Chapter 647: Sister and brother talk about the future [Second update]
Zhen Shuai ran to the grain drying field and saw Shen Xingdu being blocked by Zhen Duo and Zhen Guo, with Marshmallow and Linger guarding him. Several older boys surrounded a man wearing a ragged cotton-padded jacket and disheveled hair, trying to subdue him. The other children only dared to stand and watch them from a distance, with nervous expressions on their faces.
Zhen Shuai picked up Shen Xingdu and said, "Brother Dudu."
"I'm fine." Shen Xingdu pointed at the long-haired man and said calmly, "He's a madman."
"Brother." Zhen Guo noticed it then. Zhen Shuai came, "That's Madman Hong from Hongjiacun! We didn't notice when he came. He wanted to take Dudu away, but luckily he was discovered by Marshmallow and Ling'er. Zhenduo and I were a little afraid of him, It was those brothers who helped us stop him."
Zhen Shuai hummed. It was impossible for him to let Brother Dudu leave his sight. Before going back, he signaled Marshmallow and Ling'er to protect him. These two are quite reliable.
The madman has only instinct and no self-awareness, waving his arms frantically in an attempt to drive away those who besieged him. The boys couldn't restrain him for a while, but they also trapped him so that he wouldn't threaten other children. Fortunately, the adults arrived at this time and easily grabbed his arms and pushed him to the ground so that he could not move.
"Hongjia Village is at least seven or eight miles away from our village, and there are other villages in between. How could he come to our village?" Zhen Shuai felt a little strange, "And why would he target Dudu?" Zhen Guo shook his head
. "I don't know... maybe I got hungry while walking and came to the village to find food?"
Zhen Xiang came over with Zhen Cheng in her arms, "I heard that Madman Hong's wife was an educated youth and left him and his children behind after the college entrance examination was resumed. Back to the city. Their son was about the same age as Dudu. He died of illness not long after she left. Madman Hong went crazy because of this. He probably thought Dudu was his son and wanted to take him away." Hou Mingyao was a little annoyed, there are so many children in the village, if any one is really hurt by Madman Hong, there will be no room to talk about it.
He stopped a young man and said, "Dawei, you and Dahua have worked hard to send Madman Hong back to Hongjia Village and tell them to take care of him. Next time, I will go to see their village chief in person." He called Dawei. Wei
's young man responded cheerfully, and he and Dahua escorted Madman Hong away. We must go quickly while the road is not difficult yet.
Zhen Shuai remembered these two people.
"Uncle Village Chief, there's nothing going on here. Let's go back. My aunt and the others are probably worried." "Okay, let's go."
Zhen
Shuai asked Zhen Xiang to accompany them to leave first, and then stopped the big boys who were dealing with the madman. Among them is Hou Qingfeng.
"Qingfeng, where are you going? Come home with me for dinner."
Hou Qingfeng didn't move and said with a smile, "The food should be ready at home. I'd better go back to eat." His grandparents are at Zhen Shuai's house. It seems okay to take him with me when eating, but he is so big, so why bother?
Zhen Shuai grabbed him and said to the other boys with a smile: "Don't wait for me to drag you. There are many children having dinner at my house today, and I would like to trouble you to help me entertain them. Qingfeng, please help me Hold them."
Who doesn't know that Zhen Shuai's food is delicious? The boys wanted to go but felt embarrassed, so they all laughed.
Hou Qingfeng grabbed one by one and said, "Let's go, let's go. At worst, when your family kills the pigs, you can invite the marshal to eat them too, isn't it the end of the world?" After they left, Zhen Shuai did not go back immediately, but called Zhen Duohe
. Zhen Guo and the three of them went to the village chief, party secretary and Ma Jiaming's house and called their children to have dinner at home.
A group of children, big and small, sat around the table. Each of them had a cup in front of him like the adults. But it was filled with warmed Coke.
The adults were very happy when they saw it.
The dishes were served quickly. The dishes on both tables are basically the same. There are four pots on the table for adults, including cabbage and pork stewed with vermicelli, big bone stewed potatoes, lotus root stewed pork ribs and fish stew, all of which are large pots. There are also two dishes to go with wine, fried peanuts and fried small fish. Dried, and then some washed cabbage and spinach. If you feel tired of just eating meat, you can boil it in a pot and eat it. There were no fried peanuts or dried fish on the children's table, but everything else was there.
