Chapter 210
Zhai Hong was the only one not in the dormitory. She was a local and went home every week. Lu Minjuan and the others made this impromptu decision after hearing that other departments were going out for fun, so Zhai Hong didn't know about this little activity.
But what would they do without Zhai Hong? The second oldest, Liu Guixiang, held up a frayed notebook and said, "I have the third oldest's address. How about we go there tomorrow and ask her to come along?"
Zhou Jiani also rummaged through her bag and found a notebook with phone numbers. She said, "Their home is very close to the local neighborhood office. I wrote down their phone number. I'll call them and arrange a time and place for us to meet up."
Lv Minjuan: "Is it okay for us to all chip in the phone bill?"
Even if you don't call and take a detour, you still have to buy a ticket and take the bus. One phone call can solve the problem. The phone bill paid by everyone is definitely cheaper than the bus fare, and you don't have to take such a long detour.
No one had any objections, so Zhou Jiani went out with Lv Minjuan to make a phone call. After the call was connected, they explained their purpose. Twenty minutes later, they called again and it was Zhai Hong who answered. When she heard that the dormitory was going on a group trip, Zhai Hong agreed without hesitation and asked everyone if they wanted to bring any dry food.
Nowadays, people bring their own dry food and water when traveling. Not everyone goes to state-owned restaurants like Zhou Jiani.
Lu Minjuan said, "Bring it. We'll buy some from the cafeteria tomorrow morning and fill a bottle of water ourselves and carry it on our backs."
Zhai Hong said, "Okay, tomorrow I'll bring you some duck eggs pickled by my mother."
After hanging up the phone, Zhai Hong went home happily.
When she reached the doorstep, she saw her father coming home from get off work. Seeing his daughter from a distance, Father Zhai grinned and said, "Honghong, are you out playing with your old classmates?"
Zhai Hong took two steps forward and said with a smile, "Dad, my college classmate just called me and asked me to go out and play for a day tomorrow. I will be back early tomorrow morning." It just so happened that she was a little upset since she came back last night.
Father Zhai nodded. This daughter is the most sensible and most motivated child in the family.
Before he even entered the house, Zhai's father took out fifty cents from his left breast pocket and quickly stuffed it into Zhai Hong's jacket pocket, lowering his voice and saying, "Take the flowers."
After saying that, he pushed his bicycle and quickly entered his yard.
Of course Zhai Hong would not refuse her father's love. She smiled and followed him into the house. She told her mother Wei Cuilian that she was going out to play for a day tomorrow.
Without even asking her daughter, Wei Cuilian said, "I'll cook a few more duck eggs for you to take with you and let your classmates taste them."
The last batch of pickled duck eggs had just been taken out of the vat. Wei Cuilian was about to get up to help when the curtain of the next room was raised. Second sister-in-law Zhai Hong came out with her belly bulging and said with a smile, "Mom, I've been drooling over the duck eggs in the room. Your eldest grandson is craving one and wants to have it with his porridge."
As he spoke, he stroked the dick in his belly.
Wei Cuilian felt depressed. The second son's wife was very picky. Whenever the family gave something to their daughter, she would jump out and complain, fearing that she would be left out.
But they never directly told my sister-in-law not to use things at home, but I still felt that it was weird.
Wei Cuilian didn't show any emotion on her face, and replied, "I'll make sure you have enough to eat. The second jar will be ready soon. I'll keep it for you to eat every day after it's pickled."
Zhai Hong's second sister-in-law: "Don't you still need to sell it for money?"
Bringing a few for my sister-in-law is fine, but why bring some for her classmates? Do you think duck eggs are free of cost?
Wei Cuilian shuddered, quickly turned her head to look towards the door, frowned and scolded in a low voice: "What are you selling for? What nonsense are you talking about? Do you have any control over your words?"
Zhai Hong's second sister-in-law also realized that she had said the wrong thing, and turned back into the house angrily.
Zhai Hong quietly rolled her eyes.
