Chapter 874: Chapter 747: Vision and Insight

Accompanied by sisters-in-law and cousins, Zhou Jiao walked forward looking at everyone with a puzzled expression, and curiously asked, "What happened again?"

"Sister Jiao Jiao, your son is being mischievous."

"Sister Jiao, you need to stand up for us."

Zhou Jiao nodded nonchalantly, "Alright, I’ll discipline him when we get home. Where are you all heading so early in the morning? Is the temple fair still on these days?"

"Sis, if you head over now, it’s just the right time. Yesterday when I went, there were still quite a few stalls, just fewer people."

"Oh, Haozi, you naughty kid, you just said you went to your maternal grandparent’s home yesterday."

Zhou Jiao looked at the bunch of noisy children with a headache, waved her hand at them, and pushed Zhang Guoqing to hurry up.

After walking a while, Mother Zhang asked curiously, "Are these also kids from the big courtyard?"

"Yeah, they’re all in middle school, very naughty."

"The few kids in our family, Zuo You and Shi Tou, are much more sensible than them."

Zhou Jiao nodded with a smile at Mother Zhang’s remark. How could they be the same? The things these kids are exposed to are vastly different due to their surroundings.

"Grandma, for the Lantern Festival there’s an amusement fair, I’ll take you all there. Last year my mom guessed lots of riddles and got many gifts. Last time, did you see the five boxes of matches I sent you in the package? That’s where they came from."

Not far along, a young couple approached, with the man’s eyes lighting up when he saw Zhang Guoqing, he smiled and nudged the girl beside him, pointing at Zhou Jiao.

"Xiao Wu, is this your mother?"

Zhang Guoqing smiled broadly and nodded, "This is my mom. Mom, this is my friend He Zhigang."

"Hello, Auntie!"

Mother Zhang chuckled happily, "Nice, nice, is this your girlfriend? She’s really pretty."

"Thank you for the compliment, Auntie. Are you heading to the market? Jiao Jiao, I heard you have good news, congratulations!" The woman pulled out four or five pieces of candy from her pocket and handed them to Ping’an.

Ping’an looked at Zhou Jiao.

Zhou Jiao smiled gently, "Thank you, Auntie."

Only then did Ping’an join his hands around the candies, "Thank you, Auntie, Auntie is so pretty."

"Well, we won’t disturb your family outing. Xiao Wu, find time to visit our big courtyard, Brother Yang was talking about you yesterday."

"Alright, I’ll definitely make time to visit, goodbye."

After walking apart for a while, Zhang Guoqing glanced far away and immediately stopped, "Let’s head this way, there’s a bus stop there."

Zhou Jiao suppressed a smile.

Mother Zhang promptly nodded, "Yes, taking the bus is good, if we run into acquaintances to chat with, we won’t get home by noon."

Behind them, Lin Juhua whispered to Huang Xiaomi, "Wherever our Xiao Wu goes, people know him. This is just a few of them, when he goes back to his hometown, there’s no one in the entire county who doesn’t know him."

Huang Xiaomi smiled and nodded.

"Have you decided on a partner? Let Jiao Jiao introduce you to a nice family, then you can live in Beijing too."

Huang Xiaomi glanced at Huang Cuilan, blushing shyly, "Big cousin-in-law is really something. I’m not willing to marry so far, it’s too far from home."

"You’re always traveling back and forth on the train, it’s nice here."

Huang Xiaomi was not too impressed. Her third cousin was favored by the Yue Family, being their only child, so he could thrive. But what about herself?

Didn’t you see those people just now either nodding to greet or stopping to talk? They didn’t even glance at us seriously. The more city folk, the snobbier they are, she doesn’t want to marry into a family like that only for her family to suffer and be belittled.

Lin Juhua shook her head disapprovingly on the side, "Don’t listen to your big cousin-in-law’s jokes. Marrying far away, alone, your second aunt would cry her eyes out."

Huang Xiaomi smiled broadly and took her arm, "I don’t want to get married at all."

"Us women eventually have to get married, find a decent family while you’re young. What about that officer last time, why didn’t it work out?"

"It’s not like I’m choosy, I’m just a country girl. Honestly, the gap between the two families is too big, the more I think about it, the more uneasy I feel."

Lin Juhua didn’t expect her to have this thought, "You can’t just find someone from the village, right?"

Huang Xiaomi smiled and nodded, "Second cousin-in-law, you can’t say that, I really have that plan. We know them well, and I have a salary, the in-laws would have to support me."

"Xiaomi, have you really set your eyes on someone from the village?"

"No way! The men around my age in the village are all holding babies."

Lin Juhua breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it funny, gave her a blank stare. Truly, except those who joined the army or went to university outside, there really aren’t suitable candidates within the production teams.

After wandering around all morning, they had lunch at a restaurant. Zhang Guoqing worriedly glanced at Zhou Jiao’s complexion, seeing his son yawning, he had an idea, "Son, feeling sleepy?"

"Dad, it’s time, I want to sleep."

Mother Zhang waved her hand, "We’ve seen enough, walked enough, let’s head back now. I think the weather might bring snow in the afternoon, better go back earlier."

Zhou Jiao secretly sighed with relief. Wandering aimlessly, everywhere required tickets; she was really not used to it.

They arrived back at the big courtyard in the afternoon around two or three o’clock. Ping’an, snuggled in Zhang Guoqing’s embrace, couldn’t endure any longer and fell fast asleep, woke up again shortly after arriving home, full of energy.

Zhang Guoqing, half-laughing, patted his buttocks. Good thing experienced Aunt Chen brought a small blanket, otherwise, what if he caught a cold?

The phone rang urgently, Ping’an ran into the study, and soon rushed back out.

"Mom, it’s your call."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiao stood up, "Slow down, who’s calling mama?"

"Aunt, she said she called several times and no one answered."

Zhang Guoqing noticed the conversation in the living room paused, he smiled at Mother Zhang explaining, "It’s aunt Cheng Ruzhu, she probably knows you’re here but couldn’t make it due to work. Her in-laws have been taking turns catching colds since before New Year, still haven’t recovered, she has to take care of them, can’t get away."

As expected, this was exactly what Cheng Ruzhu said over the phone, of course, the topic was all about not overworking herself while pregnant, and asking if there was anything she wanted to eat.

"Aunt, I’m doing well. How are Grandpa and Grandma Wen now? Do you want me to introduce a doctor to you?"

Over the phone, Cheng Ruzhu refused outright, "No need! Just take care of yourself. Today Grandpa ate a big bowl of dumplings."

"Oh, then that’s good."

"After New Year, your mom should be less busy, ask her to take a few days off to accompany your mother-in-law, you can rest and go to school. Never mind, I will discuss it with your mom."

Zhou Jiao covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

"Remember to find your aunt if you need anything, I’ll find time to visit you in a couple of days. Stop knitting the sweater, remember. Rest well and take care of yourself."

"Alright." Zhou Jiao hung up the phone, smiling. Looking outside the door, she hesitated for a moment, then decided against going out, leaning back to close her eyes for a rest.