As the head of the family, Zhen Shuai and Shen Xingdu sat at the adults' table, while Zhen Xiang and the others entertained the little guests at the children's table.
As soon as the door was closed, the cold air was blocked outside, and then the wine was poured. The aroma of wine overflows, and the atmosphere is up before even entering the mouth.
Let's talk when we have wine, talk about things in the field, what we have seen outside, our plans for the coming year... We change glasses and have a great time.
The audience in the live broadcast room ate with the aroma of meat and wine, and could eat two bowls more than usual.
Zhen Shuai doesn't drink. He eats by himself and takes care of Shen Xingdu. He also has to pay attention to what's going on on the table at all times. If anyone has finished his wine glass, he should immediately refill it, or if the wine bottle is empty, he should quickly refill it. Open a bottle.
Everyone at the table treated him seriously as an adult, and inevitably asked him about his plans for the coming year.
"The focus in the coming year will be on the mountain. I haven't decided what to do specifically yet. Maybe raising chickens?" Zhen Shuai said, "Besides raising chickens, there seems to be nothing else you can do on the mountain." If he raises chickens, it will definitely not be on a large scale
. It will be small, and some people at the table will inevitably worry about the impact it will have on their homes.
Zhen Shuai seemed to have guessed that someone was worried, and added: "I may specialize in making salted eggs by then, and it shouldn't have much impact on other chicken raising families in the village." The village chief nodded, "If there is a good
recipe , it’s good to make salted eggs!”
“Yeah.” Zhen Shuai smiled and nodded, “If we can find a suitable market, we might even collect eggs in the village. If the elders have extra eggs at home, they can also sell them to Me. However, it's too early to say this now. Let's wait until spring. Eat vegetables, eat vegetables!"
After getting half a guarantee, everyone was very happy. Raising chickens is easy. Since the last meeting, many people have raised a lot more chickens at home. There are too many eggs and I am worried. If Zhen Shuai can really find a market for the eggs, they will have one less thing to worry about.
The children ran off to play after they were full, and the adults' table didn't finish until after two o'clock.
Zhen Shuai first sent Butcher Zhang away and gave him two yuan in wages, a two-pound piece of meat and a box of good brand cigarettes.
There was also one more box of good cigarettes than other stores, and Butcher Zhang was satisfied when he left.
Immediately, Zhen Shuai saw off other guests.
Ma Xiaolian and the others wanted to clean up the kitchen before leaving, but Zhenxiang and the others forcibly sent them away. Don't take other people's kindness for granted.
After the guests left, the house was left in a mess. Melon seed peels, peanut shells, candy wrappers, bones, fish bones... are everywhere.
Zhen Shuai started cleaning the house and yard. The three sisters boiled pot after pot of hot water and washed all the pots and pans. Many of them were borrowed, but they also cleaned them and returned them one by one.
After working for more than an hour, the house was clean again.
Several people were paralyzed from exhaustion.
Zhen Shuai took out the charcoal pot, and the others took a rest while warming themselves by the fire.
After letting the three sisters relax for a while, Zhen Shuai brought up an unpleasant topic.
"Today, my uncle suddenly mentioned my grandma, grandpa and uncle. What do you think? Do you want to visit me before the end of the year? Also, do you want to visit me during the first month of the year?"
The three sisters looked at each other and were speechless for a long time. To be honest, when Xu Xiuli just left, they thought every day that their grandpa, uncle, aunt, and aunt would come to visit them one day. After all, they are blood relatives. But they waited day by day and were disappointed day by day. They had not thought of them for a long time. If Zhen Shuai didn't tell them, they still wouldn't be able to remember. You don't need to ask to know why they didn't come. They were afraid of being entangled by a few trolls. This is actually not incomprehensible. Grandma and grandpa are old, and each of their uncles, aunts, and aunts has more than two children, so the burden is not small. However, they did not even take the initiative to visit them once. How could this not chill them?
"Have you not been there before? But they drove us back. In this case, I think we should not go there in the future to avoid being kicked out a second time." Zhen Xiang said with a lot of resentment.
