Had a meal.
Zhou Juan sensibly went to wash the pots and dishes.
Zhou Qiang boiled a pot of water and asked his younger siblings to wash themselves.
It didn't take long.
Zhou Fang and Zhou Sheng were asleep in the middle of the bed.
Zhou Juan slept on the wall side of the bed.
Zhou Sheng slept outside.
They all live in a big house and are not separated.
"Xiaojuan, I will deposit the money at home in the bank tomorrow. Leave the rest here. If you want to use it, you can take it yourself."
"Okay, second brother."
"Xiaojuan, our house will be locked tomorrow, please bring the key with you." Before, Zhou Qiang's door was not locked.
"Second brother, why did you lock the door?"
"Beware of Zhou Hua, I'm worried that he will make trouble again."
"Second brother, why do you think the eldest brother wants to drive us away?"
"It was all instigated by Zhou Hua's partner."
"Second brother, if you find someone in the future, will you drive us away?"
"No, I'll find someone who won't drive you away."
"Second brother, I don't want to go to school anymore."
"Xiaojuan, listen to my second brother and wait until you graduate from elementary school."
"Okay. Second brother, why are dad and mom missing?"
"It said there was a car accident."
"Second brother, what kind of car accident happened?"
"I don't know either, Uncle Qian didn't say."
"Second brother."
The next day, early in the morning.
Zhou Qiang got up and cleaned up.
Start cooking.
He made a pot of noodle soup with the leftover noodles from yesterday.
The vegetables are still cabbage, potatoes, and dry goods.
Also added four poached eggs.
"Second brother, the poached eggs are so delicious, I want to eat them again." Zhou Fang couldn't get enough of one.
"Second brother, I want to eat too." Zhou Sheng didn't eat enough either.
"No, I just made four poached eggs, one for each person, no more." Zhou Qiang did not let his poached eggs go out, but also stopped Zhou Juan who wanted to share his poached eggs with his younger brothers and sisters.
Zhou Qiang didn't want Zhou Fang and Zhou Sheng to only care about themselves when eating.
It is only right for three younger brothers and sisters to be impartial.
Zhou Fang and Zhou Sheng didn't dare to lose their temper or lose their temper and just ate obediently.
After dinner, tidy up quickly.
outside the house.
"Get dressed, put on your hat and gloves, let's go!" Zhou Qiang had already packed up the tricycle.
Before departure, Zhou Qiang locked the door of his house.
The primary school is not far away.
Arriving soon.
"Xiaojuan, you and Xiaofang should listen carefully. I will pick you up when school is over at noon."
"Okay, second brother."
Zhou Qiang said a few words and took Zhou Sheng away.
Junior high school nearby.
"Teacher Tian, I want to ask for leave." Zhou Qiang hugged Zhou Sheng and asked for leave from the class teacher. Zhou Sheng is still young and cannot go to elementary school yet.
As for going to kindergarten. At this time, kindergarten was not yet popular, and students basically went directly to first grade.
"Zhou Qiang, you must not drop out of school. You must at least persist until you graduate from junior high school." Teacher Tian, the head teacher, knew about Zhou Qiang's family situation, comforted Zhou Qiang, and encouraged Zhou Qiang to finish junior high school.
"I know, Teacher Tian, I will definitely take the final exam. I will also study at home when I have time." Zhou Qiang promised not to give up his studies.
"Zhou Qiang, if you have any difficulties, just tell me and the school will help you."
"Thank you, teacher." Zhou Qiang rode a tricycle, pulled Zhou Sheng, and set off again.
bank.
Zhou Qiang found an acquaintance and deposited the money in his own name.
The acquaintance was introduced by Wang Xiuping yesterday.
Zhou Qiang is a bit young and needs help in handling business at the bank.
Riding a tricycle, Zhou Qiang came to Dongcheng Auto Repair Factory.
Zhou Qiang came here often before.
When Zhou Qiang was about ten years old, Zhou Tie brought Zhou Qiang to the auto repair shop to become an apprentice.
Zhou Hua worked in the big car class at the steel rolling mill and learned to drive from Zhou Tie.
Now, five years have passed.