Zhai Hong has two older brothers and a younger brother and sister, and her younger brother and sister are still in high school.
My eldest brother has four children, my second brother has one, and the second child is about to be born. It’s really a big family.
But in the whole family, only Zhai Hong's father and Zhai Hong's eldest brother and sister-in-law are workers. Zhai Hong's second brother only found a temporary job, and his second sister-in-law has no work.
Wei Cuilian had no other skills, so she pickled some duck eggs and sold them secretly on the black market, or at the market during market hours to supplement the family income.
But this kind of thing is known only to family members, and it cannot be said openly.
Normally, Wei Cuilian would not raise her voice to her second daughter-in-law who was pregnant, but when the words that came out of her mouth crossed the line, she couldn't help but act like a mother-in-law.
Zhai Hong went to help her mother boil salted duck eggs.
Wei Cuilian whispered to her in the kitchen: "Don't bother with your second sister-in-law. I knew she was a troublemaker before we got married. She's the only one who can handle your second brother who's not very promising..."
At that time, one person in the family had to go to the countryside. Zhai Hong and her second brother were both qualified. Her second brother had not married yet, but he was already dating his second sister-in-law. Upon hearing about this, the girl's family spread the word that if Zhai Hong's second brother went to the countryside, they would not recognize the marriage.
Brother Zhai couldn't bear to leave his fiancée, and it looked like he really didn't want to go to the countryside. Zhai Hong didn't want to make things difficult for her family and offered to go farming herself.
Zhai's parents discussed it for a whole night and risked their reputation to find distant relatives with whom the family had little contact, so as not to let Zhai Hong be sent too far away.
Knowing that the family had used connections just to keep the sister-in-law near home, the second sister-in-law, who had not yet married into the family at that time, was a little unhappy. She thought that since the connections were used once, why not use them on the second son and get him a better job.
Fortunately, Zhai's parents are relatively open-minded. Although they cannot be said to be daughter-slaves, they are definitely not son-obsessed. They are not the kind of people who always give good things to their sons. In addition, Zhai Hong is the first daughter born to Wei Cuilian after she gave birth to two sons in a row, so she is also very rare.
Zhai Hong also worked hard and was admitted to Huazhong University, which brought honor to her family and allowed them to stand up straight in front of their distant relatives.
Zhai Hong helped clean the duck eggs and put them into the pot one by one, saying with a smile, "I won't argue with her."
She wasn't that petty to argue with a pregnant woman.
However, Zhai Hong also knew why her second sister-in-law was so weird to her. It was because she saw that she had been admitted to university and wanted to propose to her but she didn't agree.
She hasn't stopped since she came back last night.
Zhai Hong is now willing to respect her second sister-in-law because she is pregnant, but that doesn’t mean she is easy to control.
During dinner, Zhai Hong ignored her second sister-in-law's various behaviors. She read a book for a while and went to bed early in the evening. The next morning, she took the duck eggs and baked pancakes that Wei Cuilian had packed for her and took a bus to the city to meet up with her roommates.
At Huazhong University, even though everyone had agreed to go out for the day, that didn't stop them from getting up early to run, read, and study. They went to the cafeteria for breakfast, bought a few steamed buns, and a small portion of pickled vegetables. Then they returned to their rooms to fill their water bottles. Except for Zhou Jiani, who had a backpack, everyone else had a messenger bag and headed for the school gate.
Zhou Jiani didn't have to have a feast in front of her roommates. She had a bowl of vegetarian noodles in the morning and two steamed buns and a portion of pickles for lunch. Her roommates were frugal, so she didn't make any special arrangements. But early in the morning, while her roommates went downstairs for morning reading, she secretly ate a ham and a braised egg in the dormitory.
Zhou Jiani was thinking about borrowing a fire from someone so that she could fry some poached eggs and store them in the warehouse. She had eaten too many braised eggs and wanted to change the taste.
