Chapter 111: Brotherly Love
Mother Zhou looked at the entrance of the main hall and saw Father Zhou and the old man go in. She lowered her voice and said, "Your aunt said some sour words that were unpleasant to the ear. I had a few words with her."
Zhang Xiuxiang: "I guess she either said that grandpa used his private money to subsidize us, or that we got rich and kept it a secret from them. Otherwise, where would we get the money to build a new house and divide the family property?"
"That's all she said!" Mother Zhou was still a little angry after thinking about it, "She said that we were firing kilns and building brick houses, and that grandpa must have given us some private money. The old man got so angry that he almost hit her.
Seeing that the old man was really angry, your father tried to say something nice and pulled her aside to apologize. I didn't even tell Yumei about the fact that we had that thing at home, let alone a brother like him."
Li Qiuyue curled her lips and said, "No matter what it is, as long as Auntie knows about it, it's no different from the brigade's loudspeaker knowing about it!"
"Puchi", several people laughed out loud.
Zhou's mother pointed at her and said, "You are such a mischievous person. Only you can think of saying that."
"I'm not kidding. If there's something trivial happening in my family or in Third Uncle's family, the whole village will know about it in less than two hours."
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law dried the Polygonum multiflorum vines in the sun. Yang Chunyan gave Li Qiuyue a few instructions, and they each fetched water to wash.
Yang Chunyan brought hot water into the room and saw Zhou Huaian sleeping soundly on the bed. She patted him and said, "Huaian, wash your face and feet and go to bed."
"Yes!" Zhou Huaian sat up, "I'll go talk to my third brother and ask him to keep an eye out for Cai Ermei on the road with Ning'an tomorrow to see if he has gone to Ning'an to find someone to collect eels?"
"Well! You might as well go and tell them."
As Zhou Huaian walked to the door with his stick, his mother came in with the Da Chongjiu and the two bottles of Maotai. "Chunyan, take these two things and sell them in Ning'an. You can keep the money. As for the meat and other things, I will keep them for the whole family to eat."
"Now that the family hasn't split up yet, it's not good for us to keep it, right?"
"It's true that we haven't split up yet, but doesn't each family keep the money they earn? Besides, the Xu family came to thank you, not to thank our entire family. If we leave those things behind, you'll already be at a disadvantage."
Mother Zhou put her things on the stool and looked back at Zhou Huaian, "Youngest, you are already in your twenties. Don't be so careless all day and hang out with those idiots."
"Mom, why do you say that? I've been acting like a cow these days, haven't you seen that? And what's wrong with my friends? Look, if it weren't for Yiding's help, the old man and my brother would still be cutting wood in the mountains!"
After hearing this, Zhou's mother thought about it for a while and felt that he had indeed become better since the family paid the compensation. She glared at him and said, "You have been like this since you were a child. You talk back when I say something to you."
Zhou Huaian said dissatisfiedly: "Think about it carefully, as long as what you said is right, when have I ever talked back?"
"You haven't even talked back yet, but I said something to you and you said a few more words!" Zhou's mother glared at him and walked away angrily.
Yang Chunyan looked at Zhou Huaian, who was standing there with a puffed mouth and a depressed look on his face, "Why don't you go and tell Third Brother?"
"Oh!" Zhou Huaian ran into Zhou Huaishan and Li Qiuyue as he walked out the door with a wooden stick, "Third brother, I was just about to look for you."
"We also want to talk to you about something."
"you say!"
"Your sister-in-law and I want to sell mushrooms and eels, but we're worried that we may not be able to do it well, so we'd like Chunyan to go with us!"
Yang Chunyan nodded readily after hearing this, "Okay, I'll go with you."
Li Qiuyue breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the two of them, "Youngest, what do you want to say?"
Zhou Huaian glanced at Zhou Huaishan and said, "I wanted to find you guys and tell you to keep an eye on Cai Ermei..."
Zhou Huaishan sneered, "Fortunately, buddy, I advise you to have less contact with Cai Ermei. Among all your friends, Cai Ermei is the worst."
Li Qiuyue agreed, "Exactly. Of the people you hang out with, I hate Cai Ermei the most. It makes me uncomfortable just looking at her."
Zhou Huaian's face was gloomy. "If he really wants to steal my business, I will cut off all ties with him!"
Seeing his frustrated look, Zhou Huaishan patted him on the shoulder and said, "If he really wants to steal our business, forget it. Remember, don't tell others everything in the future."
"I understand." Zhou Huaian returned to the room in a depressed mood, sat on the edge of the bed with his head down and said nothing.
Yang Chunyan advised: "Don't be angry. Even if Cai Ermei doesn't take our business, Zhang Ermei and Xu Ermei will come out to do it. After all, the profit of business is the price difference. Those with good brains will understand it at a glance.
I think what you should do now is to read the herbal medicine book carefully and learn all the planting techniques in it. What is in your mind cannot be taken away by others."
"I don't mind what Zhang Ermei and Xu Ermei do, but what Cai Ermei does is just disregarding our brotherhood!"
"You are already in your twenties, how come you can't even figure this out? Look at Cai Ermei and his brothers, they are no different from enemies! Do you think the brotherhood between you and him is more genuine than that between him and his brothers who were born from the same mother?"
Zhou Huaian thought for a while after hearing this, then looked up at Yang Chunyan, "Yan'er, I'm not angry anymore. To be honest, I didn't treat them well either, like my elder brother and his friends."
"Now that I've figured it out, I'll go get some water, wash up, and go to bed. I have to go to Ning'an tomorrow."
"You accompany me to the toilet first."
"When we build the new house, we'll have to dig a latrine in the front yard to save you the trouble of having someone to accompany you!"
"You should be happy if someone asks you to accompany him. Old Shrimp is all alone, without even anyone to talk to!"
After hearing this, Yang Chunyan recalled her past life alone and pinched him, "You are so old, but your words are no different from farting."
"Okay, okay, I was wrong. I won't say it again."
The next day, before dawn, Yang Chunyan got up and pushed the chicken bus away with Zhou Huaishan and his wife.
Zhou Huaian lay down for a while, then heard voices outside. He tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, so he decided to get dressed and get up.
After the family had dinner, Zhou's father and the old man went to Fangtian Brigade together to call the sheep dealer to collect the sheep, and the others went to the mountain to pick up clay.
Soon, several people came to Zhou's house carrying bamboo baskets and buckets to sell eels. Zhou Huaian felt a lot more relieved when he saw that several people had come to sell eels early in the morning.
After seeing the eel seller off, he went back to look at the eels in the bucket. He thought that this business had just started, and if Cai Ermei really interfered, it would be his fault. He shouldn't have been so quick to let the truth slip.
Yang Chunyan and the other two didn't see Cai Ermei along the way. They thought that he would not go to Ning'an so early, so they continued on their journey with peace of mind.
After getting on the asphalt road, we stopped a tractor not long after and arrived in Ning'an at a little after seven o'clock.
The three men carried the herbs down from the chicken bus and placed them in front of the entrance of Desheng Hall.
(End of this chapter)
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