By the time Zhou Huaian and his party returned home with the fish, the meal was almost ready. The fish caught in the net could only be temporarily kept in a water tank and eaten in the evening.
Seeing grass carp and bighead carp, Yang Chunyan discussed with Zhao Huifang and others about going to Aunt Zhou San's place in the afternoon to get two pots of tofu pudding and cook fish with it.
The front yard was too hot, so three tables were set up in the back yard. Zhao Huifang now treats Zhao Meina and her brother as if they were his own children and nephews, and he would invite the children to his house for dinner during the holidays.
After several tables of people had a lively meal, Yang Chunyan took Zhao Meina to her home and went to the wine cellar to take out the sealed mushrooms. "Auntie prepared some morels for you, as well as red mushrooms, chanterelles, chicken mushroom flowers, white hyacinth, and wild codonopsis.
I think I've prepared some delicious food and you can take it to school and give it to the teacher who helps you find a tutor, and to your good classmates. "
"Aunt, I..." Zhao Meina's eyes were red as she looked at the sealed bags one by one. She thought about how her siblings had come this far over the years thanks to her and Uncle Zhou's help. Otherwise, she would have given up long ago.
"Silly girl!" Yang Chunyan smiled and stroked her ponytail. "You are a grown-up girl now. You should be more careful when you are out there. Remember to write to us or call us if you have any problems."
"Yeah!" Zhao Meina nodded heavily.
"How are you doing academically? Are you keeping up? I heard that being a class leader in school and joining the party is the best option. This will help you with your job after graduation. You have to perform well."
"Studying is fine. I didn't run for class leader. I just want to study hard and finish my studies. I've remembered what you said. I'll behave well this semester."
"It's okay, don't work too hard." Yang Chunyan hesitated, "You really don't want to go find them?"
Zhao Meina shook her head. "No, Xiu Na and Xiao Chuan also say they don't want to. If they want to look for him when they are adults, let them go!"
Auntie, they say that there are no perfect parents in the world. Even if the elders do something wrong, the younger generation should not feel resentful. I don’t think so. Even animals know how to raise children, and they…”
She took a deep breath. "They left us for more than a decade in order to go back to live a comfortable life. They never thought about how we, as children, could survive without any productive ability and without the protection of our parents."
Yang Chunyan patted her hands and said, "You are an adult and have your own standards of right and wrong. You have the right to make your own decision, to admit it or not!"
Zhao Meina held her hand and said, "Thank you, Auntie. I know you are different from those adults..."
The two of them didn't know that at this time, a fire tricycle appeared at the intersection of Fangtian asphalt road and slowly drove to the yellow horn tree.
A middle-aged man who looked somewhat similar to Zhao Meina and her two siblings got out of the car and stood at the intersection, looking in surprise at the tractor road that was completely different from what he remembered.
The bumpy dirt road has been replaced by neatly lined roadside trees and clean asphalt roads. What's going on? Did I go to the wrong place?
But the yellow horn tree and stones at the intersection are clearly the way into the village?
A middle-aged woman with curly hair and a white georgette dress got off the fire tricycle and walked up to him. "Lao Zhao, the place where you were sent down before is much better than ours."
"It wasn't like this before. It's only slightly better than the Yun Province where you were sent down." Old Zhao said, then turned and got on the fire tricycle and said to the driver, "Master Yang, can you really find the Guanyin Brigade?"
"Why would I lie to you? My mother-in-law's home is in Fangtian Brigade. Drive straight in from here, turn left to Fangtian Brigade, turn right to Funiusha Brigade, and go straight at the next intersection to Guanyin Brigade."
Master Yang said happily, "This road was built by the Fulin Pickle Factory in the county. It's all asphalt from here to the foot of the mountain in Funiusha Brigade. When we get to Guanyin, the road conditions won't be so good!"
The motorcycle rumbled forward. Old Zhao looked at the bright brick houses on both sides of the village and asked, "Are the conditions in the countryside so good now?"
When he got off the train, he couldn't even find a taxi, and he waited for half a day before he found a motorcycle like this.
Master Yang smiled and said, "The conditions in the three villages near the Funiu Brigade are all good. Every year, there is no problem selling cowpeas, chili peppers, radishes, kohlrabi... peppercorns. They provide vegetable seeds, and you just plant them and hand them over to the pickle factory. They also collect the mushrooms and truffles you pick from the mountains.
Especially in the Funiu Brigade, a hydroelectric power station was built in the village. In the past two years, the Fulin Pickle Factory has been recruiting workers, giving priority to young people from three nearby villages. The people in their village can share dividends, and they can earn money just by sitting at home. Do you think their conditions are good?"
"It is very good."
Old Zhao responded absentmindedly. After turning into Fangtian Brigade, golden rice ears flew quickly past his eyes in the rice fields on both sides of the mechanized farming road. As he was getting closer and closer to Fangtian Brigade, his mood fluctuated.
I thought about the educated youth I met in Shanghai two months ago and realized that the three siblings had never been separated and their academic performance had always been very good.
Mina is studying at a university in Shanghai, Xiu Na is attending high school in Huashi, and Xiaochuan has also been admitted to junior high school. How did these children do it?
Without financial resources, how can they complete their studies?
