RPAGF Chapter 87
Chapter 87
"What happened to your grandma later?" Zhou Chunwen asked curiously.
"Oh dear, cousin, I've noticed you've become quite the gossipmonger. My grandma died a pathetic death."
"Huh? There's such a way to die? You're kidding me." Zhou Chunwen said, pursing his lips.
While the two sisters chatted, Zhou Yuren and Zhao Tiesheng drank tea in the other room.
He drank cup after cup of tea, and after finishing the pot, Zhao Tiesheng didn't say a word.
Zhou Yuren took out his tobacco basket, rolled a pipe, lit it with a match, and then asked with a smile, "Third Uncle, you've come here for something, haven't you? It's not just to call the goose home, is it? We're brothers-in-law, so if you need anything, just let me know, and I'll do what I can. And if I can't, I'll still find a way to get it done for you."
After hesitating for a while, Zhao Tiesheng finally said, "I was thinking of asking my brother-in-law to go to Xiaoheyan and bring my wife Cheng Jinxiang back to me."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuren's expression instantly darkened. He raised an eyebrow at Zhao Tiesheng, then lowered his head, puffed out smoke rings, and exhaled the tobacco stuck to his mouth.
Cheng Jinxiang and Zhao Tiesheng's marriage was arranged by Zhou Yuren. At the time of the introduction, Zhou Yuren thought Zhao Tiesheng was capable and a good manager, but now Cheng Jinxiang regrets it. The Zhao family isn't very kind.
Zhou Yuren knew many things clearly. Were Zhao Tiesheng and Cheng Jinxiang living a good life? They certainly were. The family had reclaimed more than ten acres of wasteland, and there was also contracted land allocated by the village. They could produce more than 10,000 jin of grain a year, and if the year was good, they might even be able to produce more than 20,000 jin of grain.
Farming is hard work, but the cost of reclaiming and contracting land is actually minimal. Unlike later generations where seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides are expensive, in this era, seeds were cheap, though yields were naturally low. Farmers didn't use chemical fertilizers, relying on farmyard manure, or sometimes even none at all, simply growing the land by hand. Fortunately, the soil here was rich in nutrients, ensuring a decent yield even without chemical fertilizers.
As for pesticides, they are used, but not in large quantities.
Therefore, farming can still generate a lot of income in this era.
Even though corn, sorghum, and millet aren't expensive right now, they can still bring in four or five thousand yuan a year. Leaving aside daily expenses, Zhao Tiesheng and his wife should normally be considered a family with ten thousand yuan in income by now.
However, the result was quite the opposite; their family was extremely poor.
What are the reasons for poverty?
Zhou Yuren immediately recognized that there were far too many vampires in the family.
It's understandable that old man Zhao Tingxu doesn't work, after all, he's over fifty, and old woman Wang Guixiang doesn't work either. But the fact that the two of them control the Zhao family's income is problematic. If it were normal control, it wouldn't be a problem. But where did the at least 30,000 yuan from selling grain go in the past five or six years? Nobody knows.
If someone knew, Cheng Jinxiang wouldn't have needed to be hospitalized because she didn't have the money, and she wouldn't have been unable to afford to have a baby.
Zhou Yuren also has three children. His second daughter, Zhou Chunhong, also paid a fine of 5,000 yuan.
However, Zhao Tiesheng was certain he couldn't afford the fine. If he could have, none of this would have happened.
So, sometimes even Zhou Yuren didn't know where the 30,000 yuan went.
The money certainly wasn't with Cheng Jinxiang, nor was it with Zhao Tiesheng; it was with the old man, Zhao Tingxu. But, at the crucial moment, it was gone.
Cheng Jinxiang worked hard, scrimping and saving, but not only did she lose all the money she earned from farming, the Zhao family even wanted to give away someone else's child.
Is this world really that absurd?