Chapter 216
Zhou Jiani readily accepted the Qiu family's invitation, as she also missed Qiu Zeming.
The buns that Aunt Fang sent were filled with green onions, pork, and leeks and eggs, twenty in total. As the temperature gradually rose, she might eat twenty big buns until they went bad. Zhou Jiani guessed that Aunt Du probably didn't intend to let her eat them all by herself.
Zhou Jiani gave two to each of her roommates. Her roommates were happy but also shy, feeling a little embarrassed.
Lv Minjuan, the dorm leader, would speak as a representative at such times. While eating a large, fragrant steamed bun, she said, "Jia Ni, thank your future mother-in-law for us. From now on, when your future in-laws send you gifts, don't count us in."
Jiani made ten big buns. How much flour would that take, not to mention the eggs and meat?
The others nodded. They thought that maybe they just wanted to give Jiani some special treatment and take them into consideration, but they had to keep it in mind.
I only had one class the next afternoon, and after class I rode my bike to Qiu's house.
Singame was wearing loose clothes and a hat on his head. He was sitting on the sofa with a sleeping baby in his arms.
Seeing Zhou Jiani come in, Xin Jiamei's expression became slightly unnatural. The confident look she had just given birth was gone, and she returned to the humble and submissive demeanor she had displayed earlier. She smiled and said softly, "Jiani is here."
She had originally planned to have the emancipated serfs sing songs, but the old man ruined her plan by cutting off the source of the trouble.
Du Yunxin would not treat her coldly due to her status as a new mother, but she would not take care of her during the confinement period, and they were not very close. As a result, Xin Jiamei could not put on any dignity in front of her step-mother-in-law.
Asking her to act so arrogantly in front of her father-in-law or the old man? She must be crazy to do that.
Her family didn't dare to support her, especially her aunt who sided with her was banned by the old man. Her mother-in-law? She couldn't even enter the door.
Moreover, her father-in-law and the old man were different from the people she knew. None of them treated their "grandsons" and "great-grandsons" as treasures.
Xingamei's confidence in giving birth to a boy suddenly vanished, and she didn't dare to speak loudly.
Zhou Jiani thought she was afraid of waking up the sleeping child, so she responded softly, "Sister-in-law."
He looks good and seems to be well taken care of at home.
However, the future sisters-in-law had nothing to talk about after greeting each other, especially Xin Jiamei. She remembered that she had secretly given Zhou Jiani advice, asking her to quickly get married and have children to tie the man down since she had found such a good partner. As a result, reality gave her a big blow. Her brother-in-law quietly joined the army, and Zhou Jiani was admitted to the big capital from a small place.
Looking at the stepmother-in-law's usual behavior, there is no need for Zhou Jiani to cling to the Qiu family. It is obvious that Du Yunxin is afraid that the daughter-in-law will fly away, and Qiu Zeming also cares about her very much.
Whenever he thought of this, Singame felt embarrassed. He made an excuse to put the child back in the bedroom and never came out again.
Zhou Jiani went into the kitchen to help Aunt Fang, but was pushed out by Aunt Fang and said, "Go sit on the sofa. I need your help wherever you want."
When Du Yunxin came home from get off work and saw Zhou Jiani, she smiled sincerely. She asked what time she arrived and mentioned the duck eggs she had given her. She didn't ask loudly, but quietly, then couldn't help laughing, "Where did you buy them? Your Grandpa Qiu and your Uncle Qiu love them so much that they each took one to work. It made me laugh to death..."
She had eaten salted duck eggs before, but never one with so much oil. It felt like the egg white was wrapped in oil, with a little crunchy and fluffy egg yolk in the oil, which was particularly fragrant.
Zhou Jiani looked upstairs and whispered, "My classmate's family made it themselves, and I asked them for some."
Du Yunxin nodded in understanding, rummaging through her pockets and stuffing twenty yuan into Zhou Jiani's pocket. "If it's convenient, see if they want to change it. If it's not convenient, don't force it."
Zhou Jiani stuffed the money back and whispered, "I've already booked it for the family, Aunt Du. I'm starting to earn a salary again, so you don't have to worry about my expenses."
She told Du Yunxin about her cooperation with the Qianjin Brigade, and she nodded, thinking that the child’s contribution to the local area was worth it.
But she still stuffed the money back, and Jiani didn't need to give her any money from her salary.
Zhou Jiani whispered about what was happening in the yard again: "If I go there often in the future, I have to say hello to the neighbors."
Du Yunxin patted her hands and said, "I'll go with you on Saturday morning."
Zhou Jiani nodded.
Qiu Zeming knew that Zhou Jiani had to rush back to school before the dormitory inspection, so he called very early, before setting up dinner.
