Deng Shirong then told her, "Sister Ping, this is your second pregnancy, so you should have some experience. You should eat well and sleep well in the county town, and be careful not to overwork. You should do the same thing you did at home before, do you understand?"

Zhang Xiuping nodded and smiled, "I understand, Dad."

Deng Yunzhen smiled and said to Xiao Dong'er, "Xiao Dong'er, you will have a younger brother soon. Do you like it?"

Xiao Dong'er said in a baby voice: "I like it!"

Zhang Xiuping smiled and continued, "Then Xiaodong'er will have to take care of his brother in the future!"

Xiao Dong'er was only one year and four months old, after all. She obviously didn't understand what care meant. She blinked her big eyes and asked, "Mom, where's my brother?"

Zhang Xiuping said with a smile: "My little brother is still in my mother's belly!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Dong'er walked over, stretched out his little hand to touch his mother's belly, and shouted, "Brother, brother!"

Everyone couldn't help but laugh when they saw this.

…

The next day.

After the family was ready, they took tools and offerings to shovel the mountain.

As usual, Deng Shirong did not allow his eldest daughter-in-law to go to the distant mountains, and left her at home to take care of Xiao Dong'er.

Because Deng Shirong was of a higher generation, his family's hills were smaller than those of other families in the village. It only took him one morning to clear all the hills.

In the afternoon, when digging the graves of parents and deceased wife, since the hill was just opposite the house, the whole family went out together, including the pregnant eldest daughter-in-law and Xiao Dong'er.

Although Deng Shirong's parents were not buried together, the two earthen graves were connected. They were also dug together when the mountain was being cleared, and even the sacrificial offerings were shared.

After clearing the weeds from the grave, Deng Shirong squatted in front of his father's grave and said, "Dad, Mom, we are here to see you again. First of all, I have two good news for you. Your eldest grandson's wife is pregnant again. This year, we will have another baby in our family.

Also, Dashi got married last year. I was the matchmaker for him. The girl is from Taipingpo Village in Naqing Brigade. She has a nice personality and is pregnant now. My third sister is going to be a grandmother this year.

You must bless them to be safe and sound and give birth to their children smoothly..."

After talking to his parents for a few minutes and explaining all the changes in the family over the past year, Deng Shirong called his sons and daughters-in-law and asked them to speak a few words as well.

Finally, after bowing three times, Deng Shirong and his children packed up the offerings and came to the grave of his deceased wife not far away.

It was basically a repetition of the previous work, and then Deng Shirong repeated what he had said to his parents before.

Deng Yuntai also told his mother the good news that his father had become the clan leader. Although the clan leader is not an official, in a place like the countryside, the clan leader's appeal to the clan members is much stronger than that of the brigade secretary. To be able to become a clan leader proves that he has done quite well in the countryside.

After paying homage to his deceased wife, the family packed up the offerings and went home.

…

The next day.

Deng Yuntai and Zhang Xiuping took the bus to Bobai, and Deng Yunzhen and Xiao Dong'er also went with them.

With the arrival of Qingming Festival, the low temperature weather that has lasted for several months has finally begun to warm up. In addition, her sister-in-law is pregnant again, so Deng Yunzhen decided to take her little niece with her so that she can lend a hand when necessary.

…

The 25th day of the second lunar month is a big day worth remembering for the entire Naye Village.

That afternoon, a total of twenty trucks lined up and drove into Naye Village, including the truck of Deng Shirong's second nephew Bu Zhongshi.

These twenty trucks brought back a total of 36,000 lychee saplings to Naye Village, all of the Guiwei variety.

It can be said that this time, the whole village of Naye bought out all the Guiwei lychee seedlings in the Xinguang Farm. It will take at least two or three years for them to rest and recuperate before they can continue to sell the lychee seedlings.

Because these litchi saplings are cultivated by cutting branches from existing litchi trees. These are the best main trunks on the litchi trees. If too many are cut, it will greatly affect the yield of the litchi trees, so they must rest and recuperate.

After the lychee saplings were brought back, each household went out and transported their share of lychee saplings to the lychee mountain that they had reclaimed last year.

The next morning, the whole village began to plant Guiwei lychees.

Such a big commotion naturally caused a huge sensation in the surrounding area.

Not to mention the villages with other surnames, even the other villages with the surname Deng, except for Naye Village, have only reclaimed orchards or are in the process of reclaiming them. Even if they want to plant trees now, there are no saplings for them to plant.

I could only watch the brothers in Naye Village plant trees.

Of course, they couldn’t catch up with the lychee trees, but they could still grow watermelons.

So, while the people of Naye Village were busy planting litchi trees, villagers from other villages who had already reclaimed their orchards started planting watermelons.

In short, influenced by Deng Shirong, every household in the Bangjie Brigade planted watermelons this year.

(End of this chapter)