60s: I have a store

Chapter 584: One-day trip to Zhoujiazhuang
Seeing this, Zhou Yimin had no way to leave and could only sit aside and wait.

Zhang Yan sat next to Zhou Yimin, supported her chin with both hands, and stared at Zhou Yimin blankly.

Zhang Lu came out at this time and whispered, "Sister, stop being such a pig, you're drooling!"

Zhang Yan subconsciously wiped the corners of her mouth with her hand, but she didn't find any saliva. Only then did she realize that she had been deceived: "Great! You even dare to tease your sister!"

Zhang Jianshe and Zhou Yimin couldn't help laughing when they saw this scene.

Zhang Yan didn't expect to be so embarrassed in front of Zhou Yimin? Wasn't she a college student? She was deceived like this.

When Zhang Lu saw Zhang Yan coming over and wanted to settle the score, she panicked and hurried to Zhou Yimin's side: "Brother-in-law, look, my sister is going to hit me!"

Zhou Yimin was enjoying his melon at the side, and he didn't expect that he would get eaten. However, Zhang Lu had already spoken, so he couldn't pretend not to see it, and could only defend herself: "Yanzi, Xiaolu was just joking!"

Zhang Yan had no intention of really fighting, she just wanted to scare Zhang Lu, and then she obediently sat down.

After seeing this, Zhang Lu breathed a sigh of relief, but she was a little surprised. Normally when she joked around, Zhang Yan never reacted so strongly, so why did she react so strongly this time?
What was different from usual? Suddenly I saw Zhou Yimin there, and I instantly understood why. It turned out that it was Brother Yimin who was there. I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of Brother Yimin.

It seems that next time I make a joke like this, I have to pay attention to the occasion!
In this way, the four of them talked and laughed, and not much time passed.

Aunt Zhang came up with a big bowl of egg noodles.

Zhou Yimin was shocked when he saw the amount. The big bowl was full of noodles and eggs. "Aunt Zhang, isn't that a bit too much? I can't finish it?"

Aunt Zhang took a look and said, "Yimin, you don't know how much weight you have lost. This is not much!"

Zhang Lu and Zhang Yan both came over to take a look out of curiosity, and were shocked to see so many noodles. This amount was almost enough for the whole family, and they could only look at them to encourage them.

Zhou Yimin had no choice but to go ahead with it. After all, she was his future mother-in-law and he couldn't afford to offend her!
While Zhou Yimin was feasting, Zhang Jianshe and his family were watching him eat.

They all wanted to know how much Zhou Yimin could eat.

However, Zhang Yan was a little worried. After all, she had just eaten mutton hotpot at Donglaishun and was still very full. She was afraid that Zhou Yimin would force himself to eat, which would harm his health.

Of course Zhou Yimin would not eat too much. You know, he has a cheat in the store space. As long as the noodles enter Zhou Yimin's mouth, they will be absorbed into the space.

Just like that, Zhou Yimin "eaten" the noodles bit by bit under the shocked gazes of the four people.

Zhang Yan was very shocked. Didn’t they just eat at Donglaishun? There was so much mutton hotpot. Could it be that Brother Yimin was not full yet?
Or was I really hungry during this period? Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to eat so much.

By "cheating", Zhou Yimin finished a big bowl of noodles in less than twenty minutes.

Then he exclaimed: "Aunt Zhang, your cooking skills are getting better and better! I couldn't eat so much originally, but it was so delicious that I couldn't stop eating!"

Aunt Zhang came back to her senses and said, "Yimin, are you full? If not, I'll give you another bowl!"

Zhou Yimin patted his round belly and said, "Aunt Zhang, I really can't eat any more. Look at me, my belly is so full, it's like I'm pregnant for several months."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone laughed.

Seeing everyone laughing so happily, Zhou Yimin said, "Yanzi, we have a day off tomorrow. Are you interested in going to Zhoujiazhuang to play?"

He had no choice. His grandparents had been urging him recently. Zhang Yan hadn't come for a long time. Was it a farewell?

