Chapter 106 Not short of money

On the day of Qingming Festival, the news that the Zhang family had moved to Jiangchuan City suddenly spread throughout the village, causing the once calm Yunxi Village to suddenly become agitated.

In the mountains, at home, and in the gossip centers everywhere in the village, this incident became a hot topic of discussion among the whole village.

When the villagers and their sisters-in-law gossiped, they all sighed that the two brothers of the Zhang family were truly top-notch talents among the younger generation in the village. In just eight or nine months, they made their family so prosperous. Tractors, large color TVs, large refrigerators and other valuable things that ordinary farmers dared not even dream of were brought home one by one by the Zhang family.

Now it's even more amazing! He actually bought a big house in the city and planned to open a noodle shop to do business. Zhang Yunfeng, this peasant, is really ambitious. He wants to get rid of the mud on his body and transform himself into a noble city dweller.

It's really impressive!

On the morning of that day, many people from the village went to visit the Zhang family and helped them move. Now that they saw that the Zhang family was about to become rich, the villagers not only helped them wholeheartedly, but also had some intention of currying favor with them. If they had to go to the city for business in the future, they would have a place to stay and someone they could talk to.

In fact, the Zhang family has no direct relatives in the village. His family had few members in the previous generation. Zhang Yunqi’s grandparents gave birth to four children, but only his father Zhang Liushun grew up successfully.

Going back to his grandfather's generation, there were three brothers. After they had more branches, there were two cousins ​​and one uncle. In terms of blood relationship, they were within the fifth degree of mourning in Zhang Yunqi's generation. However, they seldom interacted with each other on weekdays, and they only visited each other during the Chinese New Year. After Zhang's father got into trouble and was imprisoned, the relationship became even more distant.

There are many relatives on his mother's side. Zhang Yunqi's grandmother is still alive. In addition to Zhang's mother, there are three sons, who are Zhang Yunqi's three uncles. Among these three uncles, the eldest uncle Liu Hongjun is honest, the younger uncle Liu Hongxing is simple and playful, but the one who is doing the best is the second uncle Liu Hongbing. He has made some money in these years by running a small earth brick factory, but his character is a bit selfish and greedy.

One thing Zhang Yunqi will never forget is that after his father got into trouble and went to jail last year, in order to raise money for his and Chunlan’s tuition, Zhang’s mother begged her second uncle Liu Hongbing for a whole day at his house, and he reluctantly agreed to lend the money.

But this is also conditional.

Second uncle Liu Hongbing told Aunt Zhang that he was short of money and could not come up with any money, so he could only help to borrow some high-interest loans. After selling the flue-cured tobacco, he would have to pay double the interest.

Last summer, when Zhang Yunqi and his brother were reselling flue-cured tobacco, his second uncle Liu Hongbing heard the news and learned that his family had made some money, so he immediately ran to his house to collect the debt. At that time, Zhang's mother didn't say a word and directly gave him twice the principal. However, during the Chinese New Year this year, Zhang's mother resolutely refused to allow Zhang Yunqi and his brother to visit Liu Hongbing's house for New Year's greetings.

Liu Hongbing's home is in Liujia Chong, below Yunxi Village. In fact, he had already known that Zhang Yunfeng's family was going to live in the city, but he had not taken any action.

It was not until the day of Qingming Festival that he was certain that his nephew Zhang Yunfeng would return to the village to sweep the graves of his ancestors, so he rushed to Zhang's house on the exact time without notifying his other two brothers.

Liu Hongbing knew that the incident at the beginning of last year had made his sister Liu Yufeng feel resentful towards him. Now thinking about it, he felt regretful.

To be honest, if the facts were not before him, he would never have believed that these two nephews were so capable. They had quietly made a broken family so prosperous, and now they were going to open shops in the city to start big businesses. Which local farmer in the surrounding area could compare to them?
Or was it because of his shortsightedness that he ruined the big thing for a little profit! Now he wanted to continue this marriage and asked his nephew Zhang Yunfeng to help, but he was afraid it would be very difficult. But the thing had already happened, so he could only find a way to make up for it.

Liu Hongbing showed up with six pounds of fried peanuts and was very enthusiastic. He sat in the main room and talked to his nephew Zhang Yunfeng about moving to the city. He then asked tentatively, "Yunfeng, your noodle shop is about to open. Are you hiring waiters?"

Zhang Yunfeng shook his head and said, "Not yet."

Liu Hongbing immediately became happy. He rolled up the cigarette butt and stamped it out under his shoe, saying, "That's great. I was just about to tell you about your sister Chunli."

Zhang Yunfeng was stunned: "What happened to Chunli?"

