After Zhou Huaian and his companion returned, they went to see Secretary Xu and Zhou Datian again, told them about the arrival of the four-wheel tractor and their plans, and the two agreed with his plan.
From now on, there will be a fork in the road between their two companies. Zhou Yiding will be responsible for delivering the goods back to Funiu, while Zhou Huaian and Xu Laosan will be responsible for Baicaoping and Bailingshan.
After discussing with them, Zhou Huaian went home and called his three brothers together and told them the arrangements. After hearing it, the three of them readily agreed.
When the brothers had some free time, they started to clean up the mountain land behind the old house. The corn stalks left in the field had already dried up, so they had to be pulled up and sent home. They also had to turn over the land in preparation for planting winter wheat.
In the afternoon, the sky became overcast and dark clouds gathered on the mountains in the southeast. The old man was worried about rain, so he asked Zhou Huaian to go to the medicinal fields in the back mountain to clear the drainage ditch. Zhou's mother took Xiao Jiuer to Zhou Huairong's house to make preserved eggs.
Yang Chunyan was washing the radix cochinchinensis she had dug up in the backyard. Lai Fu and Wang Cai were barking and running towards the front yard. She quickly put the radix cochinchinensis down and ran out. She saw a mother and son standing at the door carrying a vegetable basket and a backpack.
When Mrs. Wu and Wu San saw her coming out, they greeted her gratefully, "We are from the youngest family, we are from the Guanyin Brigade..." Then they handed her a basket of red eggs and a red envelope.
Wu San kept thanking him: "Thank you, youngest brother, for saving my wife and son. Thank you! Thank you!"
Yang Chunyan then realized why Zhou Huaian came back so late in the morning. She smiled and put the red envelope in her hand, then took the basket and said, "Auntie Wu, I'll accept the red eggs. You can take the red envelope back and buy some good supplements for your wife."
"Good man!" Mrs. Wu looked at the red envelope in her hand with gratitude, "Old Third, take out the firecrackers and red silk."
Only then did Yang Chunyan realize that they were going to hang red ribbons and set off firecrackers, so she didn't hesitate and stood aside.
Wu San took out a red silk and hung it on the tractor parked outside. He then took out a cake of firecrackers, walked around the tractor, said auspicious words, and lit the firecrackers.
Li Qiuyue and Zhang Xiuxiang also ran out of the house. Zhou's mother held Xiao Jiuer and watched from a distance. She was afraid of scaring him and did not dare to go over.
Zhou's father and his friends from the construction site next door also came over curiously. Seeing the red silk hanging on the tractor and the crackling firecrackers, they asked loudly, "What happened? Why are they hanging red silk and setting off firecrackers?"
“…” Yang Chunyan told several people what had happened. After hearing it, everyone said it was a good thing.
Mrs. Wu said gratefully, "Brother Zhou, thank you for your youngest son. Your family is kind-hearted, and God will help you."
"Uncle Zhou, Aunt Zhou, thank you so much." Wu San also said gratefully.
"It's okay, we're all from the same village, it's just a matter of helping each other! Congratulations!" Mother Zhou was also very happy after hearing this and spoke politely.
After everyone exchanged some polite words, the Wu mother and son left happily.
Yang Chunyan took some red eggs and distributed them to several people, "Come, eat some red eggs and share in the good fortune!"
After each person received two, two were left for Zhou Huaian and the old man respectively.
At dusk, there were more and more dark clouds on the top of the mountain, the wind gradually became stronger, and raindrops as big as beans fell down.
Zhou Huaian helped the old man into the yard. "We are lucky. It rained right after we cleared the ditch."
The old man took off his yellow rubber shoes that were covered with dirt and said cheerfully, "One autumn rain brings one cold day. Ten autumn rains require wearing cotton. It's been autumn for so long. It's time for two rains."
Zhou Huaian smiled and nodded, "It's good that it's raining. There will be more mountain products after the rain. We can go into the mountains to pick mushrooms tomorrow morning."
"You're back!" Yang Chunyan walked to the back door and looked at him with a smile, "Huai'an, the Wu family has been here..."
Zhou Huaian felt a little uncomfortable after hearing this and said, "This family is so polite. I already said no need."
The old man patted him on the shoulder cheerfully and said, "You did the right thing this time. You should do more good deeds when you are out."
"Okay, I'll listen to you and do more good deeds!" Zhou Huaian handed the cup of water to the old man with a smile.
The rain continued until dinner time. The gutters in the yard were full and the water was flowing into the pond outside.
Yang Chunyan said to Zhou Huaian worriedly, "It's raining so hard, will the mountain roads be difficult to walk on? Why don't we wait two days before going into the mountains?"
Zhou Huaian shook his head nonchalantly, "It's okay. Just because it rains here doesn't mean it will rain there. Just like when we were at Baicaopao, it rained heavily there, but we didn't see a single raindrop at Baicaopao."
Yang Chunyan thought it was possible, "Then you better be careful on the road tomorrow."
"Got it!" Zhou Huaian saw that she was worried about him, and happily pinched Xiao Jiu'er's nose, "Little boy, come and hold me!"
Xiao Jiuer opened her arms and hugged his neck, put her feet on his palms, and kept shaking her butt.
Zhou Huaian kissed him happily, "Do you want me to swing you high?"
"Oh oh!" The little guy must have understood, because his face was covered with saliva.
