Chapter 428 - 362: Youcai Gets a Beating
At Zhao Jun’s family home.
While the father and his two daughters were causing a ruckus in the east room, Zhao Jun and Wang Meilan were having a warm chat in the west room.
Wang Meilan sat across from Zhao Jun. The more she looked at her son, the more outstanding she found him.
That evening, Wang Meilan had sliced wild boar meat and boiled it with cabbage and tofu. For any other family, they’d be lucky to eat a meal like this even once a month.
But for Zhao Jun’s family, a meal like this could only be considered average.
But Zhao Jun quite liked it. Especially after eating so much meat for lunch, having some cabbage and tofu in the evening was perfect.
Wasn’t there a saying? "Fish creates heat and meat creates phlegm, but cabbage and tofu keep you safe and sound."
Zhao Jun picked out all the slices of wild boar, eating only the cabbage and tofu and drinking the broth.
After finishing most of his bowl of sorghum rice, Zhao Jun reached for the ladle to scoop more from the serving basin.
Seeing his mother watching him with a grin, Zhao Jun smiled back and said to Wang Meilan, "Mom, the money’s in the bag. Go ahead and get it."
Hearing this, Wang Meilan grew even happier. Her big eyes crinkled into thin lines as she smiled.
She brought over Zhao Jun’s satchel, took out stacks of cash, and placed them on the kang.
Zhao Jun shoveled a mouthful of food into his mouth, then pointed and said, "There’s sixteen hundred in there that’s mine."
Wang Meilan understood immediately. In total there were five full stacks and one thick, partial stack. The partial stack was six hundred yuan. She set that aside along with one full stack, identifying the sixteen hundred he had mentioned.
Zhao Jun hadn’t told Wang Meilan about Du Chunjiang giving him a gun. He just said he’d dug up a stalk of Ginseng himself, and the money from its sale belonged solely to him.
Following Zhao Jun’s instructions, Wang Meilan divided the remaining money into shares. Then, Zhao Jun told her how much stuff he’d bought that day, how much money to give the Li Family, how much for the Lin Family, and how much for Zhang Yuanmin’s family.
Wang Meilan needed to know the details, and she would then have to tell Zhao Youcai. Since the money wasn’t being divided equally, they had to avoid any slips of the tongue. Otherwise, his good intentions could easily backfire.
Wang Meilan held their family’s share of the money—nearly three thousand yuan, three whole stacks of banknotes—and felt a wave of emotion.
Wang Meilan put the money down and called out, "Son."
"Yeah?" Zhao Jun, who had been burying his face in his bowl to shovel down his food, quickly looked up. He set down his bowl and chopsticks. "Mom, what’s wrong?"
"Sigh..." Wang Meilan sighed. "I was just thinking about your grandma. If the old lady were still alive to see how successful her eldest grandson has become, she would be so happy!"
Zhao Jun froze at her words and blinked. Both his grandparents had passed away, but his grandmother had died when he was fifteen.
In his past life, he hadn’t seen her for forty years. Since his rebirth, he hadn’t seen her either, so his memory of the old woman had become hazy.
Now, hearing Wang Meilan mention her, fragmented memories surfaced in Zhao Jun’s mind. He remembered the old woman sitting on the edge of the kang, grinning with her gap-toothed smile and laughing heartily.
As the saying goes: the youngest son and the eldest grandson are the apple of a grandmother’s eye.
Zhao Youcai was the youngest son. Furthermore, Zhao Jun’s uncle had been sickly since childhood and died young, leaving Zhao Youcai as his grandmother’s only remaining son.
And in Zhao Jun’s generation, he was the only boy. You could say that if his grandmother were still alive, and Zhao Youcai dared to say a single bad word about Zhao Jun, the old woman would have threatened to hang herself right in front of her youngest son.
Thinking of his grandmother, Zhao Jun also sighed. He then comforted his mother, "It’s alright, Mom. Our family’s finances weren’t good back then, but Grandma still got to enjoy the blessings of having you and Dad to care for her. Everyone in the whole village said you were a filial daughter-in-law."
"Mhm, mhm." Wang Meilan was an emotional person. The memory of her mother-in-law made her eyes well up, but after hearing her son’s comforting words, she collected herself.
’With such a good son, what more could a mother ask for?’
"Son, have some more." At that, Wang Meilan pushed the small dish of pickled cucumbers toward Zhao Jun.
These cucumbers were made before autumn, by picking the small, twisted ones from the vine and tossing them into a crock of soy sauce to pickle.
