"Ah!" Zhao Huifang and Zhang Xiuxiang both stopped, "Did she say who was saying it?"
Mother Zhou frowned, "She said it was those families in the grove here who said it, but she doesn't know which family it was!"
Zhao Huifang: "It can't be Yang Hui, I think it's either Ma Chunhua or Li Chuntao, the White Bone Demon!"
Zhao Huifang: "Although Ma Chunhua is quick-witted, she doesn't seem like someone who would do something so offensive. I think it could be Li Chuntao."
Zhang Xiuxiang nodded in agreement. "I also think it might be Li Chuntao. That woman is obviously not a good person. But why would she make up such a rumor?"
Yang Chunyan: "It's better to go back to her parents' home and tell them that my third sister-in-law and my third brother had a fight than to tell them about that. If someone asks about it later, we'll just go along with it."
After hearing this, Zhou's mother nodded repeatedly, "That's right, if anyone asks about Qiuyue in the future, just say that she had a fight with the third brother and no one knows where she ran off to."
"Yeah!" Zhao Huifang and Zhang Xiuxiang thought that this person spreading rumors that Li Qiuyue had run away might be a good thing!
After discussing with several daughters-in-law, Zhou's mother took her grandson out in a relaxed mood.
An hour later, Zhou Huaian came back pushing the chicken bus. As soon as Yang Chunyan mentioned the rumor, he slapped his head and said, "Oh! No one spread the rumor. I asked Old Xu to spread it."
Yang Chunyan immediately reacted after hearing this, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Zhou Huaian: "Aunt Xu heard Zhou Sufang tell her sister-in-law that the third sister-in-law went out to give birth to a third child... so I asked Old Xu to help spread the rumor..."
Zhao Huifang couldn't help sighing after hearing this. "Oh! It's really hard to be a human being nowadays. Even having a baby has to be planned. It's better for local residents. There's so much work to do in the countryside. How much can a child do?"
Zhang Xiuxiang nodded, "That's right, I wonder which bastard came up with this idea? I curse him to give birth to a son without an asshole!"
Yang Chunyan recalled that in her previous life, someone had revealed in a short video that the expert who came up with this idea didn't allow others to have children, but he himself gave birth to a litter of children, and all his sons had an anus.
The misunderstanding was resolved, and Yang Chunyan asked Zhou Huaian to go next door and tell Zhou's mother the reason for the incident to prevent her from having any wild thoughts.
After he left, she realized that she was the one who was daydreaming.
After all the two acres of wheat from Yang Chunyan's family were harvested, Zhao Huifang and her sister-in-law went to Zhou Huaishan's house to help dry the wheat.
After the sun went down, Yang Chunyan and her two sisters-in-law put on hats, picked up flails and started threshing the wheat. The old man sent Xiao Jiuer to Zhou Huaishan's house to be taken care of by Zhou's mother, and also took the flail to help.
After thrashing for the first time, turn the wheat ears over and thrash them again. When turning them over, hold the wheat stalks with both hands and shake them vigorously a few times to shake off the grains stuck in the ears.
After the second pass, shake it again to check if there are any leaks.
In the past, these wheat straws were carefully stored. When the roof leaked, they would be combed clean with a rake and used to replace the roof.
The wheat yield per mu is low these days. Even with careful care and sufficient fertilizer, the yield per mu is only about 200 kilograms. No wonder no one likes to grow wheat.
While having dinner, the Zhou family discussed a plan again. Zhou Huaishan would go to Ning'an tomorrow morning and should not go to see Li Qiuyue in case someone followed him.
Zhou's mother taught Zhou Xiaoru and Zhou Xiaolin, while Zhao Huifang and Zhang Xiuxiang were responsible for their own children. The two told them that their third father had beaten their third aunt away.
The next day, when Zhou Jiaming saw Zhou Huaishan, he said, "Third Dad, you are the most powerful person in our family. You even dare to beat your wife!"
Zhou Huaishan angrily gave him a slap on the face, "It's great to get 100 points on the test, how come you can't get one? You little brat, hurry up and do your homework!"
Zhou Jiaming rubbed his forehead, "You adults are like this. If you can't get 100 points on the test yourself, you expect others to help you take the test! Even if they do, it's not your fault!"
"Zhou Jiaming, you're coming up with more and more crooked ideas!" Zhao Huifang came out holding a thin bamboo stick, "If you don't want to study, go cut wheat!"
"Who said they don't want to study anymore?" Zhou Jiaming picked up his schoolbag and put it on his head, then ran into the yard.
In the afternoon, several children came back from playing outside and told Yang Chunyan and others that someone in the village asked them about the incident in which their third father beat their third aunt away. Someone also asked Zhou Xiaoru if her mother was going to give birth to a younger brother for her.
When Zhou's mother found out, she was very grateful to Xu Chunhua. After she dried the wheat and ground it into flour, she sent a bag of flour to express her gratitude.
That night, after Zhou's father had dinner and returned to the old house, he was about to feed the pigs when he heard someone knocking on the door in the backyard.
He walked forward and opened the door, and saw Zhou Datian standing outside. "It's pitch black, why don't you have a flashlight?"
Zhou Datian flashed into the yard and said, "Someone went to the town to report that the third child is pregnant with a third child, and asked Xiulan to go to the town tomorrow. I guess the higher-ups will come to your house to investigate this matter in a few days at most, so you better be careful."
Father Zhou said gratefully, "Datian, thank you for your help!" After a pause, he continued, "The third child has a lot of money but never learns to be a good person. He had a fight with Qiuyue and beat his wife. Qiuyue has a hot temper and took the money and ran away in anger. The third child went to her parents' home to see her, but the girl didn't even go back."
