Chapter 318 Chapter 319: Three Meals Together and One Beat
The sky was getting darker and darker. The black clouds on the top of the mountain were hovering above like a monster. After a flash of lightning, the rain began to fall lightly.
After a while, Zhao Huifang and others came into the yard in the rain.
Yang Chunyan came out from the kitchen upon hearing the noise, "Are you wet?"
Li Qiuyue took a handkerchief and wiped the rain off her head. "Leave early so you won't get wet."
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "Aunt San's family only picked up four or five kilograms, and Miss San gave more than 21 kilograms. How was your harvest?"
"Oh no, we only picked up about ten pounds!" Zhao Huifang removed the leaves covering the mushrooms. "No one picked them up over there. If there were more, we would have gone to Guanyin's place to pick them up today."
Yang Chunyan took a look and said, "No one has ever picked up anything at Guanyin's place, so why is there nothing there?"
"The mountains over there are very dry, with more rocks than mud. No wonder the Guanyin Brigade has the worst life among the three brigades in this area."
"That's right, it's better to go to the hill behind Xiaoxue's house and pick it up."
"I'll be gone by the end of the month at most." Zhang Xiuxiang poured out the isatis root in her backpack, "I found a lot of isatis root and Viola yedoensis over there."
Yang Chunyan saw that both backpacks were full. "Wash them out later. If the rain stops tonight, keep them to dry. If the rain doesn't stop, we can only send them to Ning'an to sell fresh goods."
"Yes." Zhang Xiuxiang handed her the herbal seeds she had collected. "Have you planted the Chuanxiong you got yesterday?"
"I've planted them! It just happened to rain, so I don't have to water them." Yang Chunyan poured the seeds into a dustpan, "Wash them and eat."
Zhao Huifang hung up the handkerchief and frowned when she saw the clothes hanging on the bamboo pole at the east wing door. "Jiaming and the others are changing their clothes again? Where are they?"
Yang Chunyan felt that they were in trouble. "They took a shower and went back to change clothes and never came out again. When my mother went to see them, they were all asleep in the room."
"You guys go out to play every day, and you have to study the day after tomorrow. I don't know if you have finished your homework." Zhao Huifang said as she walked into the house. After a while, her scolding voice and the wailing of Zhou Jiaming's brothers were heard.
Zhou Jialiang howled, "There's only a little more to do. My clothes got wet from helping my dad catch fish."
"Stop teasing me." Zhao Huifang grabbed one of her ears with one hand, "Go, show me your homework."
Zhou Jiaming and his brother shrank their necks like doves, "We'll do it right away."
"You can cheat if you can. You are studying to help me, right?" Zhao Huifang became more and more angry. She turned around, picked up the feather duster on the wooden box, and hit Zhou Jiaming's butt. "I will feel uncomfortable if I don't beat you guys..."
“Wow… wuwu… it hurts… grandma, help me, ancestor, help me…”
"How dare you yell! Why isn't Xiaoqian like you guys? She does her homework right after school. What about you two?"
Zhao Huifang raised her hand and slapped the pig a few more times, and the pig's cries like being slaughtered became louder and louder.
Mother Zhou walked to the front yard carrying the pig feed bucket and said, "Good spanking, great spanking. Give them more spankings so they can remember better. This will save them from having to rush to do their homework every time they have to study."
The Zhou Jiaming brothers were in despair. My grandma really did what she said. Not only did she not persuade my mom, she also applauded.
Zhou Jiakang, who was next door, was awakened by the two men's crying. He ran to the next door in his slippers, held onto the door frame and looked inside timidly, "What happened to the eldest and second brothers?"
Zhou Jialiang glanced at him secretly, "..." What's wrong? Didn't you see it? You're just watching the fun, it will be your turn next year.
Zhou Jiakang was awakened by his look and understood what he meant immediately, "..."Brother, I just woke up and really didn't watch the fun!
"What's wrong?" Zhang Xiuxiang pulled him out. "Your eldest brother and second brother, when they registered for the new semester, the teacher said they hadn't finished their summer homework. Auntie was going to punish them, but your grandmother said to give them a chance, and they even wrote a promise saying they would do well in the future.
