"When are we going back?" Yu Xiaohua looked at the new house they had only lived in for two days, with a touch of reluctance.
Zhang Wenxue took in her expression. "We'll go back after lunch tomorrow."
"Then I'll start packing my things now, and I'll also buy some food and necessities for our three big grandsons," Yu Xiaohua said, beginning to prepare for their return.
Hearing this, Zhang Wenxue wanted to remind Yu Xiaohua that there was also an unknown granddaughter. But the thought of that granddaughter made him uncomfortable, so he swallowed the words he was about to say.
Their parents were about to return home, but Zhang Liunian was unaware. At this moment, he was delivering live lobsters, weighing 1250 kilograms, to the state-run restaurant.
As soon as they were delivered, they were quickly snatched up by his fellow disciples.
"Send me fifty jin of braised meat at noon. You don't know how well your meat sells," Mu Mingliang said, pulling Zhang Liunian aside after his disciples had left.
Zhang Liunian smiled and said he knew. Then he went to buy several dozen large meat buns. He had originally intended to satisfy his wife and daughter's cravings, but thinking of those who had helped him work since early morning, he bought more.
As he was leaving the county town, Zhang Liunian encountered Du Ziteng at the intersection. He stopped the tractor and said, "From now on, wait for me at this intersection every morning. I'll pass by before nine."
Du Ziteng, with a blade of grass in his mouth, lightly grunted and hopped onto the tractor.
"There's a basket of large meat buns up there. Eat some if you want. They are my people, and I won't treat them unfairly," Zhang Liunian said, and then fell silent.
When he returned home, his wife and daughters were already having breakfast.
Zhang Liunian busied himself taking out the meat buns. "Qingqing, Huabao, Xiaomei, I just bought some meat buns. They're still warm, so eat more."
"Wow, buns! I want to eat buns!" Huabao exclaimed with surprise, looking at the buns, which were several times larger than her fist. She then hugged a bun and began to devour it.
Zhang Liunian reached out and gently stroked his daughter's head. "Eat slowly."
"Mmm, mmm, mmm…" With her mouth full of bun, Huabao could only grunt in response and continued to eat heartily.
"Liunian, have you eaten yet?" Jiang Qingqing took a bite of the bun in her hand and suddenly thought of Zhang Liunian. She handed the bun to him, asking with concern.
Zhang Liunian looked at the bitten bun in front of him, smiled, and then took a bite from where Jiang Qingqing had just bitten.
Jiang Qingqing looked at where she had just bitten, now replaced by an even larger gap. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. When she saw the smile in Zhang Liunian's eyes again, her small face turned completely red.
"H-here's another one." So you don't have to eat my leftovers, Jiang Qingqing withdrew her hand and offered another whole large meat bun to Zhang Liunian.
Zhang Liunian swallowed the bun in his mouth, took it, and said, with a statement that shocked everyone, "The ones Qingqing has bitten are the most delicious."
Boom!
Everyone present almost choked upon hearing this. Only Huabao continued to eat her bun innocently.
Zhang Xiaomei, unable to stand her third brother and sister-in-law, took her bun and porridge and walked outside.
Du Ziteng, standing outside the door, rolled his eyes, thinking, Can't they be more mindful in broad daylight? There are still several single dogs here.
"You, you shouldn't talk nonsense. I'm not talking to you," Jiang Qingqing, shamed by her husband, found nowhere to hide and turned to leave.
But before she could get up, Zhang Liunian held her down and said, "I have to go to work. You all eat slowly."
After saying this, he took the remaining buns and Du Ziteng to Daming Lake.
At Daming Lake, he distributed the buns. The workers who were catching lobsters received them, as did the uncles building the houses, the old cook, and Big Brother. Basically, everyone who was helping him at Daming Lake received two buns.
Zhang Liushui, eating the warm buns, happily said, "Liunian, we can start roofing tomorrow and move in a few days."
Zhang Liunian hadn't expected it to be so fast. He sighed, realizing that many hands make light work. "Good. After this place is built, we'll also plan to move and start building my new house."
"That's great!" Zhang Liushui patted his third brother heavily on the back, smiling heartily.
Zhang Liunian smiled, infected by his enthusiasm.
After leaving Daming Lake, Zhang Liunian returned to the educated youth dormitory to prepare for the noon delivery.
The meat and vegetables were placed in the braising pot, and the lobsters were stir-fried. A group of people worked in an orderly fashion.
In stark contrast was Zhang Liuhuo's family. Because they were not very familiar with the task, their family was in complete chaos.
Mainly, the time was too short, and they had to catch live lobsters, clean them, and peel them. Moreover, the lobsters they caught were small and dirty. By nine o'clock, they had only peeled a few jin.
"At this rate, we might not even have twenty jin by noon," Zhang Liuyu said with a sigh, looking at a basin of lobsters crawling everywhere.
As soon as he said this, Zhang Liuhuo glared at him. "Hurry up."
Zhang Liuyu wanted to retort, asking why his elder brother wasn't doing it, but seeing his elder brother's leg, he swallowed all his impulses.
By the time their family had finished their chaotic preparations and set off, they had only managed to produce twenty-five jin.
To get ahead of Zhang Liunian, Zhang Wenjun had borrowed a bicycle from the secretary early that morning.
Zhang Hao asked him why he was borrowing a bicycle, but Zhang Wenjun just shook his head and vaguely answered.
A little past 11:30 AM, when Zhang Liunian arrived at the construction site entrance with his tractor to deliver goods to Grandpa Tang, he saw Zhang Wenjun and his son also selling lobsters there.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Qian couldn't help but jump off the tractor and go forward, saying, "Uncle, how can you sell here?"
This was the very place Zhang Liunian had started selling, and he hadn't left. Zhang Wenjun's actions were even more excessive than Wang Xiaoe's.
"Why can't I come? Is this his house? This is public land, and anyone can come," Zhang Wenjun said, furious at seeing a junior dare to confront him. He pointed at Zhang Qian's nose and yelled, clearly enraged.
Zhang Qian, hearing his shameless words, turned red with anger. "Uncle, you are Liunian Ge's uncle. How can you have the nerve to steal your nephew's business?"
"What do you mean I'm stealing his business? Is his name written on this business? Are those workers his? Don't joke. They are free and have the right to decide whose lobsters to buy," Zhang Wenjun was considered one of the more articulate people in the village, and Zhang Qian, a rough fellow, was no match for him.
Indeed, after being retorted by Zhang Qian a couple of times, Zhang Wenjun was so angry that he couldn't speak. "You..."
But he stammered "you" for a long time, not knowing what else to say.
Seeing this, Zhang Liunian jumped off the tractor and stepped forward to stand in front of Zhang Qian. His bright eyes stared intently at Zhang Wenjun. "Third Uncle, this idea was suggested by Liuhuo, wasn't it!"
Zhang Liunian had exposed the truth in an instant, and Zhang Wenjun was a little flustered. However, he quickly regained his composure. "Liunian, Third Uncle is doing this for your own good. Think about it, what kind of person is your second brother? If others knew he had a younger brother who was a self-employed businessman, where would he put his face?
Listen to Third Uncle's advice, don't do this anymore. Let Third Uncle take over here from now on. You should go home and farm properly!"