Chapter 67 - 67 What Kind Of An Elder Are You?
67 What Kind Of An Elder Are You?
Zhou Xiaoli explained everything in one breath.
Hearing this, everyone felt relieved and sighed.
“This family has nothing left. If they’re chased out of Wenshui County, they’ll probably die outside.”
“They deserved it and they did it to themselves. If they didn’t discipline their son well, I knew they would suffer retribution sooner or later. Look, retribution is here.”
Lin Xiujuan vented her anger.
After this incident, the Wang and Sun families could no longer cause trouble.
Zhou Xiaoli could not help but praise Wei Chiyu in her heart.
His friends in the underworld were really good at dealing with such scoundrels. They had good reasons and completely resolved these two troubles.
While Zhou Xiaoli was pondering, the first pot of syrup was ready.
They made a pot of syrup with about five kilograms of beets.
In addition to the time taken to wash and shred the vegetables, it would take an hour to boil a pot of syrup.
At this moment, Liu Liangcai’s earthen stove was also ready. It was made of yellow mud and stone. Just one final step of burning it to seal it and it would be ready for use.
The efficiency was greatly increased when two pots were cooked at the same time.
Washing, shredding and making of sugar were done by the women.
The children were in charge of managing the fire.
The three men were in charge of fetching water and chopping the firewood.
When the women were tired of stirring sugar, they would also help them for a while.
In one morning, they had churned out more than five kilograms of sugar.
Their faces were filled with joy as they looked at the sugar.
“Come, everyone, take a break first.” Zhang Lan came out of the kitchen with a smile and called everyone to rest.
“We had all been busy the entire morning. Come and have some green bean tea. I’ve added the sugar we just made. It’s delicious.”
With that, everyone stopped.
As Zhang Lan scooped out the green bean tea into smaller bowls, Zhou Junjun and Zhou Xiaoyu immediately ran over to take the bowls and bring it to the uncles and aunties.
Liu Fengfeng was originally looking at the green bean tea with hunger but when he saw Zhou Junjun and Zhou Xiaoyu serving tea to their elders, he immediately imitated them.
Liu Liangcai was very satisfied with his behavior.
Everyone had a bowl of green bean tea. Instead of sitting at the dining table, they squatted under the shade of the tree in the courtyard and drank it.
The green bean tea had already turned cold. Every green bean was cooked till it was mushy, the best way of having green bean tea. It was filling and sweet, making everyone feel extremely satisfied.
“I wonder if it was because we made the sugar ourselves that the tea felt sweet. Why is it so sweet? The sweetness makes me so happy.”
Liu Yan held the bowl and could not bear to drink it in big mouthfuls. She only took small sips, wanting to taste the sweetness a while longer.
“That’s right. The sweetness goes right to the heart.”
Zhou Xiaoli smiled and said, “Cane sugar is sweeter than malt sugar.”
Liu Yan’s daughter-in-law, Wang Yuncai, smiled shyly and said, “I still think it’s sweeter since we made it ourselves.”
Everyone laughed and the atmosphere was very relaxed.
However, at this moment, a violent knocking sound suddenly came from the door, breaking the peace.
Zhang Lan stood up and did not open the door immediately. Instead, she asked, “Who is it?”
There was another series of bangs in response.
It was as if the person was trying to smash open the door.
Then, Lai Jinniang’s voice came from the door.
“Zhang, open the door!”
Hearing this familiar voice, Zhang Lan and Zhou Yu’s expressions changed at the same time.
Zhou Xiaoli also frowned. What was Lai Jinniang doing here?
Could it be that she wanted to snatch the sugar recipe?
Thinking of this, she quickly said, “Bring the sugar into the house first.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Xiujuan, Liu Yan, and the others had already moved the pot to the kitchen.
In case Lai Jinniang rushed into the kitchen to peek, Lin Xiujuan and Liu Yan even locked the door from the inside.
