1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 98: Even with a wrecked ship, there are still three thousand nails (Seeking monthly votes!)

Zhou Yan jumped out of bed with a start, ran downstairs without even putting on his shoes. The stairwell was dark, and he bumped headfirst into the stairwell wall without uttering a sound. He then grabbed the wall and rushed downstairs, opening the door.

It was still raining before dawn, a steady, pitter-patter.

Zhou Jie, wearing a raincoat and holding a flashlight, stood at the door. Hearing the sound, he shone the flashlight on Zhou Yan and was startled to see that he was barefoot and bleeding from his forehead. "Zhou Yan, what happened to your head?"

Zhou Yan didn't care about anything else. Her eyes were red with anxiety as she grabbed Zhou Jie's hand and asked, "Brother Jie, what did you just say? My house collapsed? Where are my parents? Where is Momo?"

"The house collapsed, but everyone's safe!" Zhou Jie quickly replied. "They all escaped!"

Zhou Yan let go of his hand, her legs went weak, and she had to lean against the door to steady herself. Now she was starting to feel a headache coming on.

As long as everyone is safe, the collapsed house is fine.

Who understands? It almost broke his spirit.

"Quickly stop the bleeding from your forehead. Should we go to the clinic?" Zhou Jie asked with concern.

"It's nothing, just a scrape. I'll go put on some shoes and head back to the village." Zhou Yan recovered and took the flashlight from Zhou Jie. "Wait for me here."

"Oh," Zhou Jie replied, standing under the eaves for a moment and wiping the water from his face.

Zhou Yan found a mirror and checked his forehead. There was a bump on his eyebrow with a scraped skin, and blood was flowing down his eye. It looked a bit creepy, but it was nothing serious.

There was a small bottle of iodine in the kitchen. I used a cotton ball to disinfect it casually. The rain wasn't heavy, so I put on a straw hat and pushed my bicycle out the door.

"What's going on? When did it collapse?" Zhou Yan asked Zhou Jie on the way.

"It collapsed in the middle of the night, with a loud bang. Half the village heard it. My dad was worried, so he got up to check and woke Haozi and me up to help. He said your house collapsed and told me to come and get you back right away." Zhou Jie followed beside him, comforting him, "Don't worry, everyone's alright. Fourth Uncle brought Fourth Aunt and Momo out. Grandpa, my dad, Third Uncle, and Fourth Uncle are all here. Everything's fine."

"Okay." Zhou Yan nodded, but pushed off even faster.

The house collapsed in the middle of the night; his mother and Zhou Momo must have been terrified.

"Slow down, the road is very slippery..." Zhou Jie couldn't keep up and shouted from behind. In a short while, he couldn't even see Zhou Yan's hand anymore.

When Zhou Yan returned to Zhou Village, he could see from afar that more than a dozen beams of flashlight were shining back and forth over his house, and dozens of people were standing there.

"Zhou Yan is back!"

Someone spotted Zhou Yan and called out.

Zhou Yan stopped the car and saw his uncles, brothers, and fellow villagers in the crowd.

Zhou Weiguo was wearing a vest, holding a shovel, and was soaked to the bone.

My second uncle, Zhou Ze, was covered in mud, as if he had just climbed out of a mud pit.

Zhou Hongwei, his father, and his grandfather also came.

Everyone was carrying tools, so they must have rushed over as soon as they heard the news.

Zhou Yan looked at the house.

The house, which was originally quite spacious, has now collapsed, leaving only half of the rammed earth wall, and is no longer recognizable as it once was.

Zhao Tieying and Zhou Miao stood barefoot in the yard, looking at their collapsed house, their expressions somewhat blank and helpless.

The house we lived in for over twenty years collapsed just like that; no one could accept it so quickly.

"Mom! Dad!" Zhou Yan ran over and hugged the two of them tightly.

“Zhou Yan…our house collapsed…” Zhao Tieying looked up at him, her voice a little hoarse, the moisture on her face indistinguishable between tears and rain.

"It's alright! It's good that everyone is safe. The house collapsed, but we can rebuild it later!" Zhou Yan reached out and patted her back. Feeling that she was ice cold all over, he quickly put the straw hat on her head.

Zhou Miao put his arm around her shoulder and comforted her, saying, "That's right, Zhou Yan is right, it's good that she's alright."

Zhao Tieying nodded, her emotions calming down slightly.

"Old man, where's Momo? I can't see her." Zhou Yan looked around and asked.