Zhen Guo lowered her head, "It's actually the same as having none if we have these relatives."
Zhen Duo said, "Zhen Guo is right. Since having them is almost the same as not having them, there is no need to keep moving."
Zhen Shuai felt a little worried. If you try to persuade him, a estrangement has already formed, and even if he tries to persuade them to make peace, they won't get along very happily; if he doesn't persuade him, he won't stay here forever in the future. When he leaves, the four Zhenxiang siblings will have to rely on themselves to sort this out. The family can't survive because they don't even have anyone close to them except each other. Although the grandparents have some feelings for them, they are old after all.
It seems that he has to train the next "head of the family" before leaving. Otherwise, even if he leaves a lot of money in the future, they may not be able to keep it. It is a trivial matter not to be able to keep money. If someone seeks money and kills because of it, it will be harming them. As for who is more suitable among Zhen Xiang, Zhen Duo and Zhen Guo, we can’t tell yet.
He looked at Zhen Xiang first. This eldest sister had the most serious problem.
"Sister, do you have any plans for the future?"
"What plans?" Zhen Xiang was confused.
Zhen Shuai sighed secretly, "If you don't want to study, I won't force you. But you haven't thought about learning a craft and settling down? Don't tell me that in the future, you will want to get married and have children when you are old, like most women in the village. . If you are unlucky, marry a farmer and farm with him; if you are lucky, you can marry into the city. But even if you marry into the city, you still have to work, right? You have to contribute to the family, and you can't live for free. Neither do others. Maybe I raised you in vain, right?"
Zhen Xiang's face turned red at first.
Zhen Duo and Zhen Guo were a little embarrassed to hear such a topic. They both lowered their heads, but they were also thinking along the way.
"I haven't thought about it yet..." Zhen Xiang's mind went blank. But she definitely doesn’t want to farm, partly because of her health. In addition, she thinks farming is too tiring.
Zhen Shuai continued to guide her, "Then you can start thinking now. You are only sixteen, it is never too late to learn anything you want to learn." Zhen Xiang looked serious, "I will think about it carefully!"
Chapter 648 Relatives are coming [1st update]
Zhen Shuai asked Zhen Duo and Zhen Guo again, "Where are you two? What do you want to do in the future?"
Zhen Duo's eyes were bright, "I want to be a teacher, is it possible? I think it is good to be a teacher. The job is stable and I can return the job every year." I have several months of vacation!"
He was still talking like a child.
But Zhen Shuai nodded, "Of course."
"I want to do business in the future, make a lot of money, and buy whatever I want!" Zhen Guo raised her fists to encourage herself.
Zhen Shuai said without changing his expression, "It's okay. But don't think that you know how to do business just by following the stalls. Being able to do business and being able to make money are two different things. The simpler one is that you have to understand what supply and demand are. The more difficult one is Yes, you have to know what oversupply is and what short supply is."
These two professional terms easily stumped Zhen Guo. She asked humbly: "What is oversupply? What is undersupply?"
Zhen Shuai said: "Oversupply, in layman's terms, means that the goods you sell are far greater than what people need. For example, there are five customers in total, and you only need to buy five A hundred fried skewers, but you prepared a hundred. The supply exceeds the demand, and conversely, the five guests obviously need a hundred fried skewers, but you only prepare five, which is far from enough." "Oh..."
Zhen If you think about it.
Zhen Shuai concluded, "So, no matter what you want to do in the future, you must study hard now."
Zhen Xiang looked at him, then at Zhen Duo and Zhen Guo, "Weren't we just talking about grandma and the others? What should we do? "
Zhen Shuai said: "Since you don't want to move around, don't take the initiative to visit us yet. But if they come again one day and want to continue walking with us, we have to move around. Otherwise, others will think that we are rich. I won’t recognize my poor relatives anymore.”
Zhen Xiang and the others made it clear. They understand the principle and just move around. But it is impossible for them to show their true feelings again.
Maybe it's because you really can't tell people behind their backs.
Within three days, my uncle, aunt, uncle and aunt came together.
It snowed heavily three days ago and lasted all day and night. Although it has stopped now, the snow has not melted yet and the roads are icy, making it difficult to walk. Uncle and the others came to visit in such weather.
