Chapter 14 Zhao Second Uncle’s Family Is Very Poor!

Zhao Family Village.

As the bicycle drew closer to the village, Zhao Qianqian began to feel a little uneasy.

This was considered the original host’s hometown.

But deep down, Zhao Qianqian felt that old saying—the nearer one gets to home, the more timid one feels.

This time, she had brought ten big meat buns from town.

If she had bought something else, like malted milk or fruit, it might have looked fancier.

But to these villagers, meat buns were the most practical.

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At the old home.

She arrived right on time.

At this hour, her second uncle’s family had already returned from the fields and were home for lunch.

Her arrival surprised them greatly, but they quickly reacted and warmly greeted her: “Quick, have some tea.”

She casually glanced around at the family.

Second Uncle and Second Aunt, plus their five sons.

All five were still bachelors.

No help for it—Zhao Village was poor to begin with, and Second Uncle and Aunt had bad luck, having five sons in a row.

Of course, that was a constant source of worry!

If two of those sons had been daughters instead, their life might have been much easier.

• The eldest, Zhao Feng, nineteen, earned work points at home and occasionally went hunting.
• The second, Zhao Tiao, eighteen, was more of a street loafer—lazy at work but somewhat clever, smooth-tongued.
• The third, Zhao Yu, sixteen, was hardworking, able to earn ten work points a day.
• The fourth, Zhao Shun, thirteen, gathered pig grass daily and sometimes went hunting with his eldest brother, earning around five work points.
• The youngest, Zhao Duo, seven, was still in school. He was the only one of the five lucky enough to study.

Zhao Qianqian wasn’t close with them. She greeted them simply, then stated her purpose:

“Second Uncle… I came because I want to ask for your help with something.”

“What help? If I can help, I certainly will,” Second Uncle said sincerely.

In fact, when Zhao’s mother had remarried, he had wanted to help his elder brother keep a son behind, at least as an heir.

But raising five sons of his own was already too difficult.

There was no way he could help raise another.

“I bought a job in town, but I can’t go for now because of other matters. I’d like to ask one of my cousins to fill in for me. I’ll pay three yuan a month, plus thirty jin of coarse grain.”

“Thirty jin of coarse grain?”

“Wow, that’s half our family’s food for half a month!” the youngest, Zhao Duo, was the first to speak.

Zhao Village work points didn’t exchange for much grain, and they still had to sell part of it for money.

So seven people in the household only ate about sixty jin of coarse grain a month.

“And three yuan on top of that—I want to do it, Cousin,” Zhao Tiao, the second son, eagerly said.

But as soon as he spoke, his father glared at him: “You, always loafing around—what if you mess up your cousin’s job? Eldest or third should go; they’re good workers. We’ll just take the thirty jin of grain, we don’t need the three yuan.”

Zhao Tiao pouted but didn’t dare argue.

His father was right—he really wasn’t reliable.

But Zhao Qianqian didn’t agree with her uncle’s suggestion.

Because the logistics warehouse job at the food factory didn’t require much physical labor. It was mostly dealing with people coming to collect goods, needing someone smooth-tongued.

“Second Uncle, I must pay the three yuan. And that’s just for now. Once I’ve recouped the 600 yuan I spent on buying the job, the pay will increase to eight yuan plus thirty jin of grain.”

“What?!”

Future pay could rise to eight yuan?

That would make their family well-off.

After all, Zhao Village couldn’t compare with other villages. If even one person here could earn eight yuan as a temporary worker, the whole village would envy them.

Adding thirty jin of coarse grain on top,

that was worth more than ten yuan a month!

Everyone in Second Uncle’s household was thrilled, their hearts full of hope for the future.

Even so, they stayed polite on the surface: “Three yuan and thirty jin of grain each month is already enough, we don’t need anything more.”

“Second Uncle, Second Aunt, I mean what I say,” Zhao Qianqian declared. “Once I’ve recouped the 600 yuan for the job, I’ll definitely raise the pay. In the future, I might even sell you the job at half price.”

“Good, good, good! Our family will be sure to handle the job well.” Second Uncle smiled flatteringly. “So… do you prefer the eldest or the third? They’re both excellent workers.”

“I choose Second Brother.”

“What?”

Second Uncle’s family was all stunned.

“Second Uncle, my job doesn’t require heavy labor. It just needs someone good with numbers and words. Second Brother is the perfect fit.” Zhao Qianqian looked at Zhao Tiao. “He’s qualified.”

“Really?” Second Uncle laughed foolishly. “Who’d have thought my useless son would come in handy one day.”

The two youngest sons didn’t think much of it—they were just happy that someone in their family finally got a job.

But eldest Zhao Feng and third Zhao Yu felt upset.

It was like someone they always considered beneath them had suddenly climbed above their heads.

Even Zhao Tiao himself was stunned.

He never thought such good fortune would fall to him.

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Qian Family Village.

At that moment, Zeng Cheng was quite unhappy.

Qianqian had said she’d make him bone soup for lunch, and he had even come home early because of it.

But when he got back, not only was the soup not ready—she wasn’t even home.

He waited a while longer, but she still didn’t come.

So he had no choice but to cook some noodles himself.

Just as the noodles were halfway done, Zhao Qianqian finally returned.

She apologized at once: “I’m sorry, hubby. I got delayed today because of the job handover.”

Zeng Cheng pretended not to hear, focusing on his noodles.

Knowing he was upset, Zhao Qianqian hugged him from behind to coax him: “Hubby, I really know I was wrong. I promise it won’t happen again. And how could I let you cook noodles? I’ll do it.”

Faced with her soft coaxing, Zeng Cheng’s anger quickly faded.

After all, being late because of work wasn’t entirely her fault.

He suddenly didn’t want her to work at all.

Because she came home late, lunch ended up just being two bowls of noodles with four poached eggs, plus the pickled vegetables Zhao’s mother had given them.

After Zeng Cheng went back to work,

she began preparing dinner.

The bone soup needed to simmer for a long time.

Just as she set the bones to boil and went to the backyard to pull up a couple of radishes to add,

she noticed the village had suddenly become lively, as if many new people had arrived…