You could also pickle cowpeas and chili peppers this way, but Zhao Jun only liked cucumbers, so Wang Meilan only pickled cucumbers.
"Uh-huh," Zhao Jun replied. He picked up a pickled cucumber, took a large bite, and then shoveled a big mouthful of sorghum rice.
Seeing her son eat with such gusto, a smile spread across Wang Meilan’s face.
But just then, Zhao Na’s cries came from the east room, followed by Zhao Hong’s, and then a loud CLANG—the sound of one of the Cans hitting the floor.
The smile on Wang Meilan’s face froze instantly. She scrambled off the kang, slipped on her shoes, and ran to the opposite room.
Zhao Jun didn’t know what had happened, but hearing his two sisters crying, he forgot all about his meal. He hastily dropped his bowl and chopsticks and ran for the east room.
When he got to the east room, he was met with a scene of utter chaos.
Wang Meilan saw soda splattered everywhere. A can was rolling back and forth on the floor. As it rolled, it would occasionally drip a drop or two of soda.
A furious rage ignited in Wang Meilan’s heart. She snatched the kang-sweeping broom that was sitting on the head of the kang.
The kang-sweeping broom was only about an elbow’s length long. It was used to sweep dust off the kang before laying down the bedding for the night.
Wang Meilan gripped the broom’s bristles in her right hand, pointing the handle at Zhao Hong. Then, with her left hand, she grabbed the back of Zhao Hong’s collar, pulled her over, and pushed her down onto the kang. She brought the broom handle down on Zhao Hong’s bottom twice.
"WAAAAH..." Zhao Hong cried even harder.
Wang Meilan was heard scolding, "You little brat! All you know how to do is cause trouble! Your brother spent over a yuan to buy this for you—he wouldn’t even drink it himself—and you just waste it like this!" Saying this, still not satisfied, she swung the broom and hit her again twice.
Although she looked fierce, it didn’t actually hurt that much. The reason was simple: they were wearing thick winter clothes.
"Waaah..."
Zhao Hong wouldn’t stop crying. Wang Meilan ignored her, let go, and then pointed the broom handle at Zhao Na, yelling, "Get over here!"
How could Zhao Na possibly dare to go over? But when she saw Zhao Jun come in, she quickly scrambled off the kang, ran around Wang Meilan, and threw herself at him.
"Brother!"
Zhao Jun was startled. He rushed to the edge of the kang and caught his sister in his arms. Looking at the mess all over the room, he was shocked.
’How did this happen?’
’It’s just drinking from a can. How could it end up like this?’
Zhao Na was still little, and Wang Meilan hadn’t intended to hit her. Seeing Zhao Jun arrive gave her a way to back down, but she was still genuinely angry. "Look at the mess you two made of this room! What were you thinking?" she fumed.
At that moment, Wang Meilan still assumed the two little girls had caused the trouble out of greed. It never occurred to her that the real culprit was Zhao Youcai.
It wasn’t her fault for thinking that. What kind of grown-up would do something like this?
Zhao Jun held his little sister and saw that her hair, face, and clothes were all splattered with soda.
For a moment, Zhao Jun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He just asked, "Little sis, how were you drinking it?"
"Waaah..." Zhao Na cried. "It wasn’t me! Dad poked the can!"
"What?"
Both Zhao Jun and Wang Meilan froze. Just then, Zhao Hong, who could speak more clearly, wailed, "Why are you hitting me? Dad’s the one who poked the can! After he poked it, it sprayed all over our clothes!"
"All over our clothes" was a common phrase adults in the Northeast used with children. It was normal for kids to be messy eaters, and when they got food on their clothes, an adult would say, "Look at you, it’s all over your clothes."
Over time, the children picked up the phrase.
Hearing Zhao Hong’s words, Wang Meilan whipped her head around to look at Zhao Youcai. She saw him sitting against the kang-side cabinet, trembling. On the kang, right next to his rear, lay a nail.
"Well, well, Zhao Youcai." Wang Meilan was so furious she could grind her teeth. Her daughters were still young, so she couldn’t hit them too hard. But since Zhao Youcai was the culprit, why should she hold back?
Wang Meilan raised the broom and charged straight for Zhao Youcai.
"Hey! Hey!" Seeing this, Zhao Youcai shouted twice. When Wang Meilan didn’t stop, he quickly turned and scrambled toward the inside of the kang.
At that moment, Zhao Jun scooped up Zhao Na with one arm, grabbed Zhao Hong’s hand with the other, and led his two sisters out of the room.