HPDBC Chapter 1599: The Head of the Zhao Family Courtyard
Chapter 1599: The Head of the Zhao Family Courtyard
Chapter 1599: The Head of the Zhao Family Courtyard
There are five large tiled houses made of red bricks and red tiles, and a yard of more than two acres in total, all surrounded by a 1.2-meter-high red brick wall.
The gate to the courtyard is an iron gate, locked with a padlock the size of a palm.
At the foot of the courtyard is a red brick path, which is laid upright rather than flat, which uses more than a thousand bricks, but has excellent water permeability.
There is a row of red brick warehouses on both sides of the gate. The south wall of the warehouse is the courtyard wall. The roof of the warehouse is made of asbestos tiles, and it is tilted towards the outside of the courtyard. In this way, when it rains, water will flow out of the courtyard along the tilt of the tiles.
Walking along the path, there are one or two vegetable gardens on each side. The vegetable gardens are surrounded by a one-meter-high brick wall. In the summer, they are decorated with flower pots, which is very beautiful.
At this height, when you cook outside in the summer, you can put the chopping board directly on the small brick wall to cut vegetables. Or you can put a basin to wash your face or body, which is convenient.
On the left side of the vegetable garden, on the corner near the house, is a water pressure well. This well has never been used, and all the parts have been removed.
On the right side of the vegetable garden, far from the corner in front of the house, is a thatched house, which is also made of red bricks and has asbestos tiles on the roof.
When others come here, they just think this yard is nice. As for the owners, Zhao Jun, Wang Meilan, and Zhao Youcai feel extremely comfortable as soon as they enter this yard.
"Da da, da da..." The little donkey padded its hooves as it walked on the red brick path, taking in the surroundings with its eyes.
Suddenly, the donkey was slapped on the back. Judging from the direction and strength, it was not Wang Meilan who slapped it. The little donkey's eyes narrowed and it was about to kick.
At this moment, Zhao Youcai slapped the donkey again and said, "Don't drag us on the road."
As soon as Zhao Youcai said this, Wang Meilan, who was walking in front of the donkey and holding the rope, turned around. The moment her big eyes met the donkey's eyes, the little donkey immediately became obedient, lowered its head, wagged its tail, and followed Wang Meilan closely.
There are eight connected dog kennels in a row against the east wall of the front yard, four dog kennels against the east wall of the back yard, and a donkey shed.
Under the guidance of Wang Meilan, the little donkey pulled the cart directly to the backyard. When they got there, Zhao Youcai and Li Dayong untied the donkey harness, and the little donkey went into the donkey shed without causing any trouble to its owner.
At this time, Zhang Yuanmin's voice came from the front yard: "Aunt! Uncle!"
"Hey!" Wang Meilan responded, but her voice was not loud. Afraid that Zhang Yuanmin could not hear her, Wang Meilan said to Zhao Youcai, "Dad, go to the front yard and see what Yuanmin is calling you for."
"Damn it!" Zhao Youcai uttered something sweet in a low voice, but he was not scolding Wang Meilan, he was scolding Zhang Yuanmin.
How can you call someone "Auntie" first and "Uncle" second? Who is the head of this family? Can't you tell the difference between the big and small?
When Zhao Youcai arrived at the front yard, he saw Zhang Yuanmin leading a group of people to the front of the house. Zhao Youcai frowned and thought, this is not right, they only hired 40 people, how come there are more than 100 people?
The Zhao family courtyard was large enough, and the corridor was wide enough for donkey carts to pass through. But when these people entered the courtyard, the flow of people stretched from the front of the house to the gate of the courtyard, and it seemed that there was no room for people in the corridor.
When Zhang Yuanmin saw Zhao Youcai coming from the backyard, he immediately raised his hand to introduce him to the crowd behind him, saying, "This is my uncle!"
All those who came were from Xishantun, and many of them had seen Zhao Youcai when they came to the Zhao family to sell hides.
Zhang Xinglong was quite old, and he was the one who came when the group first sold fox skins. The rest were all his sons.
The people who received them that time were Zhao Jun. Zhang Xinglong did not recognize Zhao Youcai. After listening to Zhang Yuanmin's introduction, he walked up to Zhao Youcai and extended his hand.
This guy was dressed quite formally. Zhao Youcai shook hands with him and said, "Are you here?"
This was a local polite phrase, and Zhang Xinglong agreed with a "hmm", but then he asked, "Are you our village chief's son?"
Zhang Xinglong's words did not mean that their village chief was a man. Rather, in the local dialect, if you say someone is a man, you are referring to that person's man. For example, if you say Jin Xiaomei is a man, then you are referring to Li Dayong.
Zhang Xinglong asked Zhao Youcai if he was Wang Meilan's son. It was true that he was. But it was the first time that Zhao Youcai had been called that in his entire life.
