Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 210

Snapped!

The sound of a rice bowl breaking came from inside the house...

Zhao Da'e rubbed his forehead: "It hurts! Old man, don't just smash your rice bowl... beat up Wang Guixiang... I support you..."

Perhaps it was fate that encouraged Zhao Tingxu, who was praying behind his back, and he stood up directly on the kang (a heated brick bed).

With a crash, the table was smashed too...

With a crash and a clatter, plates, bowls, chopsticks, and wine cups fell all over the bed. Zhao Tingxu cursed, "You've gone too far! You're always causing trouble."

Wang Guixiang was terrified by this scene and ran to the outer room.

The others quickly pulled Zhao Tingxu aside and tried to persuade him, saying, "Seventh Uncle, it's not that bad."

"Seventh Uncle, look at your temper, how come you still have such a big temper!"

"Dad, you've had too much to drink. Why did you throw the bottle away?" Zhao Tiegang didn't get up to persuade him. He just sat there, looking at his empty bottle, feeling upset.

Some people who hadn't drunk much took out brooms and swept the floor, picking up the broken bowls and plates.

I definitely can't drink anymore.

The bottles are all broken, how can we drink from them?

The crowd continued to persuade Zhao Tingxu, while some went out to the outer room to comfort Wang Guixiang.

Zhao Da'e realized that a fight wasn't going to break out, so she figured she'd be missing out on some excitement.

He quickly went inside to persuade Zhao Tingxu: "Grandpa, Grandpa, what are you doing! My grandma didn't say anything today, why are you angry? My grandma doesn't do any chores usually, she doesn't even cook. When people come to visit, my cousin has to come over and help with the cooking, and you're not angry then, are you? If you get angry over such a small thing, then things will get even bigger. What if you get really angry?"

"Our pots and pans haven't been washed in over three months, you can't hit someone for that, can you? What era are we living in? Hitting your wife is illegal..."

Zhao Tingxu's face turned even redder after Zhao Da'e embellished the story. Moreover, Zhao Tingxu couldn't get angry at Zhao Da'e, since what Zhao Da'e said was true.

The pots and pans at home haven't been washed for months.

Eating there was almost like eating pig swill.

Wang Guixiang is so lazy it's insane!

Zhao Tingxu became even more furious upon thinking this, broke free from everyone's restraints, and was about to rush out to beat up Wang Guixiang.

Zhao Da'e quickly moved aside...

"what……"

Wang Guixiang was hit on the head with a broken pipe by Zhao Tingxu, and a large bump immediately appeared on her head.

The others hurriedly pulled them apart...

Seeing that she had achieved her goal, Zhao Da'e turned and ran. She wasn't the one who stirred up trouble, so she didn't care what happened.

Zhao Da'e ran to the storeroom, brewed a pot of tea, and drank a cup.

Only then did things calm down over there.

No one was in the mood to eat anymore, and using the excuse that it was already afternoon, they all went out to work.

Wang Guixiang naturally heard that Zhao Da'e was stirring up trouble. She wanted to come out, but her face was swollen, so she was too embarrassed to go out and could only stay in the house and sulk.

Zhao Da'e followed the crowd into the street to demolish houses and haul bricks.

They were up all night and still hadn't finished the work.

After a long day, Zhao Da'e went to her aunt's house to sleep. Dinner was just okay, though there weren't enough bowls. But since they were all family, she wasn't too picky.

It took another day of transporting the shredder to finally get it home.

Everything, including bricks, tiles, and parts, has been returned.

Zhao Da'e pondered that what Zhou Chunwen had said a couple of days ago seemed to make some sense. What if someone came to steal things?

So Zhao Da'e ran to the backyard and brought the dog and its mother to the front yard to look after this pile of stuff.

Since the dog was already in the front yard, Zhao Da'e didn't leash it this time, and let Xiao Bao stay near these things.

Zhao Da'e also specifically instructed Zhao Tiesheng to be a little more careful at night, in case someone came to steal something or something, and not to sleep too soundly.

Zhao Tiesheng readily agreed.

Zhao Da'e finally felt relieved. Thinking that Zhao Tingming's uncle, Zhao Tieyue, had returned the night before last and he hadn't even gone to see him yet, Zhao Da'e decided to go and check on him.

Although Zhao Da'e is younger, she has already experienced countless ways of human relationships. Only she knows the true nature of human kindness and indifference.

Zhao Tingming treated Zhao Da'e well, so naturally Zhao Da'e wouldn't go empty-handed when Zhao Tieyue returned this time.

In the morning, while out in town, Zhao Da'e even spent money to buy a woolen coat and two hand warmers. These were rare items, practically the prized possessions of the town's supply and marketing cooperative, costing Zhao Da'e over three hundred yuan.