Zhou Datian nodded after hearing this, "Also, I heard that the former director of the Family Planning Office was dismissed."
Father Zhou: "I heard from the Lai family that the previous one was just like Mrs. Xiang, very vicious and cruel. It should be better to change him, right?"
Zhou Datian: "I don't know what kind of person this person who just came up is. I need to ask around." After saying that, he opened the door and left.
Father Zhou fed the pigs and waited for Zhou Huaishan and Zhou Huaijun to come and pick vegetables. He told them what Zhou Datian had said, "The higher-ups are also wary of your Aunt Datian. Go back and tell your mother that the children must be taught well."
"Yes!" Zhou Huaishan responded with a heavy heart, and the two brothers left with their vegetable baskets.
Father Zhou watched his two sons walk to the field road before he turned around, closed the gate, and went to the main hall. He clasped his hands together and prayed to the ancestors to bless the third son's family and to give birth to the baby safely.
After hearing what Zhou Huaishan said, Zhou's mother thought for a moment and said, "Xiao Ru is sensible and knows everything. Xiao Lin is still young and ignorant. I will send her to Yu Mei's place to play for a few days tomorrow."
"Well!" Zhou Huaishan sighed, "No matter whether it's a boy or a girl this time, I won't have another one in the future even if you kill me."
Mother Zhou also felt tired, "She's already pregnant, now I pray to God to bless Qiuyue to be safe and sound and give birth to the baby!"
In the following days, the family was busy harvesting rapeseed, plowing the fields, soaking the rice fields, and planting rice seedlings. There was no further movement until all the rice seedlings were planted.
Yang Chunyan and Zhou Huaian went to Guanyin Brigade again. Only after seeing that Zhao Meina and her brother's seedlings had been planted did they go home with peace of mind.
That morning, when Zhou Huaian and Zhou Huaishan came back from Fangtian Rice Mill, they saw Aunt Datian and a few people who looked like cadres walking to the door of Zhou Huaishan's house.
One year a young girl asked: "Sister He, when was this row of houses built? We came here last year when we were planting rice, but we didn't see this row of houses."
Several others said, "This row of houses is nicer, much better than the ones in town. They must have cost a lot of money, right?"
He Hongxiu smiled and said, "When the country folks repair their houses, those who have craftsmen provide their craftsmen, those who have laborers provide their laborers, and they dig mud and burn kilns to make bricks and tiles themselves, so it doesn't cost much to repair them."
The two brothers looked at each other and quickened their pace, "Make way, be careful not to bump into each other."
After hearing this, the people in front hurriedly stepped aside. He Hongxiu said to Zhou Huaishan, "Old Third, lead the way. These comrades are here to see your Qiuyue!"
Zhou Huaishan put down his burden and said angrily: "That bitch stole the money from our house and ran away for more than a month. I was looking for someone to help me find her and get the money back!"
Zhou Huaian continued, "Aunt Datian, even teeth and tongue can quarrel. You are a women's cadre, so you know that it is inevitable for a couple to not quarrel. It is not reasonable to take the money and run away after a quarrel!"
He Hongxiu looked fierce, "It's wrong for your third brother to hit someone! Men should be more generous. If everyone is like you, which girl would dare to marry into Funiu Village?"
"Aunt Datian, you know how difficult our family was before. She secretly took 200 yuan to buy a quota from my aunt and was cheated, but I never hit her!"
Zhou Huaishan began to complain, "I made some money from selling truffles before the New Year, and I was going to save it to pay off the debt for renovating my new house, but she used the money to buy leather shoes and a watch without my knowledge. Tell me, should I not beat this kind of spendthrift woman and keep her for the New Year?"
He Hongxiu said angrily, "No matter what, your behavior of hitting people is wrong. Go and find Qiuyue!" In the past, everyone said that Zhou Laosan was not good at speaking, but after this incident, everyone realized that the four brothers were all good at speaking.
Zhou Huaishan said with a bitter face, "I have been looking for her for more than a month. The crops in the fields cannot wait. I can't just drop my work and go look for her, right?"
At this time, among the people who came from the town, a middle-aged man said in a deep voice: "Zhou Huaishan, someone reported that your wife Li Qiuyue is pregnant with her third child. Call her out and we will take her to the town for examination..."
"Ah~ what did you say?" Zhou Huaishan clenched his fists, looking at him with his eyes almost popping out, "You bitch, you dare to cheat on me behind my back, where is she? I'm going to beat her to death today!"
"What do you want to do?" The middle-aged man took a few steps back in fear.
He Hongxiu stepped forward quickly, "Old Third, the comrades in the town came to inquire about this just because they heard the report, so don't make a fool of yourself!"
"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want!" Zhou Huaian said to the man with a dark face, "Comrade, who said that? Call that person out and let him explain clearly!"
Several people in the town looked at each other, feeling that the two brothers did not look like they were acting. Could it be that the couple really had a fight, and the woman, in a rage, ran away with the family's money?
At this time, Zhou's mother and others all ran out of Zhou Huairong's house, "Old Three, what happened?"
Zhou Huaishan pointed at the middle-aged man and said, "This comrade said that someone reported that Qiuyue was pregnant..."
"Ah~" Zhou's mother walked up to the middle-aged man and cried, "Comrade, who told you that my Qiuyue is pregnant? My Qiuyue has a bad temper, but her character is good. I don't believe she would do anything to let down the third child!"
She hit Zhou Huaishan a few more times as she spoke, "I told you to live a good life with Qiuyue. If the 200 yuan is gone, it's gone. You didn't listen and insisted on arguing with her. Now you've lost both your money and your life!" (End of this chapter)
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