Chapter 963: Chapter 836: You Don’t Understand!

After chatting idly with Zhao Dashan for a while, Mr. Zhang walked home slowly with his hands clasped behind his back. All the way he kept turning over in his mind why Zhao Chuan Guang had told him before leaving that he should go back to the village when he had time and have a look at Xiao Wu’s courtyard?

That courtyard is just sitting there, and Brother Zhao should also know that when the two of us old folks go back, we stay at Xiao Wu’s place. No matter how he thought about it, something felt off.

"Dad, where’s Uncle Guang?"

Mr. Zhang looked up and saw his two sons at the door. "He drove back."

"Mom even prepared some things for him to take back. How could you let him go back empty‑handed?"

Mr. Zhang stepped into the yard and chuckled. "Let Xi Zi take them over when school starts. Your Uncle Dashan has already secretly stuffed quite a lot into his car."

Once in the living room, Zhang the Second rolled his eyes around and asked, "Dad, it’s not even the weekend. Did Uncle Guang come over because he had something important to discuss with you two?"

Mr. Zhang was about to speak when he suddenly thought of Zuo Lin, and immediately shook his head. During that stretch in Beijing, he’d met the Zuo Family; they weren’t in the same camp as his Brother Zhou.

If today Zhao Chuan Guang meant to tip Zuo Lin off, there was no way it would’ve just been him and Zhao Dashan present, without inviting Zuo Lin.

He didn’t understand all these twists and turns. But he did understand that if Zhao Dashan wanted to say something, he’d speak up himself; it wasn’t his place.

"Then what did Uncle Guang come for?"

Mr. Zhang smiled. "You silly boy! Didn’t you see your Uncle Guang brought loads of stuff over? He said a few days ago Jiao Jiao called him and mentioned me and your mom. He’s here on behalf of his dry daughter to visit us."

"He came to talk to your Uncle Guang about our Xiao Wu joining the army." As Mr. Zhang spoke, he suddenly asked, "Xiao Wu’s almost done with his training, right?"

Zhang Guofu nodded worriedly. "A little over half a month left. I heard the military training is really hard. Don’t know if Little Brother can handle it. Did Uncle Guang mention anything?"

"Your Uncle Guang also said Xiao Wu is in some sort of closed training right now. I figure it’s tough as hell. Tired is tired, but learning more skills is always a good thing."

Zhang the Second shook his head. "I really don’t get it. Why didn’t that fool just go to work like Jiao Jiao? What’s he doing being a soldier, exhausting himself for nothing?"

Mr. Zhang looked at him with contempt. This youngest son of his is shrewd as they come; like hell this brat would guess it.

"Dad, what’s that look supposed to mean?"

Mr. Zhang chuckled twice. "You don’t get it!"

Seeing his second brother being disdained by their father, Zhang Guofu laughed heartily.

"Big Bro, you get it?"

Zhang Guofu actually had some idea; he nodded. "Uncle Zhou only has one Jiao Jiao; he won’t shortchange his own son‑in‑law. You know how much our Xiao Wu used to oppose being a soldier; it’s not like you don’t know. Now this stubborn kid is willing to serve, so it definitely won’t be bad."

"Of course I understand that logic. I’m just afraid that fool will act on impulse..." Zhang the Second stopped halfway through his sentence. He almost forgot their parents would worry.

Zhang Guofu secretly shot him a glare, then grinned at Mr. Zhang. "With a smart guy like Uncle Zhou around, plus Jiao Jiao by his side, nothing will happen to Xiao Wu."

Unlike Zhang the Second, Mr. Zhang wasn’t worried at all about the path Zhang Guoqing had chosen. He had full confidence in his shrewd youngest son.

If there were no benefits, that youngest son of his wouldn’t have agreed. And if it was life‑threatening, never mind Brother Zhou, even his own sharp‑tongued daughter‑in‑law wouldn’t have agreed.

What he was fretting about now was why Brother Zhao, Zhao Chuan Guang, wanted him to go back to the village and have a look. Look at what? Their household registration wasn’t even with the production team anymore; there was only that little courtyard left.

If something happened to someone, it shouldn’t implicate their family... Wait, no, his big brother and little brother were still in the village... account checking...

Mr. Zhang felt like he’d thought of something, but for the life of him couldn’t recall it. Annoyed, he tapped his long tobacco pipe. Sure enough, it all came down to his lack of education.

