When Zhao Jianhua arrived, the Li family was having dinner.
Today, the villagers of Sunjia Village worked until very late before returning home under the leadership of their village's head, so the people of Zhaojiagou naturally couldn't leave work early.
Fortunately, the work in the fields is finally over, and I'll have at least a few days off.
The Li family also cooks late, so the food is only now being served.
Zhao Jianhua arrived just in time, carrying a large bowl as he walked in, placed it on the Li family's dining table with a smile, and then turned to leave.
The Li family knew that a distinguished guest had come to Zhao Youcai's house, and when they saw the dishes that Zhao Jianhua had placed on the table, a complicated feeling arose again.
The dish showed no signs of being stirred, and it didn't look like it had been served and then poured back into the pot.
Although the food on top was a bit cold, the bowl was still warm.
When you pick apart the meat on top, steam rises out, indicating that it had cooled down a bit on the way here.
The Li family doesn't even need to waste firewood to reheat it; it can be eaten directly.
The younger sister of the Li family smiled with her eyes crinkling, and the more she looked at Zhao Jianhua, the more pleasing he seemed to her.
The elderly couple from the Li family exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with helplessness.
They all saw the look on their daughters' faces and felt a headache coming on.
Is this precious flower of the family destined to fall into the hands of that good-for-nothing Zhao Jianhua?
Before Li's younger sister could even pick up her chopsticks, Li Lao Er got up, grabbed his bowl, and headed outside.
"This meat has probably been drugged, otherwise who would be willing to give it away? Even if it wasn't drugged, we can't eat it. We're beholden to those who feed us, so don't ruin our family's reputation for a bowl of meat."
Li Lao Er was also craving meat; he hadn't seen so much meat in front of him in a long time.
But he cares more about his family than eating meat.
The Li family truly dotes on their daughter. If it were anyone else, the Li family girl wouldn't have stayed at home until this age, and her family wouldn't have been in a hurry to find her a husband.
If the Li family's daughter wanted to marry anyone other than Zhao Jianhua, the Li family would probably be happily making preparations.
But what kind of reputation does Zhao Jianhua have? We've lived in the same village for so many years, who doesn't know who he is?
The Li family watched in disbelief as Li Lao Er carried out a large bowl of meat, remaining stunned for a long time.
Zhao Jianhua went home happily, completely unaware that the meat he had so gladly delivered had been returned to his doorstep by Li Lao Er and ended up in the mouth of his youngest son, Zhao Jianfei.
Zhao Jianfei himself did not expect that, as he walked dejectedly toward his doorstep, he would see the familiar large bowl on the ground from a great distance.
He sprinted towards the door, and even though he wasn't given chopsticks, he ate with gusto.
He sat cross-legged outside the door, grabbing meat and stuffing it into his mouth without even washing his hands. He was completely unlike his usual pretentious self, a far cry from the elegant, pampered college student I remembered.
Zhao Jianfei not only finished all the meat, but also licked the bowl clean.
Since it wasn't served with a staple food, it was a bit too salty.
Seeing that he couldn't get into his own house, Zhao Jianfei didn't want to spend the night freezing outside.
Besides, he only took half a day off; he still has to go to work tomorrow.
He put his rice bowl on the ground, smiled, and walked towards the town with his hands behind his back.
Anyway, it's his turn to rest this weekend, so he can come back and be a dutiful son then.
“Dad still cares about me, otherwise he wouldn’t have secretly filled a bowl with meat for me to eat.”
On the way back, Zhao Jianfei chuckled and imagined what was going on.
I guessed that just now at the door, my third brother must have been angry but couldn't go against our father's wishes, so he could only deliberately walk me around with a bowl.
These few days are a good opportunity to give my father some time to cool off. Once he calms down a bit, he won't be turned away when he comes back.
...
The next day, before dawn, Zhao Jianhua was the first to get up. He smiled happily when he saw the empty bowl placed outside the door.
Without even noticing that the bowl hadn't been washed, he tiptoed into the kitchen.
I just felt that the bowl had been outside for who knows how long, and there might be a lot of dust and sand inside, so I carefully washed it with some warm water and put it in the cupboard.
Convinced the Li family hadn't refused the meat, Zhao Jianhua was one step closer to winning the heart of his beloved. Completely unaware of the truth, he gloated for days. Until—
"What did you say? You ate that bowl of meat?"
Zhao Jianhua stared intently at Zhao Jianfei in front of him, his eyes instantly turning red.
He thought the Li family had finally accepted the things he had sent, and he was planning to find an opportunity to go to the Li family and go out with the Li family's daughter.
What's the point of shopping here?!
Zhao Jianfei scratched his head, looking completely bewildered, utterly clueless as to what his third brother was doing this time.
However, he was too lazy to investigate the details, and his purpose in coming back this time was not for Zhao Jianhua.
"Is Dad home? I've been so busy with work these past few days that I haven't had time to come back and check on him."
Zhao Jianhua was now filled with anger. He already disliked the youngest son, and hearing him speak like this made him dislike him even more.
"I'm not home, I've gone out."
...
Zhao Youcai had planned to go out for a walk today, but the farm suddenly upgraded.
At this moment, Zhao Youcai was busy planting strawberries on the farm and had no time to listen to the noise outside. Anyway, there were many people in his family, and they were always making a ruckus.
Especially these past few days, there's been no work for them in the production team, so they've all been staying home and busy, with no rest from morning till night.
Zhao Jianfei didn't believe his third brother's words and talked at a loud voice for a long time.
After realizing that she couldn't hear her father's voice, or even the sound of him clearing his throat, she lowered her head in disappointment.
Zhao Jianfei knew how his older brothers and sisters-in-law treated him. If his father, Zhao Youcai, wasn't home, he wouldn't even be able to get through the door after the family division dispute.
In addition, if my elderly father were still in the village, he should have come back by now, after such a long time.
They haven't been seen for so long; perhaps they've gone to town to have dinner and drinks with those leaders.
Staying here to starve is worse than going back to town and trying your luck. It would be even better if you bumped into my father on the way back.
Zhao Jianfei turned and left, taking with him the high-calcium biscuits he had specially bought before returning to the village.
Zhao Jianhua spat at his retreating figure before slamming the door shut and walking back to his room with his hands behind his back.
Zhao Youcai worked on the farm for more than four hours before finally coming out of the house.
That's strange. They were making a lot of noise just now, why is it so quiet now?
I looked up at the sky, and realized it wasn't even noon yet, time for a nap.
Bang bang bang.
There was a knock on the door, and Zhao Youcai was about to walk towards the door when suddenly his vision blurred.
Suddenly, Zhao Jianhua appeared out of nowhere and darted to the door ahead of him.
Thinking it was the youngest son returning, Zhao Jianhua went to open the door with a ferocious expression, but when he saw who it was, he quickly changed his expression, his face almost twitching.
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