Although Zhou Qiang has not been studying here all the time, he has learned almost the same skills in repairing cars.
Working as a mechanic in an auto repair shop is technically fine.
"Xiaoqiang, you're here." Master Sun, Sun Dafeng, is Master Zhou Qiang. He is in his forties, his body smells of oil, and his hands are black.
"Master, I'm here to do some odd jobs and make some money." Zhou Qiang put away the tricycle and asked Zhou Sheng to play with used tires. Zhou Qiang came here before and worked odd jobs and made money.
"Xiaoqiang, aren't you going to work as a regular worker in the steel rolling mill?"
"Don't go now, wait until I graduate from junior high school."
"Then do you still have the official quota for your family?" Sun Dafeng seemed to have something in mind.
"Master, the official work quota in my family can be used by either me or my younger brothers and sisters, and will not be given to outsiders." Zhou Qiang said it to the letter, leaving no one to miss him.
"That's okay." Sun Dafeng nodded slowly and lit a cigarette, "Come on, you have good skills. How much work do we do here and how much money do we make? You can repair those cars."
"Okay, Master." Zhou Qiang started to get busy.
It's approaching noon.
Zhou Qiang was about to leave and asked Sun Dafeng for wages.
"Xiao Qiang, you worked a lot faster today, and your skills have improved again. Take the two yuan." Usually Zhou Qiang can only earn one yuan.
"Thank you, Master." Zhou Qiang took out a bag of large bags and gave it to Sun Dafeng.
"No need." Sun Dafeng declined a few times and accepted, "Xiaoqiang, if you have anything to do in the future, just tell me."
"Okay, Master."
Zhou Qiang rode a tricycle and pulled Zhou Sheng away.
Passing by the vegetable market.
Someone happened to be selling eggs, so I hurriedly weighed them.
The meat seemed to have been sold out and was nowhere to be found.
The pumpkins looked good, so I bought a few more big pumpkins.
There was no shortage of cabbage, potatoes, and radishes at home, so I didn’t buy any.
No green vegetables to be found.
However, I found dried beans and eggplants and bought a lot.
By elementary school.
School is just about to end.
Pick up Zhou Juan and Zhou Fang and go home quickly.
Large courtyard.
There were many people chatting outside in the front yard.
Zhou Qiang came back.
The third aunt came over and said, "Xiaoqiang, your brother Zhou Hua was here just now.
Your door is locked.
Your brother can't get in.
He's going to break down the door.
I was stopped.
Then, your brother clamored to pick the lock.
I saw something was wrong, so I asked someone to notify Director Wang of the sub-district office.
Your brother said.
Director Wang came soon.
She scolded Zhou Hua and scolded Zhou Hua away. "
The third aunt explained the situation in a few words.
It turns out that Zhou Hua, after being reminded by Li Mei today, understood that he should not give up the house here, nor should he give up his regular worker quota in the steel rolling mill, so he came here again to ask for the house, quota, and money.
Fortunately, Wang Xiuping arrived in time and drove Zhou Hua away.
Just now, the three elders in charge of the courtyard were absent, and no one in the courtyard dared to take care of Zhou Hua.
"Thank you, Third Aunt. I have some dried beans and eggplants here. Please take some." Zhou Qiang grabbed a handful of dried beans and handed them to Third Aunt.
"Why is this so embarrassing?" The third aunt took it and looked at the dried eggplant.
Zhou Juan grabbed a handful of dried eggplants and handed them to the third aunt. Her hands are small and she can't grasp much.
The third aunt happily accepted it and went home.
Everyone else also went home to cook.
Go inside, wash your hands, cook.
"Second brother, is the eldest brother here to bully us again?" Zhou Juan asked while washing vegetables.
"Xiaojuan, it's okay. As long as I'm here, Zhou Hua can't bully us." Zhou Qiang said while looking at the white flour bag at home.
Not much white flour.
There are still a lot of stick noodles.
Zhou Qiang hesitated, scooped out three bowls of white noodles and two bowls of stick noodles, and started kneading the noodles to make noodles.
For the dish, this time I used dried beans, dried eggplant, and pumpkin.
Since there was no meat, Zhou Qiang fried four eggs and used a little more oil.
