Chapter 27
Zhou Lao Er didn't even have the desire to talk to Mr. Zhou, so he said directly to the officials: "You two officials, I will pay the money myself. Please cross it off for the labor quota." "Money? Where did you get the money?
" ?" Without waiting for the two officials to speak, Mr. Zhou said sharply, his eyes staring straight at Mr. Zhou, as if he was about to stare out a hole.
"Can't I borrow it?" Zhou Lao Er clenched his hands and said through gritted teeth.
"Where do you go to borrow money? Now every household needs money, where can you go to borrow it? Second child, tell me honestly, have you hidden money?" Old Master Zhou's cloudy eyes flashed fiercely. He always thought that Zhou Lao Er was in the palm of his hand, and the loss of control only started when the family split up. He didn't expect that the honest-looking second son was also a hidden traitor, and he carried hidden money on his back, feeling that he had been deceived And fooling, Mr. Zhou's anger was bubbling out.
"Hey, hey, we're not here to listen to your trivial matters. You said you want to buy quotas with money, right?" An official interrupted Mr. Zhou impatiently.
"Yes, sir, look at my leg is also very lame, and I can't do anything after I go there." Zhou Laoer stretched out his leg to show the official, proving that he was not lying.
The two officials looked at each other, one of the tall one shook his head, and the short one said, "This can't be changed, your name is already registered, that's all right, don't block the way", while talking Pushed Zhou Lao Er and staggered away.
"My lord, my lord..." Zhou Er Er wanted to chase him out, but he was stopped by Mr. Zhou: "Second, stop there, don't you think it's embarrassing enough? Now tell me where you are!" The money from here?” “Father, can you tell me why there are so many brothers, and you just want to push me out!” Zhou Er Er looked at Mr. Zhou, hoping to get an answer. "You are the only one in the whole family who is free at home. If you don't go out, whoever will go out!" Mr. Zhou said it as a matter of course.
Zhou Laoer smiled miserably, "Let's split up, Dad, you've seen it too. I'm going to set up this labor service. I don't know if I will come back. Even if I come back, I'm afraid I can't do anything. Divide our family. Go out so as not to drag you down."
Mr. Zhou took a puff of his cigarette, thinking that even if Mr. Zhou hid some money privately, it would not be too much.
As he himself said, even if he could come back, he would be useless. If he were to be abolished, such a big family would not be able to drag down the entire Zhou family. It would be fine if they were divided, and it would not matter whether he lived or died in the future.
The division of the family this time was done quickly because neither party had any objections. The Erfang family in Tiandi divided six acres, probably because Dudu pushed Zhou's second son out of his guilty conscience, Zhou's mother and Zhou's boss didn't say anything.
The house is the two I live in now. As for silver, did Zhou's mother bite to death?
The second Zhou also knew that he might not be able to get the silver left by his mother. The Zhou family bought land and built a house for their sons to marry wives, sent Zhou Lao Si to study, and gave Zhou Lao San gifts. money. Even if it is left, there is not much left, and with the sixty taels of silver this time, I am afraid that the five hundred taels of silver will be scooped up soon, but if he can't get it, it doesn't mean that he will let these people pass by in a daze. Taking advantage of the fact that the clan elders were all there, Zhou Laoer said directly: "Father, the two hundred taels of silver that my mother left me was agreed at the time, and the clan elders have also testified, so you always give me the silver "
"You bastard, you still have the nerve to ask me for money to marry you and raise children. I have already spent all my money over the years. It would be good if I don't ask you for pension money." Old man Zhou was angry. His eyes widened. This discerning person knew that he was talking nonsense as soon as he heard it. Two hundred taels of silver was enough to marry a golden lump, and everyone knew that Wang Yan was bought by Zhou's family in exchange for a generation of cornmeal. As for raising a child, this is even more ridiculous. In other words, Zhou Lao Er earns a lot by doing woodwork by himself. No matter how much money there is, the couple in the second room can't use it all up. Although I knew that Mr. Zhou was talking nonsense, none of the clan elders made a sound. They are also old, and they are also old people. They naturally stand in the same position as Mr. Zhou. When the family is divided, what should their younger generations do?
In the end, a clan elder couldn't see it. After all, you have to go to labor, no matter what, you should compensate the second room.
"Second boy, you give the second boy twenty taels of silver. After all, he is going to do hard labor, and he is risking his life. His children are still young, so you have to give them a way to survive. After all, they are your own grandchildren. "
Zhou's mother quickly looked at Mr. Zhou. She has no place to speak in front of these clan elders as a woman, so she can only be anxious, for fear that Mr. Zhou will agree.
