Thanks to Zhou Laoyao's help, the family has earned some money in the past two months. My wife has taken the medicine prescribed by Doctor Wang, and although she is stronger than before, she is still far from those strong women in the village.
When she recovers and gets pregnant with her second child, there are still many things to do... The most troublesome thing is to avoid those people in charge of family planning.
I was lucky enough to escape and gave birth to the child smoothly, but I was still fined. If I didn't have money, my house would be demolished and my pigs and cows would be driven away...
With this in mind, he decided not to renovate the house yet, and just hire someone to do some repairs. When they help to demolish the old house, he can save the money of hiring someone else...
"I dare not think about it now." Xu Hongbing thought about it and sighed, "My husband and mother died after giving birth to me. When I was a child, I envied people like you who had many brothers. When we fight, we have people to help us!"
"That's true. I once had a fight with the youngest bear brothers. My brother came over and yelled at them, and they ran away."
"The Xiong family's cubs are all strong and sturdy. I suffered a lot from them when I was a kid!"
"Yiding and I had a lot of fights with his brothers."
The two were talking about their past fights with the Xiong brothers, and before they knew it they had reached the bridge.
Zhou Huaian looked at the river surface sparkling in the sun and said, "Old Xu, let's go cast a net and give some fish to the kids!"
"That's right! Go cast a net first!"
Zhou Huaian turned the steering wheel and rode towards the river. As soon as the bicycle entered the river, Xu Hongbing jumped off. "It's too bumpy. I don't have enough flesh on my butt. I can't handle it!"
"Then run faster, I'll wait for you in front."
"That's great!" Xu Hongbing chased after him, carrying a bucket of water.
Zhou Huaian staggered to the place where he cast the net last time, parked the car and waited for him to arrive, "Ding Ding Mao and I caught a few big ones here last time."
Xu Hongbing put down the wooden barrel and rolled up the sleeves of his cotton jacket, "Let me try casting a net."
"Come here!" Zhou Huaian stepped aside and looked across the river, "Old Xu, are there any fish in those fish ponds?"
Xu Hongbing shook the fishing net and looked up. "We didn't put any fish fry in the pond last year. There may still be some small fish and shrimps in it. Last month, I heard from my mother that the second son of Accountant Ye's family had contracted the fish pond."
Zhou Huaian nodded, pointed to the front and said, "Throw it here, there are more fish in this position."
"Hmm!" Xu Hongbing stepped forward and swung the fishing net far away. The net was thrown into a semicircle. "Oh my god~ I haven't cast it for a long time. My skills are not so good anymore."
"If it doesn't work, cast another net!"
Zhou Huaian took out a cigarette, lit it, took a puff, then sat on a big rock nearby with it in his mouth.
When I didn't have money before, I thought I would buy Da Chong Jiu and Da Qian Men when I had money. Now that I have money in my pocket and good cigarettes at home, I don't know why I still think Chun Geng is good to smoke.
He raised his head and blew out a few smoke rings. He saw a stone next to him. He kicked it away and saw two sandworms hurriedly burrowing into the sand.
Zhou Huaian bent down, pinched the sandworm's tail and picked it up. Suddenly he remembered that Yang Chunyan had been going to the toilet recently. Maybe the baby was growing fast and all the nutrients were taken away by the little guy. Everyone said that this thing was nutritious, so he would catch it and fry it for her later.
Xu Hongbing waited until the fishing net sank to the bottom, then slowly pulled it together. As the net got closer, he leaned forward and lifted it up, "Youngest, we've got something!"
"Is it big?" Zhou Huaian threw away his cigarette butt and moved the bucket forward. "Bring it over here and let's take a look."
"Here they come!" Xu Hongbing walked up to him with a fishing net, pulled the net open and took out the fish stuck on the line. "A few small grass carps weighing a few pounds, two crucian carps, and a few whitebait. No, I'll cast another net and get two big ones to pickle for them to eat."