Zhao Da'e felt a pang of regret at losing over three hundred yuan. She was barely scraping by, not having much money. A simple rural woman working away from home could only earn a little over three hundred yuan a month. That amount was enough for a month's wages. Although money had become easier to come by recently, Zhao Da'e was used to hardship. The only cotton-padded jacket she wore was one she'd bought at the beginning, costing only thirty-five yuan.

This wool coat isn't particularly stylish; it's not exactly high-end. However, in the vicinity of Zhao Da'e's hometown, it's the best one available.

Moreover, the supply and marketing cooperatives in the street wouldn't be able to sell anything particularly expensive.

The nearby villages are all struggling, and their goods are too expensive; who would buy them?

This red wool coat was the most expensive item in their store. Zhao Da'e also spent five yuan on a hat and a scarf.

When she returned, she had left it in the storeroom. Now she took it out, carefully organized it, packed it into a hard plastic bag, and carried it to Zhao Tingming's house.

Generally speaking, people in rural areas visit each other in the morning. It's rare for someone like Zhao Da'e to visit others in the evening.

However, Zhao Da'e really didn't have a choice, as he was too busy during the day. Getting the shredder and other equipment back took a lot of time, and then he even had some free time at noon to watch some commotion…

Fortunately, they were all acquaintances, so it was alright.

This time when Zhao Dage came to Zhao Tingming's house, he not only dressed a little more appropriately, but also didn't have his usual swaggering and carefree attitude.

She stood at the door of Zhao Tingming's house and started calling out, "Is Grandpa home?"

A moment later, Zhao Tingming emerged, wearing a gray leather jacket over a red sweater. His beard was clean-shaven. Seeing Zhao Da'e arrive, Zhao Tingming paused for a moment, then came out and said, "Hey? Da'e…why aren't you going inside?"

Zhao Da'e smiled shyly: "Hehehe. There are outsiders here, if I go in like this, it will affect my image..."

Zhao Tingming opened his mouth to say, "You little brat, what kind of image do you have?" but ultimately didn't say it out loud.

Immediately following, a tall man, over 1.8 meters, wearing silver-rimmed glasses, with sunken cheeks and a somewhat thin build, emerged. This man was Zhao Tieyue.

Zhao Tieyue is 27 years old this year. He started school relatively late, having repeated high school for two years. In addition, he is studying medicine, so he is already a senior in college. Therefore, he is actually quite old.

My skin is a bit pale, probably due to the climate of the coastal city, which is humid all year round and I spend most of my time indoors with little exposure to the sun.

Zhao Tieyue studied in a coastal city in the Central Plains, south of Shanhaiguan. In those days, not many people could afford to read and write. A large number of rural people were illiterate. In fact, Zhao Da'e's mother, Cheng Jinxiang, wasn't very old, but because her family was poor, she truly had never received an education.

Cheng Jinxiang couldn't even write her own name. She could sometimes recognize characters, but not many. As for Cheng Jinxi, she was equally illiterate.

In fact, the preference for sons over daughters is still a very serious problem in this era.

In a family with several children, the boys are the ones who most likely have the opportunity to go to school. Girls also go to school, but they usually have to do housework and their parents are not very supportive, so in most cases, they don't attend school for more than a few days.

Of course, the overall conditions for studying weren't very good either. Most of the primary school teachers only had a primary school education...

Furthermore, nine-year compulsory education was not universal in this era, so expecting a group of people with only primary school education to teach primary school would make getting them into junior high school incredibly difficult.

People like Zhao Tieyue, who were able to go to university, were truly rare in the village.

Of course, the first college student from the village was Zhao Da'e's aunt, Zhao Chunqin...

If Zhao Da'e truly considers Zhao Chunqin as a human being, then Zhao Chunqin is indeed the first college student in the village.

However, it is clear that Zhao Da'e never treated Zhao Chunqin as a human being.

There are many bad people in the Zhao family. Leaving aside the fact that the eldest uncle's family are all talk and no action, Zhao Da'e's third uncle is actually a man who only knows how to take advantage of others, so Zhao Da'e easily bribed him with small favors. Does Zhao Da'e dislike Zhao Tiegang? Actually, in his previous life, Zhao Tiegang's behavior was alright in the later stages. Although he didn't spend a single penny, he still came after Zhao Da'e's mother passed away.

Zhao Tiegang's flaws are that he is cunning, lazy, greedy, and slippery. He is good at eating and doing nothing, is uneducated and incompetent, likes to take advantage of others, and doesn't do much human work... His stance is not firm... But he still has some social skills.

As for Zhao Tingxu, he was pretty bad too. Zhao Tingxu was vain, greedy for high positions, liked to show off, had a bad temper, and loved to put on airs, among other things.

Wang Guixiang and Zhao Chunqin are the bad guys.