Zhang Yan didn't even think twice: "Okay!"

Suddenly I thought of something and my face turned red. I was thinking, why am I not as good as I used to be? Can't I be more reserved?

When Zhou Yimin saw that Zhang Yan agreed, he did not give her time to regret. He immediately said a few words to everyone and left.

The next day, Zhou Yimin got up early in the morning and bought the day's flash sale products.

There are 100 kilograms of maltose, 100 kilograms of braised meat, 100 barrels of gasoline, and 100 barrels of diesel.

Seeing this, Zhou Yimin thought that he was lucky. One hundred barrels of diesel would be enough for the village to use for a while, so he could find time to take them back.

Carrying the prepared gifts, I came to Zhang Yan's house, pushed the door open, and just saw Zhang Yan's family having breakfast.

Aunt Zhang saw Zhou Yimin bringing so many things over again: "Yimin, there's no need to bring so many things over. Just keep them for yourself!"

"Look how thin you are now."

Zhou Yimin couldn't resist: "Aunt Zhang, don't worry, next time you ask me to bring her, I won't!"

You're welcome, just sit down and have breakfast.

After breakfast, Zhou Yimin took Zhang Yan to Zhoujiazhuang.

The motorcycle rolled over the bluestone road at the entrance of the village, startling the sparrows on the locust tree.

After returning home, Zhou Yimin shouted, "Grandpa and grandma, look who I brought back!"

After hearing Zhou Yimin's words, the old man and Zhou Yimin's grandmother hurried out.

As Zhou Yimin helped Zhang Yan get out of the car, he heard a clapper-like shout coming from the direction of the old house: "Yimin! Little Yan!"

Turning around, I saw my grandmother standing at the gate of the yard with a jujube wood cane, her blue cloth apron still stained with locust flower crumbs. The old man was standing on tiptoe to look over here, and he had forgotten to put the pipe on his waist, and the tobacco fell on his shoes.

"Oh, finally the people we've been waiting for are here!" Grandma tapped the ground with her cane and before the two of them came closer, she opened her arms as if she wanted to embrace the whole spring.

Zhang Yan was startled by such enthusiasm, but when she met her grandmother's narrowed eyes, she bent down and saluted involuntarily.

The old man was busy patting Zhou Yimin's shoulders, his rough palms making a "puff puff" sound on the work clothes fabric: "You little bastard, you came back by yourself like a wandering soul, but you knew to bring Yan girl here early!"

As soon as he entered the courtyard, Zhou Yimin was amused by the scene in front of him and almost laughed out loud - on the eight-immortals table in the main hall were sesame candies wrapped in oil paper.

There was wolfberry and chrysanthemum tea in the enamel pot on the windowsill. Even the old yellow dog that was usually tied to the millstone had its fur combed to a shiny finish and a red rope tied around its neck.

Grandma pulled Zhang Yan's hand and walked into the house, the soles of her shoes rustling on the bluestone slabs: "Come in and warm up, there are sweet potatoes stewing in the stove for you!"

"Grandma, let me help you make lunch!" Zhou Yimin rolled up his sleeves and was about to go into the kitchen, but his grandmother tapped the back of his hand lightly with her cane.

"Go away!" The old man pretended to be angry and glared at him, but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes turned into chrysanthemums when he smiled. "Don't make trouble for me with your clumsy appearance! Yan girl, come with me to the village head for a walk, you just stay here quietly."

Having said that, he pushed Zhang Yan out of the courtyard without saying a word, and tucked his crutches under his armpits, looking like a victorious general.

Zhou Yimin was at a loss whether to laugh or cry and could only obey his grandmother's instructions, then he took Zhang Yan out of the house.

Grandma went back to the kitchen to prepare lunch.

The sunlight shines through the vines on the courtyard wall, weaving a golden web on the ground.

As Zhou Yimin and Zhang Yan stepped onto the stone road at the entrance of the village, they heard shouts coming from under the old locust tree.

Aunt Wang, who was sewing shoe soles, stood up with a bang, the silver needle still pinned to the coarse cloth soles, and shouted at the top of her voice: "Yimin has brought his girlfriend back!"

