Next door, Li Qiuyue spent a long time picking in the wine cellar and picked out the smallest and leanest piece of bacon. She took it down, held it up and looked at it, but still felt it was a bit big. When she wanted to hang it back and choose more, she was stopped by the annoying Zhou Huaishan.
"Okay, we've already picked two rounds, so stop talking nonsense and just take this one."
"..." Li Qiuyue hesitated for a moment before reluctantly handing him the bacon. "If mom hadn't told us to be polite, I would have gone there empty-handed."
"You go empty-handed on New Year's Day. What's the difference between you and Li Laoer?" Zhou Huaishan said to her unhappily. He put the bacon into the basket and walked out of the wine cellar with it.
My mother said that Qiuyue has been taking care of this place since she got married. She is much better than those women in the village who move back to their parents' home as soon as they have some belongings.
Li Qiuyue thought that if she went there empty-handed, she would only lose face, so she did not respond. She got down from the stepladder, folded the ladder and placed it against the wall, closed the inner and outer doors, went to the kitchen with him, took two handfuls of noodles and put them in the vegetable basket, and then went to the living room.
Turning around, he saw that the light in the child's room was still on. He went over and pushed open the half-closed door and said to Zhou Xiaoru and her sister, "You must behave well when you go to Ning'an tomorrow. Xiaoru, take good care of your sister and don't want everything you see."
"Got it." Zhou Xiaoru put her coat on the stool at the head of the bed and climbed onto the bed happily. "Aunt Yao said that we are going to watch a movie and take photos tomorrow. If you come back early, you can come to Ning'an to find us!"
Li Qiuyue went in and pulled up the quilt to cover herself. "The cinema is crowded. Don't run around with your father. If you get kidnapped, you won't be able to come back."
Zhou Xiaoru thought about it and asked, "Mom, if my sister and I were kidnapped by kidnappers, would you cry?"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Li Qiuyue angrily slapped her and said, "I am your biological mother, not your stepmother. If you don't obey me and run around everywhere, don't go tomorrow."
Although I am a little bit biased towards boys, I am not so cruel as to dislike even my own daughter.
She didn't look like anyone taught her to say that. Could it be that what she had done before was really that obvious?
Zhou Xiaoru rubbed her forehead, "If you want to cry, we will be good. If you only like Xiaolong, I will separate from you and take my little sister to live in the old house. Like sister Mina, I will pick red mushrooms and dig truffles to sell to my father to earn money for my studies.
Also, Xiaochuan said that Sister Mina didn’t take their New Year’s money and kept it for herself. You took all our New Year’s money. I won’t take my younger sister’s New Year’s money in the future.”
"Sister, I will give all my New Year's money to you instead of mom." Zhou Xiaolin came out from the bed and said this.
Li Qiuyue looked at the two sisters with both anger and amusement, "I'm telling you, bean sprouts are just a side dish even if they grow to the sky. You want to start your own business before your wings have even grown hard. It's New Year's Day, do you want to be beaten?"
"My youngest daughter is right!" Zhou Huaishan came in without knowing when, sat down on the edge of the bed with a smile, and supported the two sisters. "If your mother still only likes Xiaolong in the future, the three of us will go out and live alone, and don't want them!"
Zhou Xiaoru nodded happily, "Old man, we are from the same country. I will go to college and earn a salary for you to spend."
Zhou Huaishan was delighted after hearing this. "Oh~ My youngest daughter is the most capable. I am waiting for you to earn a salary and tell me something!"
Zhou Xiaolin quickly sat up and pulled him, "Old man, there's still me. I'll give you my money, too."
It is said that a daughter is a mother's warm and sweet coat, but these two girls in my family only have eyes for their old man and are not close to me at all.
Li Qiuyue felt a little bitter when she thought of this, and rolled her eyes at the three of them. "You haven't even learned to walk yet, but you're already thinking about running away. Do you think that the universities in the provincial capital are like Fangtian Primary School, and you can get into any of them? They teach you culture and also pay you a salary. Where in the world is there such a good thing?"
Zhou Xiaoru stretched her neck and said, "Sister Mina said that the teacher said that the country pays for college education and also gives salaries. Brother Kang also wants to earn a salary!"
Li Qiuyue: “…”
Zhou Huaishan pulled Li Qiuyue who was about to speak, stood up and said, "Don't listen to your mother. If you want to earn a salary, study hard." Then he went forward and blew out the oil lamp. "Go to sleep. Be good and follow Dad and the others tomorrow morning. Don't run around."
"Got it!" The two sisters pulled the quilt and fell asleep obediently.
Zhou Huaishan and Li Qiuyue went out and returned to their rooms. "You too, it's a good thing that the children want to go to college. Why are you pouring cold water on them?"
Li Qiuyue said angrily: "Why am I pouring cold water on you? I was hoping that my daughter, Li Qiuyue, would be admitted to a university! Do you think it is so easy to get into a university? She is only in the first grade. I will be thankful if she can be admitted to a technical secondary school in the future."
"Whether they are in technical secondary school or university, it's a good thing that they have their own ideas. Don't discourage them in the future."
"I understand." Li Qiuyue glared at him in dissatisfaction, "You are their biological father, and I am their stepmother. I can't bear to see them doing well."
"Let's go to sleep. I don't want to argue with you on New Year's Day." Zhou Huaishan pulled back the quilt that was blocking the edge of the bed, got on the bed and handed the child to her, "Take off his clothes, so he won't be sweating when he sleeps later."