As they did not open the door for a long time, the knocking on the door became more and more urgent, accompanied by Lai Jinniang’s cries and the sounds of people discussing outside.
“Okay, you can open the door now.”
Lin Xiujuan and Liu Yan whispered after the kitchen door was locked.
Zhou Xiaoli stopped Zhang Lan from opening the door. “Mother, I’ll go.”
With that, she walked towards the door.
The door opened, and the scene in front of her made Zhou Xiaoli raise her eyebrows.
Lai Jinniang and Zhou Guihua’s faces were pale.
They were hugging each other and were in tears.
Many villagers came to watch the show and asked with curiosity what was wrong.
Seeing that the door had opened, Lai Jinniang and her daughter cried even harder.
“Boohoo, I really have no choice.”
“Mother, wuwuwu, what should we do? What if Eldest Brother is unwilling to give it to us? What should Father do?”
“Guihua, your brother isn’t a heartless person. Now that your father is sick in bed and urgently needs to include pearl as part of his medicine, your brother won’t leave him in the lurch for sure.”
…
From their crying conversation, the people around them finally knew what was going on.
It turned out that Old Zhou had fallen ill and needed pearls as part of his medicine.
“Ah, so that’s what happened.”
“Sigh, no, if they need pearls as part of the medicine, why are you looking for Zhou Yu?”
“That’s right. Sister-in-law Lai, hurry up and get your son to bring your old man to the county city. What are you crying for?”
Everyone raised their doubts.
Lai Jinniang instantly cried that she was poor. Her son’s medicine shop was in trouble, and her family had no money.
As they spoke, they brought up Zhou Yu and his family.
“The heavens don’t let down those who are determined. Yesterday, I heard that my eldest son had found a few pearls from sea clams. My old man is finally saved. Boohoo.”
After hearing this, Zhou Xiaoli suddenly realized that it was because of the pearls in her hand!
However, how did they know about it?
Could it be that someone saw her when she was selling sugar in the county city last time?
The last time she went to the county to sell sugar, she had gone to a jewelry shop with Zhang Lan to sell the pearls, but the jewelry shop didn’t accept them.
Hence she took them back.
When the surrounding onlookers heard that the Zhou family found pearls in sea clams, they all had a shocked or envious expression on them.
On the other hand, Zhou Xiaoli quietly watched the two of them cry. She remained expressionless and did not respond to them at all.
Zhang Lan and Zhou Yu also kept a straight face and did not say anything.
Seeing that Zhou Yu and the others did not respond, Lai Jinniang gritted her teeth and cried as she walked towards Zhou Yu. She cried, “My eldest son, your father is sick. Can you bear to leave him in the lurch?”
Zhou Yu pursed his lips and gritted his teeth. The muscles on his face were tense as he looked at Lai Jinniang with a complicated expression.
His feelings for Lai Jinniang and Zhou Dashan were very complicated. They had indeed saved his life, adopted him, and raised him up. He was indeed indebted to them.
However, they did not care for him and could even be said to be mean to him.
Regarding this, he always felt puzzled. Since she hated him so much, why did she pick him up from the side of the road and raise him?
At this moment, Zhou Xiaoli’s mocking voice suddenly rang out, “Madam Lai, have you forgotten that our two families have already severed ties? You were the one who suggested it.”
“The village chief and the villagers are witnesses to it. Are you going back on your word?”
As soon as these words were spoken, many villagers who had witnessed the severance of ties began to discuss.
“That’s right, that’s right. I remember now. The mayor was there too. If that’s the case, Madam Lai, you’re not being honest.”
…
Madam Lai’s expression immediately turned ugly, and she said fiercely to Zhou Xiaoli, “You uncultured thing! Who are you to interrupt the elders when they are talking?”
As soon as these words were spoken, Zhou Yu’s expression immediately changed. He reached out and pulled Zhou Xiaoli behind him. With a dark expression, he said, “In my family, my girl can speak whatever and whenever she wants. Besides, what kind of an elder are you?!”