When they came, the three sisters were so bored playing poker at home, winning or losing based on a peanut.
Zhen Shuai and Shen Xingdu were also sitting by the charcoal basin, with their feet on the marshmallows, warming themselves by the fire and reading a book. The light was a large one-hundred-watt light bulb. Close the door, turn on the lights, warm yourself by the fire, and read a book, it is extremely comfortable.
When they heard someone shouting outside, they didn't recognize the voice and didn't want to get up. In winter, I feel cold as soon as I get up.
It’s also winter over there for some viewers, so they choose the holographic mode and the anchor’s perspective, grill over the charcoal fire, and read books, which is very interesting. I was enjoying the wonderful feeling of being drowsy, but I was disturbed, which made me quite unhappy.
Zhen Duo shouted: "The door is unlocked, come in by yourself!" When
others entered the main room, they realized that it was their uncle and the others.
Zhen Guo blurted out unexpected words, "Uncle, aunt, and uncle and aunt, why are you here?" The
four brothers and sisters Xu Zhigang, Xu Xiurong, Xu Zhiqiang and Xu Xiumin flashed a trace of embarrassment at the same time.
"Guoguo, look at what you said! It snowed so heavily the past two days, how can aunt not worry about you? So she didn't wait for the snow to melt before coming to see you?" Aunt Xu Xiurong rolled her eyes and looked around the main room. The new clothes and shoes they were wearing, the new cabinets, new chairs, and new charcoal basins in the main room... were too much for her eyes to see. There is also a large dining table with two plates on it, one filled with peanuts, melon seeds, candies and biscuits, and the other filled with red apples. Although the wine bottles in the box placed in the corner were empty, it did not affect her ability to recognize the words on them. All good wine!
Zhen Xiang brought four chairs and placed them next to the fire pot. "Uncle, aunt, uncle, and aunt, please sit down and warm yourself by the fire." Zhen Shuai called for others and poured tea for the guests, and asked Zhen Guo to pour hot water for everyone
. Uncle, they wash up.
Zhen Duo took the food box and placed it on a bench.
"Uncle, you guys have something to eat."
Uncle Xu Zhigang said a little clumsily, "Okay, okay, stop working, sit down and talk." When
everyone sat down by the charcoal pot again, there was a moment of silence in the room, only The sound of sparks bursting out.
"Chengcheng can read a book by himself? How good!" Aunt Xu Xiumin spoke first, breaking the silence, but the atmosphere became even more awkward.
The audience in the live broadcast room immediately complained.
[Let me go, what kind of aunt is this? It’s been so long since I last saw him, and I can’t even recognize my own nephew! ]
[Don't say that you can't recognize it because they look too similar. Brother Dudu and Zhen Cheng don't look alike at all, okay? 】
Indeed. Zhen Cheng is not ugly, but he is the kind with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a tiger-like head, while Shen Xingdu is a delicate one. There is absolutely no resemblance between the two.
Zhen Shuai and Zhen Xiang looked at each other with strange expressions.
It was my uncle Xu Zhiqiang who discovered something was wrong, "This is not Chengcheng."
"Huh?" Xu Xiumin reacted very quickly, "Hey, the fire was so bright that I couldn't see clearly. It's not Chengcheng. Where is Chengcheng?" Nonsense
. Brother Dudu was sitting directly opposite her. The firelight would only make his face clearer. How could he not see clearly.
But no one exposed her.
Xu Xiurong lowered her head slightly, with a look of joy on her face. In fact, she didn't recognize that it was not Zhen Cheng. Fortunately, she didn't speak.
Zhen Xiang had a slight smile on her face, but her tone was light, "He hasn't gotten up yet. He's in the room." Zhen Shuai picked up the tea and handed it to Xu Zhigang, "Uncle, you have tea. Zhenghua is outside
. It's freezing. It's colder than usual. Why did you choose to come today? You can come to see us anytime you want. There are always people at home." Xu Zhigang couldn't tell if there was something behind his words, and he repeatedly rubbed the smooth ceramic tea cup
. He doesn't even have such a good cup at home.
