Chapter 4

Zhou Ping knew how to ride a bike, and she asked Zhou Sen to teach her just to make it less awkward for her to master this skill.

After “faking falls” two or three times, Zhou Pingguo was able to ride the bike by herself.

In the middle of winter, Zhou Sen was sweating profusely trying to support Zhou Pingguo and prevent her from falling.

Seeing him like that, Zhou Pingguo took out a handkerchief from her pocket and said, “Wipe off and change your clothes. It’s almost time to go to class. I’ll go wake Jingjing and Leilei up.”

Zhou Sen took the handkerchief, which still had a faint smell of soap on it. It smelled exactly like the handkerchief his mother used to wipe his sweat when he was a child. He held the handkerchief in his hand, stunned for a long time, then wiped the sweat from his forehead, staring straight ahead, not knowing what he was thinking.

Because the car at home is a 28-bar, it is still somewhat difficult for Zhou Pingguo, who is petite, to drive it. In the afternoon, when the children went to school, she practiced in the yard at home. When she felt she had mastered it, she parked the car aside and started to cook dinner.

I fried the leftover bacon at home in the evening. I have to go to the market in town to buy some things tomorrow, mainly meat. There is also a small private plot at home. When winter just began, the original owner covered it with plastic film, and many vegetable seeds sprouted successfully, which is just right for eating now.

Before Zhou Erni died, she took into consideration her three children and the delicate-looking Zhou Pingguo. It was highly likely that they would not be able to farm, so she decided to sublet the family’s land to people in the same village and ask them to provide food rations for Zhou Sen and others every year.

According to the market price, Zhou Sen’s family would definitely suffer a loss. But things in the village cannot be calculated in this way. If they suffer a small loss, it will be relatively easier to find someone to help them if they really encounter any problems.

When the household contract responsibility system was implemented, the Zhou family was large and they were allocated a lot of land. At that time, Zhou Jing and Zhou Lei were still in their mothers’ wombs and were counted as one person’s share, so they had a lot of land in the village.

Zhou Erni did not give all the money to one person, but picked four families who she thought were more honest and loyal, and asked them to check and balance each other.

If her body hadn’t really been unable to take it, there would have been no need for her to act like this. But how could a human being fight against fate? She could only hold back a few more tricks, and the rest depended on the children’s own luck.

At dinner time, Zhou Sen looked at the bowl full of fried bacon, and his heart ached. Just as he was about to say something, he saw an extra piece of bacon in his bowl, and then heard Zhou Pingguo say, “Eat it. If I don’t cook more, you definitely won’t eat it, and you won’t ask me to eat it. I don’t want to be pale and skinny.”

“This is meat!” Zhou Sen still felt heartbroken.

“I know it’s meat. What’s wrong with eating some meat? Why wait until later to replenish your body during the winter?” Zhou Pingguo said, “I’ve wanted to cook it for a long time.”

“Besides, bacon is definitely not as nutritious as fresh meat. I just learned how to ride a bicycle today. When I go to the market in town, I’ll see meat for sale every day. And now I can buy it without meat coupons. What’s there to worry about?”

“A pound of meat costs three dollars and fifty cents!” Zhou Sen glanced at Zhou Pingguo, “That’s only ten dollars a week. I don’t have any more.”

“Don’t worry, I will make sure everything is arranged for you.” Zhou Pingguo said confidently.

Zhou Sen didn’t believe it at all, and secretly swore to himself that if Zhou Pingguo spent more money than allowed, he would never give her any more no matter what.

At night, Zhou Pingguo checked all the children’s clothes and mended any torn ones. The clothes of these children, including her own, were all made of the best fabrics in the village. The little girl Jingjing was obviously the most favored in the family. She even had a light and warm down jacket. I don’t know where her eldest brother got it from.

But the clothes are a bit out-dated. After all, Zhou Xin has been gone for two years. After he left, the family’s living standard plummeted. Except for a coat that Zhou Erni bought for each of the children last year, there are no new clothes.

Zhou Pingguo sighed. She had to work hard and try to earn enough money to buy new clothes for herself and her children before the New Year.

Although they have mines here, to be honest, their village, and even the entire town, is not well developed. Although it is less than 70 kilometers away from Dongzhou City in the Special Economic Zone, the mountains block the spring breeze of reform and opening up from blowing here.

No matter what, as long as there are people, there will be business opportunities. Zhou Pingguo plans to ride her bicycle around the town when she goes shopping tomorrow to see if there is anything she can do.

A tree that is moved will die, but a person who moves will live. Zhou Pingguo just didn’t believe it. With so many years of experience in her previous life, how could she be trapped in a small yard?

The next day, Zhou Pingguo got up early, cooked breakfast, put pickles and scrambled eggs on the table, and told Zhou Sen, “The porridge is in the pot. It will get cold easily if you take it out. You can go to the kitchen to get it later. I’m going to town and will be back soon. Don’t worry, housekeeper. Ten yuan can’t even buy a train ticket to Dongzhou. I can’t run away.”

“I’m not worried!” Zhou Sen said gruffly.

Zhou Pingguo ignored his hypocrisy. She found his hedgehog-like hair interesting and couldn’t help but rub his head twice. “I’ll get a clipper to trim your hair in a few days. Why are your hair so long?”

“It grows fast, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“All the nutrients go to the hair. No wonder you’re so short.”

“!!” Zhou Sen suddenly raised his head and glared at Zhou Pingguo, “You said I’m short again? I’m only a few years old. I will definitely be taller than you in the future!”

“Comparing heights with mine is too pathetic.” Zhou Pingguo laughed. “Okay, I’ll wait. Eat well. I want to eat meat so that you can be taller than me sooner.”

After hearing this, Zhou Sen’s restlessness seemed to be suddenly calmed down. He thought to himself that if Zhou Pingguo spent all the money at once, he would reluctantly give her another 5 yuan.

Zhou Pingguo had no idea of ​​Zhou Sen’s inner changes, and rode her bicycle out. She didn’t want to go out in the cold wind early in the morning, but there was no other way, the town market was a morning market, and there would be nothing if she went too late.

After riding for about an hour, Zhou Pingguo finally arrived. The market was not big, so Zhou Pingguo rode her bicycle slowly around, asking prices and comparing them, which took her almost an hour.

After buying a pound of meat, Zhou Pingguo didn’t have much else to buy, so she just watched with great interest the current very popular scam, which was to trick people into raising earthworms.