After the meeting, Secretary Xu, Zhou Datian and Zhou Yiding went back first.
Zhou Huairong and his two brothers also took the money and went back. When they went out, they saw several children coming back from school, and now they were all standing on the tractor bed.
Zhao Huifang stepped forward and said to the others, "Jiaming, take your sister-in-law home. We have something to tell you!"
"Oh!" Zhou Jiaming hurriedly got off the tractor with his younger brother and sister-in-law. Several others also got off and followed their parents back.
Zhou Huairong and Zhao Huifang brought their children home. Looking at them, they felt reluctant to leave because they would be separated for more than a month if they left tomorrow. "Your husband and I are going to Bailing Mountain tomorrow morning.
Jiaming, you are the eldest, you must take good care of your younger brothers and sisters. Take them home early after school and don't go to the river to play. It's cold now, and it would be no joke if they fall into the river.
When I come back, I have to listen to my grandparents, my grandfather, my father, and my aunt. After I finish my homework, I help my grandma cook pig food, feed the pigs and chickens, and clean the pigsty..."
"Mom, don't worry! You've told me so many times, I can recite it by heart." Zhou Jiaming felt excited. After talking for so long, he was finally leaving. He didn't have to worry about getting scolded for not doing well in the final exam.
Seeing his expression, Zhao Huifang glared at him angrily and said, "I see you can't wait for us to leave, right?"
Zhou Jiaming quickly straightened his attitude, "No, we miss you at home too! But my grandma said that you have to go and collect the truffles, otherwise Fang Tian will snatch them away, and she also told us to be obedient."
"We promise to be obedient!" Zhou Jialiang also quickly expressed his opinion.
Zhao Huifang looked at her little daughter, pulled her into her arms and hugged her, "Little girl, be good at home. Go to your second father's house at night and stay with Xiaoqian, Xiaoru and grandma. Watch over your brother. If they dare not obey, we will deal with them when we come back."
Zhou Jiaming and Zhou Jialiang turned their heads and pouted their lips in silent protest: "My mom is biased. She calls my younger sister the youngest daughter, and when she talks to us, she calls us Jiaming and Jialiang when she's nice! When she's not nice, she calls us debt collectors!"
Zhou Xiaowen snuggled in her arms, frowning, "Mom, are you really going to come back before the New Year? There's still a month before the school holiday. I miss you. Can I go to Bailing Mountain with Dad to see you?"
Zhao Huifang nodded happily after hearing this, "Okay, okay, you can come with dad during the holidays. It's very cold in the mountains, so remember to bring more clothes."
The little cotton-padded jacket is really thoughtful. The two little guys never thought of coming to Bailing Mountain to see us.
Zhang Xiuxiang's family was much simpler. The couple called their daughter and son over and said to Zhou Xiaoqian, "We will go to Baicaopao tomorrow. You stay at home and take care of your brother. You and your brother should take care of the pigs, chickens and ducks at home. Don't expect them to take care of you for everything.
Remember to wash your clothes on the same day you change them. If the water is cold, go to the drying room to get hot water to wash them. Mom put all the pocket money in the cabinet, so take it yourself if you need it. "
Zhou Xiaoqian nodded calmly, "Got it!"
After telling her daughter, Zhang Xiuxiang looked at Zhou Jiakang again, "You have to listen to the adults at home, help your sister with things, and you are not allowed to go to the river to play in the water. Remember?"
"Remember!" Zhou Jiakang agreed and then said, "Mom, we've been good. When you and the old man come back, will there be a reward?"
Zhang Xiuxiang smiled and said, "What do you want?"
Zhou Jiakang said without hesitation: "I want a five-dollar reward."
Zhang Xiuxiang nodded without hesitation, "Okay, as long as your grandma and your sister say you're good, we'll reward you five dollars each when we come back!"
Zhou Jiakang's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he pointed at her and Zhou Huaijun, "You and the old man will each reward me and my sister five dollars?"
Zhang Xiuxiang looked at her son who had become a money-grubber without knowing when, and said with a smile: "Yes, each person will be rewarded with five dollars. As long as you behave this time, you will have a reward of ten dollars when we come back!"
"Sister!" Zhou Jiakang excitedly grabbed Zhou Xiaoqian, "We are rich!"
Zhou Xiaoqian glanced at him and said, "It's too early! Wait until you've accomplished it!"
Zhou Jiakang clenched his fist and cheered: "I promise to do it!"
At the third child's house, Li Qiuyue packed her clothes while instructing Zhou Xiaoru, "We've taken your sister and brother away. You have to listen to your grandmother at home. If you have any problems, go find your grandfather, grandmother, father, and aunt. Do you understand?"
"I understand." Zhou Xiaoru looked at Zhou Xiaolin, "What are you taking Xiaolin to do?"
Li Qiuyue packed cotton clothes and other things into a wooden box, "When we are busy, Xiaolin can help us look after our brother."
"Oh!" Zhou Xiaoru agreed and went over to help pack up.
At dinner time, the entire Zhou family gathered at Zhou Huaian's house again and started eating in a lively atmosphere.
After eating, Zhou Huaian gave them the changed coins and explained the situations of the three purchasing points to them in detail.
He was thinking about the secretaries of the two purchasing points at Baicaoping and Bailingshan. He had always had a good relationship with them and was not worried about their character at all.
But at the Sancha Road, I only met Secretary Xu that day. Although Secretary Xu and Secretary Yao from Sancha Road were comrades-in-arms, they hadn't been together for so many years...
After all, money attracts people, but no one can figure out the human heart.
