Chapter 469 I will go back first

After eating the melon, Zhang Xingwang's family decided to go to the second sister's house for dinner today. My mother's expression at this moment was like the mother of the heroine in a sad drama, with a submissive and conflicted look on her face.

I said cautiously that this was not a good idea, and that we could just eat whatever we wanted at home. We had just eaten meat last night, and who would eat meat every day? If we were really greedy, we could just give some to Xiaoya.

The remaining two girls need less meat, what should I do if they are spoiled? The little girl is a big mouth and has no sense of confidentiality, so she threw away a piece of Cuban candy.

Zhang Xingwang looked at the little girl's aggrieved expression after smacking her lips, hugged her in his arms, and said to me righteously:

"Mom, what you said is not right. Xiaoya was forced to abstain from sugar by you and a group of onlookers. It is not shameful to tell the truth for the sake of sugar. She is honest, which is a good moral quality. This tradition cannot be broken in our family."

Seeing that my mother felt something was wrong but had no words to say, Zhang Xingwang struck while the iron was hot and continued:

"Mom, our family is different from before. Your son and daughter-in-law are both working, your two daughters are also glorious working class, your son-in-law is from the street and the station, and your eldest son-in-law is a retired company-level cadre in the station. Don't you realize how powerful you are now? The senior workers in the hospital are nothing compared to our family. If they eat something good, they will be reported to your son. What are you afraid of?"

Wang Xiulan thought about it for a long time, and it seemed that there was nothing wrong with what she said, and then she replied helplessly:

"You can't always eat meat, you're making a mistake. I tell you, this is how we live..."

"Mom, what you said is all old news. Now it is a new society and a new country. Besides, you are not in the village anymore. You are now the mother-in-law of a cadre and the mother of a future cadre. You have to stand up..."

Wang Xiulan used her brain, then habitually covered her head and replied:

"Just tell me the result. Try to be as simple as possible when talking to Mom. The less the better."

Zhang Xingwang was stunned for a moment, then said tentatively:

"For example, you need to be more motivated. You have to learn the recipes after you buy them. It would be a mistake to just leave them there to collect dust. As the old saying goes, you need to have a skill. If grandma finds out that you can't even cook, it will be bad for you. And the seasons are changing. Let's go to the department store later..."

Wang Xiulan was so anxious that she jumped up and down, saying incoherently that cooking was no problem, but she would never go to the department store, as that place was much more terrifying than a landlord's house. While she was speaking, she glanced at her daughter-in-law secretly, and after hearing her persuade her son, she smiled with relief.

Bai Xiaoya didn't pay any attention at all. She smiled happily at Zhang Xingwang, feeling lucky. She was also glad that she had the foresight to bring vanilla-flavored digestive pills with her.

Only when she heard the name of the department store did she quietly lean over and say, "You're really nice, brother." Then she resumed her good wifely behavior, explaining that she had everything at home, but her steps became lighter.

My second sister and her husband were also very happy to see the family coming in. My second sister became a little sentimental after she became pregnant. Although my mother thought she was a little pretentious, she still patiently listened to her daughter's slow nagging. After a while, she realized that her son was missing. Looking at the absent-minded daughter-in-law and the two missing girls, her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

After all, Liu Junming was from the Street Office, and the uncle in charge of Zhang Xingwang's family had also met him. Not only did he not interrogate them, he also wanted to come over to report on his work, but was rejected by Zhang Xingwang on the grounds that he had off work.

Then he picked up the little girl and went out. Following the direction the little girl pointed, he asked his second brother-in-law to help look after his sister-in-law while he went out for a walk.

He found a secluded place, gave the little girl a look that asked her to keep quiet, smiled calmly at the little girl's serious and focused eyes, pretended to carry a sack out from the corner, and then went back to his second sister's house with the little girl, while she told him to keep it a secret.

Liu Junming's face froze when he saw the sack. He wanted to refuse, but then turned to look at his pregnant wife, and then went into the kitchen with slow steps. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, but when he came out, his eyes gradually became firm, and there was a hint of fanaticism in his eyes as he looked at his brother-in-law.

Bai Xiaoya, the drama queen, took the sack directly, took a look at it, a sweet smile appeared on her face, she took out the grapes and mutton, and started packing them up skillfully.

While he was complaining about Zhang Xingwang for not knowing how to live, he was also saying generously that everyone in the house was a family. He comforted his mother-in-law with reason and evidence, saying that no one could suffer but the child. After all, his second sister was pregnant, so they just followed him to enjoy the food. It was all his kindness, and the food was not only delicious but also priceless.

