Every family has its challenges. Here, even Mr. Zhang is lying on the bed at night with furrowed brows, taking a few hard puffs of his pipe. Thinking of what his eldest brother said, he feels frustrated too.
Mother Zhang brought in a bowl of rice porridge, urging him to drink it quickly.
Mr. Zhang was amused by his wife’s antics and laughed, "Drinking rice porridge can cure a cold, I can believe that. But to think rice porridge can ease my worries... Darling, this isn’t so kind of worry-free soup."
Seeing him smile, Mother Zhang chuckled and said, "Don’t underestimate it. This truly is a worry-free soup! Think about it, pure white rice, how precious! What’s better than having extra grain? My father nad my eldest brother Youliang, and second brother Yuliang, hoping his descendants would always have extra grain."
Mr. Zhang thought of his father-in-law and laughed heartily too.
"Listen to , child’s father. We help those in imdiate need, not those in constant poverty. Our eldest sister-in-law is like a bottomless pit. These days aren’t as hard as the years of the continuous natural disasters; getting sothing to eat isn’t a problem. If they’re still claiming a shortage of grain, they’re not being sincere. I think you helped too much before, making them feel we’re well-off and can support their children."
Mr. Zhang nodded, "How could I not understand this reasoning? When they were on the brink of survival, I couldn’t just stand by. But now..."
At this point, Mr. Zhang sighed, "My eldest brother is so smart, he just said, ’Second brother, I have too many kids at ho, and my grandson is about to marry. I really can’t help eldest sister-in-law much; you do your best to look after her.’ See how easily he said it, but it drives crazy."
"What did little uncle say?"
Mr. Zhang smiled, "My younger brother told not to bother with eldest sister-in-law. He said the three of us brothers have done enough helping her through the past two years, even if his family had extra grain, he wouldn’t give any to those ungrateful wolves."
Mother Zhang shook her head with a smile, "No wonder you’re bothered. Whose opinion should you listen to? Child’s father, my sister-in-law talked to today about it. She said she and her husband have stopped managing the household, and now the eldest manages it. She seed reluctant to help the eldest sister-in-law too. Do you think the eldest sister-in-law offended her? She used to say how the eldest sister-in-law was unfortunate and helped her as much as she could."
Mr. Zhang sighed, feeling it difficult to bring up. This wasn’t the sister-in-law’s fault; anyone would be upset. Back then, the three brothers agreed to give 50 catties of sweet potato chips first and rotate later on.
But who knew what eldest sister-in-law said upon returning, her two elder nephews ca to the village the next day to demand grain, claiming their mother said the two uncles still owed them 50 catties of sweet potato chips. At that ti, everyone was eating at the village cafeteria, starving almost to the point of strangulation; where could 50 catties of sweet potato chips co from?
As a result, those little beasts stayed and wouldn’t leave. It led to so villagers making derogatory remarks, about how promises were made to nephews without providing grain and exploiting public benefits, which made the sister-in-law resentful.
Thinking of the nephews’ character, Mr. Zhang hardened his heart and said, "I’ll listen to little brother! If eldest brother wants to help, he can co over and see if I still have any grain."
Mother Zhang burst out laughing, took the pipe from his hand, placed it on the basket outside, ca back, set up the mosquito net, and said, "Don’t worry over it; it’s not worth it. Let tell you sothing to cheer you up."
Mr. Zhang nodded, fanning himself, waiting for his wife to continue.
"Today when I went back, many people asked if Xi Zi would consider getting involved."
Mr. Zhang shook his head with a smile, "Our eldest grandson knows what’s best; let him choose for himself. Look at the second son and Xiao Wu, they picked their own partners, no need for us to worry."
"That’s what I said too. Eldest sister-in-law even told if the kids are still young, just push it off; our Zhang Family never lacks choices. By the way, their Tie Dan is also looking to settle down; eldest sister-in-law said Qingshan’s wife is worried about not being able to build a house. Isn’t she overthinking? Can the eldest son be separated like that?"
"Once Tie Dan gets married, it’ll be Yin Suo’s brother’s turn, she worries about the younger kids. Eldest brother ntioned this to ; he was happy when he had many grandsons, but now one after another, they’re growing up, and dowries are expensive. Old Captain says now collecting stone requires community approval, building even a thatched house requires wood approval from the team. Nowadays, building a house not only materials are hard to find but cost twice as much as before."
Mother Zhang thought her niece-in-law wasn’t wrong. They at least had a big courtyard; worse cos to worse, her sons could all live together.
Mr. Zhang finished speaking, unwilling to bring up the subject anymore. His eldest brother’s thoughts were best not shared with his wife, or she might just lose her temper. He thought about what his eldest brother implied today and smiled wryly.
Not to ntion he disagreed, even Xiao Wu would disagree. His youngest son never lacked money and would never sell the ancestral property allocated to him.
The few hundred yuan wouldn’t even be enough for the youngest son to take them for a spin around Beijing. Not to ntion his grandson Ping’an’s pocket money leftovers alone exceeded those few hundred yuan. His eldest brother really underestimated people!
"... Child’s father, do you think Xiao Wu can manage with one courtyard here and another one there? Oh, I’m glad I didn’t say it out loud, or people would be envious..."
Look! That’s his youngest son’s wealth. Just in Beijing alone, there are three big courtyards, maybe more elsewhere. His elder brother worried about Xiao Wu’s couple not having enough money for school, but in his view, who could be poorer than his youngest son? His daughter-in-law’s family brought wealth into the marriage.
"... Child’s father, do you know how much Xiao Wu has? Ha... I asked Xiao Wu last ti, and the silly boy jokingly said he couldn’t spend it all, no matter how hard he tried. Wouldn’t it be great if it were true!"
Mr. Zhang glanced at his wife, her eyes sparkling, knowing she wouldn’t be able to sleep again tonight. He chuckled, "Once both of them start working, they wouldn’t be able to spend it all. I found out, a college graduate’s starting salary is 56 yuan, how much would they earn in a year?"
Mother Zhang counted with her fingers, agonizingly calculating. After a while, she said worriedly, "Having too much money isn’t good. Look at those landlord families?"
Mr. Zhang laughed quietly, patting her, "Go to sleep!"
Mother Zhang obediently lay down but still anxiously said, "Rember, if anyone asks if Xiao Wu has money, always say there’s no inco being a student."
Mr. Zhang laughed heartily, nodding repeatedly. But his wife made sense; the phrase "wealth should not be shown" has always been true. He needed to remind his youngest son several tis.
"Old Mrs. Cheng said, if Gu Family hadn’t collapsed, with Xiao Wu and Jiao Jiao, even if they gargled with ginseng soup every day, they’d never run out of money."
Mr. Zhang secretly felt relief that the Gu Family collapsed; otherwise, would his youngest son still be alive? Before, Brother Zhou’s grandfather had encountered misfortune due to excessive wealth too. Being an ordinary citizen was better; living freely. He didn’t wish for his son to be trendously wealthy; the current state was good enough—having enough to live on and maintaining a respectable appearance was sufficient.
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