A meal is prepared quickly.
"Second brother, the noodles you make are so delicious!" Zhou Fang praised Zhou Qiang again.
"If it tastes good, eat more."
"Second brother, have another bowl!"
"I also want!"
After the meal, everyone was full.
Zhou Juan went to wash the dishes.
Zhou Fang and Zhou Sheng were resting on the bed.
Zhou Qiang rummaged around the house and found a fishing rod and fishing net, and then started making fishing bait.
That's right.
Zhou Qiang plans to go fishing in the afternoon.
Zhou Qiang can go to the auto repair shop a few times a week, but he can't go there every morning and afternoon.
"Second brother, do you want to go fishing?" Zhou Juan asked.
"Yes, I will take time to go fishing in the afternoon. Let's eat fish and drink fish soup in the evening." Zhou Qiang had fished with Zhou Tie before.
"Second brother, it's cold outside, please put on my dad's cotton coat."
"I know, just take it with you when you leave. Xiaojuan, go and rest."
"Second brother, can I help you make fishing bait?"
"No need. Xiaojuan, what did you study this morning?"
"I learned Chinese and mathematics in the morning."
"How is Xiaofang doing at school?"
"It's fine, it's okay."
Been busy for a while.
The bait is basically ready.
It was time to set off.
Zhou Qiang still sent Zhou Juan and Zhou Fang to school first.
"Xiaojuan, Xiaofang, study hard."
Steel rolling mill concierge.
Zhou Qiang dragged Zhou Sheng to come here first.
"Master Zhang, please call the money master of the big car class, the national money master."
"It's Zhou Qiang. You can just go in and find Master Qian." The guard, Master Zhang, knew Zhou Qiang.
"Okay, thank you, Master Zhang."
After a while.
"Xiao Qiang, why are you here?" Qian Weiguo greeted warmly, "Come, have a drink of water, Xiao Sheng, are you cold?"
"Uncle Qian, around noon today, Zhou Hua went to my house to cause trouble." Zhou Qiang came to complain. Zhou Hua is a temporary worker in a large train class, and his money is managed by the state.
"Zhou Hua is so outrageous!" Qian Weiguo was furious and wanted to find Zhou Hua on the spot.
"Uncle Qian, let's go first. I don't want to see Zhou Hua." Zhou Qiang finished lighting the fire and walked away.
He heard it from a distance.
"Zhou Hua! Get over here!"
"Zhou Hua! You are already twenty years old, why are you still bullying your younger siblings!"
"Zhou Hua! Don't always listen to that Li Mei's instigation, she is not a good person!"
"Zhou Hua, if you dare to trouble Xiaoqiang and the others again, I will kick you out of the steel rolling mill!"
riverside.
Zhou Qiang took Zhou Sheng to the river to fish.
It's cold, so Zhou Sheng shouldn't be brought here.
However, Zhou Qiang was worried about leaving Zhou Sheng to others to take care of.
There are no more or less people fishing.
Everyone wants to get something to eat.
There are fish collectors nearby.
Zhou Qiang found a place with few people.
Let Zhou Sheng find a place to play.
Zhou Qiang picked up the hammer and started smashing the ice.
Break the ice, lower the fishing net, make a nest, and prop up the fishing rod.
Zhou Qiang was busy for a while.
Zhou Sheng was tired of playing.
Zhou Qiang held him in his arms, wrapped him in a cotton coat, and started fishing.
Time passes slowly.
Maybe the bait made by Zhou Qiang is better.
Maybe it’s because Zhou Qiang is good at fishing.
Wait for the reason.
Anyway, Zhou Qiang’s harvest was pretty good.
A dozen fish were caught, the small fish were released, and five big fish remained.
In the fishing net, I also caught a few fish and some river shrimps.
Or release the small fish.
After counting, there were nine big fish in total and about two kilograms of river shrimp.
He looked at his watch.
Calculate the time.
Zhou Qiang tidies up.
The four largest fish were left. Zhou Qiang carried the five fish and went to find the fish collector.
“Little brother, do you want to change your fish?”
"How to change?"
"What do you want to change?"
"Do you have any white flour or meat?"
"It has white flour, but no meat."
