Zhou Yunzhou was not affected by this incident and continued to work with Wang Ergou as usual.
"Brother Zhou, are you coming this afternoon? There's not much work today. Didn't you say before that you wanted to spend more time with your sister-in-law?"
It was the same in every village. When there wasn't much work in the fields, anyone who had something to do could ask the team leader for leave and not go to work. Zhou Yunzhou had previously told Wang Ergou that he wanted to spend more time with Jiang Qingwu, so Wang Ergou asked him this question.
Zhou Yunzhou shook his head. "No, I'm going to ask the team leader for leave this morning. I have to stay home to help my wife take care of our son. It's too hard for her to write the manuscript and take care of the child all by herself."
Wang Ergou didn't want to come either. It was too hot and his skin felt sore from the sun. However, Aunt Wang was a hardworking and capable woman. She urged Wang Ergou to go out with her to earn work points every day.
In fact, it is not just Aunt Wang. Most people in the village are like this. They are reluctant to be idle. If they are idle, they will not have work points. Without work points, they will not get much grain. They will have to starve during the winter. If they eat to their heart's content during the winter, the food in their home will definitely not last until the next time grain is distributed.
"Okay, Brother Zhou, when shall we go up the mountain again? I haven't made any money for a long time and I'm itching to make some money," Wang Ergou said with a money-grubber look on his face.
In the past, Zhou Yunzhou would bring Wang Ergou with him when he went up the mountain to hunt and make money. Wang Ergou didn’t know how to hunt, he just followed Zhou Yunzhou up the mountain every time.
Every time Zhou Yunzhou hunted prey, he would ask him to help him transport the prey to the town, and then give him a portion of the money. What Zhou Yunzhou meant was that they would split it 40% to 60%.
However, Wang Ergou knew that he was just helping to transport the goods to the town, and he didn't want that much money at all. He only asked for 10% or 20% of the money each time, which was enough to give his mother some household allowance so that she could save some money.
"I'll go up the mountain to bury traps in the afternoon. We'll go up the mountain early the day after tomorrow, at the same time as usual," Zhou Yunzhou said with a confident look on his face.
"Okay, thank you Brother Zhou," Wang Ergou was very happy after hearing what Zhou Yunzhou said. What his mother said was indeed right. Brother Zhou was a good man and always took him with him when something good happened.
Zhou Yunzhou also thought that he had not gone to the mountain to hunt for many days, so he had to go to the mountain. He had no shortage of food, drink and money, but Wang Ergou had not yet married. He and Aunt Wang helped him when he was in the most difficult time. He could not just leave him alone. He still had to teach him how to hunt. It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him fish.
Zhou Yunzhou didn't know what he remembered. He thought for a long time and glanced at Zhou Laosan. Then he lowered his voice and said to Wang Ergou, "Ergou, let's take our third brother with us this time. The three of us will go."
Zhou Laosan and Zhou Laoer were assigned to the same production team as them. Hearing what Zhou Yunzhou said, Wang Ergou glanced at Zhou Yunshun. He knew what Zhou Yunzhou was thinking. After all, in the Zhou family, apart from his deceased grandparents, only Zhou Laosan and his wife took care of Zhou Yunzhou. It was Zhou Yunshun who was afraid that he would starve, so he secretly left his wild vegetable cakes for him.
"Okay, Brother Zhou, let's talk to Third Brother when we're almost done with work." Wang Ergou certainly wouldn't be unhappy at all. If Brother Zhou wasn't a grateful person, he probably wouldn't have such a comfortable life. It was reasonable for him to be nicer to Third Brother.
Although Wang Ergou had to eat dog food from Zhou Yunzhou every day, when Jiang Qingwu brought him food, Zhou Yunzhou would always give Wang Ergou some meat so that he and Aunt Wang could eat together.
Although he said that he was unwilling to give him the fruit tea specially made by his wife, he would still pour him half a pot, and then scold Wang Ergou to tell him to drink it quickly. Wang Ergou always knew that Zhou Yunzhou was a person with a cold appearance but a warm heart.
When it was almost time to get off work in the morning, Zhou Yunzhou called Zhou Yunshun. He was going to look for Zhou Yunshun, but Zhou Yunfeng was working next to him, so he decided to let his third brother come over.
"Third brother," Zhou Yunzhou called out.
Zhou Yunshun looked up when he heard a voice that sounded like Zhou Yunzhou's. Seeing Zhou Yunzhou looking at him, Zhou Yunzhou said, "Third brother, come here."
Zhou Yunshun came over to him with farm tools. Of course, Zhou Yunfeng also heard Zhou Yunzhou calling Zhou Laosan, so he followed him over.
Of course he would come. He knew that Zhou Yunzhou treated Zhou Laosan the same way. At least he would not say bad things to him and would even give Zhou Laosan some benefits. He had to follow Zhou Laosan and get a share of the benefits.
But before he could even get close to Zhou Yunzhou, Wang Ergou stopped him. "What are you doing? Isn't your job over there? Why are you here?"
Zhou Yunfeng was so angry at Wang Ergou, "Didn't you hear that my brother wants to talk to us? Get out of the way."
Wang Ergou said sarcastically, "You are really interesting. Brother Zhou only calls him Third Brother, right? It has nothing to do with you. Eat less salt, you are so idle."
No matter what he said, Wang Ergou stopped him from going to Zhou Yunzhou and Zhou Yunshun, and the two of them were deadlocked there.
Zhou Yunshun walked up to Zhou Yunzhou and asked, "What happened to Zhou Zi?"
"Third brother, I'm going to the mountains to hunt. Do you want to go? If so, I'll take you with me." Zhou Yunzhou had to ask his third brother what he thought first. If he didn't want to go, Zhou Yunzhou certainly couldn't force him.
"Zhou Zi, I don't know how to hunt either. Will it cause you any trouble?"
Of course Zhou Yunshun wanted to go hunting in the mountains with Zhou Yunzhou. The men in the village who knew how to hunt would set traps in the mountains to catch prey, but they would not eat the prey at home and would secretly sell them on the black market.
If you have an income other than work points, your family will be more well-off. If you have money, you can also send your children to school.
Zhou Yunzhou knew he wanted to go when he saw his expression. "No, Wang Ergou and I will go together. After we return from town, I'll give you as much money as Wang Ergou paid. But third brother, you have to understand clearly that the Zhou family is a den of man-eating wolves. You can't let the four of us get trapped in it."
When Zhou Yunshun heard what Zhou Yunzhou said, he nodded sadly. He and his wife were both capable, and the work points they earned every year were definitely more than enough to support a family of four.
However, the Zhou family did not split up, so not only was the family's food secretly taken away to her parents' home by the eldest and second daughters-in-law, but the food was also looted every time the fourth son Zhou came back. The children did not eat a single bite of white flour all year round.
"I know. I'll know when to go to the mountain."
Zhou Yunzhou was still unsure of what time to go up the mountain, so he said, "I'll have Wang Ergou tell you when I confirm the time. You should also be careful and try not to let the Zhou family notice your movements."
"Well, I'll be careful."
After the two of them had discussed it, Zhou Yunshun went back to work. Seeing that Brother Zhou had already finished talking to Brother San, Wang Ergou ignored Zhou Yunfeng and went back to work.
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