Chapter 983: Chapter 855: Stranded in the Provincial City

In the depths of winter, unlike the bustling daytime market rush for New Year’s goods, as the car drove all the way in the direction of the provincial city, the later it got, the fewer people and vehicles there were on the road.

With the most precious wife and sons of his life in the car, Zhang Guoqing didn’t dare be careless, and he didn’t dare speed up along the way. The car he usually drove like the wind now had to be handled cautiously.

By the time they arrived at Zhao Chuan Guang’s courtyard in the provincial city, the three brothers in the back seat, wrapped in quilts and clutching hot-water-bottle glass flasks, were already nodding off in drowsy sleep in Zhou Jiao and Aunt Chen’s arms.

As soon as the car stopped, Ping’an immediately opened his eyes, looked toward the one or two figures at the gate, and shouted, "Liu Yi, May 1st, we’re here. Look, Grandma’s over there."

"Grandma, we’re back."

"Granda, where’s my Grandpa? I want to go home."

Miao Lishan had already stepped forward and opened the car door. "Alright, alright, we’re going home. My good little treasures, hurry and come in with Grandma first. Was it fun back in the old home? Did you miss Grandma last night?"

Zhou Jiao wordlessly glanced at the four grandparents and grandchildren hugging and grinning like fools. This really was that special grandparent-grandchild bond—how come she’d never seen her mom this enthusiastic with her?

Off to the side, Huang Hui Min was greeting everyone to go in first while moving over to help Zhang Guoqing carry things, scaring him into hurriedly refusing. With just two or three bags, how could he possibly let her do it?

As soon as he stepped into the living room, Zhang Guoqing smelled the aroma of stewed chicken and laughed. "The son-in-law steps through the door and the little chicken loses its soul. Godmother, you’re really rolling out the red carpet for me."

"You only come back once every two years; how could I not?" Huang Hui Min teased. "This morning your mom and I went to buy two old hens together; we’ve been waiting for you to show up."

"Jiao Jiao, there’s a big market in the nearest township tomorrow morning. Godmother will take you to buy some good things."

Hearing this, Zhou Jiao looked toward Miao Lishan. Had the schedule changed?

"Your godmother wants to keep you here a few more days." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Zhou Jiao smiled and shook her head. "I’d love to stay longer too, but unfortunately my vacation’s about to run out. Next time when I’ve saved up more days off, I’ll come over and play with you for a few days."

"Sister-in-law still doesn’t know you’re not leaving tonight, does she?"

After saying this, Huang Hui Min looked at the still-bewildered Miao Lishan and smiled. "Didn’t a young soldier just come by? He said Ah Guang told us to rest first; you won’t be able to leave for a while and might have to change to tomorrow’s train."

"Just when you were on your way here, your mom rushed over to your place. The young soldier left right after speaking. I heard they’re still in a meeting over there; your dad probably hasn’t had time to notify you."

Zhou Jiao nodded. The military train was faster than regular trains, and she and Zhang Guoqing had already arranged with their colleagues that they’d be on duty over New Year’s Eve. This time they didn’t have to rush back.

After they’d just finished dinner, Secretary Chen came on Zhou Xiaozheng’s orders to take Zhang Guoqing over to the military district, and at the same time took the whole family to the guesthouse to rest.

Since they now knew they couldn’t leave tonight, Zhou Jiao settled the children down for washing up and sleep. They slept soundly through the night, not even knowing when Zhang Guoqing and his father-in-law came back.

At dawn the next morning, when the sky was just beginning to pale, Huang Hui Min had already come over to knock on their door. Seeing Zhou Jiao and her mother both fully dressed and ready to go, she exchanged a knowing smile with them.

When heading out to the market to buy New Year’s goods, of course the three little treasures had to join in the fun.

Aside from the busy-with-official-business Zhou Xiaozheng who had left, the whole family went out to the countryside for the big fair again. Walking along the dirt road crowded with stalls and people coming and going, the loud noise was full of New Year’s festivity.