"These five fish are all replaced with white flour."
"Okay, let me weigh them first. Your fish are quite big. If we switch, it will be like this"
Zhou Qiang exchanged a lot of white flour for no money.
Riding a tricycle, he pulled Zhou Sheng away.
Arrived near the street office.
Zhou Qiang deliberately slowed down.
After a while, Wang Xiuping was seen pushing a bicycle out.
"Aunt Wang!" Zhou Qiang shouted.
After a few hard kicks, he arrived in front of Wang Xiuping.
"Aunt Wang, here are the fish I just caught." Zhou Qiang hung the two big fish he had prepared on Wang Xiuping's handlebar. The fish were strung up with hemp rope.
"Xiaoqiang, did you go fishing? Didn't you go to school?" Wang Xiuping frowned.
"Aunt Wang, I'm asking for leave."
"Xiaoqiang, you have to go to school and you can't ask for leave."
"Aunt Wang, I have learned everything I need to learn this semester. I go to school and nothing happens."
"Have you learned everything?" Wang Xiuping didn't believe it.
"Aunt Wang, my final score this semester will be number one."
"First? You don't have to be first in the exam. If you get into the top 20 in your grade, I won't care about you asking for leave."
"Aunt Wang, don't worry. Not only will I be number one in the final exam, I will also be admitted to a technical secondary school next year."
"Take the technical secondary school entrance exam? Xiaoqiang, don't you plan to take the college entrance examination?"
"Aunt Wang, I want to work early."
Wang Xiuping was silent for a moment, "It's good to start working early. If you get admitted to a technical secondary school, you can be assigned a job and there is no need for a job quota."
"Yes, Aunt Wang, I want to leave the job quota to my younger brothers and sisters so that they can take over the work."
"fair enough."
"Aunt Wang, thank you for what happened this morning."
"You're welcome. If Zhou Hua continues to trouble you, I'll send him to the police station." Wang Xiuping said as she took a fish and threw it into Zhou Qiang's tricycle. "Xiao Qiang, I want one of the fish you caught." . If anything happens in the future, remember to come to the street office to find me. I will definitely help you if you can."
After Wang Xiuping finished speaking, she left neatly.
Zhou Qiang rode to the elementary school to pick up Zhou Juan and Zhou Fang.
"Second brother, the fish you caught is so big!" Zhou Juan and Zhou Fang were both a little surprised.
"Let's eat fish and drink fish soup tonight." Zhou Qiang said with a smile.
There are three big fish left.
Zhou Qiang took care of everything.
Remove the scales and guts.
Remove the thorns. That's right, Zhou Qiang even removed the fish bones.
Gurgling.
In a large iron pot, a pot of fish pieces was stewed.
Zhou Qiang stewed all the fish.
They will definitely not be able to finish the meal.
The smell of fish slowly drifted out.
At some point, there were several children outside Zhou's house, sniffing and swallowing secretly. They were all children in the front yard.
"Xiaojuan, let them bring in bowls one by one." Zhou Qiang said.
"Okay, second brother." Zhou Juan went outside and said a few words. The children cheered and hurried home to get their bowls.
Two medium-sized pieces of fish and a full bowl of fish soup.
"Go, slow down, be careful not to burn it." Zhou Qiang did not refuse the sallow and thin children, and gave them fish meat and fish soup.
"Thank you, Brother Qiang." The children were very polite.
There were not many children who brought bowls, and they only took away half of the fish meat and fish soup.
Zhou Qiang ordered some more uncooked noodles left over from lunch.
After a while.
"Come, let's have dinner."
"Delicious!"
"Second brother, the fish soup you made is better than mom's." Zhou Juan's eyes turned red and she almost shed tears.
"If it tastes good, drink more." Zhou Qiang added a piece of fish to Zhou Juan.
Had a meal.
Place the remaining fish aside.
Wash dishes and boil water.
It didn't take long.
The child from before is here again.
This time they came not to ask for fish and fish soup, but to bring something.
Some gave walnuts.
Some gave persimmons as gifts.
Some gave chestnuts as gifts.
The children chatted happily.
Zhou Qiang's house suddenly became lively.
(End of chapter)