Since she got into such a good school, why didn't she go to look for him? She should have known the address when she wrote to her family before. Could it be that they didn't want to recognize him...
Impossible, how can a rural area compare with the country's largest metropolis? Going back with him, they would be real city people, and no one would say they were country bumpkins from the mountains.
The car soon arrived at his former home. Old Zhao pointed to the intersection ahead and asked Master Yang to stop. "Sister Chen, you and Master Yang wait in the car for a while. I'll go see if the kids live here."
Sister Chen nodded, "Okay!"
Old Zhao stepped onto the field road with some excitement. When he was almost outside the Su's house, Su Tianfen, who was eating at the gate with a bowl in hand, looked up at him with squinted eyes.
When he came closer, she suddenly stood up, pointed at him and said, "You are old man Mina!"
"Are you Sister Su?"
"It's me!" Su Tianfen said excitedly, "You're finally here. How can you two be so hard-hearted? How can you bear to leave such sensible and obedient children here for more than ten years without paying any attention to them?
Aren't you worried about the two beautiful girls getting into trouble? Xiaochuan is the heir of your Zhao family. You don't even want a son? Or did you go back and have another son?"
Lao Zhao's face suddenly turned red like a cooked shrimp, and even his ears felt hot. "Sister Su, we have no choice but to do this!"
Su Tianfen said sarcastically: "You two are living together, and you still say it's a last resort? The educated youth Wang from the construction team also wanted a girl from the village, why didn't he leave the baby to his wife and run away?
You left three kids behind. How old are the two younger ones? How old is Mina? The little girl has to be both a father and a mother, taking care of her younger siblings. You don't want to send any of them away.
The kids lived like beggars. They would dig loaches and eels in the fields even in the coldest weather. Since they didn't have the energy to earn work points, they would go out to dig wild vegetables every day and pick up ears of grain in the fields to eat.
In the years before the households were divided, if it weren't for the help from the village, with a handful of vegetables from one family and a handful of corn and sorghum from another, by the time you came to find your children, the grass on their graves would have been very tall.
Now we know that she is the top female college student, and Xiu Na is also going to take the college entrance examination. You are here to enjoy the happiness of having a few children?"
At this time, several children of the Su family ran out, and the eldest child said, "Is Sister Mena's husband here to pick them up?"
Su Laoer: "Xiaochuan said that they are motherless old men, just like Sun Wukong, who jumped out from the cracks of the rocks."
Su Laoyao stood in front of Lao Zhao and stared at him blankly, "Mom, he is the old man Xiaochuan? Look, he is wearing big leather shoes, why don't you want Xiaochuan?"
"You can only raise children if you wear big leather shoes? I raised you even though I wore rotten rubber shoes." Su Tianfen patted him, "Hurry up and go into the house to eat."
"Sister Su, thank you for your help in taking care of the children. I'll go see them first and come back to visit you later!" Old Zhao's face was about to burn if he stayed any longer. As he spoke, he walked towards his own yard in front.
"Stop!" Su Tianfen said, "Don't go over there. Mina and her siblings are going to have dinner at Zhou Laoyao's house in Funius Brigade."
"Oh! Then I'll go to Fu Niu to look for them." Old Zhao said awkwardly, "Sister Su, where does Zhou Laoyao live in Fu Niu?"
Su Tianfen glanced at him and said, "Go straight into the village. The row of houses at the foot of the mountain is where Zhou Laoyao's house is."
"Thank you! Thank you!" Old Zhao thanked politely and turned to walk towards the tractor path.
"Bah!" Su Tianfen spat at him. "He looks like a decent human, but he behaves worse than an animal. Even an animal would raise a child to adulthood before kicking him out!"
Old Zhao staggered and nearly fell in the rice field. After he stood still, he took a deep breath, told himself not to bother with the country bumpkin, strode to the tractor road, and got on the three-wheeled motorcycle.
"Master Yang, do you know how to get to Zhou Laoyao's house in the row of houses at the foot of the mountain in Funius Brigade?"
"I know, I went to his house with my father-in-law to sell truffles." Master Yang started the fire tricycle and said, "The owner of Fulin Pickle Factory is called Zhou Laoyao.
This guy is incredible. My wife told me that he used to be a well-known bad guy in their village, but he turned over a new leaf after he got married. His family is the best in the area, and everyone in the village says his wife brings good luck to him!"
After hearing that Zhou Huaian was a second-rate person, Old Zhao thought to himself: No wonder a little girl with no source of income and no relatives to help her was able to get into university in Shanghai, and Xiu Na and Xiao Chuan also had a place to stay when they studied in the county. It turns out that they were hooking up with nouveau riche.
The fire tricycle soon arrived at Funiu. Sister Chen looked at the pomegranates, pears and papayas on the roadside trees and asked, "Why do they plant fruit trees on the roadside? Aren't they afraid that people will steal the fruits?"
"Some people are picking the ones in Fangtian, but no one is picking the ones in Funiu. When they are ripe, the old secretary of the village will lead people to pick them and share them with everyone."
Master Yang turned the corner, passed the grove, and drove all the way to Yang Chunyan's house. He turned off the engine and said, "We're here. This is Zhou Laoyao's house."
Before he finished speaking, Lai Fu and Wang Cai rushed out from the yard and barked at them. (End of this chapter)
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