Chapter 275 276: Proud
Zhou's mother never dreamed that she, the unreliable and unpromising youngest child, would one day make them proud.
When she lowered her head, her eyes were wet. She looked at the watch in her hand and thought about her life. In total, these few months were the most comfortable.
"Gui Lan!" The old man handed the radio to Zhou Jiaming and the others, then stood up and said, "The youngest couple wanted to buy one for you, so wear it. Those gossipy women on the team said you were bragging, so wear it out and show them."
Li Qiuyue came over with a rice steamer, "Grandpa, the youngest one bought a tractor and has already attracted the attention of others. This afternoon, we went to pick lantern fruit and met the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the old Xiong family. We even had a fight with them!"
"His family has been saying in the village that the money we used to build the kiln and repair the house was earned from selling bezoars. Now we have bought a tractor. How can we not be jealous?"
Mother Zhou thought about it and said, "Is he talking about the bezoar again this time?"
"Well! Speaking of our family..." Li Qiuyue recounted what had happened.
"Ghosts are afraid of shameless people!"
Zhou Huairong glanced at the kids who were concentrating on listening to the radio and whispered, "Luckily we have found a way to make money now, otherwise we wouldn't dare to spend the money!"
Zhou's mother sneered, "Why don't you dare use it? We didn't rob or steal it. It was the old Xiong family who brought the cow to our house and forced it to be given to us."
"Mom is right! We paid the money, and all the hair on the cow belongs to our family, not to mention the bezoar." Yang Chunyan said righteously while holding the pottery bowl.
Zhou Huaian said in a deep voice: "I'm not afraid of him! He has four people in my family and I have four people in my family. I'm not afraid of two people on one!"
"You idiot, do you think beating someone up can solve the problem?" The old man patted him. "Old Xiong is shameless, but not to this extent."
Yang Chunyan felt that the old man was right. "This afternoon, it was also Old Xiong who called Zhou Sufang and the others away!"
"No matter what, we didn't steal or rob, so we're not afraid of a fight!" Zhou Huaian said as he took the pottery bowl she was holding and walked towards the main room, "It's time to eat. We drove the tractor all afternoon, and the food has long been shaken out."
Everyone sat down at the octagonal table and started eating.
The kids were listening to the radio with so much interest that they even forgot to eat.
Zhao Huifang looked at the people gathered together and said, "The meal is ready, do you still need me to feed you?" Then she twisted Zhou Jiaming's ear and took the radio away. "I think you are becoming more and more unreasonable."
Upon seeing this, the others quickly picked up their bowls obediently.
"Mom, Mom~" Zhou Jiaming held her hand, "It hurts, my ear is going to fall off."
Zhao Huifang let go and looked at Zhou Jialiang, "And you, I didn't beat you when you took your brother to the river to swim yesterday, and I didn't beat you when we played in the mud at noon. That's twice! If you do it again, I'll beat you once every three meals, and save some energy!"
Zhou Jialiang shrank his neck and said, "I understand!"
The others also thought about being careful, as they didn’t want to choose wide or thin noodles.
After dinner, Zhou Huairong went to the earthen kiln to exchange Zhou's father and came back, saying cheerfully: "Old man, the youngest bought a radio for grandpa, and also bought watches for you and mom."
Father Zhou frowned and said, "There's not even a ticket at home, where did he buy it?"
"These things from the provincial capital don't require tickets. The youngest asked Doctor Xiao Wang to help bring them back." Zhou Huairong glanced at him, "We want to buy them too."
"You prodigal son, you can't keep even two ounces of money in your hand, you have to give it all away to feel comfortable!"
Father Zhou walked home angrily with his hands behind his back. As soon as he arrived at the door, he heard the sound of gongs and drums and the singing coming from inside.
When he walked into the yard, he saw the old man leaning on a recliner, squinting his eyes and tapping along with the rhythm inside. Seeing him so happy, his heart warmed up immediately...
Mother Zhou came out of the main room and looked at Father Zhou standing in the yard. "What are you doing standing there? Aren't you hungry?"
"Not hungry!" Father Zhou walked towards the main room.
The old man also opened his eyes and looked at him, "When did you come back? I didn't even hear you come in."
"I just came in and saw that you were engrossed in what I was saying, so I didn't call you."
"Come here!" The old man turned off the radio, waved at him with a smile, and said after he sat down, "If the kid wants to buy something for you, just keep it and help them out when they're busy."
"I see." Father Zhou looked around and asked, "Where did they go?"
"They have all gone to the back of the house to prepare the vegetables. We have to send them to the city tomorrow morning!" The old man sighed and said, "I am relieved about your family and the third brother's family now. The one I am most worried about is the eldest brother's family. Huaixing has been spoiled by your eldest sister-in-law!"
"Don't worry. Didn't my eldest brother tell us at lunch that Huaixing and his wife went to work in the brick kiln. They didn't come back by July 15th, but they should be back by Mid-Autumn Festival!"
The old man thought about it and waved his hand, saying, "Let's eat quickly." Then he started fiddling with the radio again, and after a while the humming sound started again.
…
Yang Chunyan and Zhou Huaian selected a winter melon as big as a bucket from the melon rack behind the house. After cutting it with a knife, they weighed it and said, "Fifteen kilograms of winter melon, this should be enough."
"Yes!" Zhou Huaian took it and put it in the basket, took out the list and looked at it, "I want another 15 kilograms of cowpeas."
"There are so many cowpeas, I can't eat them all these days."
The two men carried baskets to the bean racks and saw strings of lentils, green beans, mung beans, and long worm-like cowpeas hanging heavily on the racks.
Zhou Huaian pointed at the white flowers on the shelf and said, "Look, the flowers of lentils are just like the flowers of chicken blood vine."
"Lentils are also a traditional Chinese medicine. Remember to tell me to keep the lentils and sell them at Deshengtang."
Lentil is an annual herb. Its young pods are common vegetables. Its seeds are mainly red, black and white.
The black one was called "magpie beans" in ancient times, and the white one was called white lentils or Yangan beans. Red lentils are also called "red snow beans", which are used as liver-clearing and anti-inflammatory drugs to treat eye film.
The Zhou family grows white lentils, which are rich in nutrients and can be used as a tonic or a refreshing drink in the hot summer. The seeds are also a traditional Chinese medicine that has the effects of strengthening the spleen and stomach, relieving heat and dampness.
"Yes!" Zhou Huaian picked a bunch of plump cowpeas, "Yan'er, the pickled cowpea and sweet potato porridge I make is the best. I make a few jars every year, and every year they are all eaten before the New Year."
"We sent dozens of kilograms to Ning'an this year. If you want to eat pickled cowpeas, you can only go to the village to collect some and bring them back to make it."
Zhou Huaian suddenly had an idea. "Yan'er, you said we should pickle some more cowpeas and send them to Ning'an to sell. Is there anyone who wants to buy them?"
"Someone should buy it. Go to the market tomorrow to see if there are any pickled vegetables for sale. If there are, we can sell them wholesale."
“Yes!”
The two of them only walked one furrow and picked up 15 kilograms of cowpeas. "Okay, let's go see if my second sister-in-law and the others have finished digging the potatoes?"
Zhou Huaian carried a backpack and went to the vegetable garden next to them. They saw that Zhang Xiuxiang and Zhou Huaijun had already dug the potatoes. Li Qiuyue and the others also sorted out the onions and scallions and were carrying them over here.
The vegetables we bring back now are those that can be stored, such as green vegetables, which are only fresh if we go to the fields and pick them early tomorrow morning.
Thank you for your support for loving sparkling water!
(End of this chapter)
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