Liu Hongbing sighed and said, "Yunfeng, you should also know that your sister does not want to farm at home, saying that there is no future, and clamors to go out to work. But she is a young girl, and she has no acquaintances to lead the way. I am really worried about letting her go. It happens that you will need waiters for your noodle shop, so let your sister Chunli go to the city to help. She is hardworking and one of our own, so you can feel at ease working for her." Zhang Yunfeng smoked his pipe without saying a word.

Zhang Ma had been staring at Liu Hongbing since he came in. She knew her second brother too well and knew that he was up to no good. After hearing what he said, she walked over and said, "Hongjun, the store hasn't even opened yet, but all the family money has been invested. We don't plan to hire anyone to work, and we can't afford to hire anyone. Please be considerate of this nephew. He just went out to make a living and can't take care of himself."

Liu Hongbing smiled awkwardly, nodded and said: "That's fine, wait until Yunfeng's store is doing well, then bring Chunli up there and let her see more of the world in the city."

Neither Zhang Ma nor Zhang Yunfeng responded to him.

Liu Hongbing didn't look embarrassed. He sat on a chair and talked to Zhang Yunfeng about this and that. Sometimes he talked about his brother-in-law Zhang Liushun being in jail, and sometimes he talked about Zhang's mother being in poor health and going to the city for recuperation. He didn't wait until they had a sumptuous lunch at Zhang's house. When he was full and drunk, he patted his butt and left, picking his toothpick.

As soon as he left, Zhang Yunqi and his brother carried a bamboo basket of money, paper and candles and went to Jiangjunling to sweep the graves with their two sisters.

The climate in April has turned warmer, and the sun shines warmly on the earth that has just thawed. In the bay near Jiangjunling, peach blossoms are blooming red again. On the gentle slopes on both sides of the river, green grass sprouts that have just emerged from the ground and dead grass are mixed together, yellow and green, showing a vitality. Willow branches are like a young girl's hair, swaying in the spring breeze.

While cleaning the grave circle, Zhang Yunqi looked out at Yunxi Village covered in green and the blue sky and white clouds on the mountain top. He felt very happy, but he didn't know when he would come here next time.

After sweeping the tomb, Zhang Yunqi called Chunlan and the two walked behind. He wanted to tell Chunlan about how she stayed alone to study at Longwan Town Middle School after her whole family went to the city.

In three months, Chunlan will take the high school entrance examination. Transferring to a school in the city temporarily will definitely affect her studies. On the other hand, considering Chunlan's grades, Longwan Town Middle School is unlikely to let her transfer easily.

It is the best choice for Chunlan to continue staying here to study, but her whole family has gone to the city, and she is the only girl left in the countryside. Zhang Yunqi knows that Chunlan must be feeling bad, but in the past two days, her increasingly beautiful face has not shown any sadness.

This sister has indeed been sensible and obedient since she was young.

Their family used to be in a difficult situation, but no matter how hungry they were or how tattered their clothes were, Zhang Yunqi had never seen Chunlan ask for anything from his family. When she was at home, she did housework, herded cattle, pulled grass for pigs, planted rice seedlings, picked tobacco leaves, and was proficient in all kinds of farm work. When she was in school, she had no money to buy pens and paper, so she picked up garbage and rags in the town, and she always got first place in exams, leaving the second place N levels ahead.

Zhang Yunqi still remembers that when Chunlan was four years old, she pestered her mother to make a small basket for her. She would carry the basket on her arm all day, and follow him with her little butt sticking out, to collect firewood in the back mountain.

This girl is so well-behaved and sensible that it makes people feel distressed. Perhaps ever since she could remember, her young mind has understood that her family used to be a pitiful and poor family.

Children from poor families have to fight for their own lives!
Thinking back to those poor days, Zhang Yunqi couldn't help but feel a little emotional. He touched Chunlan's little head and said, "Chunlan, we will move to the city tomorrow. We will send you to school first. If you have extra classes on weekends, you can stay in school. If you have holidays, you can take a bus to the city. If there is no small passenger car in the evening, you can ask Zhu Da to take you to Fengyang County and then change buses. Your eldest brother will pay for the fare when the time comes."

Chunlan nodded: "Second brother, I know."

Zhang Yunqi took out a pink Aihua Walkman from his pocket and handed it to her: "In a few months, the high school entrance exam will be here. Don't be too stressed. As for grades, just let it go. No matter how good or bad they are, I can guarantee that you will have a great future in this life. When you have nothing to do in school, play with your classmates more. Don't always sit in the classroom reading. This is a Walkman. You like listening to music. You can listen to it after class to relax."

Chunlan took the exquisite Walkman, touched it with her fingers, and said, "This is very expensive, right?"

Zhang Yunqi said happily: "What does it matter if it's expensive or not? Your brother doesn't need this little money."

　It will be on the shelves this Friday, and I will try my best to make a big splash then. In fact, I don’t have any drafts saved, so please forgive me for being clumsy, tears are flowing T﹏T
　　
　
(End of this chapter)