"Brother Quan, is this thing really that good?" Zhou Zhong and the others had also heard about it and ran out to see it. When they saw that Zhou Quan hadn't fallen, they ran over to Zhou Quan and circled around him, examining the wheelchair.
Zhou Quan glanced at them a few times and was about to stand up.
Li Mai said, "Don't stand up. Slowly release the handbrake and get down slowly. This is what you have to face. Living in a village, it's impossible to have flat ground everywhere."
Zhou Quan responded, slowly released the handbrake on the wheel, grabbed the wheel with his hand, and slowly stepped on the other side. The wheelchair slowly started moving again, but this time at a much slower speed, and slowly rolled down.
It was a small slope, and soon he reached a flat area. He slowly turned around and climbed the slope again, needing to use his hands to help the wheels.
Although it was a bit strenuous, he managed to climb the small slope all by himself.
The slope wasn't steep, so he could manage, Zhou Quan thought. But if it were that steep slope leading up the mountain, he estimated he wouldn't be able to make it up by himself.
Fortunately, in the past few days, the villagers have already built a road through the mountain with shovels, and each family has also brought back their vehicles and cattle that were not washed away.
The entire hilltop is quite lively right now.
People watched Zhou Quan's wheelchair for a while, and then it was time to cook.
However, the whole mountain was filled with the aroma of Zhou Quan's stewed chicken, so people no longer found their porridge or dumpling soup to be as delicious.
Li Mai poured the washed rice onto the stewed chicken, making it into chicken rice.
During dinner, Li Mai served a bowl to each member of her family. Then, seeing the little chicken rice left in the pot, she shared most of the bowl with the families of Uncle Wangcai and Uncle Lincai, who lived next door.
Aunt Wangcai and Aunt Lincai thanked each other.
The three families usually get along very well. Seeing that Li Mai hadn't forgotten about them, the two men smiled and gave Li Mai a pickled radish that they had brought up the day before. Li Mai thanked them.
The Zhou family quietly lowered their heads and ate their food. Dou Dou glanced over several times, but in the end, under Xiao Zhao's glare, she silently lowered her head and ate her sugar cake.
At least his mother made him some sugar cakes today.
However, he saw that his mother had used up the last bit of sugar, and he didn't know what they would have to eat tomorrow.
Zhou Lin was very happy to eat his sister-in-law's cooking again.
"Xiao Lin, are you going back tomorrow? Did your master say how much the wheelchair ultimately cost?" Li Mai asked Zhou Lin.
"The craftsman said he would keep the price from us as previously agreed, but he would charge several times more for outsiders. He spent some money on these iron gears," Zhou Lin said.
“Okay, I’ll give you the money tomorrow morning!” Li Mai replied.
"Sister-in-law, I won't go over there yet. The foreman told me to stay home and help with the house repairs. I'll go over after the house is finished," Zhou Lin said.
“Here’s what we’ll do. Go there the day after tomorrow. One way is to deliver the money for the wheelchair, and the other is to have your master repair a set of tools for you, such as a carpenter’s saw and chisels. In a few days, you can help the villagers build houses,” Zhou Quan said.
“Okay, but I can get these tools from my senior brother. I can do that too. I just need to buy the saw blade and chisel myself,” Zhou Lin said.
When he used to work for Zhou Lai Niu, all the tools belonged to Zhou Lai Niu. Now that he's no longer Zhou Lai Niu's apprentice, the tools are naturally returned to Zhou Lai Niu.
“Then you’ll come with us to town tomorrow. We’ll go to the government office, and you can go buy those things,” Zhou Quan said again.
Zhou Lin agreed.
The family ate their meal while talking in hushed tones. Zhuzhu listened attentively to her parents as she ate, taking their words to heart and diligently learning life skills.
"Did Zhuzhu also contribute to getting this pheasant today?" Old Man Zhou asked Zhuzhu with a smile.
Zhuzhu grinned, glanced at Limai, and nodded quietly.
The family smiled knowingly.
It's something I never expected. It's amazing that this mother and daughter, who are not related by blood, could bring such incredible good fortune to their family.
After the meal, Li Mai helped Zhou Quan go for a walk to digest their food. They went to the place where people parked their oxcarts. Seeing that no one was around, she released her own oxcart with a thought.
His ox was still tied to the cart, lying on the ground. At this moment, the ox seemed still dazed, curiously looking around:
Why isn't this a place I used to like anymore? Why are there so many cows and oxcarts around here?
"Is there anything in the car?" Zhou Quan asked Li Mai.
Li Mai helped him over, saying, "Go up and take a look."
Zhou Quan responded and walked over. Li Mai handed him the lantern, and he lifted the bamboo curtain to take a look. "Xiaomai, come over and put away these straws and cotton mats first."
Zhou Quan whispered to Li Mai, who was standing to the side.
If we don't collect them now, they might be gone by tomorrow morning.
Li Mai understood; with a single thought, everything in the carriage vanished.
Zhou Quan watched those things disappear right before his eyes; they vanished instantly, without moving in any direction, simply gone.
Even knowing that it was Li Mai who sent him away, he was still stunned for a moment, finding it hard to believe.
When Li Mai saw Zhou Quan lower the beaded curtain, pick up the lantern, and turn to look at her, the shock on her face had not yet faded. She raised an eyebrow and suddenly thought of an idea, "Zhou Quan, how about we spend the night in the oxcart tonight?"
Zhou Quan's face flushed instantly, but she still gently replied, "Okay!"
Li Mai said with a smile, "Don't overthink it, I'm just here to watch over our cattle, in case they get lost."
Zhou Quan coughed lightly, "I know."
Li Mai smiled and helped him back into the tent. She told Zhao Shi and Old Man Zhou that Zhou Lin was coming back tonight, and there weren't enough people to rest on the wooden planks, so they decided to sleep on the oxcart and watch the cattle.
"Xiao Lin and I will go, you two stay here!" Old Man Zhou said, standing up.
"No need, Dad, let me and Xiaomai go!" Zhou Quan hurriedly called out to his father.
Old Zhou was about to say something when his wife pinched his butt, and he immediately understood. He coughed lightly and said, "Alright, then be careful tonight."
Zhou Quan nodded, told Zhuzhu to stay with her aunt and go to sleep obediently, and then the two of them went out.
After the two people left, low laughter came from inside the tent.
Aunt Wangcai chuckled at Zhao and said, "Young people are so energetic when they're newly married!"
After Aunt Wangcai finished speaking, those who understood burst into laughter.
But everyone just laughed it off. With everyone in such dire straits these days, who had the energy for anything else? Just having a place to stay was good enough.
Besides, with children around, they couldn't explain things too clearly.
"Third sister-in-law, we're going to my parents' house tomorrow. What are you going to do? Why don't you come with us?" Aunt Wangcai asked Zhao.
Zhao shook her head. "Let's not go. We'll stay here for now. Xiao Lin is back, so let's build a temporary wooden house for now and talk about it later!"
Aunt Wangcai thought about it and agreed, then said nothing more.
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