Chapter 116: The New Courtyard (1)

The car made its way back from the provincial capital to Zhangjia Village, and by the time they arrived, night had already fallen. A few scattered lights still glimmered in the village.

Zhang Guoqing and his mother got out of the car. Zhang Guoqing carried their things inside with his mother. His father, who had been anxiously pacing back and forth, actually came out to greet them—a rare occurrence. Aside from books and tapes, everything else was moved into the east wing of the main house, into their own room, and they were left to unpack themselves.

Zhang Guoqing barely had time to say a few words to his parents. He quickly carried several piles of old books and tapes into the small living room, then dashed back out to fetch more things. After parking the car, he waited for his father to bring in the last bag, then hurriedly grabbed the remaining books and ran back to his room.

He didn’t bother organizing the books, just piled them up in the small living room. Carrying the bag of tapes, he entered the bedroom. As soon as he walked in, he saw Zhou Jiao leaning there, waiting for him. The moment she saw his face, she broke into a bright smile.

“Jiaojiao, what did you have for dinner? Did you wait long for me?”

“Brother, have you eaten? Did my mom get a sleeper ticket? Has she gone back to Beijing?”

They both spoke at the same time, then burst out laughing.

Zhang Guoqing noticed his son was still awake. “Why isn’t Ping’an asleep yet? Baby, Daddy’s home. Honey, I bought a ton of tapes, so you won’t be bored anymore. There are songs, storytelling, operas—all in this bag. I’ll just set it aside for now, you can look through them later. Son, Daddy will play some music for you.”

He put the tapes away, turned the volume down, gave Zhou Jiao a kiss, and pulled her into his arms. “What did you eat tonight? Did anyone get impatient with you? Did anyone say anything snarky? You didn’t get upset, did you?”

Zhou Jiao snuggled comfortably against him. “No, your sister-in-law brought the food over. We had noodles for lunch, with chicken soup and drumsticks from the stove. Dinner was rice, again brought by your sister-in-law, still with chicken soup and drumsticks. Smell me—do I reek of chicken soup?”

Zhang Guoqing pressed his chin to her head and took a deep sniff. “You don’t smell bad at all, you smell great. The whole house is filled with the aroma of chicken soup—just the smell of meat everywhere. Jiaojiao, I’m craving meat.” He said this with a double meaning, smacking his lips.

Zhou Jiao burst out laughing, shaking in his arms, which made Zhang Guoqing laugh too. He started tickling her on purpose, making her laugh even harder.

When he finally stopped, Zhou Jiao caught her breath and said, “There’s plenty of meat at home these days, eat as much as you want. Hehe, go eat dinner first, and come back early to chat with me.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back after I eat. Not even nine horses could drag me away. I’ll make you some snow fungus and red date soup for a late-night snack. You’ve had chicken soup every day, you must be sick of it. Tomorrow, I’ll change things up for you. Now that we have a stove, we don’t have to avoid anyone. At most, we’ll just leave a bowl for them.”

Zhang Guoqing let her go and rummaged through the trunk for snow fungus, red dates, and sugar. He washed them, put them in a small pot, set it on the coal stove, closed the vent, and let it simmer.

“How’s the donkey-hide gelatin going? If you can still take it, keep eating it. Your mom’s way of making it isn’t great. I think we should have a doctor make it into a paste, like before, with walnuts, red dates, and honey. That way, you can keep eating it for nutrition even after your confinement.”

“No need to trouble anyone. I learned how to make it from Grandma, and mine is better than anyone else’s. Just get me some black sesame seeds—look at my hair, it’s all dry and yellow, so ugly. I have all the other ingredients.”

Zhang Guoqing looked at her skeptically.

Zhou Jiao rolled her eyes at him. “What’s with that look? I really do know medicine—descended from imperial physicians, specializing in gynecology and pediatrics. Have some faith in me. I’ll make a small batch for you to see.”

“I don’t doubt your looks. To me, you’re the prettiest, especially when you smile. Honey, really. Look into my eyes—see how sincere I am? Or should we have Doctor Zhou make a couple bottles for you first, and you can make more after your confinement?”

Zhou Jiao shook her head, chin raised, eyes slanted, and said proudly, “No need for all that trouble. It’s been seven or eight days, I can get out of bed now. I’ll make it myself, and I know how much sugar to add—too sweet and it’s not tasty.”

Zhang Guoqing adored her like this. He hugged her and gave her a playful bite. “Alright, whatever you say. I’ll get some black sesame and you can boss me around.”

“Go eat dinner first. Everything’s tidied up here.” With that, Zhou Jiao waved him off, not wanting to keep chatting—otherwise, his mother would start calling for him.

When Zhang Guoqing entered the main hall, his mother had just finished setting the table. Dinner really was sweet potato rice, leftover braised hairtail and spicy chicken from lunch, plus some head cheese and cabbage soup.

Seeing his father sitting nearby, Zhang Guoqing said, “Wow, so many meat dishes! Dad, join us for dinner. If you’re not hungry, have a little wine.” As soon as he finished speaking—

His father nodded right away. “Sure, I’ll have a drink with your mother. Good food makes me want to drink.”

