Chapter 303 Chapter 304: Forcing the issue
Zhao Huifang fried the dry-fried cowpea and tiger-skin chili peppers, and her sisters-in-law set the table for the meal. Zhou's father, Zhou Huaian, and Zhou Huairong also came back.
Braised pork intestines, bone and winter melon soup, cold-mixed eggplant...
Miss Zhou San saw that there were five dishes on the table, two of which were meat dishes. She looked at the greasy braised pork intestines and swallowed her saliva involuntarily, "Second sister-in-law, your family's food is so good!"
"We buy the cheapest pig intestines and bones, mainly because we have a lot of heavy work to do at home during this period, and we are afraid of getting sick from not eating oily and meaty foods."
"It's worthwhile to buy pig intestines. The money for one pound of meat can buy several pounds."
The old man picked up the chopsticks and said, "Okay, stop talking nonsense and sit down to eat."
Miss Zhou San smiled and nodded, "Yes, old man!"
Everyone picked up their chopsticks and started eating.
Zhou Jiakang picked up a piece of pig intestines and said, "Hmm! I still like the pig intestines cooked by Aunt Yao. Yesterday's pig trotters were not as delicious as this one."
Zhou's mother paused as she was picking up the vegetables, feeling extremely embarrassed. "..." No one would think this child is dumb if he doesn't speak!
Yang Chunyan and the others hung their heads in silence, only a few kids were eating with gusto.
The old man glanced at Miss Zhou San, who had a complex expression on her face. "Eat. We have to go to your eldest brother and third brother's house later. Your eldest brother will close the gate later."
The second house had too little space to live in, so the three sisters all stayed in the eldest house when they came back.
"Oh!" After Miss Zhou had dinner in the second room, the old man and Zhou's father left with her.
Yang Chunyan, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law brought the red mushrooms to the steps to clean them up. Zhou Huaian sat in front of the corn pile, tearing corn leaves and tying them up to dry in the sun.
Zhou Xiaolin was crawling around in the corn pile. Zhou Jiakang tore off a handful of corn silk and put it on his lips, looking up and saying, "Look at my big beard."
Zhou Xiaolin crawled over after seeing this, grabbed his pants and shouted, "Sande, I want a big beard."
Zhou Jiakang desperately pulled at his pants, "My pants have fallen off, my pants have fallen off." As he said that, his beard fell to the ground.
Zhou Xiaolin picked it up and pasted it on her lips. As soon as she let go, it fell off. "Oh no!" She picked it up and pasted it on her lips again. It kept falling off after several attempts. She pulled Zhou Jiakang anxiously, "Third beard, beard."
Zhou Jiakang helped her stick it on a few times, then he shouted impatiently, "Third Aunt, look, Xiaolin asked me for a beard."
Li Qiuyue glanced at the two of them and said, "Ignore her and let her post it herself."
Zhou Huaian smiled after seeing it and said, "Jiakang, Dad has an idea for you. Beat two eggs and use the white glue to make it stick firmly."
Zhou Jiakang's eyes lit up after hearing this, "Is it true?"
Zhou Huaian nodded, "It's more real than pearls!"
"Whoever dares to beat the eggs will be punished today!" Zhou's mother said as she slapped Zhou Huaian, "I'll teach you a lesson."
Zhou Huaian laughed awkwardly, "Dad was just kidding you, don't go, or you'll get beaten."
Zhou Jiaming and his children helped tear a dozen corn cobs, and then they began to yawn. Li Qiuyue picked up Zhou Xiaolin and took the children downstairs to sleep.
Zhou Huaian told Zhou Huairong about Zhou Datian's visit that afternoon: "Brother, Uncle Datian said that you have a good reputation in the village. You should be able to win the election for team leader. He also said that he can help you canvass for votes."
Zhou Huairong hesitated for a moment, "How can I do that?"
Seeing him hesitate, Zhou Huaian immediately added, "I'm investing a lot of money this time. I promised Uncle Datian that as long as he helps you canvass for votes, I will help the people in the village who don't have the labor to deliver food to the grain station in town. I won't charge for the labor, only for the gas."
Zhou Huairong looked at him with a bitter face, "Alas, aren't you forcing him to do something?"
