Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 246

While sipping his tea, Zhao Da'e said dismissively, "Don't blame me for this. I didn't say we were going out now, right? I said we'd be going out at night. And by night, I mean the middle of the night. Who told them to go out so early?"

"Sister, let me ask you something. If you're going to do something bad, shouldn't you at least do it when it's late at night and no one's around?"

Zhou Chunwen nodded: "Pretty much. Anyway, some people who do bad things always go out around 2 a.m.

Zhao Da'e scoffed.

Zhou Chunhong asked, confused, "Big...big...big sister, who...who...who...is...someone?"

Zhou Chunwen said, "Er Ya, do you think I should teach you to read or write? That way, you can write when you want to speak in the future."

Zhou Chunhong was a little confused: "I...I...I...can...write...but...there are...no...no...pencils at home."

Zhou Chunwen sighed and coaxed Zhou Chunhong, "Er Ya, go ask Mom what we're having for breakfast tomorrow."

Zhou Chunhong then went to the east room to ask Cheng Jinxi what they wanted to eat for breakfast tomorrow.

Zhou Chunwen chuckled: "Yeah, sure enough, younger kids are easier to fool."

Zhao Da'e took a pillow, placed it on the windowsill, then leaned back against it, comfortably picking up one of the books Zhou Chunwen usually read.

The book is titled: Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Open it up...

Zhao Da'e was stunned: Holy crap?!

"Big sister, come here, tell me what this 'heaven on fire' means?"

Zhao Da'e was stunned. Zhou Chunwen always said he was reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but it turned out to be full of Qiong Yao novels, like Paradise on Fire, Misty Rain, and Princess New Moon...

Wow... Putting everything else aside, this book is particularly good at shattering people's worldviews.

Zhou Chunwen snatched the book back in a flash, a shy expression typical of a little girl appearing on her face.

Zhao Da'e clicked his tongue: "Oh dear, Zhou is blushing. Hahahaha..."

After a long pause, Zhou Chunwen said with a pout, "Big Goose, don't tell my mom about this."

Zhao Da'e pointed to a white porcelain teacup he used for drinking tea and said, "Well, there are some things... I can't say for sure. I'm not good at keeping secrets. As you know, I can't keep things to myself."

Zhou Chunwen gritted her teeth in anger: "Heh. Zhao Da'e, don't... I'm telling you, if you tell my mom, and she hits me, I'll hit you."

"Tch. You hit me, and I'll continue telling my aunt that my older sister was guilty and hit me. After that, I'll sing a song to my aunt: 'A child with a mother is like a treasure, a child without a mother is like a blade of grass.' After singing, I'll start crying and say: 'Auntie, my mother went back to her parents' home, my father's word doesn't count, our family can't make ends meet, I finally have an aunt, I came to your house to freeload, but my older cousin can't tolerate a six-year-old like me...'" Zhao Da'e said with a laugh, "After that, I went back to my uncle's house and cried to my maternal grandmother, then cried to my uncle and aunt, then cried to my second aunt. I cried to all our relatives."

Zhou Chunwen was furious: "Fine, Zhao Da'e. You win..."

Zhou Chunwen then got down from the ground, put some tea leaves and water in the teacup for Zhao Da'e, and then placed it next to Zhao Da'e.

Zhao Da'e waved his hand: "I'm not willing to do it."

Zhou Chunwen rolled her eyes at Zhao Da'e, then carefully handed the tea to her, saying, "Here, my dear cousin, hurry up and drink your tea, don't burn yourself."

"Don't worry, don't worry, I won't die anytime soon," Zhao Da'e said. "In the future, as long as you behave well, I promise you won't say you read those kinds of books."

Zhou Chunwen snorted coldly.

Zhou Chunwen is literate, though not very literate, but he can read books.

These books were secretly borrowed by Zhou Chunwen from a friend in the village. Putting everything else aside, they were at least much more interesting than Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Zhou Chunwen felt that this was what a book should be like...

That sweet love...

How blissful it would be if four or five men fell in love with the same woman at the same time.

Zhao Da'e glanced at Zhou Chunwen and shook his head: No wonder Zhou Chunwen hasn't been in good spirits lately. Turns out he was ruined by those mind-blowing Qiong Yao novels. That stuff really destroys one's values.

When reading, one should read books that are positive and uplifting, such as those by well-known figures like Lu Xun and Zhou Shuren.

After a while, Zhou Chunhong returned and said to Zhou Chunwen, "Big...big...big...elder sister, Mom said...tomorrow...early...early...breakfast...eat...eat your grandma's leg..."

Zhao Da'e almost burst out laughing: Sure enough, Auntie was right.

Zhao Da'e knew that Cheng Jinxi must know that it was Zhou Chunwen who instructed Zhou Chunhong to ask, but the question is, who asks what to eat for breakfast in the middle of the night?