"Yeah!" Li Qiuyue took the child and sat him on the chair. "It's been a few years since I last saw my elder sister and younger sister. I don't know if they are doing well."
"Where did they marry?"
"That place is called Jianshanzi. I have never been there. My eldest sister told me that it takes nearly a day to walk into the mountains. There are many rocks and little mud. There are no paddy fields. All we eat are potatoes and corn."
"Everyone wants to marry their daughters off to good places, but your family is different. All the girls are married off to the mountains. If it were me, I wouldn't go back to visit their graves."
Li Qiuyue put the child on the bed. "My mom and husband are better. The worst one is my grandma. She walks with bound feet and holds a pipe in her mouth all day. She is just like the landlord's wife in the movies. She is so fierce."
Zhou Huaishan curled his lips, "No matter how powerful a person is, he will die. People who are spoiled are unlucky. If you go to see your uncles on the eighth day of the first lunar month, others will be busy digging truffles in the mountains to sell, but they are just sitting on the dam with their hands behind their backs all day long to bask in the sun. It's a shame for the ancestors of the Li family!"
Li Qiuyue also felt ashamed after hearing this, "The Li family's ancestors taught them this, they don't think it's shameful to rely on their wives and children for support!"
"Let's go to sleep. We still have to make truffles tomorrow morning." Zhou Huaishan blew out the oil lamp and lay down.
…
The next morning, Yang Chunyan and Zhou Huaian got up and went to check on Lai Fu who was sleeping in the doghouse. They were relieved when they saw that there was no sign of inflammation in the wound on its back.
Zhou Huaian touched Lai Fu's head and said, "On the eighth day of the first lunar month, I will catch two dogs to look after the house, and then I will let you and Wangcai run in the back mountain, so that you won't be unable to outrun your master and the others in the future.
Yang Chunyan sprinkled the powder and put the tape back on. "It's better to let them run around in the back hills, so they won't get wasted if they are kept in captivity at home."
Lai Fu seemed to understand and wagged his tail happily.
At this time Zhou Huairong came over, "Youngest, it's time to load the goods."
"Okay!" Zhou Huaian got up and went to the front yard with him. They drove the tractor to the edge of the vegetable field, and Zhou Huaijun and Zhou Huaishan came out carrying truffles.
After running a few times, Zhou Yiding and Zhou Huaiqing also came to help. Zhou Huaian glanced at Zhou Huaiqing and said, "Third dad said you are going to accompany Huaizhong to a blind date today? Where is the girl?"
"He's from the construction team. I'll accompany him today, and he'll accompany me tomorrow." Zhou Huaiqing said as he stepped forward and hugged Zhou Huaian, "Brother, please pass on your experience in picking up girls to me, so that I don't have to be attracted to others who don't like me, and I don't like others who like me."
"You found the right person." Zhou Yiding said with a smile, "This kid used to be very dishonest. When the team was planting rice and harvesting grain, his work was basically done by the girl working next to him. Tell the truth, what kind of magic did you use to bewitch her?"
"Tsk~" Zhou Huaian pointed at himself, "They've always been the ones hitting on me, okay? Go ask your second mother, the insoles those girls gave me are all this thick."
He gestured with his hands as he spoke, "It's a pity that I don't like any of them, but your sister-in-law. Let me tell you, when you see a girl you like, you have to put your face in your pocket..."
Zhou Huaiqing felt that this was too shameless, "Brother, you are clearly shameless and persistent."
Father Zhou said, "Huai Qing, don't listen to him. He is not a decent person. When you go there, just act like you are at home. Be comfortable and open. Don't act like you don't know where to put your hands and feet."
Zhou Huaishan: "Yes, you won't go wrong if you listen to your second father. You can't learn the tricks of the youngest brother. If you don't do it well, you might even be beaten up as a second-rate person."
Zhou Huaijun: "Being beaten up as a second-rate person is a small matter, but if you are caught and locked up as a hooligan, it will be troublesome."
Zhou Yiding: "Second brother, is there such a thing?"
Zhou Huaijun: "In your second sister-in-law's hometown, I heard that the guy patted the girl on the shoulder and whistled a few times, and was arrested as a hooligan."
Father Zhou: "Doesn't that guy look like a decent person?"
Zhou Huaijun: "Curly hair, bell-bottom pants, and only a flowered shirt in the cold weather. Anyway, he looks like the youngest and a few others, holding a spring plow in his mouth, and acting like a millionaire..."
Zhou Huaian looked at him with dissatisfaction after hearing this, "Second brother, what you said is not right, why is it just like what we did before? I have never touched any girl before, don't ruin our reputation!"
Zhou Yiding said with a grin, "Second brother, luckily I have a wife and a baby now. If I couldn't find a wife, I would go to my second sister-in-law's house and look for your younger sister-in-law."
Zhou Huaijun chuckled, "I only have a brother-in-law, no sister-in-law. Your second sister-in-law is the youngest in the family, and my cousin next door has a pretty good sister."
"Huai Qing, did you hear that?" Zhou Huaian nudged him and said, "My second sister-in-law has a nice cousin!"
Zhou Huaiqing took advantage of the situation and immediately grabbed Zhou Huaijun, "Brother, since you said it's good, why don't you talk to my second sister-in-law and introduce her cousin to me, okay?"
"You can be my matchmaker, but you have to give me a lot of gifts to thank me!"
The brothers laughed and jokingly moved all the truffles in the warehouse onto the tractor in no time, preparing to go to Ning'an after dinner. (End of this chapter)
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