"Fuck you!" Zhou Huaian wiped the saliva off his face and deliberately put on a fierce look, "Don't smear your saliva on my face, or I'll beat you up!"
Little Jiuer was not afraid of him at all. He held his face and started chewing it. The little guy's gums were a little white, and he might be growing teeth again. He liked to chew things when his gums were itchy.
"Fuck me, your kid has grown teeth, but he's still biting me!" Zhou Huaian tilted his head back, "He's bitten me and disfigured me. What should I do if your mom doesn't want me anymore?"
"Don't hold him up and swing him high!" Yang Chunyan slapped him, "You're an old man, but you still haven't behaved properly. I don't know what you're talking about every day!"
"My son, look, your mother is scolding us again. Don't bother with Gao Gao anymore. I'm going to take you back to take a bath and have a sleep." Zhou Huaian hugged his son and ran back.
Yang Chunyan followed the father and son back with a smile on her face.
The next morning, Zhou Huaian drove a tractor to Zhou Yiding's house and gave him the purse. "Fortunately, Chunyan made two new babies. Even so, her belly is bulging, just like a pregnant woman in her third month."
Zhou Yiding tucked his turtleneck sweater into his trouser waist and fastened his belt. "Luckily the weather has cooled down, so it's not easy to notice if I wear thick clothes."
"That's true." Zhou Huaian pulled down his coat, looked in front of the mirror, and felt that it was not very obvious. "Let's go!"
Zhou Yiding smiled and said, "I'll drive the road to Baicaoping, and you'll take over after we get there!"
"Okay." Zhou Huaian went out and climbed onto the tractor bed, sitting next to the cotton inside.
Zhou Yiding said hello to Wan Xuejiao, came out to start the tractor, drove to the drying dam to pick up Li Wu and Xu Hongbing, and drove towards the village entrance.
After a rain, the soil became much softer. The yellow mud at the foot of Guanyin Mountain was the most annoying, and even the tractor tires were covered with it.
When we arrived at Baicaoping, the sun was already high in the sky, and there were already villagers waiting at the brigade's drying dam to receive the things they had brought.
Zhou Yiding stopped the tractor, and Zhou Huaian and Li Wu handed the sacks and bamboo baskets with the words "Baicaoping" written on them to Zhang Laoer, "Brother Zhang, share them with everyone."
"That's right, that's right!" Zhang Laoer and several villagers took the things and put them on the ground. "Play here for a while before leaving!"
"No." Zhou Huaian said to him, "I told you last time to help clean up two rooms. When I collect truffles, my second brother and his family will live there, so you can take your time to clean up."
"Okay!" Zhang Laoer said happily, "I have hired two craftsmen these days to build the west wing, and then I will give it to my second brother and his family to live in."
"Thank you for the trouble!" Zhou Huaian jumped off the tractor and patted him on the shoulder, "Then I'll be leaving first!"
"Drive slowly. I heard it rained heavily in Baicaoping last night." Zhang Laoer hurriedly reminded.
"Yeah!" Zhou Huaian nodded, started the tractor and drove forward.
Zhou Yiding and Xu Hongbing leaned on soft cotton bags and fell asleep on the wobbly tractor.
The further we went, the narrower the road became. In some places, tractors could just pass through. We climbed up a steep slope and arrived at the boundary of Baicaopo. The road here was indeed much slippery.
After having lunch on the road, the group continued on their journey and soon arrived at a section of road with a forest on the right and a cliff on the left. Zhou Huaian drove the tractor forward with full concentration.
He looked at the road ahead and suddenly felt something was wrong. As his mind raced, Zhou Huaian quickly braked the tractor as the front tire had already sunk into a big hole.
"Oh no, someone is robbing! Ding Ding Cat, something is wrong, get up quickly."
As he spoke, he stood up, and he and Li Wu lifted the seat cushion and took out the wooden stick and gun inside.
Zhou Yiding and Xu Hongbing were awakened by the shouting. They quickly got up and picked up the guns at hand. Before they stood up, they saw a dozen men with ferocious looks walking out of the woods.
There were two tall men in front, carrying a hunting rifle, and behind them were a dozen young men, some holding machetes and some holding wooden sticks.
Zhou Yiding's heart tightened. He and Xu Hongbing raised their guns, pointed them at them and shouted, "Which gang are you from? What do you want to do?"
The tall man walking in front, without saying a word, raised his gun and fired a shot at the rear tire of the tractor. The tire deflated with a "bang".
The sound of gunfire echoed far away in the silent woods, and the birds in the woods flew up with a cry.
Zhou Yiding and Xu Hongbing swayed and almost fell on the sacks.
They didn't expect that they would be attacked right away. It seemed that the fact that they took so much cash to receive the goods at Baicaopo and Bailing Mountain last time had been spread by someone with ulterior motives.
This group of people had dug a trap here early and were waiting for them to arrive.
The black-faced man in the lead was shocked when he saw the guns in the hands of the three men. He didn't expect that they had one more gun than them.
The two men looked at Xu Hongbing, who was holding a gun with his legs shaking like a sieve. They didn't believe that they dared to shoot, but they still held the guns tightly in their hands and looked at them defensively.
"I don't want to do anything. My brothers are a little short of money, so I want to ask my brothers for some money to spend. Don't worry, as long as you get the money, we will give way." (End of this chapter)
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