"Don't worry, Momo is fine. Zhou Hao took your grandma somewhere; she didn't even wake up when the house collapsed. She's sleeping soundly," the second uncle replied.

"Okay!" Zhou Yan was completely relieved. As long as everyone was safe, the collapsed house could be rebuilt sooner or later, and it would be even better and bigger!

"Come on, Mom, Dad, let's go to Grandma's to change into some dry clothes first. It's too cold in this rain, and everyone is getting soaked. It would be troublesome if we caught a cold."

“There’s no point in keeping this dilapidated house here. Let’s wait until it’s light and the rain stops tomorrow, then we can come back and see if there’s anything we can salvage. We can then demolish it and rebuild it!” Zhou Yan helped Zhao Tieying and Zhou Miao out. The two of them hadn’t fully recovered yet, and he had to step in and make the decision.

This autumn rain was a bit cold; not only their family, but also dozens of men were standing in the rain, getting soaked.

Are you suggesting we make them dig up a bunch of broken cabinets, pots and pans overnight?

“That’s right, go change your clothes and dry your hair first!” Grandpa Zhou Qing added.

Zhao Hong brought over two pairs of sandals and asked them to change into them.

“We have shoes!” Zhao Tieying said.

Zhou Yan then noticed that his mother was holding the two pairs of leather shoes he had bought, as well as a small wooden box.

Comrade Zhou wasn't empty-handed either; he had a cloth bag slung over his shoulder, the same one he usually carried when he went out to slaughter cattle. It was full of tools, presumably for slaughtering cattle.

Well, all the important production tools and family property were successfully rescued and transferred.

The older generation is still the most reliable.

"Fourth Aunt, you should wear these first. It's hard to clean leather shoes once they get dirty, and your feet will be covered in mud." Zhao Hong took the two pairs of leather shoes from her hands, covered them with a raincoat, and told them to change into sandals instead.

Zhou Yan bowed to his uncles, brothers, and relatives, then straightened up and said loudly, "Uncles, brothers, aunts, and sisters-in-law, on behalf of my whole family, I, Zhou Yan, would like to express my gratitude to you for coming to our aid in the middle of the night. If there is anything you need from me in the future, please feel free to ask, and I will do my best to help."

"It's too cold today, and the rain is heavy. Everyone should go back and change their clothes, dry their hair, and drink some ginger soup. Make sure to keep warm. I'll come to thank you later."

Zhao Tieying and Zhou Miao, who had just put on their shoes, stared at Zhou Yan in a daze. This child was already capable of managing the household!

"We're family, there's no need to thank me!"

"Exactly! It's all as it should be!"

"Come on, take your mom and dad to change into dry clothes first. We'll come back tomorrow when the rain stops to see how to dig."

Everyone responded with smiles, their eyes filled with satisfaction as they looked at Zhou Yan.

This child is sensible and grateful; even though he was caught in the rain in the middle of the night, he felt a warmth in his heart.

The old lady's house was lit up, the dim light appearing especially warm on this cold, rainy night.

The main room had one door closed, and two braziers of charcoal fire were placed in the middle, making it feel warm and cozy as soon as everyone entered.

Two sets of dry clothes and two dry towels were placed on a chair next to it.

The old lady came out of the kitchen carrying a tray with six bowls of steaming brown sugar ginger soup. She said, "Fourth brother, take Tieying to dry her hair and change her clothes first, then come and drink the ginger soup."

"Okay, Mom," Zhou Miao replied, grabbed the clothes, and led Zhao Tieying into the inner room.

"You came quickly." The old lady glanced at Zhou Yan and smiled. "Go and change your clothes with your uncle. His clothes fit you well. Come and have a bowl of ginger soup."

“Yes, Grandma!” Zhou Yan replied with a smile.

"Zhao Hong, drink the ginger soup, go back and change your clothes. Tell them to change their clothes and come over to warm themselves by the fire and drink ginger soup. We can also discuss some matters while we're at it," the old lady instructed Zhao Hong.

"Okay, Grandma." Zhao Hong nodded, took the ginger soup handed to her by the old lady, blew on it to cool it down, and took a sip, feeling her body warm up immediately.

Zhou Yan couldn't help but admire the old lady, who was indeed a woman who had experienced many big events. She remained calm and composed at home, managing the logistics perfectly and stabilizing morale.