"Great!" Zhou Huaian sat back down.
Xu Hongbing cast a few more nets until he caught a silver carp, two big carps, and several large grass carp and crucian carp.
The two men tied the bucket to the back seat of the bicycle, and Zhou Huaian carried him towards the Guanyin Brigade.
When they arrived near Zhao Meina's home and saw the three siblings watering the vegetable field, Zhou Huaian rang the bell.
Zhao Xiaochuan heard the voices and turned around to see two people coming. He happily ran towards them and said, "Uncle Huai'an, Uncle Hongbing, why are you here?"
"Come and see you guys!" Zhou Huaian smiled and rubbed him, "What have you been doing at home these days?"
Zhao Xiaochuan looked at him and smiled, "My eldest sister also bought some chicks from Aunt Su's house. I told my eldest sister that I will find food for the chicks when I get home from school."
Xu Hongbing jumped off his bicycle and rubbed his head. "Then Uncle Hongbing will have eggs to eat when he comes to your house from now on."
Zhao Xiaochuan nodded generously, "Okay, I'll give it to you, Uncle Huai'an, and Aunt Yang!"
Xu Hongbing laughed happily, "Xiaochuan is so generous, I'll give you the fish in my bucket!"
"Wow! What a big fish!" Zhao Xiaochuan exclaimed as he looked at the fish in the bucket. "It's much bigger than the fish my second sister and I caught in the ditch."
Xu Hongbing laughed and said, "The fish caught in the ditch are all small fish. Uncle Huai'an has a fishing net at home. We cast the net in the river to catch them." He thought about it and threatened him again, "You are still young and can't go to the river. There are big water ghosts in the river. If a child goes there, he will be dragged away by the water ghost."
Zhao Xiaochuan was a little scared after hearing this, "I know, my elder sister said that if you go to the river, you will drown."
The three of them arrived at the edge of the vegetable field, and Zhao Meina and Zhao Xiuna also walked out of the vegetable field, "Uncle Huai'an, Uncle Hongbing, come to my house and sit for a while!"
Zhou Huaian smiled and nodded, "Okay! We caught some fish in the river and found a bucket to put them in."
"Thank you, uncle!" Zhao Meina hurriedly asked her sister to go back to fetch water and catch the fish. Zhao Xiaochuan happily followed Zhao Xiuna home, "Second sister, the fish uncle sent are all big, as big as this!"
The three of them arrived at the yard. Xu Hongbing helped the brother and sister pack the fish. Zhou Huaian told Zhao Meina that they were going to Ning'an the next morning and asked her to wait for them to pick her up early the next morning.
After Xu Hongbing poured out the fish, the two pushed their bicycles back. The three siblings sent them to the intersection before waving goodbye.
Zhou Huaian drove Xu Hongbing back to the river, took him to the river dam to find a lot of sandworms and put them in a net bag, and then rode home alone.
When Yang Chunyan came out of the room, she saw him riding his bicycle into the yard, "You're back!"
"Yeah!" Zhou Huaian stopped and took down the net bag hanging on the handlebars, "I got some sandworms for you to eat!"
Yang Chunyan smiled and took it, and said softly, "Why did you think of getting sandworms for me to eat?"
Zhou Huaian whispered, "I see you've been getting up a lot at night lately, are you feeling a little weak?"
"Silly!" Yang Chunyan smiled and patted him. "I asked my younger sister last time, and she said that as the baby gets older, the uterus will also get bigger, and the uterus will press on the bladder, causing the bladder capacity to decrease... and that's when she'll need to go to the toilet more often."
"Oh! It's good to have someone studying medicine at home. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask them and you'll understand." Zhou Huaian parked his bicycle. "Then do you still want these sandworms?"
"Why not?" Yang Chunyan looked at the sandworms in the net bag, "It's already half full. It would be a shame not to eat such a good thing!"
