Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

Every few days, Zhang Xixi would go to the Zhang family to help shell nuts, because Xiao Chen was pregnant and already six months along.

With Zhou and Chen taking care of the shop, Zhang Dacheng was quite busy on his own.

Zhang Wenhong was busy with production in the factory all day long. Fortunately, Fu Bao liked to be close to his father and went to work with him every day.

His family members no longer needed to take care of him, which made things much easier for them.

When Zhang Xixi and the others arrived at the Zhang family's house, Zhang Wenbo was also helping to peel walnuts.

"Why are you here!"

“We’re here to help!” Zhang Xixi replied with a smile.

Then I took the pumpkin seeds from the winnowing basket and started peeling them.

When the Chen family returned and saw Zhang Xixi, they immediately asked, "Daughter, son-in-law, what are your plans regarding Yujie's marriage?"

"What plans?!" Zhang Xixi looked completely bewildered.

"Yujie should be engaged by now. Many people his age in the village are already married!"

They're getting married at such a young age, barely in junior high!

Isn't this destroying young flowers?

"Mother, Yujie is still young. Let's talk about it in a few years."

Upon hearing this, Chen immediately pulled Zhang Xixi aside and whispered:

“What do you mean, ‘still young’? Aren’t you afraid the villagers will gossip and say that you, as the eldest sister-in-law, are very shrewd and unwilling to help your younger brother get married?”

"Am I such a person?"

"We all know what kind of person you are, but you still need to consider Yujie's feelings. Maybe he wants to get married too!"

"Then next time they come back, I'll ask him if he has a girl he likes."

"If not, ask him what kind of person he likes, and I'll find a matchmaker to introduce him to someone."

"All right!"

Zhang Xixi reluctantly agreed!

After returning home that evening, Zhang Xixi and Zhou Yuhao discussed Zhou Yuhao's marriage again.

What do you think of Yujie's marriage?

Thinking about what happened at his mother-in-law's house during the day, Zhou Yuhao asked, "Did someone say something?"

Zhang Xixi didn't tell him what Chen had said, but only said, "Yujie is already fifteen years old. All the fifteen-year-old boys in the village are engaged. Shouldn't we find a wife for Yujie too?"

"It depends on Yujie's opinion. As long as he's happy, that's fine."

This man is so open-minded; he doesn't seem like an old-fashioned person at all.

"Ask him what he thinks when you come back next time!"

"Row!"

The family has already started cultivating rice seedlings, Wang Daniu and the others are preparing the land, and Zhou Fu has gone to discuss selling cattle.

Zhang Xixi and Zhou Yuhao were tidying up the grain warehouse at home; there were still 70,000 to 80,000 jin of last year's rice piled up in the warehouse.

In the past two years, because of the good rice harvest at home, we keep 100,000 jin for our own consumption every year and sell the rest.

Moreover, because there was plenty of rice, not only did the family eat rice three times a day, but even Wang Daniu and his family only made sweet potato rice when they wanted to eat sweet potatoes.

Zhou Yuhao was still a little unaccustomed to seeing Zhang Xixi carrying a sack of rice in each hand.

This wife is so strong, when will she ever be able to rely on herself?

Ugh!

What are you thinking!

As long as you are patient and treat them sincerely, you can warm even a stone.

On the day Zhou Yujie and the others were off work, Zhang Xixi asked Sun Xiuxiu to prepare their dishes early in the morning.

I also stewed a free-range chicken with some ginseng, just to nourish their bodies.

By noon, Da Bao, carrying his fat, big-beaked chicken, went to the village entrance to wait.

Instead of Zhou Yujie and his group, they were greeted by a fat young master with a large head and ears, accompanied by a group of guards.

They were called guards, but they were actually just a bunch of glib-tongued thugs.

"Child, is this the deserted village?"

"Isn't it written there?"

Da Bao pointed to the big rock at the entrance of the village and said.

"It really is!"

A sycophantic young man stepped forward and said, "Young Master Yang, this is the deserted village. The vermicelli factory is inside."

Da Bao's ears twitched; these people were asking what the fan factory was doing.

"Hey kid, are you from this village?"

Da Bao pouted and said, "Yeah, so what?"

Seeing this, Zhou Dashan, who was passing by, was worried that Da Bao would get hurt, so he immediately stepped forward and pulled him back, saying, "Da Bao, what are you doing here!"

"Uncle, I'm waiting for Erbao and the others!"

The chubby young man looked at Zhou Dashan impatiently and said, "Hey, do you know where the vermicelli factory is?"

He stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Young master, you're here to buy vermicelli, aren't you?"

"We're here to talk business with you! We're calling on the people in charge to come out."

Zhou Dashan looked them over and saw that they had never been here before!

"I am the village head. May I ask what kind of business you are discussing?"

"The village head should be able to make the decision, right?"

“Young master, you can make the decision.”

"Alright, then let's talk. I want to buy your factory. My offer is one thousand taels of silver. Will you sell or not?"

"Young master, our factory is not for sale."

After Zhou Dashan finished speaking, he gestured for Da Bao to go back quickly.

Da Bao glanced at the group of people; they were there to cause trouble!

Go back to find your father.

He ran home in one breath.

"Father, Mother, someone wants to buy our vermicelli factory. They've offered a thousand taels of silver."

"Where is the man?"

"My uncle stopped me at the village entrance!"

Someone had come looking for trouble, so Zhang Xixi immediately ran into her room and took out a large knife that she hadn't used in a long time.

Zhou Yuhao exclaimed in surprise, "Wife, what are you doing?"

"Of course we're going to beat that scoundrel up!"

After saying that, Zhang Xixi shouldered her broadsword and strode out.

Seeing this, Da Bao grabbed his wooden sword and chased after them, not forgetting to call out to Zhou Yuhao.

"Father, hurry!"

Along the way, the villagers saw Zhang Xixi's aggressive demeanor and assumed something serious had happened. Without even asking, they ran home to grab their weapons and followed her.

When they arrived at the village entrance, Zhou Dashan was still stalling for time, but when he saw them coming, he immediately straightened his back.

“Young Master Yang, I’ve already told you our factory won’t sell, no matter how much money you offer.”

Young Master Yang angrily said, "You old fool, you don't know who I am, yet you dare to refuse me."

The lackey number one hurriedly said, "Our young master is Yang Laifu, the younger brother of the county magistrate. You bunch of snobbish country bumpkins who look down on people."

"If you don't sell the factory to us, see how we deal with you!"

"How are you going to deal with us?!"

Zhang Xixi laughed sarcastically.

Look at Zhou Dashan, there's a large group of people behind him, armed and glaring at them menacingly.

The lackey number one took a few steps back. "Young master, what should we do? We can't defeat so many of them!"

Yang Laifu snorted a few times, "What do you want to do? Let me tell you, my brother-in-law is the county magistrate. If you dare to touch me, he won't let you off the hook."

“Young master, we mean no harm.”

Zhou Dashan then turned to Zhou Yuping and the others to discuss, "What should we do? This person really is a relative of the county magistrate!"

"It's alright, we didn't do anything to him anyway, he'll be fine," Zhou Yuhao reassured him.

Even if they really do something to him, I'm not afraid!