Isn't this just looking for trouble?

So Cheng Jinxi must be very angry. But looking at her own not-so-bright daughter, she must have been tricked by Zhou Chunwen, which is why she was cursing.

Zhou Chunwen was also in a bad mood, and said, "Er Ya, go ask Mom what we're having for lunch tomorrow?"

Zhou Chunhong was stunned: "I...I...I...I'm not going."

"You're not going?" Zhou Chunwen scoffed. "What, you want to rebel? Er Ya, last night you were talking in your sleep saying: 'Oh my god, how could you be gone? I didn't even get to see you one last time...'"

"Is this what you said?"

Zhou Chunhong panicked. Last night, she did dream that Cheng Jinxi was gone, and she was visiting Cheng Jinxi's grave. That's why she cried in her dream: "I..."

“Go ask her right away,” Zhou Chunwen said. “Otherwise, I’ll report you for cursing people in the middle of the night.”

Zhou Chunhong had no choice but to go out again.

Zhao Da'e glanced at Zhou Chunwen, but didn't say much, and drank a cup of tea. He then placed the teacup on the kang (heated brick bed) and tapped it with his finger: "Oh dear, oh dear. Why is this water so hard to drink?"

"Big sister, big sister. What do you say?"

Zhou Chunwen took a deep breath and sighed, "Zhao Da'e, don't go too far."

"Tsk tsk tsk." Zhao Da'e said with a smile, "Alright then. I'll go get the water myself, and then I'll go chat with my aunt. Oh dear, I have to talk to my aunt about this girl. She's grown up, and we can't keep her around any longer. This girl is only sixteen or seventeen, and she's already thinking about dating. Everyone's asking about her, and who knows, one day someone might come to propose marriage. What do you think we should do then, Auntie?"

"Okay, okay." Zhou Chunwen got out of bed to pour water.

Zhao Da'e then said with satisfaction, "But you really mustn't let my aunt know about your reading. If she finds out, she'll say you're not studying properly."

"Hmph, how could she know if you didn't tell her? She can't even read," Zhou Chunwen complained.

Cheng Jinxi is indeed illiterate, so Zhou Chunwen is not worried at all about Cheng Jinxi watching her read ancient romance novels.

Moreover, she didn't really avoid Zhou Chunhong, since even if Zhou Chunhong knew, she wouldn't say anything, given how rude and blunt Zhou Chunhong was.

After a while, Zhou Chunwen suddenly looked up: "That's not right. Big Goose, didn't you not go to school? You can't read a single word, how do you know who I'm looking at?"

"Who said I can't read? I just can't write," Zhao Da'e replied dismissively.

"Hehe." Zhou Chunwen smiled knowingly.

A little while later, Zhou Chunhong came over again, her face full of worry, followed by Cheng Jinxi.

As soon as Cheng Jinxi entered the room, she launched into a tirade: "Zhou Chunwen, do you have nothing better to do? You're so idle, in the middle of the night, constantly ordering your sister around asking what to eat! If you want to eat, why don't you make it yourself? You eat all day long, look how fat you've become, and you still want to eat. I'll make you eat yourself to death."

"Stop causing trouble and go to sleep. It's already past ten o'clock, and I'm about to go to bed. You keep sending Er Ya over here and there. What are you doing? Do you think you can get away with anything just because I'm easygoing and don't discipline you?"

Zhou Chunwen immediately lowered his head and didn't say a word: "Home, life..."

That’s all.

My mom is indeed mentally unstable, but I'm just enduring it.

Zhao Da'e secretly covered his mouth and laughed: Serves him right!

Cheng Jinxi cursed a few more times before leaving, saying as she went, "I'll make you eat rice tomorrow morning, you'll choke to death!!!"

"Mmm," Zhou Chunwen replied softly.

After Cheng Jinxi left, Zhao Da'e immediately perked up and mocked, "Big sister, why don't you fight my aunt! What are you afraid of! Go fight her, I'll support you in spirit."

"Get out of my way." Zhou Chunwen rolled her eyes at Zhao Dage: "You're always causing trouble."

"By the way, Er Ya, is your face all better?" Zhou Chunwen glanced at it and then said to herself, "It's better. But not completely. You need to get some sleep; sleep helps the wound heal. You can't have a scar. If you have a scar, no one will want you when you look for a husband."

Before Zhou Chunhong could say anything more, Zhou Chunwen pulled her close and covered her head with a blanket: "Go to sleep now and don't talk. Are you going to tell Mom on me?"

Zhou Chunhong's face turned red: "No."

Zhou Chunwen didn't believe it at all: "I'm not going to bother with you because of Da'e. But if you secretly complain again next time, I'll go to Mom and expose your secrets."