Zhou Huaian nodded, thought about it and asked again: "Yan'er, why is Third Sister-in-law so crazy today?"
"My uncle sent a basket of goose eggs over, and she felt that they were being partial and didn't send any to her. She must be petty!"
"Oh my god! You're even comparing this to yours. Haven't we suffered enough in the past six months?" Zhou Huaian curled his lips. "If she continues to be so petty and irritates me, we'll just go our separate ways!"
Yang Chunyan knew that he was just complaining, so she ignored him and went up the steps, picked up a basin from the basin rack, and prepared to pour the sandworms into it.
"I'll do it!" Zhou Huaian took over and untied the rope buckle of the net bag, and whispered, "When we went to Guanyin, Xu Hongbing said that if I went into the mountains to dig herbs in the spring, he wanted to go with me. I said..."
Yang Chunyan thought for a moment and said, "Xu Hongbing is okay, but he's a little slick. If you think he's a good guy, you can ask him to work with you for a while and get to know him better."
"Yeah!" Zhou Huaian thought of his unreasonable and stubborn third sister-in-law, and felt that he was lucky to have a sensible and gentle wife.
…
The young couple here were talking softly, while Zhou Huaishan and his wife next door had gloomy faces.
"My uncle sent me some goose eggs. How many times have you said this in front of me? Can't you afford goose eggs or what? Chunyan and the youngest treated us like this. Don't even mention that my uncle sent them to eat. If you are kind-hearted and remember kindness, you should also buy some and send them over..."
"It's all my fault!" Li Qiuyue looked at him in shame and anger, "Chunyan and the others did the same to the first and second wives. Didn't the eldest and second sisters-in-law buy anything to send to them?"
"Didn't your eldest and second sisters-in-law send you anything? Didn't you eat the buns, steamed bread, and biscuits they sent you every now and then? People like you are the ones who are greedy."
"I know you've changed since you bought the quota, wuwu..." Li Qiuyue felt wronged when she thought about the past few months of her pregnancy, which was like being a thief. "No, I'll go to the hospital tomorrow..."
"It's up to you! It's not that I want a son. It's you who compares me with my eldest and second sisters-in-law every day, saying that they both gave birth to sons but you didn't, so that's why mom is partial to them."
Zhou Huaishan became angrier as he spoke. "Ask yourself, what have my mother and husband done wrong to you? Go and see how those people in the village who didn't have sons live. They were fine for a while, but now they are doing it again. You will regret it sooner or later."
"Wow..." Li Qiuyue burst into tears.
Zhou Xiaoru took Zhou Xiaolin by the hand and looked at the door, then took her to the oven in the alley. When they opened the door, they saw the old man there.
With red eyes, she said, "Grandpa, my mother and my husband are arguing again."
Zhou Xiaolin stepped forward and held his hand, "Grandpa, my mother is not behaving well and is crying again!"
"Go find your grandma!" The old man sighed, picked her up and walked towards the backyard.
Zhou's mother and Zhou Huaian sat on straw stools and collected sandworms.
Yang Chunyan was making small shoes. When she saw Zhou Xiaoru coming in with red eyes, she hurriedly asked, "What's the matter? Who bullied our Xiaoru?"
Zhou Xiaoru shook her head, "No!"
Zhou's mother also looked up at her, "Did your mother hit you?"
"No!" Zhou Xiaoru went over and lay on her back, hugging her neck, "My mother quarreled with the old man again, she is crying!"
The old man held Zhou Xiaolin in his arms and sat on a chair. "Let's go and see what's going on. It's almost the New Year and you don't even know to be cautious!"
"Yes!" Mother Zhou picked up her apron and wiped her hands, then patted her granddaughter who was lying on her back, "Good girl, stand still. Take your sister to your father's house. Grandma will come over to take a look."
"Oh!" Zhou Xiaoru let go of her hand and leaned over to the old man. (End of this chapter)
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