Wang Xiulan's eyes twitched wildly as she watched her daughter-in-law endlessly taking out a big goose, ten pounds of grapes, and a bunch of snacks, but she was left speechless by her daughter-in-law's actions.

He stood up and turned around twice, grabbed the two daughters on both sides, and asked them with a stern face where his son hid the treasure in the second girl's house.

Looking at the fourth girl who shook her head to indicate that she knew nothing, Wang Xiulan glared at her fiercely and gave her an expression as if she would go home to settle the accounts. She knew the fourth girl's brain and investigative ability, so she was very dissatisfied with the fourth girl's behavior of concealing the truth.

Listening to the little girl stammering about corners and conjuring up something, Wang Xiulan felt a headache as usual and became even more dissatisfied with the little girl.

After asking the questions, I found that my daughter-in-law was quite skillful. She washed the goose in a short time, washed the grapes and put them on the table, and even arranged the snacks on the plate.

Wang Xiulan felt that they couldn’t go on like this, after all, they were planning to go to the old house for dinner tomorrow.

Rubbing her aching head, Wang Xiulan forced herself to cheer up and planned to talk to her daughter-in-law. At present, it seemed that even the mother-in-law was at a loss when it came to managing her son. The daughter-in-law was the last hope of the whole family...

Unexpectedly, he was stopped by his second son-in-law as soon as he stood up. Liu Junming found that his mother-in-law was in a bad mood today. It was rare for his mother-in-law and her family to come home, so as a good son-in-law, he had to liven up the atmosphere.

So he definitely told his mother-in-law a good news. Seeing his mother-in-law's inquiring eyes, Liu Junming's expression gradually became serious, and he whispered solemnly:

"Mom, I want to tell you something. Xingwang is making great progress. I know this is a bit sudden, but you'd better be mentally prepared."

Compared to the young and inexperienced Xiao Luo, Wang Xiulan had a much better impression of Liu Junming. No one knew what the two talked about afterwards, but not long after they finished talking, Wang Xiulan covered her head and went to rest. She did not recover until dinner time.

The fourth sister was obviously in a bad mood today. She was eating grapes absent-mindedly, but she was thinking about what her sister-in-law and second brother-in-law said in her mind. After adding them together, she came to two outrageous conclusions.

The first is that my sister-in-law is not as harmless as she seems, and her eloquence is quite different from that of my brother. From recent observations, it seems that she is a bit wise but appears foolish.

The second was that her outrageous brother once again overturned her three views. According to her second brother-in-law, her brother had been pretending to be crazy and stupid before, taking the path of accumulating grain and slowly becoming king. Now he has grown strong and is ready to take over the civil affairs department in one fell swoop. It is estimated that the next step will be to march into the people's commune.

Looking suspiciously at her brother who was still unconscious, Zhang Ruonan began to frantically recall the knowledge she had acquired in the library and the details of her interactions with her brother. The words in the books and her brother's daily behavior collided back and forth in her mind, trying to find some clues in them.

After a long time, Zhang Ruonan's eyes gradually regained their spirits. Although solving the problem after knowing the answer was not her style, her brother's words seemed so reasonable.

After thinking about it, although I don't know what my brother's purpose is, there is no doubt that my brother is pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger. After all, he has a hundred or eighty subordinates ready to serve at any time. If my brother is brainless, how could he deceive her again and again...

Today, I cooked by myself, but unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the treatment of Zhang Xingwang. The little girl didn’t stay in front of the meat. Instead, she took the second sister’s small mirror, frowned, and muttered something about the corner while trying to correct the smile on her face. After trying a few times, she put down the mirror in frustration, scratched her little head, and ran to ask her brother to smile for her again...

Everyone ate a lot at lunch, except Wang Xiulan, who wanted to laugh but couldn't when she saw how much the family ate. After resting for a while, the family returned to the courtyard while Wang Xiulan looked like she would rather die than surrender.

Wang Xiulan was the one taking the lead, her eyes filled with tears of excitement, and she wished she could rush back to the village to report the results to her mother-in-law.

God has mercy on her. After a year, she finally made a major breakthrough and stubbornly resisted her son's chattering. No matter what her son said, even if it involved questions from the leader, Wang Xiulan did not give in. In the end, she argued with her mother-in-law:

"Xingwang, I know everything about your progress. If you are afraid that your leaders will ask around, I will go back to the village tomorrow and wait until you become a section chief. You have grown up, and I think it is okay for you to come back or not. It should be no problem for the fourth child to get into high school. Then she will live in the school and I will take the little girl with me."

