The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 441 - 430

Chapter 441: 430

Ms. Qian deeply agreed with Old Zhou on this point, and therefore chided Manbao a little, "Managing a household requires thrift and economy; we can’t always think about buying delicious food and fun things. Only by being frugal can a family have surplus."

Ms. Qian couldn’t hold back and took the opportunity to teach her daughter, "Look at our big family; there are many of us and we earn a lot, but if we have no savings, what do we do if one or two people fall ill, or if we face natural disasters or misfortunes?"

Old Zhou nodded repeatedly, "Exactly, exactly, Manbao, it’s fine to play with the young masters of the Bai Family, and you can learn their skills, but don’t learn their spending habits. We need to learn how to save money, understand?"

Ms. Qian snapped back to her purpose and resumed, "But when I say I want to divide money among the children, I don’t mean for them to take it and pay it off right away."

As soon as Old Zhou heard his wife bring up this topic, he immediately turned his face away, visibly displeased.

Ms. Qian got angry, slapping the bed frame and said, "Manbao, turn your father’s face back to me."

Manbao immediately reached out and tugged at her father’s grizzled face.

Old Zhou turned his head back grudgingly and said, "If you give them the money, won’t they spend it? If it’s all to be saved, what’s the difference between holding it ourselves or them holding it? At the end of the day, when they need money, would I not give it to them?"

"Of course, there’s a difference," Ms. Qian said soberly, "Let’s not mention Four for now; just look at Eldest, Two, and Third. Doesn’t each of them have a whole family to support behind them? One doesn’t know the cost of firewood, rice, oil, and salt until they become a householder. They are all grown up, how much longer are you going to hold the money for them? In my opinion, while the family is presently well-off, we should give them some to let them learn to manage their households."

"I’m not even dead yet, and they want to take over the household?" Old Zhou retorted.

Old Zhou, chest heaving in anger, pointed at Manbao sitting aside and said, "Not to mention Sixth still has a few years before marriage; take Manbao, for instance; she won’t marry for another seven or eight years, right? What kind of household are they running?"

Ms. Qian said indifferently, "I took over the household at the age of five, and back then, both my parents were still around. If I hadn’t started managing the household two years early, when my parents passed away, our whole family would have had nothing but northwest wind to soothe our hunger."

Old Zhou, seeing her bringing up the past, could not help grinding his teeth.

Manbao, looking up with her little head at her father, then at her mother, finally said, "Dad, Mom, don’t fight. What if my brothers and sisters-in-law learn from you and start fighting too?"

Ms. Qian extended her foot and gently kicked Old Zhou, saying disdainfully, "Go and clear this up outside; whether or not I quarrel or fight with you, and go get some sunshine to clear your head. I am not dividing the money among the children for my own sake, am I? This is for the good of the Zhou Family!"

And so, Old Zhou was sent out like that.

Zhou Dalang and the others had hid themselves away as soon as they heard their mother’s pat on the bed, naturally taking their wives and children along with them, so at the moment the yard was deserted.

Five and Sixth were also nowhere to be seen.

Despite having earned a large sum of money that day, Old Zhou was still infuriated, hands behind his back and with his pipe in tow, he stormed off to the home of Zhou Sanqi.

He planned to settle the score with that unfortunate nephew of his. Idly spreading such groundless rumors!

In the scorching heat, with nothing to do, Zhou Sanqi was soundly asleep on his bed, only to be dragged up by his ear by his father.

Zhou Sanqi yelped "Ouch! Ouch!" as he was dragged by his ear right in front of Old Zhou.

Old Zhou sat in Zhou Sanqi’s house puffing on his smoke, and seeing him dragged by the ear, he glanced over and lectured with great weight in his heart, "Sanqi, how old are you now? Have you checked on the rice in the fields? Didn’t it rain a couple of times recently? Did you apply the follow-up fertilizer?"

Zhou Sanqi was still confused, and Old Zhou continued, "After adding fertilizer, the water in the fields should be enough if stored for another three or four days; then let it drain when it’s time. With so much work to do, why must you make up stories about me and your aunt...?"

Zhou San’s father slapped him on the head, rebuking, "You unlucky child, your son’s already running around, and here you are, blabbering away."

Zhou Sanqi finally understood why he was being reprimanded; he quickly claimed his innocence, saying, "Uncle, Uncle Jin, those rumors that are going around aren’t coming from me. I only lingered around nearby after lunch, I didn’t even have the chance to speak and it was already spreading all over. I was just wondering, Uncle and Aunt never fight, so how could it possibly escalate to the point where Aunt’s family members come over?"

Zhou Sanqi protested, "Truly, it wasn’t me who said it, Uncle, I swear it wasn’t!"

Old Zhou was dubious, and his father immediately said, "Brother Jin, although the kid talks nonsense, he’s always been upfront about his actions. If he says he didn’t, then he didn’t."

"Exactly, right, Uncle. At the time, Dalv’s mother was in her yard watching me and Manbao, she definitely heard our conversation, maybe she was the one who spread the rumor."

Who in the whole village didn’t know that Ms.Zhang, the wife of Zhou Dayuan, didn’t get along with Ms.Qian?

Yet they were from the same village, related indirectly by some family connection. When people from the Qian Family visited, other families didn’t, choosing instead to sit and gossip at Zhou Dayuan’s place.

It was said that Zhou Dalv’s mother was very angry in private.

Old Zhou: ...After all that, he went after the wrong person!

Zhou Sanqi could tell Old Zhou was out of sorts, so he immediately sat beside him to console, "Uncle, that’s just how women are; we can’t lower ourselves to their level. Look at this sweltering weather; surely you weren’t driven out by Aunt, were you?"

Old Zhou: ...

Zhou Sanqi, noting his expression, became excited and thoughtlessly blurted out, "Uncle, when Aunt’s family came, it wasn’t really to take charge, was it?"

Old Zhou put away his pipe, upon which Zhou Sanqi’s father, sensing trouble, promptly shooed his son away and escorted Old Zhou out, all the while speaking to him in a cordial manner.

When he returned, however, he couldn’t help but scold his son, "You dare ask anything, you dare blurt out anything; you’ve learned from your mother, all right. Why pick up the worst traits and become a gossip..."

Old Zhou stood outside the wall, listening to Zhou Sanqi’s cries as he got thrashed, only then did he feel satisfied and headed back home, braving the blistering sun.

Hmph, since the rumor came from Ms. Zhang, it’s a women’s affair, something he certainly wouldn’t clear up. It would be too embarrassing. It should be that old woman at home who takes care of it.

Thinking this, Old Zhou headed home with self-righteous indignation, silently pushing the door open when he reached the entrance.

After a late night’s sleep, waking up early and without proper rest, now that the matter was over, everyone inside was sleeping.

Manbao was lying next to Ms. Qian, a habit of taking a nap after lunch, her little belly rising and falling rhythmically, mouth slightly open, appearing utterly peaceful.

Old Zhou moved to the edge of the bed, lying down cautiously on the outer side.

Ms. Qian, half-asleep, nudged Manbao a bit inward to make some space for him.

Old Zhou, seeing this, settled down, boldly squeezing in a little more and lay down comfortably.

Home is indeed best; unlike the outside, where the May sun already made one feel dizzy.

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