Chapter 180

Zhou Granny had prepared a sumptuous lunch, clearly having put her heart into it.

After lunch, Liu Ling soon came back with Wen Qing.

It just so happened that last time, Liu Ling had said she wanted to learn Zhou Granny's knitting techniques, so Zhou Granny taught her. With the children taken care of, the two women chatted and laughed in the room until the afternoon.

Because Zhou Village was far away, they had set off early in the morning. The group going included Zhou Nan bringing her two sons, Pei Jing, and Zhou Granny.

The two children hadn't gone because of the long journey and the windy weather today - they were afraid the children would catch a cold from the wind on the road.

An Jingzhi hadn't gone either. He wasn't a new son-in-law, and Old Master was also entertaining guests today, so someone had to stay behind and keep him company. They couldn't all go.

By the time they arrived at Zhou Village, it was already mid-morning.

Life in the countryside was hard. The red envelope Zhou Granny gave wasn't big either. It was just symbolic.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Granny and Pei Jing also received red envelopes to make up for last year's.

There was 5 yuan in each envelope, so the two of them got 10 yuan total. That was probably equal to the family's income for a couple of months.

Zhou Granny felt embarrassed to accept it. Noticing that the basket for their gifts still hadn't been opened, she took the chance while no one was looking to secretly add two cans of milk powder and a big bag of White Rabbit candy.

The two aunties were busy in the kitchen. Zhou Nan made a symbolic offer to help, but was shooed back out. Zhou Granny also told her to sit and rest in the room.

For Zhou Nan, this was probably the most relaxing time of the year.

At home, she was busy year-round, taking care of one person after another, never having any free time. Only when she returned to her mother's home could she relax for a bit. Men are forever young. Pei Jing and Zhou Nan's two brothers had been dragged out by two cousins to go play - who knows what they were up to.

The two uncles were in the yard, one killing chickens and one killing fish. The chickens were raised at home, and the fish were distributed by the production team at New Year's and had been kept in a large water tank especially to treat them today.

Zhou Granny asked Zhou Nan a few questions about her two children and was happy to hear they were both doing well.

When it comes to giving birth, from her to her daughter to her granddaughter now, they had all given birth to twins. Not only that, but they had all raised them too. Anyone who heard about it would look at them with envious eyes.

However, there was one regret - giving birth followed the rule of only passing down the female line. Her two sons didn't have the potential to have twins. Her eldest daughter's family was also distant, with the young couple seldom together. They only had one child so far.

Speaking of which, Zhou Granny suddenly remembered, "Nan Nan, isn't Zhiren 25 this year? Have you found a match for him? You parents don't care at all. At his age in our countryside, who knows, he may already have a litter of kids!"

An Zhiren and Wang Caixiang had only registered their marriage. None of the family approved of her, so they hadn't notified relatives and friends. As a result, the Zhou family still didn't know.

Whenever this was brought up, Zhou Nan got a headache. She and his dad had planned for this year that no matter whether he was willing or not, either he would find a partner himself or they would arrange one for him. In any case, staying single was not an option.

Who could have expected that man proposes, God disposes? They had been outsmarted.

Since Zhou Granny already knew, and there were no outsiders in the room, Zhou Nan vented all her resentment.

When Zhou Granny heard, her heart also skipped a beat. "That won't do. A family may be poor and a woman may be ugly, but that's fine. The key issue is character. A rotten apple spoils the barrel. If there's someone with crooked thoughts in the family, it will bring discord."

Zhou Nan was still thinking about how to get them divorced. But her dad had told her not to interfere. Hearing Zhou Granny's words, she strongly agreed.

"I was even thinking about finding a capable daughter-in-law for you, to help support you." Zhou Granny's thoughts turned to An Zhi xian. He was over 20 too.

But thinking again, the second son's incident had just happened a couple months ago. They probably weren't ready to prepare for the third son yet. Better put that aside for now.

Zhou Nan gave a wry smile. "Mom, you really know how to think ahead. Even if this hadn't happened with my second brother, he still wouldn't look for a wife here in the countryside. He likes women with culture. He says uncultured women don't even talk the same language."

She didn't understand how her sons thought either. She herself was uneducated, yet she and her husband had lived well all these years.

"What good is culture? Cultured women are busy with work all day. You never even see their shadow. The whole family depends on you alone - bringing up the sons, then bringing up the grandsons. Tell me, when will you ever get a break?!" It was true that blood is thicker than water.

Zhou Granny didn't care what kind of wife An Jia married. She was worried about her own daughter. Aside from the eldest, there were still the second, third and fourth sons. In the future, if they all married cultured women and left Zhou Nan alone to serve them, even the donkeys in their production team wouldn't be worked as hard as her.

Zhou Nan also fell silent. It wasn't that she wasn't tired, but she had no choice.

Zhou Granny's worries were something she had occasionally thought about too. Things were still fine now with her few sons, but what if in the future they all married and had children? She wouldn't be able to work herself dead serving them alone either.

She and her husband had discussed this before. They planned that when it was time to split up the family, they would. If the eldest son's family wanted to live with them, they could. After all, with the eldest son away, they as the elders had to be supportive.

Zhou Zhi Zhi waved to her from the doorway and she went out.

With her gone, Zhou Granny and her daughter could chat more freely.

As soon as she stepped out, Zhou Zhi Zhi pulled her into her own room where Zhou Yuanyuan was also present.

"You're also listening in so happily on Granny and Auntie's conversation." She had heard such gossip between women since she was little anyway.

"Why didn't you call me out earlier then? I was embarrassed to abruptly leave." Zhou Granny sat on her bed and asked, "That's right, Zhi Zhi sister, I heard you're engaged?"

Zhou Zhi Zhi's face turned red. Zhou Yuanyuan laughed and answered for her, "You bet. The wedding date is already set for before this year's wheat harvest. I'll soon be the only girl left in the family!"

"You little rascal, daring to make fun of me." Zhou Zhi Zhi angrily slapped her once, "Don't worry about being lonely by yourself. I bet after my business is done, you'll be next."

Young girls always felt a bit shy talking about this, but also held some faint anticipation and novelty.

So the two kept asking Zhou Granny what married life was like.

Zhou Granny smiled. "If you want to know, it's not hard. Just look at your two aunties."

"Oh!" Zhou Yuanyuan sighed. "So that means getting married is just about going to another's family to wash clothes, cook, and do chores? I can already do that in my own family!"

Zhou Granny smiled helplessly as she watched them argue, without adding her own opinion.

She felt that marriage shouldn't be capital for raising one's standard of living, but rather a joining of hands to strive together. Everyone was not well off, just ordinary people in this vast world. Relying on one side's efforts alone to support a family was even more impossible.

Even if others envied Zhou Nan for marrying into the city and not having to work while lacking nothing to eat or drink, her life was not as leisurely as imagined. Raising the children and heavy household duties had been borne by her alone all these years.

As for An Jingzhi, his contribution was commuting to work on time every day to earn a salary. He didn't have it easy either.

There are thousands of difficulties in the world, each with their own troubles. Whether good or bad depends on whether you can understand and tolerate each other.