Chapter 850 866: They are rogues, and I am still a second-rate person
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had just dug out a small amount when Zhou Huaian and his father came with baskets. They were surprised to see the Jerusalem artichokes on the ground.
"This patch was planted last year, and it has grown so much in a year without being dug?" Zhou Huaian picked up a nest, "This bag of rice weighs at least ten kilograms."
"This thing has a high yield! Your husband and I watered it with manure once and sprinkled it with wood ash twice when we planted it. It still grew so well this year even though the weather was so dry."
"If you apply enough fertilizer when the seeds sprout next year, you can dig up a thousand kilograms of fruit from two or three acres of land." Father Zhou squatted down and helped pick the Jerusalem artichokes and throw them into the basket.
Mother Zhou thought that they also wanted to make pickled Jerusalem artichokes to sell. "The yield of this stuff is so high, is there anyone willing to pickle it and sell it?"
"This stuff is pickled and crispy and sweet. As long as it tastes good and is cheap, someone will definitely buy it." Yang Chunyan suddenly remembered something, "Did Uncle Datian come to your house to look for you?"
Zhou Huaian nodded, "Yes! He came with Uncle Xu, and his family is willing to invest in pickled vegetables. Also, the brigade's house covers an area of two acres, with a total of twelve rooms, including warehouses, offices, and conference rooms.
They will call a few team leaders to hold a meeting to decide the price, and then call the villagers to a meeting to decide. Those who are willing to invest money will not get any money, and those who are not willing will get the money. "
Zhou's mother said: "That row was built in the 1960s, and it has been used for more than ten or twenty years. Except for the storage room, the warehouse doesn't even have a door or window.
After the division of households, some people still climbed up to steal tiles in the middle of the night. In just two years, many of the tiles on the roof have rotted away. I’m afraid the purlins on the roof have also rotted away. If it’s too expensive, it’s better to repair it yourself.”
Zhou's father disagreed with his mother's opinion, "It will be so troublesome to build a new one! The houses in the brigade have a good foundation, the walls are all made of red bricks, and the sun-drying dams are all hardened.
The wood used for the beams is all made of top-quality fir. After you buy it, if any purlins are broken, you can just replace them.”
Zhou Huaian said: "The main reason is that there is not enough spacious land in the village. Let's wait for the brigade to hold a meeting. If the price is worthwhile, we will buy it. If not, we will have to find a new place."
"They have told the boss that there will be a meeting tomorrow morning. We will know the result in two days." Father Zhou tied the rope and walked back carrying the Jerusalem artichokes.
The four of them were busy on the hillside for more than two hours. They picked the Jerusalem artichokes and poured them into the ditch at the door. After washing them clean, they fished them out and hung them on the roof to dry. After they dried, they sliced them and dried them.
Yang Chunyan looked at the time, it was almost four o'clock, and said to Zhou Huaian: "Grandpa is playing with Jiuer in the back mountain, tell him that we are going to Guanyin to see him."
"Okay!" Zhou Huaian walked towards the back mountain, Yang Chunyan changed into cloth shoes and came out, and the two rode their bicycles towards Zhao Meina's house.
As soon as they arrived at the village entrance, they met Zhou Jialiang and others who were returning from school. They told them that Zhao Xiuna and her brother had already returned home to wait for them.
When the two arrived at Zhao's house, they saw Zhao Xiuna picking Swiss chard in the vegetable garden behind the house. Most of the vegetables in the garden had been trampled to pieces.
Yang Chunyan glanced at Zhou Huaian and said, "What's the big deal about these scumbags bullying a few kids?"
Zhou Huaian said in a deep voice: "Some people don't have the courage to fight those who are stronger than them, so they only look for those who are weaker than them to bully. Such people have to be beaten up and hurt before they will be afraid!"
Zhao Xiuna heard the bicycle bell and looked up to see them coming. She happily walked to the edge of the field holding a bundle of Swiss chard, "Uncle Zhou, Aunt Yang, you are here!"
Yang Chunyan smiled and nodded, "Your sister hasn't come back yet?"
Zhao Xiuna put the chard in the basket and said, "We'll be there in a dozen minutes."
Zhou Huaian picked up the backpack and put it on the back seat of the car. "How many pigs do you have at home?"
"Two!" Zhao Xiu Na said happily, "My sister said that she eats your bacon and sausages every year. This year we will also kill a big fat pig for the New Year, smoke the bacon, stuff the sausages, and fry the meat in oil."
Yang Chunyan laughed and said, "Why would a few little brats kill a pig? If you leave half of the pig's meat, you won't be able to finish it all."
Zhao Xiuna stuck out her tongue. "I think it's a bit much too. Aunt Su said one of them weighs at least 200 kilograms. By the time the Chinese New Year comes, it will be more than 200 kilograms."
"Not bad! What did you guys feed them with?"
"Just like yours, we use peony vines, ramie leaves, mulberry leaves, Jerusalem artichokes, flowers and grasses, and sedges. They like to eat all of these."
As they were talking, the three of them arrived at the gate of Zhao's courtyard and saw a small square table in the yard. Zhao Xiaochuan was sitting at the table doing his homework seriously.
Zhao Xiuna shouted happily: "Xiaochuan, Aunt Yang and Uncle Zhou are here."
"Aunt Yang, Uncle Zhou!" Zhao Xiaochuan put down his pen and came forward to greet them.
Yang Chunyan looked at the child who had grown a lot taller, smiled and touched his head, and saw the neat handwriting on the homework book, "Not bad, it seems that he is a good student."
Zhao Xiaochuan said embarrassedly: "Xiaokang is also very good."