Zhou Yan changed his clothes and went next door to check on Zhou Momo. The little one was sleeping soundly, probably dreaming about something, with a bit of drool on the corner of her mouth. She probably didn't even know the house had collapsed.

After changing their clothes, everyone gathered around the fire pit to warm themselves and drank hot ginger soup. Their cold bodies quickly warmed up, and their eyes regained their vitality.

Zhao Tieying finished the bowl of ginger soup, breathed a long sigh of relief, and murmured, "It's good that everyone is alright."

Zhou Miao was drying her hair with a towel and nodded, saying, "That's right, it's more important for the whole family to be together."

“That’s right. Even if the boat is wrecked, there are still three thousand nails. Even if the bamboo is burned, the roots will remain green. As long as people are still alive, three houses can be built in two years.” The old lady came out of the kitchen and said with a smile.

“Mom, you’re right.” Zhao Tieying smiled too.

As they were talking, all the uncles, elder brothers, and women arrived, put their umbrellas and raincoats in the courtyard, and went into the main room.

"Grandma's house is so warm," Zhou Jie said, rubbing his hands together.

"Here, have a bowl of ginger soup first." Zhou Yan quickly served everyone ginger tea.

A bowl of ginger tea immediately warmed me up.

The old lady sat in the head seat, the elders all sat on chairs, and the younger generation, such as Zhou Yan, either sat on small stools or stood.

In this family, whenever there's a major event, the old lady is undoubtedly the one who makes the decisions.

The old lady said, "The fourth son's house collapsed today. It happened so suddenly, it's a miracle that no one was hurt. Starting tomorrow, once you've finished your business, come and help with the excavation to see if you can dig out anything usable to minimize the damage."

"Yes, we agree!" Everyone nodded in agreement.

The old lady looked at Zhou Hao again and said, "Zhou Hao, it's rare for you to come back. You just got married and will be returning to your unit in a few days. Just take Yueyue to Chengdu as planned. The house won't be able to dig out any gold ingots just because you're here."

"Grandma, I want to stay..." Zhou Hao wanted to say something more.

“Zhou Hao, listen to your grandma. There are just a few broken cabinets and a pile of old clothes under my house. They’re not worth much, and they’re probably useless even if we dig them up,” Zhao Tieying said, looking at Zhou Hao and Chen Yueyue standing next to him. “You only get married once. Yueyue waited so long for you to come back for the wedding. We made plans to go on our honeymoon. This will be the most important memory for the next few decades. You need to know which one is more important.”

Chen Yueyue listened with a deeply moved expression, her eyes reddening.

Uncle Er nodded and said, "Just listen to your grandma and Aunt Si. There are so many people in the family, there won't be any problem."

"Okay." Zhou Hao nodded and squeezed his new wife's hand.

The old lady continued, "Fourth son, Tieying, clean up the room on the east side tomorrow. You can go back to the old house for a while. Once the new house is finished, you can move out."

"Mom, this isn't very convenient..." Zhao Tieying hesitated. According to the Zhou family's custom, once you get married, you have to move out. She felt it wasn't appropriate for the four of them to move back to the old house.

Repairing a house is not that simple. They only have a few dozen yuan in their hands right now, and they don't know when they will be able to afford to repair their house.

Living in the old house for a long time, the brothers inevitably had some thoughts, which did not conform to the rules set by the old lady.

Zhou Miao didn't speak, watching Zhao Tieying wait for her to make a decision.

"Tieying, just listen to your mother. Nobody could have predicted this. Come back and stay for a while," her aunt advised.

“That’s right. If you need anything, just come to our house and get it. It’s close by and convenient,” Auntie added.

“Mom has already spoken, so what’s inconvenient for you? We’re all family,” Auntie San chimed in.

Everyone offered kind words of advice, wanting to help the fourth brother's family through this difficult time.

But Zhao Tieying just couldn't get over this mental hurdle. Wei Guo had just taken office and was now the Minister of Armed Forces. In the past two days, people had already started arranging marriages for him. If others knew that her brother and sister-in-law were living at home with their child because their house had collapsed, what would other girls think?
Her family was thinking of them wholeheartedly, and she couldn't just think of herself.

After listening for a while, Zhou Yan understood his mother's thoughts and said, "Mom, why don't you move into my hotel?"

"There's such a big empty space upstairs in the hotel. Just find a bricklayer to build two walls and you'll have a room. You can buy two bedding and sleep there."

"We can consider building a new house after the New Year."

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(End of this chapter)