Bai Xiaoya looked at her brother who had not yet come to his senses, and comforted him quietly:

"Brother, you should be more open-minded. We can talk about the department store next time we have a chance, but you can't let mom go back to live in the village. Otherwise, I will go back to live in the village for a few days."

Zhang Xingwang slapped her in anger and replied:

"I'll go back first, don't even think about such a good thing!"

Ignoring my mother's excitement of seeing the light at last, Zhang Xingwang, seeing Bai Xiaoya's look of "you're out fooling around again", turned around and went to the yard rented by the Third Master.

After going down to the cellar, I started to pick tea leaves from the planting space. I made an appointment with the manager before I got drunk last time, and his grandson would come to pick them up in the evening. I just don't know how good the manager's old friend is at roasting tea. If I don't pick these things, I won't be able to explain when the time comes.

There was not much tea in the first round, so Zhang Xingwang even inquired about the knowledge of picking tea trees. Seeing the vibrant tea trees in the space, he estimated that the taste would not be bad. There was no hope for Longjing. He heard that the two guys who valued money more than their lives had gone there and never came back. The Third Master was also sighing for a long time. After all, a deposit had to be paid first.

After more than an hour of picking, Zhang Xingwang had almost finished plucking the tea leaves from the tree. Probably because plucking the leaves was too delicate a job, he felt a little dizzy. Recalling the words of the manager asking him not to stay any longer, Zhang Xingwang covered his head and left the yard.

In a blink of an eye, half a month had passed and it was already mid-October. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhang Xingwang gave another batch of grain to the Third Master. Although the quantity was only 3,000 kilograms, the effect was better than the previous times. However, he had not seen the tea yet. According to the manager, that stuff had a too strong smell and he could only make it secretly for a while every day. In addition to the messy process, it would probably take another half a month before he could drink it.

The reputation of having grain in the pigeon market had also spread secretly after the recent small and frequent transactions, but strangely, no industrial safety officials came to check, and the person in charge had no answer when he asked. He just smiled and told him not to ask around. Knowing that the two brothers were doing it for his own good, Zhang Xingwang did not ask any questions.

All I know is that San Ye's name has become more famous, and there are more new faces under his command. It is said that they are all San Ye's die-hard fans. The only drawback is that they are older than San Ye. Not to mention moving things, the two oldest brothers need someone to support them when they walk.

The two brothers sit in front of the pigeon market all day long. They tell everyone they meet that he is the behind-the-scenes boss of the pigeon market. They look so arrogant and you can tell at a glance that they are very brain-degenerate.

The crops in the fields were never harvested. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, it rained for more than ten days in a row. Uncle Yougen said that they were standing in the rain, watching the grain in the fields being distributed. For some reason, the commune had no grain left, and the little harvest from the fields was not even enough to pay the public grain tax.

In addition, the weather turned cold, and the canteens couldn't even make wild vegetable soup, so they closed one after another. Everything seemed to have returned to the way it was before. Every household started to make their own fires and cook. Many hungry villagers woke up from their dreams. They didn't have food, let alone an iron pot.

The two brothers Erniu have been very busy recently. Elderly people have died every now and then in the nearby villages. Most of them died of stomach problems, and some died because there were too many people in the family and they could not afford to live.

There was no special expression on Uncle Yougen's face when he said this. A month had made this man become much quieter.

He calmly narrated the story of Old Man Tian from the next village. Old Man Tian's family conditions were considered middle to lower in the village. He said that the day before yesterday, the old man touched his grandson's head and murmured that he was too old to work, so he wanted to go out for a walk while he was still able to move.

Then he resolutely went into the mountains. The little grandson naively asked his grandfather where he was going. After hearing that his grandfather was going into the mountains to find food, he smiled and told his grandfather to come back quickly if he couldn't find it...

Old Man Tian never came back. His son and daughter-in-law wanted to look for him, but they tacitly stopped them. The group of relatives and friends walked silently towards the direction of the mountain.

First, he was too hungry to look for someone, and second, what good would it do to find him? Every household is worried about what to eat in the winter. Given his family's situation, they would still die in the winter, which would only waste two more months of food.

It is late autumn now. If it were spring or summer, everyone would have to help. With the help of wild vegetables and tree bark, there would still be a chance. The problem is that they have to at least hold out until this time next year. No one dares to bet that if they help him, their family can survive.

In the end, Old Man Tian did not come back, but his grandson would suddenly think of his grandfather in his spare time and firmly believe that his grandfather would come back after finding food.