Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 209

Got it!

Zhao Da'e sighed: Never mind what I said.

Old man Zhao Tingxu is the kind of person who won't tolerate anyone saying anything to him. You have to go along with him...

But it was clear that Zhao Da'e wasn't going to go along with him. If it weren't for the large number of people, Zhao Da'e wouldn't have even bothered to invite him.

Zhao Tingxu wasn't particularly extravagant; after all, if his family had squandered their wealth earlier, they would have been gone long ago. It wasn't easy for him to afford wives for his three sons. However, the old man was confused, particularly in his inability to distinguish between good and bad people.

Zhao Da'e didn't really want to pay him any attention, and turned around to start climbing over the wall herself...

I must say, this wall on the west side was definitely built with shoddy materials. The cement crumbles at the slightest touch.

Although this thing is quite old, it's definitely a piece of shoddy construction. Otherwise, how could it collapse so easily when the Great Wall, which existed since the Qin Dynasty, is still standing?

cut……

Zhao Da'e got a little tired after working for a while. There were many people here, and although some tried to slack off, they were just doing odd jobs and weren't being paid, so they figured they might as well just do their job.

They worked on it until noon, and the job wasn't finished until they finally managed to transport a shredder back.

Helpless, Zhao Da'e went to the supply and marketing cooperative in town and bought some vermicelli, wood ear fungus, and white fungus, as well as some peanuts. He then took a donkey cart and went home.

Zhao Da'e can cook, but she's still a bit too young, so she went to her aunt's house and called Zhou Chunwen over.

Zhou Chunwen looked reluctant: "No, Zhao Da'e, you're really something. I cook at my house, and then I have to go to your house to cook for you too."

"What else should we do? Invite everyone to your house for a meal?"

"There's no need for that." Zhou Chunwen came to the old house to cook, her face flushed with anger.

By noon, there were two large tables full of people.

One table was set up in Zhao Tingxu's room, and the other table was set up in Zhao Tiegang's room.

There are plenty of steamed buns, one peanut, one stir-fried egg with wood ear mushrooms, and one hard-to-cook white fungus salad...

The main problem is that it's freezing cold this time of year, and there are no cucumbers available. While greenhouses were being developed in the north at that time, they were still in their infancy, and fresh vegetables were practically nonexistent.

Occasionally, some are shipped from the south, but they are extremely expensive.

So this white fungus salad doesn't have cucumber. It's just a matter of mixing it with soy sauce... white fungus salad.

There was also a sauerkraut stew with glass noodles. Zhao Da'e also bought two jars of canned yellow peaches and a spicy stewed dried tofu.

Live together.

They were eating and drinking over there, and Zhao Da'e was too lazy to go in. After all, one room was Wang Guixiang's, and the other room was too pungent. And Zhao Tiegang's dilapidated room—he couldn't go in; it was too offensive to his eyes…

It used to be pungent and irritating to the nose, but now it's escalating to the point of burning the eyes.

Zhao Tiegang is really good at making a fool of himself; the whole room reeks of alcohol.

That's why there were no drunk driving laws in this era; otherwise, they could have dragged Zhao Tiegang out of his house from two miles away...

Zhao Da'e went back to the barn, secretly took out some dried tofu and a piece of pig's head meat from the small basket, and then called Zhou Chunwen over.

"Big sister, come, come. We're having dried tofu rolls with pig's head meat."

Zhou Chunwen rolled her eyes at Zhao Da'e: "I want to eat dried tofu rolls with scallions. I won't eat pig's head meat. I'm not young anymore, I need to lose weight."

Then I made my own, rolled up a scallion and ate it. After a while, I felt it wasn't very flavorful, so I rolled up a few pieces of pork head meat and ate them too.

Zhao Da'e pouted: "Look at my older cousin, she's always being hypocritical. She's already a little chubby girl, and she still doesn't know anything about it."

After lunch, Zhao Da'e didn't go to the street again.

The family members gradually disassembled the shredder and brought it back.

The lunch was good, and they worked with great energy.

The things were put in the open space in the front yard for now, and Zhao Da'e didn't mind.

Zhou Chunwen reminded him, "Big Goose, you have so much stuff. Put it here. Don't lose it. It'll be a mess if you lose it, and it'll look bad."

Zhao Da'e shook his head: "Big sister, our village isn't your village. Things get stolen in our village too, but it's definitely not our Zhao family's. I'll just leave it here, and if anyone steals it, I'll call my uncles and grandpas to beat them up. Other things might not work, but I'll definitely get them to fight for me."

"Our Zhao family has no other skills, we're just poor and arrogant."

Zhou Chunwen almost gave Zhao Da'e a thumbs up: "Okay, okay, your Zhao family is awesome."

"Then where did your mother's money go? Did your grandma steal it? Did she call the police? And they even got into a fight?"

Zhao Da'e: "I..."

What a convenient way to bring up something you shouldn't say!