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "Xiaokang said you are better than him and he wanted to learn from you!"
Zhao Xiuna brought a bamboo chair and poured hot water for the two of them. She smiled and asked them to drink the water. It seemed that she had put some honey in it.
Zhou Huaian took a sip of water, turned his head and saw two bundles of bamboo placed by the courtyard wall. He walked over to take a look and said, "These bamboos are from the family that stole your bamboos. Are they returning them to you?"
Zhao Xiuna nodded, and her eyes suddenly turned red.
"Don't be sad!" Yang Chunyan held her hand, "Which family stole your bamboo? What did the village cadres say?"
Zhao Meina pointed to the family a few fields away from his house and said, "It's the Zou family across the street. They cut down trees once last year. My sister saw it and said they...
His wife promised that she would not cut the bamboo shoots anymore. But during the rainy season this year, she almost dug up all the bamboo shoots in my bamboo forest. I heard that they even carried them to the street to sell.
We went to watch for them several times in the morning and evening, but they always went to dig when we were away studying. We never caught anyone, and we didn't dare to go looking for them.
The day before yesterday, my sister had a stomachache and took half a day off. Aunt Su saw that their family went to the bamboo forest again, so she came to tell my sister. She ran over and saw them cutting bamboo..."
Zhao Xiu Na's tears fell down. "Aunt Yang, they scolded us so harshly, saying that we were working as prostitutes when we were so young, otherwise how would we have the money to go to school and buy bicycles? There were many more nasty words..."
"Don't cry!" Yang Chunyan was so angry that her face turned red. She held her hand and said, "There's no need to get angry with that uneducated beast. We'll go find your brigade secretary later. If they don't care about us, we'll report it to the police station."
Zhou Huaian kicked Zhuzi angrily, "You beast, there must be no daughter in their family!"
Zhao Xiuna wiped away her tears and said, "Aunt Yang, it's useless to find the brigade secretary. On the day when our bamboo was cut down, Aunt Su helped to call the brigade secretary to the bamboo forest.
They promised not to cut down our bamboos in the future, and returned the bamboos to us the day before. But that night they went to the bamboo forest and chopped all our bamboos into a mess! "
Zhao Xiaochuan's eyes were red as he clenched his fists tightly. "I told my sister that they knew there was no adult in our family, so they bullied us on purpose. If they bully us again, I will set their house on fire..."
"Xiaochuan!" Zhao Xiuna slapped him angrily, "If you say something like that again, I'll sue you when I get back!"
Zhao Xiaochuan stiffened his neck and said, "I am a man of the Zhao family. I am not afraid of them."
Yang Chunyan thought that it was impossible for a child of this age to think of setting fire to someone else's house. Just as she was about to ask him who taught him, she saw Zhou Huaian pulling the child to him.
"Xiaochuan! Tell Uncle Zhou, who told you to set fire to the house?"
Zhao Xiaochuan pursed his lips. "That day, the brigade secretary called them to my house. Several uncles from the village were talking there. One of them said that the Zou family only dared to bully children without parents. If it were him, he would have set his house on fire if they dared to bully him like this."
Yang Chunyan heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this. It sounded like they were not trying to teach him to go astray on purpose, but rather a few men were just bragging and gossiping together, and the attentive child heard it.
Zhou Huaian looked at him and said gently, "Silly boy, only reckless people would do such a stupid thing as setting fire to a house. They are rubbish. You still have to go to college and do great things in the future, so don't do stupid things."
"Uncle Zhou!" Zhao Xiaochuan threw himself into his arms and started crying, "Why did they give birth to us and then abandon us? Why did the Zou family deliberately bully us? They called my sister nasty names, and we didn't provoke them..."
"That's why you have to study hard and make a career when you grow up. If they find out, they will regret it!"
Zhou Huaian lowered his head and whispered in his ear, "Only idiots know how to set fires. Uncle won't let you be bullied by them in vain. Uncle will help you vent your anger."
Zhao Xiaochuan looked up at him with sparkling eyes, and suddenly remembered what Mina said. He said worriedly, "Uncle Zhou, my elder sister said they are scoundrels, so you should avoid them if you see them."
Zhou Huaian said with a smile: "Don't be afraid, I used to be a second-rate person!"
"You are not a second-rate person! You are a good person. You, Aunt Yang, and Grandma Zhou are all good people." Zhao Xiaochuan said anxiously.
Yang Chunyan touched his head and said softly, "Xiaochuan, you are the boy of your family. You can't make your sisters worry or make the people who like you sad. Don't talk about the house anymore. Do you understand?"
Zhao Xiaochuan nodded heavily, "I understand. Uncle Zhou said that only reckless people would do stupid things. I want to pursue a career in the future."
"Xiao Yang, Xiao Zhou, you're here!" Su Tianfen walked into the yard with a smile, "You also know about the incident where the Zou family across the street bullied a few kids, right?"
Yang Chunyan nodded and said, "We just found out about it today after hearing about it from our children at home."
Su Tianfen pulled a stool and sat next to Yang Chunyan, sighing, "That family has always had red eyes since they were young. Before the division of households, the children in his family always loved to bully his siblings.
Things got better after we were divided into different households. Later, my brothers and sisters relied on your help and our lives became better and better. With the addition of several children, who had good academic performance, we lived better than them even though we were the only children in the family.
They were already jealous of the children, and when Mina gave the land to my family to farm, and didn't let them farm it, his family started to hate their siblings and did all kinds of bad things to bully them.
Everyone in the village knows the behavior of these children, and no one believes what they say. They all hope that their own children will learn from them!"
(End of this chapter)
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