When the call continued, Qiu Zexun came back from get off work. Zhou Jiani turned her head and looked at him. He was talking to the person on the other end of the phone with a very natural smile on his face. That kind of smile is unique to the faces of young couples in love. It is different from ordinary smiles. One can tell at a glance that there is honey in that smile.
She was talking into the microphone and nodded to Qiu Zexun as a greeting. Qiu Zexun was dazzled for a moment, but quickly looked away.
An inexplicable feeling of unwillingness welled up in my heart again.
The partner that the second son found is not only good-looking, but also capable and smart.
The second son himself became the most promising son in the eyes of all the elders in the compound.
Overshadowed by his younger brother's brilliance, he looked completely dull and dim.
Why?
Why is the second child so lucky?
As descendants of the Qiu family, the second son's maternal family background is better than his maternal grandfather's family. The second son has a mother who is a doctor. She is respected and her interpersonal skills are enough to support the current reputation of the Qiu family.
His mother was just a village woman in the suburbs. Every day she worried about the eating, drinking, defecating and urinating of the children she gave birth to later. She argued with her sisters-in-law about family matters. She wore gray clothes, her hair was tangled as if it was never washed clean, and she would occasionally use a few vulgar words when speaking.
Qiu Zexun had long lost the high spirits he had when he first became a father. Aunt Fang only took care of the child during the day, and his stepmother didn't help him and Jiamei take care of the child, so they, the new parents, had to take care of the child. They had to work during the day and get up from time to time at night to feed the child and change diapers... They were left with nothing but fatigue.
Qiu Zexun's mind turned, and he let out a breath.
Yes, I am a little tired, but the reason I am tired is that I am one step ahead of Qiu Zeming, that is, he gave birth to a son first.
Qiu Zexun wasn't as pessimistic as Xin Jiamei. He needed to take a long-term view. After all, the child was less than a month old. Furthermore, his primary reason for having a son was to raise him to compete for family resources; other additional factors weren't that important.
After talking to Qiu Zeming on the phone and having dinner, Zhou Jiani didn't stay long. She rode her bike back to school before it got completely dark.
In the evening, I found an opportunity to talk to Zhai Hong alone and told her about Du Yunxin's feedback on the duck eggs and the increase in orders. Zhai Hong was a little touched and a little proud. After hearing Jiani say that she even sent some to her boyfriend, it seemed that a few hundred duck eggs were really not enough for Jiani. She had no doubts about taking the order from Zhou Jiani and whispered, "I should be able to bring another sixty or seventy this week. My mother will pickle the empty jars again..."
Zhou Jiani nodded. "Asking Auntie to prepare more jars... doesn't seem to work either. Wouldn't it be too big of a show and arouse the suspicion of the neighbors?"
Zhai Hong nodded with a bitter face and did it secretly, but the small-scale operations like before were completely enough. Who would have thought that he would meet a big client like Jiani, who not only bought the entire business, but also complained that the output was too low.
Sure enough, she was dissatisfied with the lack of production, because she saw Zhou Jiani nod regretfully and said, "Then don't expand for now, it's better to keep it steady."
Zhai Hong twitched the corners of his mouth.
The next morning, Zhou Jiani met Ronghua and Lu Zhengfei again after class.
Zhou Jiani wanted to turn around and leave, but Ronghua called out to her, "Xiao Zhou, can we talk?"
She had clearly rejected him last time, but Ronghua still came to see her, and even acted alone as a couple. It seems that the situation on Lu Zhengfei's side is not very optimistic. Has Teacher Fu's son started to deal with him?
You deserve it.
Zhou Jiani said helplessly, "Aunt Rong, Professor Fu and I are not that close. The last time we met was at Professor Fu's house. That was my first time stepping into Professor Fu's house. I really can't help you with your affairs."
Besides, she really despised the behavior of these two people. They could even stab her mentor in the back. Why should she help such people?
Lu Zhengfei: "Classmate Zhou, I know it's a bit presumptuous of us to come to you. This time we are not asking you to help find Teacher Fu." He glanced at Ronghua.
Ronghua stepped forward and tried to take Zhou Jiani's arm, saying with a warm smile, "Xiao Zhou, it's time for dinner. Let's go out and find a place to eat and talk, okay?"
Zhou Jiani didn't want to argue, so she dodged calmly, shook her head apologetically, and said seriously, "Aunt Rong, I'm so sorry, I have to go to the library to read after dinner. If you have anything to talk to me about, why don't you just say it here? I really don't want to delay my studies!"
You can't let this kind of thing interfere with your studies. Going for a walk on your bike doesn't count.