Mother Zhang handed him an empty seat and told Xizi, who was in the hall, to fetch a pair of chopsticks for Grandpa. She shot Father Zhang a look—this old guy just wanted an excuse to drink, thinking she didn’t notice him waiting for Xiao Wu to invite him. Otherwise, he’d have already gone back to the kang to smoke his pipe.

Father Zhang asked, “Why are you two back so late? Wasn’t it a 10 o’clock train? It was already dark when you got home—I thought you two got lost and was about to go look for you.” He laughed as he finished.

Mother Zhang swallowed her food, put down her chopsticks, and said, “Us, get lost? What a joke. I really got to see the big city today. Xiao Wu took me to the Friendship Store the foreigners shop at, to the department store, and to the park. We were supposed to come back even later—Xiao Wu wanted to take me to the movies, but oh my, the place was packed with young men and women. I had to drag Xiao Wu out of there, or I’d have died of embarrassment. What old lady goes to the movies? After that, Xiao Wu helped me ask for directions and bought a bunch of those tapes. Xiao Wu, is that what they’re called? See, I’m smart, I remembered. Your dad, those tapes can play opera, storytelling, and songs. Xiao Wu said you just put them in the radio in his room and it sounds just like a real person singing. I’ll let you listen later. Pretty neat, huh? You should’ve come—it was even livelier than the market.”

“It sure was lively. Otherwise, why would you two come back so late? The others wanted to wait for you to eat, but I told them to go ahead. For all I knew, you’d already eaten in the city.” Father Zhang nodded with a smile.

Mother Zhang hurriedly ate a few more bites, then said, “Xiao Wu insisted we eat before coming home, but I wouldn’t let him. Lunch was at a big restaurant—see, this leftover food is from there. He ordered too much, so we brought the rest back. I didn’t want to eat out again for dinner—just wanted to get home. No matter how nice the city is, it’s not as comfortable as home.”

Father Zhang agreed. A golden house or a silver house is no match for your own thatched cottage. Not to mention, the courtyards of his three sons were rebuilt with great effort—people in the provincial capital might not even be as comfortable as they are.

“Did you two see your in-laws off at the train? Did you get all their luggage sorted? Did you notify the Lin family to pick her up at the station? If not, your mother-in-law won’t be able to carry five big bags by herself. And, did you see the train? What did you think—just a bunch of cars hooked together, nothing special, right?”

Mother Zhang burst out laughing, quickly covered her mouth, swallowed her food, and said, “A bunch of cars hooked together? That’s a train! It’s not like a big truck—there’s everything inside. I saw lots of people with no seats, sitting on the floor. Your dad, being an official is great—you don’t have to queue, you can buy a sleeper ticket right away. I saw it myself—there were empty bunks in the sleeper car, but people in the back couldn’t go in, so they had to sit on the floor. What’s up with that?” She finished with a sigh and went back to eating.

“Being an official is good everywhere—no wonder everyone wants to be one. Even your scholar cousin was obsessed with it until he died. But you haven’t told me—did you see your in-law off and notify them to pick her up?”

Zhang Guoqing quickly replied, “I sent a telegram, explained that she’s traveling alone with 500 jin of luggage, and told them to pick her up at 5:00 p.m. the day after tomorrow. I spoke to the stationmaster, who arranged for the train chief to help her board early. I also asked the chief to take care of my mother-in-law, and gave him two wild rabbits for the journey. Everything’s sorted, don’t worry.”

“Good, as long as it’s all arranged. After dinner, help your mother tidy up the pile of stuff in the house. I want to get some rest tonight. The foundation for the new house is dug. Xiao Wu, are you busy tomorrow? If not, go help out early. Otherwise, it’ll look bad if your uncles and cousins are all helping and you’re nowhere to be seen.”

Zhang Guoqing nodded to his father. “I’ll get up early and work for half a day. After lunch, I’ll drive the car back to the provincial capital, then stop by the county school to see the principal. I’ll be back a bit late. After that, I won’t be going anywhere—nothing else to do.”

Father Zhang finished his drink and put down his chopsticks. “Do what you need to do. If you can’t help out, at least drop by and chat with everyone. When Jiaojiao’s confinement is over, have your mother take her to visit your aunt and the other women. By the way, your eldest sister is warming her new house the day after tomorrow. Your mother will handle it—no need to go overboard, there’ll be lots of people from the village, and too many mouths mean too much gossip.”

“Dad, I know. I’ll make sure to keep in touch with everyone. Mom, if you need anything for big sister’s housewarming, just let me know.”

“No need, I bought plenty today. Everything’s ready. Don’t help me tidy up—been up since four this morning, didn’t nap at noon, and tomorrow will be busy again. Go back to your room and get some sleep.” With that, Mother Zhang hurriedly took the dishes to the kitchen, not even calling for her daughter-in-law to help.

Father Zhang waved him off too, telling him to get some rest. They’d butchered two wild boars yesterday and worked until midnight, then cleaned up the backyard and gathered firewood in the mountains this morning. Only the young could keep up with this pace—anyone else would have collapsed by now."