Chapter 381
When the villagers saw a carriage entering the village, and noticed that Zhou Ger and the others were walking with Zhao Ger—clearly acquainted, and seemingly close—they all greeted them warmly.
The chemical fertilizer hadn't been produced yet, but everyone had seen with their own eyes how well the crops were growing on the village chief's three plots of land. Next year, when they could use it on their own fields, their crops would grow just as well as Zhao Ger's. Then their days would get better. With hope in their hearts, the villagers were in good spirits and friendly to everyone—greeting people with smiles. In the old days, or back in Xiaohe Village, if a stranger showed up, villagers would keep their distance and watch warily, not rush over like they were welcoming their own relatives.
Zhao Ger led Zhou Ger and the others back to his courtyard. They'd barely sat down when Wang Ger sent his son over with a basket full of freshly picked dates—they looked wonderfully fresh.
The Lu family also sent over some of their home-fried peanuts, and several neighboring households brought small gifts too. Fang Zichen's family had been staying in the village, and they hadn't gone to the market the last few days—everyone figured they might not have much on hand to entertain guests, so the neighbors had thought ahead and helped out.
Uncle Liu, who had grown up in a village himself, knew that the poorer a place was, the more tightfisted the people tended to be. The village houses still weren't much to look at, but the people here had a completely different attitude—they were warm and welcoming. He glanced at Fang Zichen—coming from a village, it was hard to become an official, and even harder to become one that the people truly loved, respected, and would praise with a thumbs-up. Fang Zichen looked like he never did anything serious—back in the day, he was always taking the children to play in the river, wandering around the fields, aimlessly strolling about. Even now, he seemed the same. And yet, somehow, the man had real skill.
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Fang Zichen made Liuliu stand up straight and stand next to Guaizai. Then he made a grim discovery: Liuliu used to be only half a head taller than Guaizai, but now he was a full head taller. He was growing way too fast.
"Liuliu, has your daddy been watering you with his... uh... fertilizer?"
Liuliu hadn't seen Fang Zichen for a while, but he still felt completely at ease with the uncle who'd taken him swimming, bought him candied hawthorns, and set off firecrackers with him. He pouted. "No! Uncle Fang, why did you catch those shrimp just now?"
"To get you a wife."
Liuliu swatted at him. "Uncle's talking nonsense!"
Fang Zichen laughed and ruffled his hair, then turned to look at Jiaojiao. Like father, like daughter—Jiaojiao looked fierce as a tiger, like she could knock someone's front teeth out with one punch. Zhao Ger handed her some freshly made popcorn from that morning. Jiaojiao said in her gruff little voice, "Thanks, Uncle Zhao."
Zhao Ger smiled. He didn't have a daughter himself, so he was always fond of Jiaojiao. "Try some and see if you like it."
Fang Zichen thought Jiaojiao was the easiest kid to please. She would eat anything given to her—the only problem was never having enough, never disliking anything.
She popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth, and her eyes lit up. She hugged the plate and scurried off to a corner to enjoy it.
The shrimp wouldn't live long out of water, and once they died, they'd get fishy and taste bad. Zhao Ger, Li Yanmei, and the Liu family hadn't seen each other in a while and had plenty to catch up on. Zhao Ger was about to ask Guaizai to go get Uncle Tang to cook the shrimp, but Uncle Tang had heard the news and come back early. After introductions all around, Uncle Tang headed into the kitchen to fry up the shrimp for the children.
Shrimp were good for calcium. The local market had very little to offer—meat was mostly just pork, chicken, and duck. Fish were only sold in early summer, and even then, if it wasn't a market day, none could be bought even in town. Fang Zichen didn't want to do any real work; all he ever thought about was running off somewhere.
Zhao Ger tried to stop him, but Fang Zichen had plenty of excuses: "It's not that I want to go. Wouldn't it be nice to stay home in this cold weather? Why do I run outside? To catch some shrimp for my kids, so they can get some calcium! Look at Guaizai—he hasn't grown a single inch all these years. Can I just sit here and feel at ease?"
Zhao Ger wasn't entirely convinced. "But you said before that you were the same way—you didn't start growing until you were eleven."
Fang Zichen paused for a moment, then kept a straight face. "Yeah! Exactly!"
It was true that he hadn't grown! Every year when he was six, his parents had him taking all kinds of supplements. All that "storing up energy" and "building up reserves" meant that when the growth spurt finally came, he shot up like a weed.
Zhao Ger thought it over and decided it made a kind of sense. So he'd been going out into the fields with Fang Zichen every day to catch shrimp for the children.
These little shrimp, when fried up with a sprinkle of salt, turned out crispy and fragrant—the children absolutely loved them.
After several years apart, Guaizai and Liuliu showed not the slightest hint of awkwardness. Right now they were still all warm and close, just like good brothers.
Aunt Liu watched the six children sitting under the eaves, each holding a bowl, noisily tucking into their food, and laughed: "Guaizai hasn't changed much, except he's gotten a bit chubbier."
Zhao Ger muttered, "It's not really chubby."
Aunt Liu paused. "Not chubby? Then what's with that face?"
"Stung by wasps." Zhao Ger told the whole story.
"......"
Everyone fell silent for a moment, then couldn't help bursting into laughter. Now when they looked at the three children with their big heads and round faces, it was just too funny.
That's what they thought! How could they have gotten that chubby in just a few years? Even eating meat every single day wouldn't make one blow up like that.
But Aunt Liu's expression shifted slightly. Everyone was happy right now, and she didn't want to say anything that would spoil the mood, but...
"Zhao Ger, have you taken the child to see a physician?" Seeing that Zhao Ger didn't understand, she said, "I noticed Guaizai hasn't grown much in height! Children his age should be shooting up fast."
Liuliu had grown only about a finger's width in two years, and Jiaojiao—well, she didn't even need mentioning. If she went out, plenty of people would believe she was already in her teens.
Zhao Ger smiled. "It's fine."
Fang Zichen had been the same way as a child, and now he was taller than ever—close to six feet. Over all these years, Zhao Ger had never met anyone who could match his husband's height.
Besides, it wasn't like Guaizai hadn't grown at all. These past few years, with more eating, he'd shot up nearly a full thumb's width!
Zhao Ger sent Zhang Quan to the neighboring village to buy two chickens for dinner. That evening, the three families had another lively meal together, with two tables set up—one for the adults and one for the children—everyone eating and chatting as they went.
The village had no spare rooms, and Old Man Qin's house was fully occupied too, so Zhao Ger could only arrange for everyone to stay over at the paper mill. He had the Imperial Guards squeeze together and free up three tents. On the way there, Zhou Ger hesitated for a moment, then asked Zhao Ger if their family tagging along would cause any trouble. Zhao Ger shook his head.
There was plenty of work to go around!
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