Zhou Chunwen, I, Zhao Da'e, salute you as a true man!

"That was an accident, you understand? It was a family dispute."

"Tch." Zhou Chunwen snorted coldly, "To repel external threats, we must first pacify the internal situation..."

"Okay, okay, okay." Zhao Da'e gave in.

Having no other choice, Zhao Da'e had everyone put the items away in piles, and then he actually took a rope and threaded them together one by one.

Zhou Chunwen was completely bewildered: "What are you doing?"

"To prove I'm taking the initiative to prevent others from stealing it!"

"The rope breaks as soon as it's cut, it's completely useless!"

Zhao Da'e chuckled, "You just don't understand. It's completely useless to begin with, but you insisted I do it, so I just added unnecessary details, making it all redundant..."

The two bickered for a while, then went about their own business.

Zhou Chunwen still has to go home, and Zhao Dage also has to supervise the work in the afternoon.

What to eat for dinner is also a problem.

……

On the other side, inside the house.

Zhao Tingxu was drinking. The table was full of people from the Zhao family, who were also the hardest working.

After Zhao Tingxu spoke with everyone for a while, someone asked him, "Seventh Uncle, what are we doing with all these pulverizers? Do you want to set up a grain pulverizing station at home?"

Zhao Tingxu took a sip of wine, casually took out his pipe, lit it, and took a puff: "It's Da'e who wants to open a grain powder shop. I think this kid has had a tough time; he's so young yet so thoughtful, so I support him."

Upon hearing this, the others all said, "This deserves our support."

"Anyway, Tie Gang and Tie Sheng don't have much to do at home, so they can help out and earn some money."

Some people say that this shredder is quite rare and that business will definitely boom in the future.

With everyone praising him like that, Zhao Tingxu became quite smug and suddenly started to think that Zhao Da'e wasn't so bad after all... she was a good child in their Zhao family, even though she was a girl...

However, Wang Guixiang didn't like hearing others praise Zhao Da'e. Although no one praised Zhao Da'e for sending Wang Guixiang to Balizi, she still felt uncomfortable when she heard someone praise Zhao Da'e.

So Wang Guixiang's complexion wasn't good, but with so many people around, she couldn't really lash out, so she just kept a straight face.

Zhao Tiegang drank quite well. As long as there was alcohol, he felt the world was wonderful; without it, he felt like the most miserable person in the world. Whether his wife came back or not was none of his concern. He didn't care.

After everyone had just said that, Zhao Tiegang chimed in, "Speaking of my niece, she's really something!"

Zhao Tiegang gestured with his thumb.

"She's not very old, but she's quite shrewd. Most importantly, she has a good heart. Just recently, Da'e and her third aunt had a fight, but no matter what, Da'e is really good to me, her third uncle. Last month, she gave me fifty jin... no, sixty jin of liquor. Da'e also said that from now on, once this grain depot opens, she'll give me sixty jin of liquor every month."

Zhao Tiezong, who was standing next to him, joked, "Gangzi, you're living the good life. You're only in your twenties and someone's already taking care of you in your old age. You're living a more comfortable life than my seventh uncle and aunt."

“That’s for sure…” Zhao Tiegang didn’t finish his sentence.

Zhao Tingxu frowned: What do you mean Zhao Tiegang lives a more comfortable life than his parents? There's a hidden meaning in your words.

Originally, it wasn't his decision to hire people to do the work today; Zhao Tiegang was the one who found them. Therefore, he didn't know who they were.

However, Zhao Tingxu, being an experienced person and older, knew a lot, so he didn't really like Zhao Tiezong.

Zhao Tiezong is the eldest son of Zhao Tingxu's fourth brother. Zhao Tingxu's fourth brother is named Zhao Tingjun. The old man is about sixty-three or sixty-four years old and in poor health, so he didn't come today.

Zhao Tingjun had four sons. The eldest was Zhao Tiezong. The second son became a live-in son-in-law in another family. The third son was a widow who had just married a hunchbacked woman. The fourth son was too young; he was a late-life son and was only seventeen or eighteen years old.

Of course, when the fourth child was born, Zhao Tingjun's wife was already forty-six years old, which was considered a miracle back then. But that's another story.

Zhao Tiezong separated from his family and lived independently a long time ago, and he also got married quite early. His eldest daughter, Caiyun, also known as Zhao Qingyun, was the same age as her fourth uncle.

To put it bluntly, Zhao Tiezong did indeed help his family a lot when he was young, but his methods were questionable. He mostly did things behind the scenes. And what Zhao Tingxu disliked most was that Zhao Tiezong's stance was problematic.

He's the kind of person who's always afraid other families won't fight. He's happy when other families start fighting. If they don't fight, he'll badmouth both sides...

Anyway, his character isn't great.

And it's really not that great.

Zhao Tingxu was not very satisfied, but since the other was his nephew, he smoked and remained silent.

