The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 20 The Zhou Family's Resentment After Returning Home
"Village chief, I'll have to trouble you in the future. If I can't come back sometimes, I'll have the postman deliver the money."

Before leaving Hongqi Village, Zhou Zhiqiang pleaded, "If I can come back, I'll try my best to visit you, but the factory's production schedule might be quite tight right now."

Not long after the post office was established, in those days, when postmen went to the countryside, they would almost always hand over the letters to the village chiefs so that they could forward them.

There's no specific address for each household in the village; if the postman doesn't ask for directions, he simply won't be able to find his way.

The village chief nodded and said, "Okay, I'll keep an eye on this for you. I'll make sure the Zhou family gets the money and won't give them a reason to come to the city to find you."

Zhou Zhiqiang shook his head and said, "It's fine if they come to the city. I'm not afraid of them causing trouble. Besides, you saw Tian Daniu's behavior just now, right, village chief? I'd be a fool to say I'm their biological daughter."

"Ugh"

Upon hearing this, the village chief sighed. He had naturally heard what Tian Danu had blurted out.

However, without solid evidence, and with no one in the village who knew the Zhou family well, it would be difficult to verify this matter unless Zhou Yongliang himself spoke up.

As the village chief, he is even less likely to talk nonsense in the village, otherwise he would be betraying the trust that the villagers have placed in him to become the village chief.

However, he wasn't the only one who heard what Tian Danu said. From today onwards, someone will definitely tell their family about it, and then it will slowly spread throughout the village.

This was also Zhou Zhiqiang's purpose.

On the other side, the Zhou family sat silently on the kang (a heated brick bed), no one uttering a word. The atmosphere in the room was so heavy that no one could speak.

After a while, Old Mrs. Zhou couldn't help but shriek, "If you ask me, we shouldn't have agreed to that brat's offer. I'm going to the city next month to make a scene. If he doesn't give me the money, I'll make sure he loses his job!"

"Mom, then we won't even have these five yuan left, and do you really want the township leaders to punish us?"

Zhou Yongliang slammed his hand on the table and shouted.

Most importantly, even after going to Beijing, they couldn't find Zhou Zhiqiang. They only knew that Zhou Zhiqiang had been admitted to university, but they had no idea which university it was.

Unless you go to the township or county to inquire.

Moreover, Zhou Yongliang remembered that Zhou Zhiqiang had already graduated, making it even harder to find him.

Then Zhou Yongliang glared at Tian Daniu and said, "You good-for-nothing! Is your mouth a sieve? You blurt out everything!"

Tian Daniu knew she almost said the wrong thing—no, she had already said it—but she still refused to admit it was her fault, shouting, "How can you blame me? It was that ungrateful little brat who tricked me into saying those things!"

"Besides, what's the point of saying all this? How did that ingrate know? Anyway, I've never told him about this before."

"Nonsense! Did I say it even though you didn't? Why would I bother telling him this if I had nothing better to do!"

"So you blame me? You heartless Zhou, I gave birth to your son and now you're starting to doubt me?"

Tian Daniu is a woman who can argue even when she's in the wrong. Zhou Yongliang usually ignores her, but today the Zhou family has lost a lot of money.

I used to have fifteen yuan a month, but now I only have five yuan left. Those good days are gone forever.

Zhou Yongliang naturally got angry and immediately slammed his fist on the table and started arguing with Tian Daniu. The two argued more and more fiercely, and it looked like they were about to fight when Zhou Liumu stopped them by slamming his fist on the table.

“Arguing won’t help. Let’s think of a way to get the money back. Our family has raised him for over ten years, isn’t it all for the money?”

Zhou Liumu's aged face showed no trace of old man's kindness; instead, he said rather harshly, "If you have the chance, go to the city and inquire about that kid's situation."

He was so quiet and withdrawn before, but now he's suddenly like this. Someone must have said something to him. Yongliang, you need to find out the truth about this, otherwise the family won't be able to hold on."

After listening, Zhou Yongliang hummed in agreement, but he was also very annoyed.

He couldn't keep going because he was the only one in the family who could do the work. They had previously wanted Zhou Zhiqiang to drop out of school and come home to help, but the village head and the township middle school teacher took turns persuading him. That teacher even went so far as to say he would talk to the township leaders about it, so in the end Zhou Yongliang had no choice but to let Zhou Zhiqiang continue his schooling temporarily.

After Zhou Zhiqiang went to college, they finally managed to squeeze some money out of him, but now, not many years later, their money box is gone.
After a moment of silence, Zhou Yongliang suddenly spoke up: "Dad, the family is short ten yuan a month now, and Wangzu is getting married. You should come with me to the fields tomorrow."

"What? You want me to get out of bed?!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Liumu immediately slammed his fist on the table in anger and shouted, "You little brat, are you trying to rebel? I've raised you with great difficulty, and now that I'm old, I can't even rest! Let me tell you, this is unfilial!"

Zhou Yongliang was no pushover either. He slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Then what do you suggest we do? Is Wangzu not going to get married? Or are you going to stop eating?"
"If Wangzu doesn't get married, let's see how you explain this to my grandfather. When you get down here, my grandfather will strangle you!"

You little beast!

The Zhou family immediately fell into a new round of arguments, and before long, Old Mrs. Zhou and Tian Daniu also started fighting.

After dividing the family property, it was already quite late.

Zhou Zhiqiang had to rush back to cook dinner that night, so after saying goodbye to the village chief, he rode his bicycle towards Beijing.

Thanks to the durability of the old bicycle, Zhou Zhiqiang pedaled his legs at lightning speed and finally made it back to Beijing before dark.

Traveling during daylight is relatively safe, but leaving the city at that time is not particularly safe either, as robbers might be lurking by the roadside once it gets dark.

It's alright during the day. There are militia teams patrolling in each village. They will come over as soon as they hear gunshots. Few people dare to rob people during the day. It's too dangerous.

arrive home.

When Guo Yuting saw Zhou Zhiqiang return, she couldn't help but smile and walk over to help him push the cart, saying, "Zhiqiang, you're finally back."

The fact that someone was waiting for him at home made Zhou Zhiqiang feel at ease, as if no one cared about him.

Zhou Zhiqiang asked, "You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"I brought some back from the state-run restaurant at noon, but I haven't eaten dinner yet."

"I'll do it now, wait for me."

After saying that, Zhou Zhiqiang washed his hands and went to the kitchen to prepare a meal.

After parking her bicycle, Guo Yuting came in to help. She wasn't very good at other things, but at least the steamed buns she made were edible.

While cooking, Zhou Zhiqiang also talked to his wife about things at home: "Yuting, I went back home today and separated from my family."

"Separate?"

Upon hearing this, Guo Yuting asked in surprise, "Weren't you supposed to go back to give the money? Why are you splitting up the family again?"

"They were insatiable, and I had a feeling they weren't my biological parents, but after I tricked them, it turned out they really weren't."

Zhou Zhiqiang slowly recounted what had happened that day to Guo Yuting, including the fact that he would give his family five yuan a month after the family split up.

After hearing this, Guo Yuting felt sorry for her husband and comforted him, saying, "It's okay, we'll just ignore them and live our own lives from now on."

Zhou Zhiqiang said with a smile, "Of course, I'll be a full-time employee soon. Once my salary goes up, I'll save up some industrial vouchers to buy you a watch."

He has a watch, but it was bought for him by his father-in-law, Guo Linhua. Guo Yuting, as Guo Linhua's daughter, doesn't have a watch yet.

If money isn't an issue, naturally I should buy one for my wife too.

(End of this chapter)