The Qiu family is not an option because their aunt is watching over them. Besides, she probably won’t be going to the Qiu family every week for the next while.
It would be nice if I could rent an apartment in the capital.
With this thought in my mind, I was a little dazed when I saw Du Yunxin when I left the school gate.
"Auntie Du!"
Du Yunxin was just about to go straight to the dormitory to find Zhou Jiani when she suddenly saw her come out. She was also stunned for a moment. Then she looked at her and her roommates' outfits and asked with a smile, "Are you going out to play with your classmates?"
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "Since school started, everyone has been adapting to the study rhythm and campus life. We haven't gone out together yet. We are planning to go out and play for a while today."
Liu Guixiang met Du Yunxin and asked, "Auntie, do you have something to talk to Jiani about?"
Du Yunxin smiled and said, "I'll have a few words with Jiani. I won't delay your trip."
Zhou Jiani also introduced Du Yunxin to other roommates. Everyone knew that this was the fifth child's future mother-in-law, so they greeted her politely and walked over to wait.
Over here, Du Yunxin smiled and said, "Nothing else. I saw a small courtyard and was thinking of asking you to come over and take a look. If you like it, I'll buy it for you..."
We definitely cannot tell anyone that we have bought it, and even the buyer doesn’t dare to say that the yard has been sold.
Du Yunxin hadn't originally planned to do this, as she was afraid that if she didn't handle it well, she would get into trouble.
As for whether she was tempted or not, of course she was, and she didn't mind having an extra yard at home, but she didn't dare to take action for some reasons.
But this time, the fact that the eldest son's wife had to return to the compound to recuperate after giving birth made her feel very sick.
Of course the eldest brother's wife can go back to the compound to recuperate after giving birth. Although she is furious because the eldest brother secretly plotted against her son, she is willing to take a step back at this time. However, it cannot be that Old Qiu's ex-wife jumps out to interfere, and her younger sister-in-law is still in the middle, using the excuse of competing with Zhou Jiani.
Ms. Du Yunxin was extremely disgusted. She felt like vomiting whenever she thought about Ze Ming marrying Jiani in the future, and the eldest brother's family, his ex-wife, and sister-in-law coming to the compound from time to time to cause trouble.
Just then, she remembered that a colleague at work had mentioned that a relative wanted to deal with a set of ancestral property that had been returned to him. Du Yunxin was no longer hesitant and decided to buy a yard for her son in advance. When the couple got married in the future, they could live their own life behind closed doors and avoid having to see or be bothered by their eldest son's family.
If Jiani wants to go back to the compound and stay for two days, she can stay there for two days. If she doesn’t want to, she won’t go.
Zhou Jiani was shocked by her future mother-in-law.
She really wanted to join in and ask Aunt Du to help her find out if there were any yards available for sale so she could buy eight or ten rooms.
Zhou Jiani's thoughts were wavering wildly but were suppressed by her. It was not the right time, so she should just stare at it with envy for now.
But I had an appointment with my roommates today, so I definitely couldn't break it. Du Yunxin also understood this and said, "You guys go play first. If I'm free in the next two or three days, I'll take you there."
Zhou Jiani nodded and agreed.
She actually wanted to ask Aunt Du to make the decision and buy it quickly. After all, houses available for sale are so scarce these days, and she was afraid that someone would snatch it up. But she didn't want to appear too eager, so she thought about tomorrow's class and said, "I only have one class tomorrow afternoon. I'll come to the hospital to see you after class."
Du Yunxin also thought about her work schedule tomorrow and said, "Okay, I'll go over and take a look first. If you're free tomorrow, come find me in the department and we can take a look together."
Knowing that Zhou Jiani was going out to play, Du Yunxin was worried that she didn't have enough money, so she wanted to give her some money. Zhou Jiani refused and said, "I have enough money on me. Auntie, please ride slowly when you go back..."
After watching Du Yunxin leave, Lv Minjuan and the others came over and said with envy, "Old Five, you and your mother-in-law get along so well."