The old farmers eating cornmeal steamed buns and big pancakes, drinking coarse-grain corn gruel and nibbling on pickles, had just had the rare good fortune of a bumper harvest and weren’t stingy about preparing for the New Year.

Frozen rock-hard pears and persimmons, seeds and pine nuts at the snack stalls, popcorn along the roadside, candied hawthorns stuck on sorghum stalks...

Homespun cloth that didn’t need cloth tickets, straw sandals, bamboo baskets and winnowing trays, dried wild fruits from the autumn harvest, dried shiitakes and wood ears, and the occasional game-meat stall...

Whether buyers or sellers, everyone’s paper-thin faces, blown bright red by the north wind, carried a joyful look and a sense of contentment with how life was now.

Huang Hui Min and Miao Lishan squeezed into various stalls early on, and before long, the baskets on their backs were already filled with all sorts of odds and ends.

Seeing this, Zhou Jiao also pushed Aunt Chen, who was looking after the children, over to join the fun. Unlike them, she and her husband didn’t need to rush to buy much right now; the main goal was to accompany the children and let them enjoy themselves.

Zhang Guoqing unbuttoned his army coat and tucked the twins inside to keep them warm. Likewise, Zhou Jiao tied Ping’an to her chest with a binding cloth. The family of five left the three women behind and took the children on a "market tour" first.

This time the couple tacitly pulled out all kinds of bills and coins to guide the children in understanding purchasing power, with a special focus on the twins.

To blend into life, the first step was to understand prices. A penny bought five pieces of malt candy; five cents bought three skewers of rock candy hawthorns; a dime bought a big bag of pine nuts...

As time passed, the twins gradually became familiar with bargaining and playing the "spend a dime, get an extra penny’s worth" game with people. By the end they were fluently rattling off prices and conversions.

The results were very gratifying, but as for the outcome—well, it was a bit laughable and a bit exasperating.

—After they left the crowd, just as Zhang Guoqing finished praising his three sons’ talent for arithmetic, the youngest, May 1st, was the first to ask, "Dad, then how come you say that when our family sends out a bag of gifts, they give a bag of gifts too?"

Liu Yi followed up right away, "One box of preserved fruit can buy ten jin of pine nuts, and two jin of White Rabbit candies can buy half a sack of shiitake mushrooms."

May 1st frowned. "Not counting what we give Grandpa and Grandma, half the wild boar meat has to be divided between First Uncle and Second Uncle; that can buy lots and lots of sacks of gifts."

Little Ping’an, nestled in Zhou Jiao’s arms, looked smugly at his two younger brothers and just smiled without saying anything.

Zhang Guoqing laughed so hard he could barely stand. "You little rascals! That’s not how you calculate things between relatives. For example, didn’t your big aunt and the others sew new clothes for you with their own hands? And didn’t Brother Xi Zi and his brothers personally go into the mountains to pick wild products to give you?"

Liu Yi and May 1st nodded after listening.

"Between family, there’s more than just money—there’s also thoughtfulness. That kind of affection can’t be bought with money. When you grow up you’ll understand that nothing is more important than sincerity."

While they were waiting for Miao Lishan and the others, Zhang Guoqing gave many more examples of mutual support and affection among their clan, and also talked about the back-and-forths between the three branches of Old Zhang’s family over the years.

Such a beautiful, mutually supportive family bond—maybe the twins couldn’t yet tell how much water there was in the story, but that didn’t mean the sharp little Ping’an didn’t understand.

He wrinkled his nose at Zhou Jiao and made a funny face.

Zhou Jiao chuckled and patted his bottom. Many things have two sides; likewise, there are no absolutely good or bad people in this world—what truly matters is people’s hearts.

As always, Miao Lishan liked to buy out half a stall. Worried that too much cargo would look bad, the group made another trip into town to mail off a batch of parcels. After having lunch in town, they let the children play for a while again.

After a few blasts of the train whistle, the twins, on their first long trip from home, were carried away, along with their very first impressions of the old home.

Close or not, one’s hometown water has its pull. If they hadn’t stayed long on this black soil, how could they develop any sense of belonging to it? All human feelings are made deep only after long companionship.

Everything would depend on the future.