"Even if I ask you to agree to run for election, to be honest, you may not be elected!"
After hearing this, Zhao Huifang advised: "Huairong, the youngest brother doesn't even want to make money for you, why don't you just give it a try!"
Yang Chunyan also encouraged him, "Brother, you see, now that the production quota has been assigned to each household, being a team leader doesn't have to be like before. You have to manage the work of the members and arrange who cuts the grass and who carries the manure.
Being the captain now will not only not offend anyone, but it will also have the advantage that you will have a say when our family goes to pay public grain in the future."
Zhou Huairong looked at them and said, "I'm just afraid that if I don't do a good job, people will laugh at my family."
Zhou's mother encouraged him, "Boss, you are not dumber than others. Go ahead and give it a try. If it doesn't work out, just quit after this term!"
"Oh~" Zhang Xiuxiang looked at him, "Brother, why are you so fussy? If Huaijun wasn't so calculating, I would have let the youngest take his place."
Li Qiuyue said with some envy: "That's right, big brother, look how good the youngest is to you, he didn't call you second brother or third brother, he just thought about you."
After hearing this, Zhou Huairong mustered up his courage and looked at everyone, "Okay, since you all say so, I'll give it a try."
Zhou Huaian patted him on the shoulder, "Not bad! This is the big brother I know!"
"Hehe!" Zhou Huairong scratched his head embarrassedly.
Mother Zhou looked at the two brothers with a smile in her eyes. "The eldest brother has been a good brother since he was young. In the past, when we didn't have enough to eat at home, he would always call the younger brothers to eat with him no matter what he found on the mountain."
"He was the youngest in the family and he suffered the least from hunger. His grandmother loved him very much. When she was helping the team to herd sheep, she would secretly squeeze the goat's milk and put it in a bamboo tube for him to drink. He was the strongest person in the family."
Zhou Huaian said: "I didn't eat alone, I gave some to Yumei."
Mother Zhou smiled and nodded, then thought for a moment and said, "After paying the public grain, it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival. The cigarettes and tea on the construction site are almost gone. Remember to buy them back when you go to Ning'an tomorrow. Buy mooncakes as well, so you can eat them at home and also give them as festival gifts."
“Yes.”
Seeing that it was a little late, Yang Chunyan reminded: "Huaian, Uncle Datian also said that if Big Brother agrees, he will let you go to his house."
"Yeah, I forgot." Zhou Huaian stood up and pulled Zhou Huairong, "Let's go."
"Oh!" Zhou Huairong followed him with a nervous look on his face.
When the old man and Zhou's father came back from the main house, Zhou's mother told them about the two brothers' trip to find Zhou Datian.
The old man nodded repeatedly after hearing this, "Great! A harmonious family brings prosperity. If brothers live in harmony, our future will only get better and better."
Father Zhou thought that there might be a team leader in the family, and he smiled so hard that his teeth were showing. "Yes, yes, the old man is right."
"Some old sayings have been passed down for thousands of years, so there must be a reason for them." The old man said as he picked up the corn and started to help.
Yang Chunyan got up and went to the main hall, and handed the grain tax book to Zhou's father, "Uncle Datian said that our brigade will pay the grain tax the day after tomorrow."
Father Zhou took it, looked at it, and nodded, "How are the corn seeds, sorghum, and millet drying?"
"It's all completely dry." Yang Chunyan thought for a moment, "If it's safer, pour it out and let it air dry for a day tomorrow, so as to avoid the trouble of failing the inspection."
"Okay, you can do whatever you want." Father Zhou said, looking at Mother Zhou, "Have you picked out the sweet potatoes?"
The sweet potatoes used to pay the public grain were dug from the fields behind the mountain. If one bag of millet was not paid, several hundred kilograms of sweet potatoes had to be paid, and the sweet potatoes had to be large and without worm holes.
Mother Zhou thought for a moment and said, "Maybe we still need about 300 kilograms. We need to tie up the corn tonight, and then pick some more tomorrow night."
"Yes!" Father Zhou said as he walked towards the backyard, "I'll pick them out and pile them on the steps to dry."
(End of this chapter)
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