Zhou Dachun watched Zhou Huaian supporting the old man, and the people from the two families followed behind them and left without looking back. He turned his head and saw Li Yinfu, who was supporting Zhou Huaixing and asking about his well-being, sitting on the ground weakly.
After leaving the main room, the old man looked up at the sky and sighed, "It's hopeless. The roots of the tree are rotten, and the fruit is rotten!"
Zhou's father and Zhou San's father stepped forward worriedly, "Old man, you still have us!"
"You are all fine!" The old man looked at his children and grandchildren who were looking at him with worry, and he couldn't help but straighten his back and said to Zhou Huaian and the others earnestly:
"You need to teach your children well. Don't spoil them because there are few children now. If you don't teach them well from a young age, it will be difficult to change them once they grow up and have set their own habits."
"We understand." Everyone responded.
The old man nodded and said, "Old Three, you guys should go back. We still have to harvest the grain tomorrow."
"Oh!" Wednesday's father took his family away.
Zhou Huaian supported the old man, and the group walked in silence all the way. When they arrived at the tractor road, Zhou Yiding nodded to him and walked towards his home.
The old man looked at his back and said, "Ah, why can't they get along like Yiding and you? Now that you have such a good opportunity, why don't you just do your own thing? Why do you have to stare at others and be jealous of them..."
"Grandpa, what's the point of worrying about them?" Zhou Huaian helped the old man walk back, "You are over 70 years old, can you still take care of them for the rest of their lives? Take good care of yourself. Being able to eat, drink, run and move is better than anything else."
Father Zhou also said: "Old man, the youngest is right, you should stop worrying about them and take care of your body. The family still needs your help to steer the ship!"
The old man listened to his children and grandchildren's heartwarming words and didn't want them to worry about him. "Yes, they are careless and want a lot. At my age, how long can I take care of them? Let them toss and turn. I will help you take care of Xiaojiu and Xiaolong, and you can work and earn money with peace of mind."
Zhou Huaian felt much more relaxed after hearing his tone, "Well! Master Wang will come to make truffle wine tomorrow, and we will have more money coming in tomorrow."
"The wine cellar has been copied out. Shouldn't the wines you ordered be brought in as well?"
"Let them take the wine jars away tomorrow, and let Brother Weimin bring the wine in."
When the group walked out of the yard, they heard the roof-shaking crying of Xiao Jiuer and Xiaolong. Yang Chunyan and Li Qiuyue hurried in. Zhou Jiaming and Zhou Xiaoqian, who were carrying the two children on their backs and coaxing them, quickly handed the children to the two of them.
Zhou Xiaoqian wiped her sweat, "Xiaolong started crying first, and after we coaxed him for a while, Xiaojiuer started crying too."
Zhou Jiaming patted Xiao Jiu'er's butt and said, "Little rascal, I won't take you with me next time. I haven't even finished watching the TV series."
"Brother will take care of it!" Little Jiuer lay in Yang Chunyan's arms, rubbing his eyes, "Sleep!"
"Well! Wake up!" Yang Chunyan touched his sweaty back, "Mom will wipe it for you first!"
After Zhou Huaian and his father sent the old man to bed, they were stopped by Zhou Jiakang, "Dad, did you win the fight?"
Zhou Huaian smiled and rubbed him, "We won."
Zhou Jialiang complained, "Dad, why don't you ask us to come with you? I learned the Mysterious Fist, and I guarantee I can beat the shit out of him with one move!"
"You don't study hard all day, but you're still practicing Mizong Quan?" Zhou Huairong slapped him in anger, "Come and hit me, and try it?"
Zhou Jialiang hurriedly crossed his arms and shook his head, "I don't dare!"
Father Zhou came out and said, "Okay, let's put the TV on hold for today. Go back and go to bed early. Tomorrow you will help harvest the rice and pass the rice stalks."
"Oh oh!" Zhou Jiaming and the others knew that something happened at home today, so they didn't dare to make a noise. They turned off the TV obediently and unplugged the antenna to prevent the TV from being damaged by thunder.
After the children followed their mother away, Zhou's father asked Zhou Huaian when the truffle wine would arrive tomorrow?
"They said they would arrive in Ning'an tonight, and they might come early in the morning. There's no need to fill the bottles this time. Just carry the wine jars onto the car. They need to be stuffed tightly with straw bundles to prevent them from getting damaged on the road."
"If we want to carry the big vat, we need to prepare a wide and thick wooden board." Father Zhou thought for a moment, "There are two more on the roof of the pigpen over at the old house. The eldest son should go over early tomorrow morning and nail the crossbeam on."
"Okay!" Zhou Huairong agreed, "The two families who helped carry the things will start harvesting grain tomorrow, so we have to do it ourselves."
Zhou Huaian nodded, "Yes! Get up early tomorrow morning and go to the old house to carry the wooden boards and straw. Take the wine jars out of the wine cellar and put them in the yard. When the master arrives, load them onto the truck."
"Okay! Go back and sleep early. After you pack the wine, we'll go thresh the grain."
After the father and sons had discussed it, Zhou Huairong and Zhou Huaishan got up and left. Zhou Huaian closed the front door, went to the backyard to take a look, and went back to wash and rest.
After returning to the house, he gave Yang Chunyan the confession written by Zhou Huaixing. "Fortunately, my brothers and sisters-in-law, as well as the couple of Ding and his wife, are not like them. They are jealous that we have more shares than them. Otherwise, even if we make a lot of money, it will be meaningless!"
Yang Chunyan put the confession away and said, "If it's like their family, we will stay away from them."
Zhou Huaian lay down on the bed and looked at her sideways, "Is it Auntie San who came to call you?"