Zhou Chunhong turned her head away and went straight to sleep.

Zhou Chunwen pretended to be asleep, but after a while, he got up again and saw Zhao Da'e leisurely drinking tea. He asked, "Da'e, you're drinking strong tea in the middle of the night. How are you going to sleep later?"

Zhao Da'e was stunned: "I'm waiting to watch the show later, why am I sleeping?"

Zhou Chunwen slapped his thigh: "Oops... I forgot about the important matter. Look how angry you are."

"Don't be like that, I didn't mean to upset you. You're just feeling guilty." Zhao Da'e laughed: "Big sister, I have something serious to tell you."

"Go ahead."

"I remember you have quite a lot of apples at home, don't you? Those little apples picked from the mountaintop."

"Mmm." Zhou Chunwen nodded. "There are quite a lot. What, do you want to eat them? They're all in the cellar and haven't been brought up yet, I'm too lazy to eat them. If you want to eat them, I'll bring you a basket tomorrow."

Zhou Chunwen's family has a vegetable cellar, and it's quite large.

"No, no. What I mean is, why don't you go sell them anymore?" Zhao Da'e asked.

“You’re going to buy them? They’re such tiny little apples, who’s going to buy many? They only sell for two or three cents a pound at the last market. You can’t sell many at a market, not even enough to cover the cost of suffering in the cold.” Zhou Chunwen sighed. “Besides, at most a thousand or eight hundred pounds of this junk, you can only sell it for a couple hundred a head, not even enough to cover the labor costs.”

"Besides, nobody can buy that many. We're surrounded by orchards, so we can't sell many. So don't even think about selling them. What's the point of wasting your energy?"

"Two hundred for one is still money."

"Hiss... Goose, you really don't understand the hunger of a starving man," Zhou Chunwen complained. "There are few buyers. If I sell these thousand catties of apples for three months, my family won't have to do anything. These apples aren't even as easy to sell as mushrooms. Besides, the mushrooms on the mountaintop are dried and city people love to eat them. They sell for two or three yuan a catty, and there are even people buying them. I'd rather go and pick mushrooms, dry them, and sell them than sell apples."

Zhao Da'e thought about it and agreed, since the economics involved were not easy to manage.

The mountain is covered with fruit trees, but there aren't many big ones; most are small apples.

Moreover, there are indeed too many apple trees nearby; Dongtaizi Village has tens of thousands of acres of apple trees, and nobody wants them even if they are given away.

Zhao Da'e sighed. Other places had already improved their apple varieties, and many places in the south had started promoting the planting of larger and sweeter Red Fuji apples, but there was no movement here.

Even apricot trees are better than apple trees, at least someone collects apricot kernels for traditional Chinese medicine. This apple, on the other hand, is only for personal consumption; it's not worth a penny, but it's about the same value.

The cannery doesn't want it, and there's no canned apples available.

They only have canned hawthorn and canned yellow peaches.

“Really, goose, do you want an apple? I’ll get you one,” Zhou Chunwen asked.

“I’m not eating. I’m just thinking that my aunt must be worried sick all the time, probably because she doesn’t have enough money to get her son married. I’m wondering, your older brother has been collecting scrap for two or three years, where’s his money?” Zhao Da’e asked, frowning.

"There's still a famine."

"A famine for building houses?"

"Uh-huh."

"Your house only cost around 20,000 yuan to build? The exterior is decorated, but the interior isn't much. It must have cost at most 20,000 yuan." Zhao Da'e frowned.

Zhou Chunwen nodded: "It only cost a little over 20,000 yuan, and I borrowed 14,000 yuan."

Zhao Da'e looked completely bewildered: ???

"Your family only had a few thousand yuan before?"

“No,” Zhou Chunwen said, “there are still 14,000 left, and it will be several years.”

“Uh…” Zhao Da’e was speechless.

“My dad lost 16,000 yuan gambling in the first two years. He gambled away the money he had saved to build a house in one night.” Zhou Chunwen sighed. “My mom doesn’t allow me to talk about this. That’s why, these past two years, my mom has been scolding my dad all the time, and he doesn’t dare to talk back. It’s because of this. He went out partying and got robbed by three or four people. They not only gambled away all his money but also made him sign IOUs. After that, they had all the money taken from our house.”

Zhou Chunwen sighed as he spoke, "My family's money... it all died a terrible death. Otherwise, my mother wouldn't be so worried."

"There's nothing we can do about it," Zhao Da'e said helplessly. "You have to accept your losses. Nine out of ten gamblers lose; there's no way to win. If you walk by the river long enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet. My uncle is pretty good at dice, but if he runs into a master, he's doomed."

Zhou Chunwen nodded, then lay down: "Whatever, I'm not worried. I'm not the one spending the money, and I don't care if my brother can't get married."