Ronghua was speechless. How much study time could be lost just to eat a meal? This girl was too stubborn. Ronghua tried hard to suppress the displeasure that was about to show.
The couple looked at each other again, and Ronghua took another step forward, took out a stack of things from his pocket and wanted to stuff it into Zhou Jiani's pocket. Zhou Jiani reacted quickly and took a step back to avoid it before Ronghua could speak. She said in a cold voice: "Aunt Rong, it seems that you don't have anything important to do. Since you don't have anything important to do, I'll go and get busy..."
"No, no, no, you kid..." He really doesn't listen to any words or tricks. What kind of partner did Qiu Zeming find?
"Your Uncle Lu and I are elders. I didn't give you any gift before, so I thought of giving you a red envelope. You can buy something you like!" Ronghua's smile was almost gone, and she had to maintain her attentive and enthusiastic tone, which was difficult for her.
Zhou Jiani was almost out of patience and said, "Aunt Rong, you don't have to be so polite. Let's talk about it, otherwise I will really leave."
Tell her quickly so she can refuse and leave.
Ronghua awkwardly withdrew her move to give Zhou Jiani money, and her face turned slightly red because of Zhou Jiani's disrespectful behavior.
Lu Zhengfei tried to smooth things over, saying with a smile, "Xiao Zhou is a grown-up girl now. Let's not waste her time. Regarding Xiao Zhou, it's like this... If we don't let you help connect us with Teacher Fu, could you please help put in a word and get Mr. Qiu to meet us?"
Zhou Jiani was so angry that she laughed. They ignored so many people in the Qiu family and only came to her. Did they think she was too young to give them face or that she was easy to bully?
"The Qiu family has Aunt Qiu..."
Ronghua smiled bitterly and said, "I don't know why your aunt from the Qiu family has upset the old man and won't let you go back to your parents' home."
Zhou Jiani was surprised, she really didn't know.
Oh, this happened before, but the ban was lifted later. Why are they not allowed to visit again now?
Look at what Qiu Wen is doing. Her father keeps putting 'curfews' on her, but once the curfew is lifted, she jumps around and annoys the old man, so he puts curfews on her again... Her father never gets tired of it, and her daughter doesn't know how to reflect on herself. This father and daughter are really unique.
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "Isn't there still Qiu Zexun?"
Ronghua felt bitter. Why hadn't she thought of Qiu Zexun? But Qiu Wen wouldn't let her. She said her nephew had a hard time at home, and their request was disliked by the old man and Qiu Dongshu. Wouldn't it be embarrassing for the child to let Zexun make it?
Qiu Wen suggested that they go all out with Zhou Jiani, adding, "That girl is very much favored by the old man, and since she's not his wife yet, the old man will definitely feel embarrassed to offend the young lady. Maybe it will work out."
"You two should try to coax her more. You two have eaten more salt than she has eaten steamed buns. How can you not coax a little girl? If all that doesn't work, just give her some money. People from small places are all superficial."
Fortunately, Ronghua had already prepared an excuse. It wasn't really an excuse. She just took advantage of this opportunity to come and said with a smile, "Xiao Zhou... I'll call you Jiani. Jiani, it's not that I don't want to find Zexun. Zexun is on a business trip these past two days. Otherwise, we wouldn't bother you."
This is true. I heard Uncle Qiu ask me about it while we were having dinner last night. Qiu Zexun would be on a business trip for two to three days.
Hearing this, Zhou Jiani was too lazy to argue anymore and formally refused with a cold face: "The eldest brother of the Qiu family will be back in the next two or three days. You can't wait for another two or three days, right? Also, if Aunt Qiu can't come to our house, what about Uncle Qiu? What about their children? Aunt Qiu has so many connections at her disposal, but she insists on pushing you to me. I'm really sorry, but I won't get involved in this matter. Please don't bother me again in the future."
It's really interesting that Qiu Wen doesn't let the couple bother the people she favors, but instead pushes this thankless task to her.
After saying that, no matter how much Lu Zhengfei and his wife called her, she hurried back to the dormitory.
Ronghua's face flushed with anger: "This girl is so shameless."
Lu Zhengfei's face was not looking good either, but he couldn't delay any longer. Now everyone in the unit was trying to find connections, fearing that once the unit was reformed, they would be transferred to a bad department. If he didn't hurry up, would he have to wait for the transfer order to come down?
"How about coming back tomorrow?" he gritted his teeth.
Ronghua, however, questioned his sister-in-law's idea: "Does my sister-in-law really understand Zhou Jiani?"
Although he came from a small place, he was very careful and didn't even give away the stack of bills just now.
And this girl is not soft at all.
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