Zhao Da'e once summarized that there were two bad people in the Zhao family, and the rest were evil people who did bad things.

The family supported Zhao Chunqin's education, but in return, she swindled all of the family's savings and looked down on Zhao Da'e's parents, who had become impoverished because of her.

Zhao Da'e truly doesn't treat Zhao Chunqin like a human being.

Therefore, Zhao Da'e believes that Zhao Tieyue was the first college student in Dongtaizi Village.

Zhao Tieyue had a handsome smile. He saw a little girl in a red cotton-padded jacket and a ponytail come out and asked Zhao Tingming, "Dad... who is this?"

Zhao Tingming glanced at Zhao Tieyue: "This is the goose of your seventh uncle's second son's daughter."

Zhao Tieyue was taken aback: "Isn't their generation called Zhanqing, and their nickname is Zhao Qing'e?"

Zhao Tieyue had always been a student and had little contact with the village.

Besides, Zhao Dage is only six years old this year, and will only be seven after the New Year. He was even younger before, and he hardly ever went out, so it's normal that Zhao Tieyue doesn't recognize him.

Zhao Tingming sighed: "Let's call him Zhao the Goose."

Originally, Zhao Da'e's generation did indeed follow the generation name Zhan Qing according to the family genealogy.

Zhao Tingming even asked Zhao Tingxu what happened about this. Zhao Tingxu replied: "When the goose was young, it was very beautiful, and its mother said it looked like Chang'e from heaven, so she insisted on naming it Zhao Tian'e..."

Of course, when registering the household registration, everything was wrong except for the surname Zhao.

Zhao Tingming didn't know if Zhao Tingxu's family did it on purpose, but it was clearly not an accident. After all, the Zhao family members were all educated; it would be a bit unreasonable for them to be illiterate.

Either they were too perfunctory and didn't enjoy watching it, or they deliberately made a mistake.

Zhao Tingming didn't say this to his son Zhao Tieyue, but simply said calmly, "The goose is tough, and it sounds pretty good too."

Zhao Tieyue was taken aback: "Well... it does sound quite nice."

I just have a special connection with iron pots.

Since they were all private households—and in the village, all the Zhao families were private households anyway—and since they were relatives, Zhao Tingming didn't bother with any introductions. He simply said, "Enyue, Da'e is a good boy."

En Yue is Zhao Tieyue's nickname.

"That goose kid is clever. He's young, but bold and smart. He'll copy anything."

Zhao Tieyue laughed and said, "That's right, that's right. Our hometown is full of talented people."

Zhao Tieyue didn't act superior just because he was a college student; on the contrary, he was quite normal. He was dressed simply, and wasn't very muscular, suggesting he had worked hard at school.

"Hey goose, come on in."

Zhao Da'e shook his head: "No, no. I just came to see my uncle today."

In his previous life, Zhao Da'e was very grateful to Zhao Tieyue. His mother was hospitalized many times, and it was Zhao Tieyue who helped arrange things.

Anyone who has been to a hospital knows what it feels like to have a relative as the head of the inpatient department.

Since Zhao Da'e lived alone, Zhao Tieyue specially arranged a private room for Zhao Da'e's mother when she was hospitalized, and also had the nurses handle all the errands. Zhao Da'e basically didn't need to do anything.

You should know that in hospitals, nurses generally don't care about patients' other needs. At most, they'll give you directions, and that's considered good.

Moreover, Zhao Tieyue genuinely helped with the treatment and also assisted in research with experts from the province. Although he was ultimately powerless to help, he had indeed done his best.

We will never forget Zhao Da'e's kindness.

Zhao Da'e took out the wool coat wrapped in hard plastic and handed it to Zhao Tieyue: "Uncle, this is a little something from my mom. She knew you brought one back...hehehe. My mom was worried she'd get cold, it's freezing here, so she bought her a wool coat. It's new and looks quite nice."

Zhao Tingming was taken aback: Zhao Da'e's mother wasn't home either? She'd been staying at her parents' house for a long time...

This is something Zhao Da'e bought himself, and it was given to him as a gift.

Zhao Tingming naturally frequented the supply and marketing cooperative in town. This red woolen overcoat cost three or four hundred yuan, ridiculously expensive. He felt a little embarrassed, and the old man's face flushed red: "Big Goose, what are you doing? Why are you spending so much money on clothes? If your grandpa and the others find out, they'll scold you again."

Zhao Da'e chuckled, "My grandpa's busy. He's fighting with my grandma!"

Zhao Tingming looked completely bewildered: ???

"They're fighting again? What's it about? Is this over? They're always at each other's throats. They're getting old, and they're getting senile! What kind of old couple fights every day?"

Zhao Da'e shrugged: "It's because Wang Guixiang said my grandfather is senile..."

Zhao Tingming: "Uh... then it's normal for them to fight."