"I..." Zhao Youcai didn't know what to say, and at this moment, Tong Youfeng squeezed Zhang Xinglong aside and said, "Yes, this is the village chief's house!"
As he spoke, Tong Youfeng took over from Zhang Xinglong and shook Zhao Youcai's hand.
Zhao Youcai: "..."
It is said that women hold up half the sky, but these days, men are still the majority of the people who are in charge of the household and have the final say. So when we talk about someone in the household, we usually mean the wife of the male head of the household.
There is a reason why Tong Youfeng calls Zhao Youcai that way. In recent years, when village cadres went to the villages to express their condolences, they would address the women in the families in Xishan Village by that name.
Now that he is the captain of the military and civilian teams, he treats Zhao Youcai as an ordinary citizen.
Zhao Youcai shook off Tong Youfeng's hand, looked at Tong Youfeng with his small eyes, and remembered this man's appearance firmly in his mind.
At this time, Tong Youfeng didn't know that he had offended anyone. He smiled at Zhao Youcai and asked, "Where is our village chief?"
"She's in the back." Zhao Youcai didn't look angry at all, and smiled at Tong Youfeng, "Come with me... You should wait here for a while, I'll call her."
So many people, and so many old women, what are they doing in the backyard? So Zhao Youcai wanted to ask Wang Meilan, what are they doing with so many people? How much meat do they have to sell? How much food do they have to provide for lunch?
Thinking this in his mind, Zhao Youcai hurried to the backyard.
"Wang Meilan!" In order to show his family status, Zhao Youcai went to the backyard and shouted, "Come here!"
Wang Meilan, who was talking to Zhao Jun, Li Dayong, and Zhao Weipeng, was startled. She walked towards Zhao Youcai and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Go and have a look." Zhao Youcai pointed back at the road and said, "Come here with a group of people."
"Aren't you coming to build a shed for us?" Wang Meilan asked, but Zhao Youcai shook his head and said, "There are more than a hundred people, including many old women. Can they all build a shed for you?"
"Ah?" Wang Meilan was startled and asked subconsciously, "Why are there so many people here?"
As she spoke, Wang Meilan walked forward along the path between the room and the east wall. At this time, Zhao Youcai followed behind Wang Meilan and whispered, "Could it be that these people regretted choosing you? Come over and say they will brush you down."
These days, when a cadre who works for the government is removed from his post, he is called "be (shuà) down".
Hearing what Zhao Youcai said, Wang Meilan paused, turned around and whispered, "Get lost!"
Zhao Youcai didn't listen and followed Wang Meilan forward. He didn't want to leave, he wanted to see what those people were doing.
After walking two steps with Wang Meilan, Zhao Youcai suddenly realized that if he was seen like this, he would look like Wang Meilan's follower.
But by the time he reacted, the couple had already reached the front yard.
"Oh my god." Seeing the yard full of people, Wang Meilan was startled and asked, "Why are you all here?"
"Captain!" Wu Dalin squeezed to the front with all his strength, bowed and nodded to Wang Meilan, and said with a smile: "We are all here to work for you!"
As soon as Wu Dalin finished speaking, he was pushed aside by Zhang Xinglong and Tong Youfeng.
"Village chief!" Zhang Xinglong, who is already old and has lived in poverty for most of his life, still has a heart that wants to make progress.
At this time, Zhang Xinglong said to Wang Meilan with a smile on his face: "Our villagers heard that your family was building a shed today, and they all wanted to come over to help you. After that, I told Youfeng not to go to the village today..."
After hearing what Zhang Xinglong said, Tong Youfeng's face changed. He stepped forward to speak, but was stopped by Zhang Xinglong.
"Why don't we go some other day?" Zhang Xinglong continued, "Do we have to go before the village chief's work? So we didn't go today."
"Ah, haha..." What else could Wang Meilan say? She could only laugh and said, "This is all the work we have at home. It's okay. Just do your work."
"Oh, that won't do!" Zhang Xinglong's face turned serious, and he said seriously: "No matter how small the matter of the village chief's family is...it's a big deal!"
Tong Youfeng: “…”
Zhang Xinglong's son Zhang Guoming: "..."
Everyone in Xishantun: "..."
Among these people, there are those who have known Zhang Xinglong for more than 40 years. However, even though they have known Zhang Xinglong for so long, this is the first time they have discovered that old man Zhang still has this kind of face.
The person who was most uneasy at this time was Wu Dalin, as he suddenly realized that Zhang Xinglong might become his strong rival.
Wang Meilan had dealt with Zhang Xinglong before and knew that the old man was a bit stubborn, but she didn't expect that he would change so much after becoming the director of the poll.
Because of the surprise, he didn't follow Wang Meilan's words. At this moment, Wu Dalin was suddenly pushed by someone, and Wang Xiaolan, the fattest person in Xishan, came up to Wang Meilan and said with a smile: "Village leader, we old ladies are here to help you clean up the yard, clean the windows, etc., and your children will get married in a few days, right?"
