Chapter 44 Interview Zhou Yimin chatted with Zhou Dachun’s grandfather for a while, and then the old branch secretary and others came, and there was another round of politeness, congratulations, etc. The old branch secretary told Zhou Yimin that Qianqian's household registration had been confirmed. In addition, he asked Zhou Yimin what to plant on the riverbed. The team leader led the people to reclaim the land, and the speed was very fast, because the soil on the riverbed was originally soft. In fact, Zhou Yimin can plant anything he wants. He knew that the river would probably be dry for the next two or three years. But you can't say that. Crops with a short growing period are definitely vegetables! Many vegetables can be harvested in one or two months, while grains such as corn need more than four months. However, the price of vegetables is not high, only two or three cents per pound. Of course, the riverbed is very large, so it is best to have a variety of species with different growing periods. Otherwise, if all the crops are harvested at the harvest time, it will be difficult to digest them. Even a steel plant with tens of thousands of employees cannot consume so much at once.
Zhou Yimin expressed his thoughts. "Well! Yimin, you are right. We need to have more varieties and not be too single." The old branch secretary thought that Zhou Yimin's consideration was very thoughtful and reasonable. "Let's put it this way! I'll see what seeds I can get and plant whatever I have!" Even if it is corn, if you plant it now, it should be ready for harvest before the snow falls in winter. In Zhou Yimin's opinion, even if he doesn't wait for the harvest, as long as he grows the seedlings and uses them to feed livestock, he will still make money. As expected, Zhou Dachun really came back with his bride on a bicycle. After entering the village, he began to give candies to the children who gathered around him. There aren't many wedding candies left, so I can only give one to each person. After receiving blessings from a bunch of little kids, Zhou Dachun was in high spirits. He pushed his bride back to his home and began to introduce the elders present to his new wife, especially his sixteenth uncle Zhou Yimin, and then served tea to his father. The wedding ceremony is so simple. Life is hard nowadays, and since we still live in the countryside, there are not so many details to pay attention to. There is no such thing as a wedding ceremony. Zhou Yimin took a closer look. The bride was called Xiufang. She was a head shorter than Zhou Dachun and a little thin, but her face was filled with joy of a newlywed life and she was polite to others. She looked like a good match. "Grow old together and have a baby soon!" Zhou Yimin also sent his blessings. "Thank you, Uncle Sixteen!" Zhou Dachun just heard from his father that Uncle Sixteen had brought two cured ducks and several kilograms of rice with him this time, clearly to support him. It would be a lie to say that he was not grateful. It was Zhou Yimin who exchanged the food for his wife, gave her a pair of new towels, lent her a bicycle, and brought rice and a main dish for his wedding banquet. Even if he is his biological uncle, he may not be able to do this, right? The bride Xiufang also heard from Dachun about this sixteenth uncle, a purchasing agent at the steel plant. He was very capable and the water pressure well that is now being talked about so much was built by him. In addition, she is indebted to her husband's family. Therefore, she was also very respectful to Zhou Yimin. When eating, Xiufang was happy and relieved to see the rice, chicken, preserved duck, etc. on the table. This meal, at least, represented the attitude of her husband's family towards her.
Moreover, the situation in her husband's family is much better than that in her parents' family. If she marries him, at least she won't have to starve anymore. During this meal, except for Zhou Yimin and his grandson who ate quite elegantly, everyone else moved their chopsticks rather hastily, even the old branch secretary was no exception, but everyone had already paid attention to restraining their behavior. After eating, they chatted for a while. It started to get dark, so everyone decided not to disturb the newlyweds. Zhou Yimin pushed his bicycle back home. He didn't know that a reporter from the newspaper had come to the courtyard to look for him today. In fact, they first went to the steel plant, but found that the person was not there, so the reporter could only interview a few employees and leaders of the steel plant. Then they went to the courtyard, but still did not find anyone, so they had to interview a few residents of the courtyard to collect everyone's evaluation of Zhou Yimin. This incident caused a great response both in the steel plant and in the courtyard. After all, it's in the newspapers! Not everyone can be in the newspapers. The news reached Director Li of the Street Office. Director Li was very happy and asked the street office to cooperate in publicity. On the one hand, their street had a celebrity, and the street was very prestigious, so it must be promoted; on the other hand, Director Li also had selfish motives, as she treated Zhou Yimin as her own. She had been optimistic about Zhou Yimin from the beginning and wanted to make friends with him, but she didn't expect that Zhou Yimin would surprise her so soon. The next day, Zhou Yimin went shopping as usual. Today’s one-yuan flash sale is for 100 kilograms of noodles and kilograms of sausages. After breakfast and playing with Qianqian, Zhou Yimin rode his bike back to the city. As soon as he returned to the courtyard, he was surrounded by residents, who all talked about what happened when the reporter came to interview him yesterday. Zhou Yimin was dumbfounded. "Yimin, there's more! Director Li from the street office notified you to come over." An old lady said. The street office asked an old man to pass the message, but the old man didn't even wait for Zhou Yimin to come back before going to work, so he handed the task to his wife. "Okay! Thanks, Auntie." "Kid, why are you being so polite to the people in our courtyard?" the aunt said with a smile. The other women in the courtyard also nodded and praised Zhou Yimin. Some people also complained about Zhou Yimin's father. He had such an outstanding son, but he went to help others. What was he thinking? If he wanted to find a woman, it wouldn't be difficult for him to find one with Zhou's conditions! He could just marry her openly. Such an outstanding child, it would be great if it were theirs. Dapeng and Li Youde came over and settled the money from selling the preserved duck last night, which was about the same as the day before. The price of preserved duck was not as high as beef jerky, but the preserved duck weighed 80 kilograms. "Yimin, you are really awesome! It's a pity that you were not at home yesterday." "What's a pity? The reporters won't come today? Yimin, if you ask me, don't go anywhere today and wait at home." Dapeng and Li Youde were both very excited, as if they were the ones being interviewed. Zhou Yimin ignored the two guys and started to drive them away after settling the bill. "Wait a minute, Yimin, this is for you." Dapeng handed something to Zhou Yimin.
"Calligraphy and painting? Why give it to me? Where did it come from?" Zhou Yimin was puzzled. He took it, opened it, and found it was an ancient painting. Judging from the signature, it was from Tang Bohu. "I saw it by chance last night. I exchanged it for two cured ducks. Didn't you say you liked this thing before?" Zhou Yimin remained calm on the surface, but he was thinking in his heart: Did my predecessor say the same thing? Although he accepted the memories of his predecessor, he didn't remember everything. Even his predecessor couldn't remember every word he said, right? However, this kind of ancient painting will indeed be valuable in the future, so you must not miss it if you come across it. Anyway, he had a store backpack and could put his things in it without having to worry about being searched. "Next time you have these, help me get them and I'll pay for them. Of course, you don't have to look for them too deliberately. Safety comes first." Zhou Yimin told them. (End of this chapter)