"Your aunt is worried that you don't have enough quilts and jackets, and has been urging me to come and see you. So when the road becomes easier, I will call your aunt, aunt, and uncle together." Zhen Shuai said this
. No one believed it. If you were really worried that they wouldn't have enough quilts and jackets, you would have come when winter first came and you wouldn't have waited until now. Fortunately, they didn't expect their uncles to send quilts and cotton-padded jackets, otherwise they would have frozen to death. Of course, although they are relatives, they don't owe them anything. It's just that I feel a little uncomfortable emotionally.
Zhen Xiang has a relatively sensitive personality. Thinking of the embarrassment of being driven away like a beggar, tears almost flowed out of her eyes, but luckily she controlled them.
"I'm going to see if Zhen Cheng is awake."
She entered the room but did not come out.
The room was quiet for a while again.
Xu Xiurong groaned: "My eldest nephew, my aunt is a straight-tempered person. If you have anything to say, just say it."
Zhen Shuai smiled and nodded, "You tell me."
Xu Xiurong said: "I know you must blame your aunt a little, and I can understand that. If I were to face such grievances, I wouldn't be able to bear it. But my child, you should also be considerate of my aunt's difficulties. My aunt has three children at home. There are also two old people who eat, drink and have sex without spending money? Your cousin and his cousins are all shameless. They rely on their grandparents to live with us and eat at home every now and then. Aunt Why are there just three children? A whole bunch of children! You are my aunt's nephews. How could your aunt not feel sorry for you? Just the thought of them having one meal but not the next will keep me awake all night long. Auntie also wants to help you, but there is nothing at home, how can I help? I finally sold the grain, and now I have some money in my hand, so I came to see you quickly. I didn’t bring anything else with me this time, but I brought five kilograms of cotton for you, so I can make two cotton-padded jackets to wear. Don't really hate your aunt!" "How can you hate your aunt? We understand your aunt's difficulties." Zhen Shuai kept smiling on his face
. Yes, I can’t tell what the intention is. Xu Xiurong stuffed the cotton into his arms, and he took it.
Xu Xiumin hurriedly said: "My conditions are not as good as those of my eldest sister. I made a new pair of cotton shoes for each of you. I specially added thick cotton to keep your feet from freezing!" Xu Zhigang pulled the baggage he brought over,
" Here are new quilts made by your aunt for you. Her craftsmanship is not good, so don’t disapprove of it."
Xu Zhiqiang also opened the snakeskin bag he brought, "I brought you some fine grain. After eating, I will send a message to my uncle. , my uncle will give it to you later."
Zhen Duo and Zhen Guo remained silent.
Zhen Shuai thanked them one by one, accepted them all, and left them to have lunch.
None of Xu Zhigang refused.
Zhen Xiang then came out of the room, called Zhen Duo and Zhen Guo, and went to the kitchen to cook.
Xu Xiurong and Xu Xiumin didn't mean to move. They asked Zhen Shuai to talk, asking about their current situation. Zhen Shuai kept talking in circles with them, but couldn't answer clearly.
Zhen Cheng rubbed his eyes and came out of the room. When he saw Xu Zhigang and the others, he had no impression of them.
Zhen Shuai taught him to call someone, and he would run away after calling someone.
Zhen Shuai told Xu Zhigang and others some interesting things about Zhen Cheng.
The four of them, Xu Zhigang, tried several times to change the topic to the fried skewers business, but failed. They were always led by Zhen Shuai unknowingly, and they couldn't help but feel anxious secretly.
Xu Zhiqiang couldn't hold back his anger, "Shuai Shuai, I heard that your family is doing business and it's doing pretty well?"
Zhen Shuai didn't answer but asked: "Brother, who did you listen to?"
Xu Zhiqiang said: "Listen to what we say in the village. People said it, they should have listened to the people in your village." Not to mention how regretful he felt, since Xu Xiuli ran away, he didn't dare to listen to the news from Yangliuwan Village at all, for fear that someone would come and try to Zhen Xiang and others recommended it to him. Because of this, he never knew that Zhen Shuai and the others had started a fried skewers business and were doing it successfully. It was only yesterday that a fellow villager who had a good time with him asked him for a drink, so he listened to him, so he came without stopping until the snow melted.
It's just that he didn't expect to meet his eldest brother, eldest sister and little sister on the road so coincidentally.