Mr. Zhou naturally didn't want to agree, and if he wanted to pay twenty taels of silver, it would be better to use the money to pay for labor and force Zhou's second son to work. But under the condition that the other clan elders have agreed, the family can only be considered a profit if they have to pay for it.
If they had separated in the past, Wang Yan and Zhou Lao Er would definitely be very happy, but what they have to face now is that Zhou Lao Er is going to do hard labor, and he doesn't know if he can come back. Zhou Laoer looked at the plump Zhou Yi. This child had very good-looking features, and he was very reluctant. He wanted to send the child to study so that he could grow up to marry a wife and have children. Once he goes to labor, it may be a farewell to heaven and man forever, and Wang Yan, the wife who has shared weal and woe with him, if he really can't come back, the wife will not be bullied to death with a few! Zhou Yi looked at the weeping Wang Yan and the frowning Zhou Laoer, and felt that they had entered into a misunderstanding. Maybe the status of official posts was too high in their minds. As long as they got involved with the government, ordinary people would Like the plague, I'm afraid I won't be able to avoid it. In fact, the problem is easy to solve. The two officials are in charge of recruiting laborers in Xiawan Village. It is not up to them if there is one more person or one less. As long as you can get enough benefits. "Father, don't go far away, I'm afraid." Zhou Yi whispered while hugging Zhou Lao Er's neck. Being so dependent on his son, Zhou Er Er almost cried. But there is no way, the quota has already been reported, and after the government's affairs, how could they, ordinary people like them, interfere.
"Father, why don't we give away money too? It took a lot of money. Didn't Third Uncle become the shopkeeper because he gave away a lot of money?" Zhou Yi said with wide eyes.
"Father, why don't we try?" Wang Yan, who was already in despair, heard Zhou Yi say this. Hope was rekindled in his eyes.
"Then try." Zhou Er Er gritted his teeth.
"Father, I have to give away the money secretly. If I have something good, I don't want others to know about it!" Zhou Yi pretended to be immature and said again, afraid that Zhou's second child would be careless.
Zhou Yi didn't know if Zhou Lao Er had listened to it, so he took the money and hugged it in his arms and went out. Didn't come back until evening.
Wang Yan waited eagerly, seeing Zhou's second child coming back, hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "How is his father?"
Zhou Yi also looked closely at Zhou's second child. Although he was 80% sure, he felt that the two officials in the Zhou family's yard were unwilling to let Zhou's second child exchange money for the quota. They just wanted Chen Li to make a fortune. It won't be difficult. But in case, everything is afraid of accidents, just like he never thought that the second room would be separated in such a way before.
Zhou Laoer took a sip of water before saying: "It's done."
"It's done?" Wang Yan immediately let go of her tightly held heart, and drove away her sad face. She was not in a hurry to ask other things, "I'll start Let's go make dinner, today is our branch family Yan!"
Zhou Er Er let go of the important things in his heart, and his whole body became lighter. He even stood up and said, "I'll help you."
Wang Yan gave him an angry look, "What are you talking about? How can a big man enter the kitchen?"
Zhou Er Er smiled and touched his head, which shows that he is really happy Broken, momentarily confused. Because of the separation of the family, the kitchen in the upper room was naturally unusable, so Wang Yan took Da Ya Sanya and built a simple kitchen with a few stones, and prepared a few simple dishes.
"Where did the food come from?" Zhou Laoer looked at the rice in the bowl and asked Wang Yan. When the family was separated today, they were not given any food. In their words, they were given twenty taels of silver. Enough is enough.
"Auntie brought it." Wang Yan said, the Auntie she was talking about was Mr. Zhou's sister-in-law. Because Mr. Zhou felt that his father and mother favored his eldest brother, he went out to run a business with others when the family first separated. This is how Zhou Yi kissed his grandma. But Mr. Zhou has always hated his parents, and even his eldest brother, and the two families have never had much contact.
It’s just that Zhou Laoer’s aunt is kind-hearted. Seeing that Zhou Laoer was often hungry and had to do such heavy work when he was a child, she often gave him food. He didn't even get a grain of grain, so he hurriedly sent a bag of sorghum. Zhou's second child has always been grateful to his uncle and aunt. In the past, he could not get close to him in public because of Mr. Zhou. Now that the family is separated, he can finally repay his uncle and aunt.