These words seemed to have grown wings and instantly swept across the threshing floor, startling flocks of sparrows that were pecking at food.

Uncle Li, who was carrying a hoe, pushed his straw hat behind his head, took two steps forward, and stared at Zhang Yan with his cloudy eyes: "Is this the college student from the city? Look at her delicate skin and tender flesh, she looks like she came out of a New Year picture!" He rubbed his calloused hands on his trouser legs again and again before he dared to stretch out his hand to say hello to Zhang Yan. Finally, he retracted his hand awkwardly, scratching the back of his head and smiling foolishly.

Zhang Yan did not show any disgust, but instead greeted Uncle Li enthusiastically.

Uncle Li did not expect that college students in the city were not at all spoiled. He could only sigh silently in his heart that it seemed that he was about to find a good partner.

When passing by the millstone at the entrance of the village, several old ladies who were enjoying the cool under the shade of a tree immediately came over.

Grandma Zhao held Zhang Yan's hand tremblingly, and gently stroked her palm with her dry branch-like fingers: "Your hand is so white, you can tell at a glance that you have never done rough work."

Grandma Sun tiptoed over, squinted her eyes and looked at Zhang Yan's floral shirt, praising her: "The fabric is so soft, it's different from the ones in the city!"

Zhou Yimin stood aside, watching Zhang Yan being overwhelmed by the chatter of concern, feeling both proud and unable to help laughing.

The busiest time was when the village primary school was over. A group of barefoot children with pigtails came rushing over and surrounded the two of them.

Xiao Cui, wearing a red hairband, looked up at her tanned face and asked crisply, "Sister, can you really speak foreign languages?"

Tiedan, who was chubby and strong, grabbed Zhou Yimin's trouser leg and announced loudly: "Brother Yimin is the hero of our village! The one who invented solar energy!"

This caused the onlookers to burst into laughter.

Zhang Yan squatted down, touched Tiedan and said, "You are right!"

Then he took out a piece of candy from his pocket and handed it to Tiedan.

Tiedan didn't expect, to be honest, that he would get candy as a reward, so he accepted it without hesitation.

When the other children saw this, they also started to imitate Tiedan’s way of speaking.

Fortunately, I prepared a lot of candies in advance, otherwise it would be troublesome if I encountered such a situation.

Zhang Yan gave each child a candy.

Because of Zhang Yan's action, more and more children gathered around.

When Zhou Yimin saw this situation, he knew that if he didn’t run now, he would not be able to run away even if he wanted to.

He quickly took Zhang Yan's hand and left.

Zhang Yan didn't understand why she had to leave, so she didn't resist and let Zhou Yimin pull her away.

After Zhou Yimin stopped, Zhang Yan couldn't help but ask, "Brother Yimin, why are we running?"

Zhou Yimin explained: "Yanzi, if we don't run, we won't be able to run away soon. Didn't you see just now that more and more children are coming around? How much candy do you have left?"

Zhang Yan then realized the problem: "I'm sorry, Brother Yimin, I didn't expect it to turn out like this."

Zhou Yimin did not blame him: "It's okay, just be careful next time!"

The two continued to walk around Zhoujiazhuang. When they came to the old well at the west end of the village, Grandpa Chen, who was fetching water, suddenly put down the wooden bucket and took out an oil paper bag from his waist: "These are the wild walnuts that were just picked this morning."

He stuffed the oil-paper bag into Zhang Yan's arms. The walnut shell still had the fragrance of the wild field. "Take it back and try it."

Zhang Yan couldn't refuse, her eyes slightly reddened, and she thanked him softly.

Zhou Yimin looked at the time and whispered, "If you don't go back now, grandma will come looking for you with a broom."

Zhang Yan smiled and said, "Brother Yimin, it's not that serious!"

Zhou Yimin shook his head without giving any further explanation.

The two of them walked through the threshing ground filled with the aroma of straw, and from a distance they saw smoke rising from the chimney of the Zhou family's old house.