"...Big Bro, my salary is going up next month."

"That’s great. Your years of service have gone up; it should go up."

"Hahaha, you’re doing well too, sitting in the office every day. Do you have any business trips before the New Year?"

Zhang Guofu shook his head. "No. It’s the finance section that often has business trips. I don’t really want to go out; too tiring..."

On the side, Mr. Zhang quickly cut in. "Isn’t the finance section the one that pays the salaries? What business trips do they need to go on?"

Zhang Guofu couldn’t help but laugh, then patiently explained, "Dad, it’s not that simple. The Grain Bureau has accounts and dealings with other units too."

"Sit down and tell me what exactly they do."

Without overthinking it, Zhang Guofu started talking; his dad rarely showed interest in this stuff. "In our unit’s finance, besides the senior cashier, there’s also the senior accountant, and each of them has a few deputies helping out."

"Besides the grain that each subordinate grain depot negotiates to purchase, sometimes grain has to be transferred between different areas, so they often send finance personnel along on business trips."

"Things are fairly complicated in there; it’s hard to explain in a short time. Remember early spring when someone in the finance section got dealt with? Back then Xiao Wu was worried that money was involved and that I’d be used by someone."

"Just look at our eldest brother‑in‑law’s dad. He’s been handling the accounts for everyone in the village for so many years. Weren’t his five sons all living better than our family back in the early days?"

"With an all‑powerful Uncle Captain in charge, he still managed to get houses built and wives married off for his first four sons, and then there’s the betrothal gifts for our eldest sister’s husband back then. There are some things you can’t say out loud; there’s a lot one can do in there."

Mr. Zhang waved his hand for him to stop. After hearing his eldest son talk like that, he did understand some things. Folks in the village all said Accountant Zhang was a shrewd man; after dealing with him for most of his life, how could he not understand?

—If anything, Accountant Zhang was already better than most others.

"Don’t bring this up again in the future, so you don’t offend people. At your unit, keep your distance from those folks too. Since Xiao Wu has thought of this, we should steer clear of it. Our family doesn’t lack a place to live or food and clothing. It’s better to just do your job properly and be an honest person."

Zhang Guofu nodded. "Dad, don’t worry. Even if our family wasn’t living as well as we are now—say we were so poor we couldn’t afford to eat—the three of us brothers would never do anything that goes against our conscience." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Mr. Zhang nodded absentmindedly. He more or less understood what Brother Zhao meant now. This was a reminder for him to give Old Captain a heads‑up.

Thinking that even the village was going to have its accounts checked, Mr. Zhang’s heart gave a little jolt. This matter didn’t seem small. Then he remembered his own big brother who was the vice captain, and his heart settled down.

In Mr. Zhang’s view, that big brother of his, fierce only within the family, didn’t have the guts to embezzle collective funds. And Xiao Shitou, being an outsider to the Zhang Family clan, was being watched even more closely by them.

Besides, with Old Captain’s temperament... nothing will happen!

"Have you two been going out drinking with people a lot recently?" Mr. Zhang looked them over. "Starting tomorrow, don’t go out if there’s nothing going on, especially you, Second. If you really want to drink, come to me. We’ll drink among ourselves."

After listening to almost an entire evening of talk, Zhang the Second didn’t think his dad was making a fuss over nothing. He walked to the door, looked around the yard, then ran back in. "Dad, did something happen?"

Mr. Zhang smiled. "It’s something that has nothing to do with our family. Don’t ask, just mind yourselves. I’ve always been against you lot going out drinking. Once people drink too much, all sorts of nonsense start coming out of their mouths."

Zhang the Second nodded and grinned. "Big Bro and I understand. From now on, aside from a few elders, we’ll just say our wives keep us on a tight rein."

Hearing that, Mr. Zhang pulled out his pipe and made to whack him with it. "You little rascal, people have to actually believe what you say."

Zhang the Second hurriedly dodged and laughed. "Dad, don’t get worked up. I’m just kidding. I’ll tell people my stomach can’t handle it."

Mr. Zhang turned his head to look at Zhang Guofu.

"Dad, I’ll say that if I drink too much, I’ll have a headache at work the next day. Don’t worry. Booze is expensive these days; other than those with an agenda, no one’s going to invite the two of us three times over."