“Oh my!” Wang Meilan clapped her hands, pointed at Wang Xiaolan and said, “Xiaolan, thank you so much!”
As Zhao Jun's wedding day draws near, he has to clean up his new house: sweep the shed, wipe the dust, clean the windows, and mop the floor.
If Wang Meilan brought people to clean up these five large tiled houses, it would definitely take them a whole day. Now that Wang Xiaolan brought the women of Xishan Village to help clean up the houses, Wang Meilan would certainly not refuse.
However, Wang Dabazhang taught Wang Meilan since she was a child that she should not drink other people's wine for free, eat other people's food for free, or order others around for free.
"His father!" Wang Meilan turned around and called Zhao Youcai, saying, "You...you and Dayong, go home and bring all the meat of the black bear back."
"What are you doing?" In fact, Zhao Youcai knew what Wang Meilan was going to do, but he has always been narrow-minded and opposed Wang Meilan and Zhao Jun's extravagant spending.
"Village leader!" Before Wang Meilan could reply to Zhao Youcai, Wang Xiaolan spoke loudly: "We don't want meat, we just help you with some work, we don't want anything else."
"We don't want it either!" Tong Youfeng said, "We are from the village and we are here to help you with the work."
"Yes!" Tong Youfeng just finished speaking when Wu Dalin said, "Captain, you said you would give us beef and wild boar meat, but we don't want them either."
"Is that possible?" Wang Meilan was moved by what they said and asked, "How can we change our minds after we have agreed on something?"
"Then, weren't you the village chief the other day?" Zhang Xinglong said with a smile, "You said it yesterday. Now we are all family. What can I do for you? Besides, our village can get better, isn't it all thanks to you? You have done us a favor!"
That sounds so nice.
"Hahaha..." Wang Meilan was amused by Zhang Xinglong's words and asked, "What's the meaning of gratitude?"
As she spoke, Wang Meilan suddenly turned to Zhao Youcai, her eyes sharp but her tone gentle, "His father, hurry up and get all the meat from the black bear!"
Zhao Youcai was not happy. He seemed to want to say something, but was frightened by Wang Meilan's sharp eyes. Zhao Youcai opened his mouth, then threw his hand and turned to the backyard to find Li Dayong.
"Hey, Yuanmin!" Then Wang Meilan ordered Zhang Yuanmin, "Hurry up and go to the store and get ten golden gourds!"
After saying that, Wang Meilan pointed to the back of the room and said, "I have prepared four. You can take ten more and then share them among everyone. It doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman, I will give them all!"
Among the eight strange things in Northeast China, one of them is girls holding big pipes.
There are not many entertainment activities these days, and people in Northeast China have to stay at home in winter. Many women are bored and have learned to smoke.
Wang Meilan treated everyone equally. Based on the principle of "rather leave behind an entire village than a single person", she gave meat and cigarettes to anyone who came to help, regardless of whether they were a man or a woman.
Zhang Yuanmin was much more obedient than Zhao Youcai. He squeezed out after receiving the order.
At this time, Zhao Youcai and others came forward from the backyard. Wang Meilan saw them and called Zhao Jun, "Son, fix the water pressure well."
"Hey!" Zhao Jun responded, and Wang Meilan continued, "It must be frozen, right? Make a fire to burn it."
It is normal for the well to freeze if it is not used for a whole winter. Not to mention such a long time, even if the well is used every day, it will freeze when it is cold in winter. But this is easy to deal with, just gather a pile of fire and it will open.
Zhao Youcai went to the backyard, Zhang Yuanmin went to buy cigarettes, and Zhao Jun went to light a fire to burn the well.
Seeing that Wang Meilan had lost the instructions from her family, Wang Xiaolan said to Wang Meilan apologetically: "Village leader, if you have any work, you can arrange it for us."
At this time, Jin Xiaomei happened to come from the backyard, so Wang Meilan asked Jin Xiaomei to bring the Xishantun people into the house to clean up Zhao Jun's new house first. She then directed the Xishantun men to move the wooden boards, nails, and asbestos tiles that were unloaded in the yard yesterday to the backyard.
When Zhang Yuanmin came back with cigarettes, Wang Meilan distributed cigarettes to everyone.
The golden gourd is also called the nine-cent loss because its retail price is nine cents.
This smoke is definitely not as good as that from Honghe and Hongtashan, but for people in Xishantun, it is definitely enough.
After receiving the cigarettes, the people of Xishantun immediately thanked Wang Meilan.
When Zhang Yuanmin came back, he led a large group of men to break the ground and start work in preparation for building a shed.
As for the remaining men, Zhang Yuanmin did not let them sit idle, but asked them to build a row of earthen stoves against the west wall in the backyard.
The doghouse and donkey shed are built against the east wall so they can see the sun.
(End of this chapter)