Grandma was standing at the gate of the courtyard wearing a blue cloth apron stained with oil. The rolling pin in her hand was still stained with dough. She shouted at the top of her voice: "If you don't come back, the braised pork will be stewed into charcoal!"

The old man was squatting at the foot of the wall collecting firewood, the sparks in his pipe flickering. When he heard the noise, he straightened up and said, "I'm just waiting for you to come to the table and eat!"

The moment you step into the main room, the hot air and the aroma of food hit you in the face.

The eight-immortals table was already filled with steaming porcelain bowls. The shiny red skin of the sweet and sour carp shone under the oil lamp. Freshly steamed white flour buns were piled up like a small hill, with crystal water droplets condensing on the edge of the steamer.

Zhang Yan was about to sit down on the bench, but Zhou Yimin pulled her into the kitchen: "Come on, let's go and help."

In the kitchen, grandma was standing on tiptoe to sprinkle chopped green onions into the casserole, and the bellows next to the stove made a whirring sound.

Zhou Yimin opened the steamer skillfully, and the rising white mist instantly blurred his glasses: "Grandma, I'll serve the buns!"

Zhang Yan's grandmother stuffed a pair of coarse earthenware bowls filled with golden millet porridge.

"Be careful of the burns!" The old man's wrinkled hands gently held her wrist, his eyes full of pity.

The wick of the kerosene lamp on the Eight Immortals Table burst into a small spark, spreading a warm yellow glow throughout the entire room.

Zhou Yimin pulled out a bench for Zhang Yan and gently rubbed a few grains of dust on the wooden surface with his rough palms, fearing that they would stain her clean skirt.

Grandma came out of the kitchen carrying a bubbling casserole. In the mist, Zhang Yan hurriedly stood up to take it, but the old lady smiled and slapped her away: "Just sit still, how can you let the guests touch you!"

Amid the sound of porcelain bowls clinking, the table was filled with food.

The braised pork lay trembling in the blue and white bowl, the amber skin shining with oil, and the cold cucumber was cut into straw raincoat shape and sprinkled with freshly picked green onions.

The freshly steamed buns are still steaming, and when you break them open, the aroma of wheat mixed with the sweet fragrance of yeast hits you in the face.

The old man put a piece of the most delicious braised pork into Zhou Yimin's bowl, and the oil dripped down the chopsticks into the stoneware bowl: "Yimin, you must have suffered a lot in the factory, so eat more!"

Zhang Yan took a bite of the steamed bun, and the soft texture made her eyes light up.

Seeing this, Zhou Yimin silently turned the sweet and sour carp on the plate half a circle and moved the tenderest meat in the belly of the fish to her.

"Try this." He picked up the fish with chopsticks and carefully picked out the fish bones. "My grandma is the best at cooking fish."

Before she finished speaking, grandma had already added a spoonful of millet porridge to Zhang Yan's bowl. The porcelain spoon made a crisp sound when it hit the edge of the bowl: "Eat slowly, don't choke, there's more in the pot!"

The topics at the dinner table bubbled up like water from an old well.

The old man told Zhang Yan about the embarrassing incident when Zhou Yimin climbed a tree as a child and tore his crotch. Zhang Yan laughed so hard that she couldn't straighten her back and the chopsticks in her hand almost poked her tofu.

Zhou Yimin's ears turned red, and he hurriedly stuffed a mouthful of rice into his mouth to cover it up, but his grandmother quickly took a piece of braised pork from him: "You are so naughty! Now that you have become successful, you still don't corrupt Yan girl!"

Zhang Yan noticed that Grandma Zhou Yimin was always adding more dishes to her bowl. The old woman's wrinkled hands were shaking a little, but she stubbornly took the best dishes.

Her eyes were slightly warm, and she quietly put a piece of pork ribs into grandma's bowl: "You should eat more too."

Grandma was stunned for a moment, then she smiled until her eyes narrowed into slits and wiped the corners of her eyes with her apron: "Okay, okay!"

(End of this chapter)