Chapter 148: Unfair
Zhou Jiakang gave her a sidelong look and said, "It's all your fault, you snitch!"
Zhou Xiaowen: "Dad, he bullies me!"
Zhou Huaian: "You and Xiaoru should finish picking the taro seeds obediently, and Dad will give you one cent to buy something to eat. Xiaokang, treat him to fried meat with bamboo shoots later."
Zhou Xiaowen and Zhou Xiaoru smiled at him proudly, "Dad wants to give us money!"
Zhou Jiakang raised his head listlessly: "Dad, I don't want to eat fried pork with bamboo shoots, I want one cent!"
"From now on, as long as you finish your work obediently, Dad will give you a penny."
Zhou Jiakang immediately became more energetic, "I promise to do a good job!"
These days, children in the mountains don’t have a penny in their hands all year round.
At this time, one cent can buy three fruit candies, or a piece of colored chalk candy... hold it in your mouth and wait for it to slowly melt!
The three child laborers worked very efficiently and soon their baskets were filled with the taro seeds they had picked.
Zhou Huaian went up and put the taro seeds in the basket, ready to take it to the ditch for washing. "Xiaokang, when you've finished picking the taro seeds, bring them to the ditch."
Zhou Xiaoru looked up at him and said, "Dad, have you ever eaten ice cream? Xu Qiao said it's delicious. Is it as delicious as egg cake?"
"Ice cream?" Zhou Huaian thought for a moment, "It tastes like frozen honey water!"
There was no ice cream for sale in the village, so if you wanted to eat it you had to go to town to buy it. In fact, he had only eaten it twice.
Zhou Jiakang swallowed his saliva and said, "Dad, is the ice cream expensive? Can you buy some for us next time?"
"Xiao Ha'er, the popsicles will melt. They melted before we even got home." Zhou Huaian looked at the child who was looking at him eagerly, feeling a little sorry for him. "When the agency sells them, Dad will buy them for you."
Zhou Jiakang and the other two smiled happily after hearing this, "Then don't forget it."
"Don't forget!" Zhou Huaian nodded, carried the taro to the ditch, put the basket in the water, went down into the ditch and shook the basket vigorously to clean off the dirt stuck on it.
Zhou Xiaoru and the other two quickly carried the remaining taro to the side of the ditch. After washing them, the uncle and nephew returned home carrying the taro and bananas.
The taro seeds were spread out in the yard to dry, and the bananas were given to Zhou's mother to be put in a rice bran basket, which was then covered with rice bran. They would be ripe in two or three days. Bananas ripened with rice bran would have a rice aroma when eaten.
You can also pick some neem leaves and cover them. Bananas ripened with neem leaves are also very delicious.
"Mom, did you buy the eggs?"
"Go to your third uncle's house and buy ten eggs. We can only collect 20 eggs a day. Xiuying and I have agreed that she will send 10 eggs every day." Zhou's mother said, "Youngest, if Huang buys vegetables from us every day, the vegetables we grow at home won't be able to keep up!"
She was so happy just now that she forgot about it.
"That's easy, just go to the production team and collect them!"
"Yeah, why didn't I think of this? You really have a good brain."
Mother Zhou glanced at Zhou Huaian and felt that he had really changed a lot during this period of time. If he remained like this, she and the old man would be relieved.
Zhou Huaian suddenly remembered that he hadn't told her about buying a bicycle yet, "Mom, Doctor Xiao Wang bought me something big, and I forgot to tell you."
"What? Does Chunyan know?"
"I know!" Zhou Huaian looked at her proudly, "Doctor Xiao Wang bought me a half-new bicycle for ninety yuan."
Zhou's mother felt distressed after hearing this. "You spent so much money to buy an old bicycle. The road to the city is uphill and bumpy. I saw Secretary Xu and others using bicycles to carry things, so I had to get off and push them. Isn't it better for you to push the chicken bus at home?"
Zhou Huaian: "Mom, let me tell you, a 28-ton truck can carry 200 to 300 kilograms at a time, which is much faster than a tractor. I push a tractor into the city and it costs 15 cents."
"We have to go to the city almost every day. After I got a bicycle, I don't have to spend money on a tractor to go to the city to sell things. In a year, the fare is dozens of yuan."
Mother Zhou: "Did you and Chunyan buy the bicycle with your own money, or did you and your brothers buy it together?"
"Chunyan and I bought it!"
"This won't work. We all share the money from the sales, and you can't be the only ones to suffer a loss."
"My eldest brothers and their friends can't ride bicycles, so I'm the one who rides the bike after I buy it! Besides, when the house is repaired by the end of the year, the bike will also be ours! If you ask my eldest brothers and their friends to pay for it now, how will we divide the bike when we divide the family property?"
"You're right. You should just take the loss and buy it." Zhou's mother thought for a moment, then looked at him and said, "The steel bar quota was sent by the Xu family to thank Chunyan. Have you thought about how to divide the money?"
Zhou Huaian spread his hands and said, "If we split up the family, the money from selling the steel bar quota would definitely be ours. But now that we haven't split up the family, the money from the sale will naturally be given to you. You and the old man can divide it however you like!"
After hearing this, Zhou's mother felt that although she, the youngest child, was not very generous, she was not stingy at all. If it were the other three, they might not be so generous with so much money.
Although the family has not yet split up, each family has always kept its own money. Logically, the money should be given to the youngest couple, but with so much money, if all is given to them, the other three will definitely feel uncomfortable in their hearts, and if this goes on for a long time, there will be a rift between the brothers...
But if we divide it all up, it would be unfair to the youngest couple.
Mother Zhou thought about it and felt a little embarrassed. "How about this, you and Chunyan take half of the 2,500 yuan, and the remaining half is divided into four parts, and the share between your husband and I is also given to you."
Zhou Huaian felt satisfied that his mother could say this, "Mom, I think we should just forget it! My eldest brother and the others will be upset if they know about it, so it's enough for us to split it in half."
"Don't worry about it. I know what's going on." Mother Zhou rolled her eyes at him and said, "After all this talk, I haven't even seen a shadow of the money. Go to Ning'an with the third child tomorrow and get the money back first."
She was still worried, thinking that Zhou Huaian was too bold to hand over two or three thousand yuan to Doctor Wang like that. When a young man in his twenties saw so much money, who knows what would happen!
Zhou Huaian frowned, "I have an agreement with Yiding. I will go up the mountain with him to dig herbs today, and look for Magnolia officinalis trees. I will make some money while the price of Magnolia officinalis is high."
Mother Zhou said angrily, "It's not like you can't find where Yiding lives. Why don't you go to Ning'an and look for him later? Bring the money back sooner so I can be at peace!"
Zhou Huaian looked at her with a helpless look, "Just believe Dr. Xiao Wang, the people in their family are really different from others!"
Zhou's mother glanced at him and said, "Stop talking nonsense. Go and tell Yiding that you can go find him when you return from Ning'an tomorrow."
"Okay, okay, I'll get it back tomorrow." Zhou Huaian turned and walked towards the gate, then thought about it and went back to the backyard to pick up the shrimp basket before leaving.
The shrimp net is a fishing tool woven with bamboo strips. It is open in the front and tightened at the tail. There is a handle on top and it looks a bit like a net.
When catching fish in shallow water by the river, the shrimp rake is the most effective and catches fish the fastest!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com