Zhao Youcai showed the price list on the table to Zhao Lao Er and Zhao Lao San, reminding them as he did so:
“You two carry your cloth on shoulder poles and go to other villages to sell it. You can sell it for three cents more per foot than you sell it in our village.”
After all, it allows people from other villages to buy cloth at low prices without leaving their villages. It's acceptable if the cloth is a little more expensive than what people from Zhaojiagou buy, as it's much cheaper than buying it from the supply and marketing cooperative or the black market.
Before Zhao Laosan could recover, Zhao Youcai continued:
"Second brother, third brother, you two have to keep a detailed record of every single transaction: who bought it, how much they bought, and at what price... This is all valuable customer information that will be very useful in the future."
The two brothers were stunned when they heard this. Where did their father learn this little word? It sounded quite professional.
But they didn't dare to ask too many questions, after all, Zhao Youcai's bad reputation had left too deep an impression.
For some reason, Zhao Laosan always felt that his father was just making empty promises to prevent him and his second brother from falsifying accounts, but upon closer examination, it seemed to make some sense.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his head and saw Zhao Youcai glaring at him.
"What are you staring at? Did you get it?"
Zhao Laosan nodded frantically like a chicken pecking at rice, "I remember, I remember, we promise to take good care of that... customer! We won't let it interfere with Dad bringing his sons to do business next time!"
Zhao Youcai was somewhat satisfied; it seemed that his third son was not entirely beyond redemption.
Then he looked at his second son, whose face had been tense since he entered the house. Before he could ask any questions, his second son immediately nodded and echoed his opinion.
"Dad, I've learned my lesson. I definitely won't act recklessly anymore. Even if they point their fingers at me and curse me, I won't fight them."
Zhao Youcai's eyelids twitched; he was furious. How could anyone curse their own father like that?
He casually picked up the feather duster from the kang (a heated brick bed) and threw it in the direction of his second brother, Zhao Jianjun.
The second son was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. He finally realized what he had just said and immediately put his hands together in apology.
"Father, please don't be angry. That's not what I meant. I was just using an analogy."
Zhao Youcai's eyes widened in disbelief.
What's wrong with using an analogy? Use this as an analogy for my father!
You're being too nice to me every day, you deserve a beating!
I was initially somewhat sympathetic to the second son's plight and was planning to secretly slip him two extra dollars after he and the third son finished selling the cloth.
Now that's better.
Let alone slipping in two extra dollars, even if it meant deducting two extra dollars from this kid's pay, Zhao Youcai wouldn't even blink!
"Get out! All of you, get out of here! Look at you all, you're all so angry. Why did I ever have to give birth to a bunch of debt collectors like you? You're such a nuisance!"
Zhao Lao Er wanted to say something more, but Zhao Lao San covered his mouth and dragged him out.
If the soles of the shoes weren't thick enough, my feet would be burning right now.
Zhao Laoda's face was still very ugly, but he didn't say anything.
When he went out and saw his wife chatting and laughing with his fourth brother's wife, he was so angry that his teeth itched.
When he saw his fourth sister-in-law turn around and go into his father's room, where he and his fourth brother were talking to their father in a low voice, Zhao Laoda clenched his fists tightly.
He strode into his room, his face contorted with rage, and slapped his wife across the face as she hummed a tune and picked up a sewing needle.
"ah!!"
The eldest daughter-in-law's scream immediately caught Zhao Youcai's attention. Zhao Youcai quickly slipped on his shoes and got out of the room.
Is that bastard son having another episode? Is he abusing his wife again?
Zhao Laoda was so angry that his eyes were red. He gritted his teeth and tightly gripped his wife's collar, his voice sounding cold and menacing as if it were being squeezed out from between his teeth.
"Shut up! Trying to get Daddy to come yelling? If Daddy sees me beating you again, I'll beat you under the covers tonight, and then we'll see how you make a sound!"
His wife was so frightened that she trembled all over and didn't dare to say a word.
Just then, Zhao Youcai arrived at his eldest son's door and was about to ask when he heard his eldest daughter-in-law's slightly trembling voice coming from inside the house.
"Honey, I'm fine. I just pricked my hand while sewing. Don't make a fuss about it, it's just a minor injury."
Zhao Jianguo's voice followed closely from inside the room, "Your finger is bleeding, how can I not worry? I'll go out and get you a basin of water, you wait here."
A moment later, Zhao Jianguo came out with a worried look on his face. When he saw Zhao Youcai standing at the door, he seemed to be startled.
"Dad, is there something you need to talk to me about?"
Zhao Youcai stared at him for a long time, then glanced around the room.
Seeing his eldest daughter-in-law intently sewing clothes with her head down, seemingly oblivious to his presence at the door, Zhao Youcai sensed something was amiss.
He wanted to find out what had happened, but then again, if the couple was having a fight, even as a father-in-law, he was an outsider and shouldn't interfere in their affairs.
After all, some things are just bickering between young couples, and they make up soon afterward.
If outsiders get involved, things will only escalate and eventually become unmanageable.
Moreover, his eldest daughter-in-law is an adult, a normal person with no intellectual disabilities. If she is wronged, she can ask her father-in-law for help when she sees him standing at the door.
Besides, the couple acted like nothing was wrong, so he couldn't very well force his way in.
But he was also worried that his eldest son would think that it was normal for him, as the father, to condone the domestic violence. He was afraid that if he was misunderstood as supporting his eldest son, he would be accused of taking sides and bullying his daughter-in-law.
So there are some things that need to be said, after all, he had personally witnessed the character of his eldest son not long after he arrived here.
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