She is very natural and easy to get along with. I heard that she is a doctor and her future father-in-law holds a high position in the army. She doesn't act like a mother-in-law at all, even though she is from such a wealthy family.
Zhou Jiani smiled and agreed: "Zeming's parents and Zeming's grandfather are all good."
There was some melancholy in Lu Minjuan's eyes, but she quickly shook him off. She held Zhou Jiani's arm with her left hand and Tian Yuan's arm with her right hand, and they chatted and laughed as they went to get in the car.
After reuniting with Zhai Hong, Zhai Hong handed out a duck egg and said with a smile, "My mother pickled it herself. You can try it at lunch."
Everyone thanked her and Zhou Jiani put it in her bag.
The planned travel destination was just a casual mention. Zhou Jiani estimated that she might not be able to visit the Temple of Heaven today. After visiting Houhai and Beihai, she would go to the nearby area and maybe even visit the Forbidden City. One day was simply not enough.
It is indeed not enough.
Everyone has been on edge since school started, afraid of falling behind, so today we're out having some fun.
Moreover, the weather was nice today, not that cold, and the sun was warm on our bodies. Everyone was laughing and having fun. We didn't care about our image for lunch and just had it on the roadside. We took out the steamed buns and pickles we bought in the morning, cracked open the salted duck eggs, and gently bit the egg yolk. If we sucked too slowly, the butter would flow down the eggshell, which was salty and delicious.
Zhou Jiani said, "Zhai Hong, your mother's skill in making salted duck eggs is amazing. Please thank Auntie for us next time you go back."
Lv Minjuan took a bite of steamed bun and a salted duck egg, nodded frantically, and said vaguely: "I pickled it in the village before, but it didn't produce much oil."
Zhai Hong smiled and said, "My mother's cooking skill was passed down to her by my grandmother. My grandmother is an expert at pickling salted duck eggs. I still have some in my bag. I'll share some with you guys when I get back to the dormitory."
Everyone just waved their hands, saying they were satisfied with just trying one, and how could they just take advantage of it?
Unless... you can exchange it for food stamps.
Liu Guixiang's eyes lit up.
This is not uncommon. Whether in the countryside or in the city, people use food coupons to exchange for eggs. Even universities are not immune. It's not even the end of the month yet, and some aunts and sisters have come to their dormitories to ask if they want to exchange them for eggs.
It was mainly in the girls' dormitory. The boys probably didn't have enough food coupons to eat, and they definitely didn't have any extra coupons to exchange for eggs.
Liu Guixiang wasn't the only one tempted. Zhou Jiani also started thinking about it.
Zhou Jiani certainly wouldn't exchange it with food coupons. She wanted to exchange it directly with money. She thought so in her heart. At night, she caught her roommates out doing laundry and washing up. When she and Zhai Hong were in the room, she cautiously asked, "Zhai Hong, do you have a lot of salted duck eggs? If you have a lot, I want to exchange some for money and send some to my family, and also send some to my girlfriend's family..."
Zhai Hong was stunned for a moment, but then she said cheerfully, "If you like what my mom pickled, I'll let you know how much you want next time."
She never thought it was shameful for her mother to sell salted duck eggs secretly, but she felt sorry for her mother's hard work.
She has a sister-in-law who is eyeing her parents' pockets, a young son and daughter to support, and grandchildren to love. If she only relies on her father's salary, she won't be able to eat enough even if she tightens her belt.
Zhou Jiani had a frank expression and it seemed that she would not look down on such behavior. If it could be sold to Jiani, her mother would not have to work so hard to go to the market or deal in the black market.
Going to the market was still okay, but going to the black market was risky. Her mother never dared to bring too much with her, for fear that she would not be able to run while carrying too many things when she was checked.
Zhou Jiani felt she was right. This was Zhai Hong's own family business. Great, one buying, one selling, no one would get into any details. She nodded heavily, "I'll take whatever you have."
Zhai Hong: ...
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