"After you left, Third Aunt followed you out and eavesdropped from outside while standing on a high stool. She heard you say you were going to send Zhou Huaixing to the police station, and she was worried that you would really do it. It would be even more troublesome if the old man found out about it later, so she came home to look for Mom and Grandpa, and Grandpa also found out.
The old man was so angry that he couldn't even stand up. I was worried that he would get hurt. Fortunately, the old man was stronger than we thought. I helped him sit down and dissolved the pills in water for him to eat. After a while, his face looked better. "
"It's good to know, so that you don't have to cover up for that bunch of disgusting bastards in the future." Zhou Huaian also told her about Wang Zhen helping to make wine and prepare the serow horns.
The couple talked for a while, and then went to bed early because they had to get up early the next day.
The next morning, Zhou's father and son got up and nailed the straw and wooden boards. After dinner, Zhou Yiding also came, and everyone took ropes and shoulder poles to the wine cellar to carry the wine jars.
Each barrel of truffle wine weighs 200 kilograms, and the five wine cellars are filled with a total of 120 barrels of wine.
After this batch of wine was sold, Zhou Huaian also had to bring over the sorghum wine that he had ordered from Yang Weimin's house early in the morning and load it into the wine cellar, waiting for the truffles to be on the market at the end of the year to make wine.
Zhou Yiding and Zhou Huaian lifted a jar of wine, grinning happily to reveal a mouthful of neat teeth that were slightly yellowed by cigarette smoke, "We can make a lot of money just from this wine, right?"
"We use small truffles that have been dug up and are of inferior quality. Together with the wine, the cost is nearly one dollar per pound. At three dollars per pound, we can make two dollars."
"The profit from selling truffles, red mushrooms and fungi is not as high as that from selling wine. The most important thing is that it is easier. Just bring the truffles home, soak them, filter them, seal them and package them."
"These wines are made by grandpa and mom, look how shiny the yellow mud is!"
Zhou Yiding thought that this time he would sell 22,000 kilograms of goods, and he would earn 4,000 yuan for this batch of goods. "I am still the most comfortable. I don't even have to look at the big bills, and they flow into my pocket. When I get the money, I will buy some delicious food and drinks to honor the old people."
"Tell me what's delicious and drinkable."
"That thing Wang Zhen mentioned, let's buy a box and drink it during the Mid-Autumn Festival. If it's delicious, I'll have to ask Second Mother to make it."
"Okay, then let's celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival together!"
"Uh-huh!"
Zhou Huaian and his son were busy carrying wine jars. The old man took Zhou Xiaolin and the two younger ones, while Yang Chunyan, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, took the children who had returned from the busy farming season to the rice fields to harvest grain.
At a glance, the golden rice fields were bent by the weight of the rice ears, and the rice fields were full of busy figures. Aunt Zhou came at dawn, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had already finished harvesting the millet in a field.
Seeing Zhou's mother and the others coming, he hurried to the edge of the field and asked, "Is the old man okay last night?"
"It's okay. He didn't look very good when he got up this morning, and he was not in good spirits. He only ate an egg and a small bowl of noodle porridge. When we came out, Chunyan dissolved the pill in water and gave it to him to drink. He is taking care of the two little ones at home now."
"I wanted to ask Chunyan yesterday what kind of pills she gave the old man. It looks like a good medicine."
"I heard that Wang Zhen helped buy them. I heard that they cost fifty or sixty yuan each. You can ask her later."
"Oh my god, it's so expensive, no wonder it's so good." Aunt Zhou said to Zhou's mother enviously, "You and second brother are so lucky to have a daughter-in-law as filial as Chunyan."
Mother Zhou was very happy, "Chunyan is very generous, not a stingy person."
The two sisters-in-law talked about this year's harvest and then went back to their busy work in the rice fields.
Yang Chunyan and her friends had just started harvesting when Wan Xuejiao arrived. She smiled and asked, "What are you doing here? Where's Xiao Wan?"
"My little sister is back, Xiao Wan is watching!" Wan Xuejiao tied the string of her straw hat, took a sickle and went to the field to start harvesting.
Zhou Jiaming, Zhou Xiaoqian and Zhou Jialiang had already harvested millet once last year, so they were quite skilled at it. The three younger ones were learning it for the first time, and Yang Chunyan and the others had to teach them several times before they were able to do it.
Mother Zhou looked at her children and felt that Zhou Xiaoru worked as efficiently as Li Qiuyue, and Zhou Xiaowen worked in the same way as her, slowly and calmly.
Zhou Jiakang, a glutton, stood up and pounded his waist more than ten times before he even finished harvesting a row of millet.
Zhang Xiuxiang also noticed it and was about to hit him when he stood up and said with emotion: "Oh! Why do we have to grow up? Why do we have to take a holiday during the busy farming season? It would be great if I could always be as old as Xiaolin!"
Zhou Jiakang thought about this time last year, when he was still standing at the other side of the rice field, waiting to catch the oily grasshoppers that flew out of the rice field and take them back to roast and eat, but this year he has become the one harvesting rice inside.
Zhang Xiuxiang glared at him and said angrily, "Why don't you ask why we need to eat? Why we need to wear clothes? If we go into the forest and become wild men, we won't have to do anything!"
"I won't go into the old forest. I won't even have good food to eat if I become a savage!"
"Then you should work hard with me, otherwise you can just wait to eat bamboo shoots and pork slices!"
"Oh!" Zhou Jiakang pursed his lips and moved two steps towards Yang Chunyan. "It's not good to be fierce. I'd better follow my youngest aunt. My youngest aunt is the best. She speaks softly and is not fierce at all." (End of this chapter)
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