Your aunt spared them. It has only been a short time, and you didn't do your homework. I think you deserved to be beaten. You need to be beaten more often so that you will remember. If you do this in the future, you will have to eat bamboo shoots fried with meat."
Zhou Jiakang was so frightened that he trembled: Studying is so scary, it seems that I’d better not go to study next year.
Zhou Jiaming and his brother became even more desperate, "..." Not only did you not help my mother, you also added fuel to the fire.
Seeing that the two men were still making so many small movements while being beaten, Zhao Huifang felt that they were hopeless and it seemed that they would have to dig in the dirt for a living in the future.
"Hurry up and do your homework. If you don't finish it, you won't be allowed to eat tonight, and you won't be allowed to eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival."
"Oh!" The two brothers came out sobbing, carrying their schoolbags, and sat down obediently at the small square table to start doing their homework.
When Zhou Huaian and his grandson returned home, they looked at the two brothers in surprise. "Wow! The sun is rising from the west. It's almost time for dinner, but you're still studying hard!"
Zhou Jialiang glanced at him and said, “…” It’s all your fault.
Zhou Huairong looked at him, "You guys haven't finished your homework yet, why are you blaming your dad?"
Zhou Jialiang's brother lowered his head, "..." If we hadn't gone fishing with our youngest dad and got our clothes dirty, we wouldn't have showered and changed clothes when we came back. If we hadn't changed clothes, we wouldn't have slept, and if we hadn't slept, we wouldn't have gotten beaten. If we don't blame our youngest dad, who should we blame?
"Did I tell you not to do your homework?" Zhou Huaian waved at Zhou Xiaoqian, "Why didn't you do your homework?"
Zhou Xiaoqian glanced at the two brothers and said, "I have finished writing. I asked them to write it, but the eldest brother said it would be in time to write it tomorrow."
Zhou Huairong said weakly, "Go, take a bench and write on the side. Don't block your sister and the others from eating."
Yang Chunyan's sister-in-law quickly prepared the meal, including winter melon soup, fried fish, bone stew with vermicelli, and a pot of cold cowpea.
After everyone sat down, Zhou Huaian said, "Mom, Yumei is coming to give me a festival gift tomorrow. I plan to give the gift to my mother-in-law's house early tomorrow morning and then come back. I will go to my mother-in-law's house the day after tomorrow."
"Of course, it's a rare occasion for you to come here, so let's sit down and have a good meal." Mother Zhou looked at Zhou Huairong and the others happily, "You guys are going the day after tomorrow too?"
"We are already old sons-in-law. Family is so busy that we just need to send the festival gifts. When the house is repaired, we will invite my mother-in-law and father-in-law to come over to spend a few days."
Although Zhao Huifang and Zhang Xiuxiang didn't understand why they did this, they were happy to hear that their mother and husband were invited to stay with them for a few days.
"That's fine." Mother Zhou looked at Zhao Huifang and whispered, "Are you really not going to invite them to eat?"
Zhao Huifang nodded, "It's okay to go hungry for a meal!"
The chewing sounds of Zhou Xiaoqian and the others as they ate, as well as the aroma of fried fish, made the two brothers' stomachs growl, and they wrote slower and slower.
Zhou Jialiang waited for a while, but still no one called them to eat.
After poking his elder brother, the two brothers looked at each other and realized that this time their mother and husband were serious. If they didn't finish writing, they would have no food to eat. So they quickened their hands' movements.
After Zhou Xiaoqian and the others finished eating, Zhou's mother came out from the main room, helped to clear the table, and took out an oil lamp to light it. "Jia Ming, bring your brother over to write."
"Oh!" The brother moved to the small dining table with the book.
Zhou Jialiang covered his stomach and whispered to his mother, "Grandma, I'm hungry!"
Mother Zhou patted his head and said, "If you're hungry, write faster. I won't call you to eat until you finish."
"Oh!" The two brothers finally saw the reality and started writing resignedly.
(End of this chapter)
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