But Wang Guixiang said with a livid face, "Heh. Zhao Da'e... cough cough, it's just like that. My third son, if you give him some wine, he can't tell the difference between good and bad people."

Zhao Tiegang was quite drunk, and upon hearing this, he became displeased: "Mom, I don't like hearing what you're saying. How can I not tell the difference between good and bad people?"

Wang Guixiang was about to say something when Zhao Tingxu interrupted her, saying, "Don't speak."

Wang Guixiang muttered, "Hmph, Zhao Da'e lets you drink a little wine, and you praise Zhao Da'e. I've been cooking for you for almost thirty years, and you've never complained about how hard it is to be a mother. You don't enjoy life at all, you think you're enjoying life just because you drink a little wine every day. Your wife ran away and you don't care, yet you still have the mind to work for Zhao Da'e. Do you think she'll pay you for your work?"

Zhao Tingxu glared at Wang Guixiang, disgusted by her disobedience and her rambling.

It's best to discuss family matters behind closed doors.

The saying goes, "Don't wash your dirty linen in public."

Although the Zhao family's dirty laundry was already common knowledge, it happened some time ago. What if things have improved recently?

Zhao Tingxu also wanted to salvage his family, which was on the verge of falling apart... even if it was just to appease his nephews who were working and eating today, he was still not satisfied with Wang Guixiang's words at this time.

“We’re family, why would we need wages? That goose is Gangzi’s niece, isn’t she? Even if we don’t pay her wages, or even if we don’t buy wine for Lao San, if Dae asks her third uncle to do some work, can he refuse? Today Dae invited everyone to help, and all of them came, so why should we pay them all individually? You… Wang Guixiang, you’re just short-sighted.”

Zhao Tingxu is quite old; he grew up in the feudal era and is now an old man. When he was young, he was exposed to very traditional ideas. Although it's a new era now, his mind is still full of thoughts like: I am the father... I am the head of the family, and what I say goes.

Indeed, Zhao Tingxu was the absolute authority at home. He would beat his sons at the slightest disagreement.

When they were young, Wang Guixiang was beaten quite a bit. When Zhao Tingxu lost money gambling, he would come home and beat his wife.

"Women, her understanding is just not good enough." Zhao Tingxu said to everyone, "What's that old saying? Sons are life, daughters are blessings. In our family, Da'e is the most promising. She's not old, but she already knows how to make money. She buys wine for her third uncle, that's filial piety. Even if she just gives her third uncle two bowls of plain water, let alone buying him grain liquor, that's still filial piety."

The others chimed in, "That's right, I've always seen how filial Big Goose has been since she was little..."

Zhao Tiegang also said that among his family members, Zhao Dage is the most filial.

When Zhao Tingxu said this, Wang Guixiang was stunned. She even questioned her own existence: Zhao Da'e is filial? Zhao Tingxu, how much fake alcohol have you been drinking? So you mean you, Zhao Tingxu, aren't grateful to Zhao Da'e for not being punished by her?

And they even give the third son some plain water, and that's considered filial piety? Zhao Da'e is filial to her grandmother?!

No, she should be filial to her maternal grandmother!

When everyone said that, Wang Guixiang became even angrier. She could tolerate the others, but she angrily said to Zhao Tingxu, "I think you've gone senile."

Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent.

The atmosphere in the whole room suddenly became eerie.

Zhao Tingxu has a terrible temper...

Everyone knew this perfectly well. In the whole family, even Zhao Da'e only dared to go against Wang Guixiang. When she encountered Zhao Tingxu, Zhao Da'e had to reason with him first. As for the others, they were somewhat afraid of Zhao Tingxu.

Zhao Tingxu's temper wasn't just bad, it was exceptionally bad.

As Zhao Tingxu smoked his pipe, his face flushed instantly upon hearing Wang Guixiang's words: This Wang Guixiang was deliberately disrespecting him!

With a snap, Zhao Tingxu broke his pipe and threw it at Wang Guixiang, who quickly dodged it.

The others quickly intervened, saying, "Seventh Uncle, Seventh Uncle. Why are you so angry? My Seventh Aunt didn't say anything else."

Ignoring everything else, Zhao Tingxu charged at Wang Guixiang, shouting, "You've gone too far!"

The more people pulled him away, the more agitated Zhao Tingxu became, determined to rush down and beat Wang Guixiang to vent his anger.

Just as Zhao Da'e was pondering what to eat for dinner, he heard a commotion starting in the east room.

A little while later, you could hear the clattering and clanging of pots and pans.

Zhao Da'e was a little confused outside, so she secretly went to the window to peek out...

hiss……

So it turns out Zhao Tingxu was going to beat up Wang Guixiang?

There's even someone trying to start a fight?

Zhao Da'e muttered, "I treated you to dinner for nothing, why are you making a scene? Let them fight... the more intense the better. I don't care anyway, the better if Wang Guixiang ends up in the hospital... hehehehe..."