Thinking of this, he instructed Zhou Huaishan and Li Qiuyue, "Third brother, third sister-in-law, you must keep a clear record of your daily income and expenditure, and check the quantity of goods delivered.
Also, there are many scammers out there who want to rip you off. Don’t listen to their nonsense. Make sure to put the money you bring in in a safe place so that no one can see it.”
Even if there was a mistake in the quantity of the delivery, Chunyan and he would have to check it after the goods were delivered. Even if there was a mistake, he had a solid foundation. He was not worried about Zhou Huaishan's money and goods, but he was afraid that Li Qiuyue would be cheated again.
Zhou Huaishan listened carefully, "Youngest, I remember it."
Li Qiuyue nodded and said, "Youngest, don't worry. I'll take the wooden box I made this time with me. I'll put the money in the interlayer when I get back. Those people outside won't know about it."
She felt that Zhou Huaian's words were referring to her, because she was greedy for money and was defrauded of two hundred yuan by the eldest wife, but she had already remembered it and would not listen to other people's nonsense again.
Unless you have a pig's brain, you would be deceived once and again.
"Okay, Yiding will come to pick you up tomorrow morning. I will send the eldest brother and the second brother to Bailing Mountain." Zhou Huaian felt that he had already said it, and whether they took it to heart or not was their business.
Zhou Huaishan nodded and said, "We are all gone. The old man will have to deliver Ning'an's goods. From now on, let Yiding take him to the Ning'an intersection, and he can go downhill and cross the bridge into the city by himself."
Thinking that the family was busy and there was no time to go to Ning'an to deliver goods every day, the brothers asked their mother to give the delivery business to Aunt Zhou San. The two elders were reluctant to do so, saying that they now earned more than ten yuan a day, which was several thousand yuan a year.
The old man took over the delivery job. Zhou Huaishan took him there several times on his bicycle and now he was familiar with the road conditions.
Zhou Huaian: "Don't worry, I have already made an agreement with Yiding about this. From now on, he will come to pick up the old man when he goes to transport goods every day."
Zhou Huairong and the others were relieved after hearing this. "Youngest, when I'm at Bailing Mountain, if someone sends some herbs there, should I help you accept them?"
Zhou Huaian shook his head, "Just collect the truffles, the villagers selling medicinal herbs will wait for me to come over."
Zhou Huaijun asked curiously, "Youngest brother, did you sell the Coriolus fungi you stockpiled today?"
Zhou Huaian: "Yeah! Almost all the cash in the family is tied up in it. I sold some Coriolus versicolor to make ends meet."
Zhou Huaijun smiled and asked, "Did you make money?"
Zhou Huaian: "I was lucky, the price went up a bit, and I made a few thousand."
Zhou Huaijun patted him on the shoulder and said, "You are really good. You can make money both in the off-season and the peak season."
After hearing this, Zhou's mother hurriedly said, "Second son, don't learn from the youngest son to collect herbs and hoard them to sell. That's no different from gambling. You bought mulberry fungus at a price of about 100 yuan per pound and hoarded it for so long. If the price drops, you won't even know where to cry."
After hearing this, Li Qiuyue looked at Zhou Huaian in surprise, "Youngest brother, did you really buy those Coriolus fungi for about 100 yuan per pound?"
Zhou Huaian glanced at her and said, "It's more than good, but the risk is also high. I just bought it back and it fell in price a few days later. I hoarded it for two months before it went up."
Mother Zhou slapped him and said, "How dare you say that? Don't accept such expensive things anymore. You've made us old people live in fear!"
Zhou Huairong also said: "Youngest, you listen to mom, just do it if it's good enough and don't make a big deal out of it. Our life now is much better than others."
"Got it, big brother!" Zhou Huaian responded and stood up and said, "I have to go out early tomorrow morning, so you should go to bed early too."
After hearing this, Zhou's mother said to Zhou's father, who was wrapping leaf cigarettes beside him, "We'll go back to sleep too. We'll come and see you off tomorrow morning."
"Let's go back and rest early." The old man also stood up and walked towards the room.
Zhou Huaian sent them out, closed the gate and came back. He saw Yang Chunyan giving Xiao Jiuer a bath, so he took a towel and went to wash himself.
Yang Chunyan washed Xiao Jiuer, changed into a set of cotton underwear and handed it to Zhou Huaian, "You hold her, I'll go close the main room door."
"Oh!" Zhou Huaian held his son in his arms and sat in a rattan chair, lowering his head. The father and son played bullfighting for a while. Little Jiuer laughed happily and said from time to time, "Daddy, daddy..."
"Oh~ My son is so smart, he can even call dad." Zhou Huaian got excited after hearing this, "My son, come, call an old man, look at me, old...man..."
"Daddy, baba!" Little Jiuer kept calling baba, baba.
"Oh my, my youngest is so smart! No one has ever heard anyone call him dad, he learned it all by himself!" Zhou Huaian shouted happily to Yang Chunyan, "Yan'er, look, our Jiu'er can call dad now."
"You too, there's no one at home who calls him dad, so how could he do that?" Yang Chunyan looked at him with amusement, "Let me tell you, it was mom who steamed some pumpkin for him to eat a few days ago and told him to eat baba, so maybe he learned from her. He didn't call me dad at all, okay?"
Zhou Huaian didn't believe it, "I clearly heard him shouting just now, if you don't believe me, let him shout again and try!"
"Okay! Let him call me!" Yang Chunyan sat next to him. The couple looked at their son eagerly, waiting for him to call dad!
The father and son talked for a long time, but Zhou Huaian finally gave in and hugged him and lay down on the bed, "Oh my! I'm really convinced by you!" (End of this chapter)
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